In the last few years, webmasters have discovered that affiliate marketing can be an extremely lucrative way to earn additional revenues from their sites. Now, a purely informational website that doesn't sell anything can generate massive revenues by adding recommendations to products and services via online affiliate programs.

Signing up for affiliate marketing programs can be a very effective way of paying for webhosting fees and bandwidth, domain names, and the time it takes to keep an informational site updated.

So what exactly is an affiliate marketing program? Affiliate programs are nothing more than partnerships with various business online. Partnering up with these businesses gives you the ability to offer additional resources to your visitors and is a valuable way to attract and retain your visitors because you are adding additional value.

Online affiliate programs have a track record of being very successful. They have been responsible for creating massive wealth over the last few years and have really become a popular addition to the webmaster community.

Joining an affiliate program requires you to apply and you can usually gain approval immediately. Many affiliate programs provide you with a host of banners and other tools that you can use to market their products and services and each tool is linked to your unique affiliate ID to ensure that you get credit for the sale.

If you're interested in becoming an affiliate marketer, there are many different programs and products that you can promote. From online poker rooms to diapers and everything in between, there is an opportunity for all. To get started, I would recommend that you check out Commission Junction, one of the leading affiliate marketing networks and one that will give you access to thousands and thousands of different products and services that you can begin to earn money from immediately.