On a marketing forum I like to read there has recently been some complaining about a certain affiliate program. The complaining originates out of sincerity and genuineness: good folks are frustrated that they are struggling to make money. Yet, because of this frustration, they are complaining about the owner of the affiliate program and their perceived problems with his administration and/or the program itself.

Note that I wrote about their perception, because therein lies the problem. They "perceive" that just because they signed up for an affiliate program that they should be making money hand-over-fist. But that doesn't meet up with the facts on the ground, which are: the affiliate program costs $X each month, plus marketing costs, and these folks aren't seeing the return on investment that they want. From my view, the problem is marketing and advertising.

Here is a low-cost marketing action plan for the new year that all in affiliate programs can follow. You must follow each of these simple steps in order for these programs to work for you.

1. Select appropriate marketing methods.

Read marketing materials out there and you will be blown away by all the different marketing methods that exist--SEO, PPC, articles, blogs, forums, leads, email marketing, autosurf programs, etc. Many new marketers run into difficulty when they try to implement all, or even several, of the methods. But only some methods will work outstandingly well for you. Instead,

2. Pick one or two methods, work those, and build on your successes.

Narrow your focus. If you don't have a lot of time and don't mind spending the money, buy leads from a good leads source. If you don't want to spend the money, focus on articles and blogs. But pick only one or two methods and focus on those. When you are seeing a good level of success from those methods, then, and only then, add another. For myself, I like articles and email marketing.

3. Do something every day.

Keep active in your marketing. If you commit to blogging, write a new post every day. With the research, writing, posting, commenting in others blogs, and pinging, your total time investment should be only about one hour. If you are serious about your business, you can accomplish this. If you commit to email marketing, do something every day to grow your list, and send one new message to your list each day. No, this isn't overkill--I subscribe to about five lists where I receive daily email. As long as you are sending quality material, your list will thank you.

4. Stay commited.

Marketing is hard work. Don't get frustrated. Instead, make a plan and work that plan. You might begin only with small successes, but those will build and build until your business is thriving, but only if you stay commited, do something every day to build your business, and work your plan.