Affiliate marketing strategies might help make your life easier, but they're not supposed to make you lazier. Contrary to popular belief, affiliate marketing doesn't work for everyone. Even with these insider tips, you still need to invest some time or money (or a combination of both) to make sure you get the most out of everything.

Now that we've straightened that out, here are 5 affiliate marketing strategies to help anyone create a profitable affiliate business, and keep it successful for a long time to come.

Affiliate Marketing Strategy # 1: Drive Hordes of Traffic to Your Website.

As an affiliate marketer, your most important job is to drive as much traffic as possible to your affiliate website. Don't leave traffic to chance. If you really want to succeed in affiliate marketing, then you need to do all that you can to get people to visit your site.

There are many ways to do this - article marketing, video marketing, pay per click, joint ventures, ezine advertising, web 2.0... the sky's the limit. It's a good idea to diversify and use a variety of traffic methods. Don't put all your eggs on one basket, but focus more on those which are bringing you better results.

And then there are unconventional traffic techniques that some marketers overlook - like the power of word of mouth. Maintain a trustworthy website and reputation, and make it easy for your visitors to bookmark or to recommend your site to their friends.

Of course, part of driving traffic to your site is keeping it updated as well, so you can get visitors to return and make your site look good in the eyes of the search engines. After all, who wants to visit a website that's old news?

Affiliate Marketing Strategy # 2: Choose Your Ad Forms Wisely.

The form in which your ads take can make or break your career as an affiliate marketer. Avoid graphic-heavy banners on your website. These showy banners are a huge turn off and reportedly get very low hits anyway.

If you have a choice, opt for the simpler banners since they're direct to the point and don't take too long to load. When choosing banners, make sure that what you decide on won't clash with the theme of your actual website.

Aesthetics also plays a huge part in visitor interest. Text links have proven themselves very effective since they're quite subtle and are actually very bandwidth-friendly (a plus on your side!). And instead of using obtrusive pop-ups (which are the bane of Internet users), go for the ones that only appear when the visitor exits the site.

Affiliate Marketing Strategy # 3: Build a List.

While some people don't think that having a list is all that important, it's actually one of the reasons why some of the websites that have been around for a long time are still functioning quite well today.

Having a list keeps a steady stream of people flowing into your website. And while there are other ways of driving traffic to your place (see the tips above), having a list keeps you head to head with all the other big names in affiliate marketing.

That's because you have an available audience who you can promote to, and follow up with, every time you want. And as long as you have built a solid relationship with them, they are more likely to buy from you than cold prospects would.

Sure, you can go ahead and try working your website without a proper list, but I assure you that you'll only be wasting time. Sooner than later, you'll be clamoring to create your own list.

Affiliate Marketing Strategy # 4: Review Your Product.

When people visit your site, they want to know why they should even consider parting with their head earned money for what you've got on the table.

Creating a sensible review (with pros and cons) can help them make up their mind. Besides, your site should act like the authority on whatever it is you're selling. It would be better if you have actually used the product and honestly relate your own experiences.

Affiliate Marketing Strategy # 5: Don't Count Your Chickens Before They're Hatched.

Small-time success in affiliate marketing can blind a person and cause them to start acting like crazy. However, this industry can be fickle when you least expect it. You might be basking in hits this month, but you might also end up suffering through a dry spell the next.

The lesson here is to not let one success steer you away from your end goal. My advice is to hold on to that bit of money for a while and continue working at your website. Dream big if you want, but don't let those dreams get in the way of actually doing the work it takes for them to become reality.

Affiliate marketing strategies can advance your way to success. However, well-chosen ads and good reviews aren't the only factors for longevity. If you really want to make a career out of affiliate marketing, then you've got to pull all the stops. Learn everything you can about the industry and don't let an opportunity to gain more knowledge pass. Keep an eye on your website and create insights from every new experience. After all, it is only with considerable time and effort that you will really succeed.