I wrote this for one reason, and one reason only, and that's to show you how to maintain both your affiliate system, the affiliates contained within it, the offers you send them, and how to get the most out of all of the above. Also, Ill be talking to you about what not do to with them, why they're so important and some of the reasons that affiliates and affiliate systems are often underestimated or seen in a negative light from the perspective of program owners looking solely at their short to medium term profit. One thing I will say is that Its important to acquire and consume this knowledge at the earliest stage possible for reasons well discuss shortly. Even it isnt your top priority at this particular moment, youll be able to see just how powerful affiliate marketing is and why you should start planning before even launching your products. Lets take it from the top. First up, how do you define an affiliate program, or affiliate system? A system in which an owner or licensee of a product allows people outside of his or her own company to promote for them for a percentage of the commissions. Pretty much everyone online uses this resource to their advantage, because lets face it, it's far easier for 100 people to sell 1000 units of a product than it is to have one person sell a thousand units of a product. I'm sure it's possible, but we don't have all the time in the world, so affiliates are generally the answer, and should make up a large amount of your business' revenue if you're promoting your own products.