It is certainly true that only a very select few individuals are successful in developing a sustainable, increasing residual income on the web with affiliate marketing. However, it isn’t because of obvious reasons. Many quit just a bit too early right before they would have realized their first taste of elusive success. Most of us know how the mechanism for a passive income is supposed to work, but we are misled by hype regarding the pertinent details that tie everything together.

The hyped-up products out there that claim to teach people how to create a passive income online are often rife obsolete methods and even straight up lies. In their flashy sales videos, they make it look as if it is just so easy to get rich fast. Most people have now become desensitized to this form of marketing, but scam artists are getting craftier with every new product that they launch. However, those that really do make a smart passive income on the net all use an effective three-piece formula that works every time and in every niche.

These three parts to the equation may make sense when you relate them individually to affiliate marketing, but you must use them holistically. When you evaluate any successful commission campaign, you’ll quickly notice that these components are an integral part to what drives their success. These three pieces to the puzzle are value, delivery, and momentum, but not necessarily in that order or any order. All three should be used throughout every step of setting up an affiliate marketing campaign to ensure a long-term, smart passive income.

Every profitable endeavor in the world of e-commerce is value-driven. It’s not just about the value of the specific product that is being marketed, but it is also about the value you can provide as someone referring the product for a commission. You have to go beyond expecting to leech commissions solely from the value of the product. As an affiliate, you must become a true matchmaker. Do not try to sell the specific product to every visitor coming to your site. You cannot make the product look as if it is the ideal solution for everyone. Show them how you had a similar problem to why your visitors came to your site, and then demonstrate what steps you have taken to find a solution and how it was the most suitable choice for you. Don’t forget to point out certain negatives to earn your readers’ trust, such as indicating that the customer service took longer than two business days to respond or whatever.

In order for any value to do you any good, you need a vehicle for delivery to your target audience. This isn't just about getting traffic; it’s about how you guide or funnel that targeted traffic with a calculated marketing mechanism to create a truly passive income. The easiest way to start is by creating a website that documents how you solved a specific problem and possibly offers a solution to others. Next, you will want to get targeted traffic from the best sources on the net. They involve, Google search, Facebook pages, YouTube videos, document sharing sites, blogging platforms, social media sites, etc. Don’t just go for one, such as Google, and solely rely on artificial means to boost your campaign’s visibility.

Provide value during every step of the way during your delivery process, but strategically integrate them all to funnel this traffic to your main website. With each level, continually warm up your audience to your offer. For example, you have a FB page with a few sentences and a link to a micro blog, on the micro blog you have a paragraph about a cool video on YouTube (and a link of course) , they watch the video on YouTube which is just a few minutes long and refers them to your website. People don’t come to Facebook for long-winded articles, and the same goes for micro blogs. You also want to keep your YouTube sales videos as concise but as informative as possible. Do not sell the product every step of the way; rather persuade them to go to the next step each time.

You also want to ensure that you are constantly building momentum when you are delivering value. Instead of creating single-page websites that sell a host of affiliate products from various, unrelated niches, work to build yourself up as an authority in one niche (at least for the beginning). With each commission campaign you create, you will need to learn more and more as you are delivering value to your audience. Stick to one niche to build momentum in learning, link building, and authority establishment. You now also have the momentum to offer something of value to build a list to deliver even more. Think of it as a snowball effect and your affiliate sales will show it.

Creating a passive income online isn't for everyone, and it continues to be evident as the simple mechanisms that make it work continue to elude 98% of those who try. However, those that are successful also take advantage of the same proven marketing concepts that help maximize revenue and sales online from each customer.