I am a big proponent in using content to build long-term affiliate sites, and I produce lots of my own original content on a regular basis, but that’s just not scalable for many sites.

I’ve used EzineArticles for years to provide fresh content to sites.

But depending on how often you post and the number of sites you’re running, you could hit the maximum quick on EzineArticles, per their Terms of Service…

• If you wish to publish/reprint any article from our site in your ezine, website, blog, forum, RSS feed or print publication, you must:
• Agree to limit the number of articles reprinted to no greater than taking 25 articles from our site per calendar year per unique domain that you own. In addition, for domain owners of many domains, you may not reprint more than 250 articles per year (10 sites x 25 articles reprinted per domain).

That should be plenty if you’re just looking to supplement other content, but what if you don’t have time to produce your own material? Brafton, is a pretty good service that I have used in the past.  A little pricey but they do very good work.  If you are not familiar with Brafton, they are an online news agency that provides unique and exclusive news content written by in house journalists.

If you are certain that your web site can generate fantastic sales for a certain company, contact them to negotiate a tailored arrangement. If they aren’t too enthusiastic to begin with, be patient – companies are approached every day by affiliates wanting to cut a “better deal”. The reality of it is that many affiliates cannot deliver what they promise, and the companies are aware of this. Implement their links and banners, go the extra mile with articles and other unique strategies, generate some sales and then approach them again. You’ll probably find that they’ll have a change of heart. Good affiliates are a scarce thing, and if you are performing they’ll be very keen to keep you!

Also bear in mind that most forms of advertising take some time to kick into gear. Putting a link up for a couple of days and then pulling it down because it is not generating any interest may not be a reflection on the product, but just in the way that it is being presented to your web site visitors. If you have run successful campaigns before, try to remember the elements that made it a success. What works for one product may not necessarily for another, but it’s worth a try. Again, if you are having problems with promotion, contact the company. They will more than likely have thousands of affiliates and will know what strategies are working. A good advertiser may even go to the trouble of reviewing your site and provide you with some tips and hints based on their observations.  Keep up the good work and you’ll be a list manager before long.  Performance based marketing isn’t easy but it’s great to earn good cash!