If you are new to the online industry, affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to get started.  It's inexpensive to begin, it's easy to learn and it's promoting products that other people are already searching for.  You can build up income to start your own business, you can just supplement your income or you can eventually earn a full time income.  

Affiliate marketing has other advantages as well.  By joining a good affiliate program, they will provide you with plenty of tools that will help you learn how to successfully promote their products.  This will teach you the basics of how to market your product for free as well as give you a pretty good idea of how to write good sales copy just from their promotional material.  This is a great start for any type of business you choose to venture into at a later date.

Like any area you choose to pursue in the online industry, there are certain rules you should follow for affiliate marketing as well.  Find one product to promote and stay with that one product until you have learned how to create campaigns that are successful.  Don't choose one product and because you aren't making any money within the first couple of weeks, drop that product and move on to another one.  Give it at least a month before you make that decision.  One of the major components to having success in this industry is to constantly test your campaigns.  

This is the way you gain experience.  The more experience you have, the more income you will make.  Be sure to choose your programs carefully.  You want to be able to learn as you earn and receive the maximum benefits from your efforts.   This is why affiliate marketing is a great way to start.

The programs you join are only as good as the work you put into them.  How you choose to work your business is up to you.  If you put in little time and effort, you will see minimal results.  But, if you choose to put in whatever it takes to succeed, you can start making a comfortable living through your hard work.  It's up to you.