Do I have what it takes to become a super affiliate marketer? What are the ingredients of an affiliate marketing success story? Is there a shortcut strategy to affiliate marketing brilliance? All these questions linger around in the minds of affiliate marketers who desire to make it big in this business.

Although affiliate marketing is publicized as one of the easiest and most effective ways to generate money online, it is not as easy as it appears to be. The shrewd affiliate marketer plans every action and implements every action the best way he can. He should also increase the potential to earn by utilizing the right tools necessary for a thriving affiliate marketing business. I have sought advice from some of the most successful affiliate marketers in the business for you and below are the top three mandatory tools for a successful affiliate marketing business.

Important Tool #1: Your Own Website

The most important and indispensable tool in affiliate marketing is your own website. The first step in any successful affiliate marketing business is building a good, credible and professional looking website. Your website is the jump off point of all your marketing efforts. Thus, you must first build a user-friendly website, which will attract your prospects and motivate them to click on the links to the products and services you are promoting and make a purchase. Therefore, you must first focus your efforts in building a website that will cater to what your prospects need.

The most important thing you should consider is that almost all web users go online to look for information, not necessarily to go and buy something. Above all else, make your website full of original, relevant and useful content. People will love articles that are appealing and helpful. Keep in mind that, in the internet, content is still king and good quality content will not only build your credibility, it can also help you achieve a higher search engine ranking. By posting relevant and useful articles, you establish yourself as a credible expert in the field, making you a more dependable endorser of the product or service you promote. Establishing a good name is a good step in building up a dedicated consumer base.

Important Tool #2: Offers And Incentives

Competition is a very major problem in the internet world. You must always be one-step ahead of your rivals to ensure that you capture a significant portion of your target market. Therefore, you must use every possible means to motivate individuals not only to visit your site but also to click and proceed to the websites of the products and services you are promoting. Building an opt-in email list is one of the best ways to gather prospects. Offer a newsletter or an e-zine. Better yet, offer incentives to your prospects to encourage them to subscribe to your newsletters. You can present free softwares, free online videos, access to exclusive services and other freebies that will be helpful to your prospects.

Important Tool #3: Link Popularity

The importance of driving highly targeted responsive traffic to your website cannot be emphasized enough. The all-important web traffic is at the top of the list of the most important entities in the internet world. Attracting people to your site should be the foremost step you carry out. Do everything possible to achieve a high search engine ranking. Link Popularity is one of the major factors that search engines use to determine search engine positioning. Therefore, to enhance your link popularity, you must launch an aggressive linking campaign.

One of the best ways to do this – at no cost at all – is by submitting articles, with your website's link at the resource box, to e-zines and free article sites. You will not only gain exposure, you will also have the opportunity to advertise for free, just include a link back to your site. The more sites you submit your articles to, the better your link popularity is. Make your articles original, relevant and useful so that more websites will pick it up and post it.

These are but three of the numerous tools that an affiliate marketer can use to increase earning potential. The possibilities are endless and are limited only by your imagination, originality, resourcefulness and resolve. You can always explore other ideas and adapt other strategies, which you think might help you become a high rolling affiliate marketer.