Would you like to be able to promote your Web site without having to pay a dime until after you've made a sale from the promotion?

Of course you would!

In this column I will give you the basics of a no-cost Web site promotion strategy called affiliate programs.

Affiliate programs, associate programs and revenue-sharing programs are basically the same thing. By definition they are pay-per-performance models that allow you to pay a percentage of a sale.

For example, if you sign up to sell one of my software programs, I would pay you 30 percent when someone buys as a result of your efforts. Because you can't reach everyone on the Internet by yourself, it is in your best interest to have affiliates that will be willing to promote your products with the understanding that you only pay them a commission when there is a sale.

Basically, with an affiliate program you pay for sales instead of clicks and impressions, which means you can reach your target market faster than you ever could on your own.

Following are three steps to getting started with your own affiliate program.

. Get the affiliate technology - There are two options here. You can do it yourself (you can get help with this at www.AdvancedMarketingSystem.com) or you can hire an affiliate management company (try www.cj.com or www.linkshare.com). If you're on a tight budget you can opt for the do-it-yourself option, or if you want a more hands-off approach the affiliate management companies service most of the Fortune 500, and they pay your affiliates for you.

. Help your affiliates - To achieve the most success you will want to help your affiliates by giving them access to sample ads and suggestions on promotions they can do. If you have sample ads that are working, then make sure to tell your affiliates about them. This is important because your serious affiliates will want to know what ads get the best results for you. This allows them to hit the ground running while promoting your products. Because you did your homework you will come across as having your act together.

This will pay off big for you if you find out what your metrics are first and then have proven ads for your affiliates to use.

If you have access to a sequential auto-responder service, you can set up a training program that can automatically e-mail your new affiliates on Day 1, Day 3, Day 7, Day 14 and Day 21, and then on a bi-weekly or monthly basis as you discover special offers or new ads that work.

After following the first two steps, you will want to get the word out about your affiliate program by using the next strategy.

. Use affiliate directories - One of the best ways to increase the awareness of your affiliate program is to announce that you have one to your opt-in e-mail list and submit the details of your affiliate program to affiliate directories. To learn more about affiliate program directories you might want to find your way to www.AssociatePrograms.com or www.Refer-it.com.

Starting your own affiliate program is something you want to consider once you have successful ads to give to your affiliates. Make sure you add this strategy to your marketing plan. Meanwhile, if there is a Web marketing topic you would like me to cover in future columns, please submit your question/topic at www.AskDionJones.com.