Now that visitors are starting to trickle into your site, go ahead and shop around for some affiliates. Affiliates are web-based companies that will pay you--usually with a commission--to refer people to their site. You'll find your best success in sticking with affiliate programs that are closely related to your subject matter. There are a couple of good affiliate listings like Associate-It and Refer-It.

Regardless of what other affiliates you might select, you are also going to want to have a bookstore. Your bookstore should be a separate page that is prominently linked to your main page (be sure to call it a bookstore so people know you have items for sale). I highly recommend Amazon.com, because your visitors will feel most comfortable dealing with a familiar company. Include pictures and descriptions for a selection of items that are specifically related to your site, as well as a search box that will let people browse for additional titles. I have been amazed at how many people will leave my site via the Amazon link to shop for totally unrelated merchandize--but I still get credited for the sale!

Track the progress of your affiliate links closely. If they aren't producing profits, then switch to something new. Amazon.com will provide reports that show how many clicks each of your bookstore items has produced. Use these reports to adjust your site accordingly. You even might want to display one popular item directly on your main page.

When your site is generating decent traffic (at least 500-1000 hits a day), start shopping around for a sponsor. Don't jump the gun, because good sponsor companies are very selective about the sites they choose, with the main criteria being the amount of traffic you produce. They are also going to be looking very carefully at the content and design of your pages, so make sure your site is fine-tuned and polished before applying. Read the application criteria and make sure you qualify before you apply.

There are a lot of sponsor companies out there. You want to find a reputable company that produces banner ads for prominent companies--no one is going to click on "no name" banners. I use eAds and adClix, which both pay webmasters ten cents every time someone clicks on one of their ads. Plus, they let me choose from a selection of ad banners, which lets me match ads to the content on my pages. Here is a list of additional sponsor companies.

Put a maximum of three advertisements on each page. Banners at the tops of pages will usually produce more clicks.