The Amazon.com associate program has a few faults, but it's still a good one to join, especially if you're new to associate programs.

Amazon, one of the pioneers in the affiliate marketing industry, knows how to make things nice and easy for new affiliates. You write a book review, put it on your site and link to the book at Amazon.com.

If you want to, you can create a large or small online bookstore, but Amazon says that's not necessary.

You benefit because Amazon.com is a high-profile site with a good reputation. I like Amazon.com because of its low prices and mammoth selection of books.

If you're thinking of adding a bookshop to your site, see it as a useful service for your visitors. I don't regard it as an excellent way to make money.

Four weeks of Amazon results

In my first four weeks as an Amazon associate on a neglected little hobby site Best Gluten-Free Recipes that I created in 1996, I earned $10.76 from 73 visitors sent to Amazon.com.

Not much? Sure, but that was on a site that was receiving a few thousand visitors a YEAR. Also, it took only about half an hour to set up the little bookstore and even if I merely maintained a weekly average commission of $2.69, that would be $139.88 in a year for 30 minutes work.

I've hardly touched that site for years, but it still generates useful affiliate commissions and now AdSense income.