No other business venture seems so inviting, or attracts so many people as affiliate marketing. The problem is that people make it way more complicated than it really is.

On the surface, affiliate marketing appears to be an easier and faster way to generate some serious cash online. And it really is if you know the rules of the game.

There are right and wrong kinds of affiliate programs. However, today we'll discuss the number of affiliate programs you should be promoting. This can make the difference between short term and long term income.

Relying on one or two affiliate programs to pull in the bulk of your income is suicide. If that one affiliate program income goes away you're not much better off than when you started. You must consciously work to secure multiple streams of income to realize any kind of long term security.

The goal of any business is to discover what works best most of the time. When you only have experience with one or two affiliate programs your experience base is limited. It becomes difficult to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different programs. There are many possibilities for marketing affiliate programs and having knowledge of one or two will not give you that universal experience base needed to continually improve your business.

Some business owners have the opposite problem. They join way too many affiliate programs. The biggest hurdle to overcome in affiliate marketing, or any internet marketing are the distractions. There are so many different ways and approaches of doing things that you can easily be derailed into believing your making progress when all you do is check out the latest fade or try to learn the latest marketing approach.

You can think only one thought at a time. Whether you're working on a specific project or not, having too many potential ideas on your mind or resident on your hard drive is a big part of overwhelm and confusion. The result is you don't take action or worst, fail to complete anything you start.

Having been where you probably are, I have found that working five to six programs in a niche gives you enough variety. You can easily focus on this amount of activity and reap the benefits we mentioned above. You gain valuable experience that allows you to compare the strengths and weaknesses in the affiliate marketing game. You develop a portfolio of affiliate programs that provide multiple income streams that can survive hard times.

There are proven programs that meet the criteria mentioned above. They have long, successful and proven track records for helping people get established online and turning a profit in a very short time.

However, no matter which niche market you select, diversify your affiliate portfolio. Find five or six quality, generous paying affiliate programs to promote. Your future will be brighter in the short-term and the long-term.