How to Use Affiliate Programs
If you are not familiar with affiliate programs they are your connection to 1000+ of companies that offer products and services. By having a free account you are able to acquire text links and banners that have a special code just for you. When a sale is made you are credited with a percentage of the sale which can be anywhere from 3% to 15% of that sale. The affiliate program takes care of the networking, code creation, and your monthly check all you have to do is insert the code and wait for someone to click on it.
That’s a very basic explanation of what’s involved. Now where to find affiliate programs? To start off you can have a look at my lens on some of the affiliate companies I use (you also see four banners to the right). Another option is to look on some of the websites you already recommend to people. Usually in the bottom in small print you will find an “affiliate” link that will explain what affiliate program the company uses, what they offer, and how you can sign up.
Basic Tips on Using Affiliate Banners/Links in Lenses: 
- Don’t overload your lenses with banners and text links to affiliate programs. A good rule of thumb is three at the most. Any more than that and your lens will be blocked, turn off viewers, or be badly ranked. The smaller (I refer to content here, not number of modules) your lens the less you should use.
- Spread out your banners. Don’t just pile all three on top of one another in one module. It looks spammy and unattractive.
- Use a text module to appropriately place one ad alone with no title or content or if you have a content lens put it at the bottom after a few lines of space so it looks separate.
- Center your banner.
- Don’t load up your profile or bio section with a bunch of ads related or not. Pick one good related ad.
- Keep the banner ads and text link on topic. A strategically placed on topic ad will do better than a bunch of banners in a row and that have nothing to do with the topic. If your lens is about power tools don’t add a banner ad on designer bags. Keep the topics related!
With properly placed banners and text links you have the potential to earn additional income above and beyond what you already make from Squidoo but you need to have the right balance. Start off with one affiliate company until you get the hang of it. My first company was Shareasale and it is still one of my favorites (linked to the right).