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Make Money Recommending Books from Amazon.com

If you publish a website, blog or email newsletter list, you may find yourself recommending a book to your readers, many times by directing readers to Amazon.com. Did you know that you can get a commission for books purchased from Amazon as a result of your recommendation? The first thing you must do is become an Amazon Associate and configure your payment method. Then you can create associate links for each book or product you recommend. Use these links to point readers to products on Amazon.com. If the reader buys the product, you get a commission.

Sign up for an Amazon Associate account:

1. Go to http://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/join.
2. Click the Apply now button on the left-hand side of the page.
3. If you already have an Amazon.com account, you’ll use the email address and password you normally use.
4. Follow the sign up process. You’ll have to specify your address, website and a few other pieces of information.

Configure payment method. Once you are successfully signed up and are logged in, you’ll be prompted to specify a payment method. Or maybe you’ll want to change your payment method down the road. If you are a business, have your Tax ID in advance. If you are an individual, you’ll need your Social Security Number. Here is the process:

1. Click the Account Settings link at the top of any Amazon Associates page.
2. Under the Payment Information heading, click Change your payment method.
3. Complete your name, Tax ID Number and Organization Type.
4. Select your payment method.
5. If you choose direct deposit, you’ll have to specify bank account information.

There may be other instructions but this is the basic process.

Create links. Now that you are signed up and have your payment method selected, it’s time to create your first link. There are a couple ways of doing this but we’ll just stick to the most straightforward and versatile:

1. Click Build Links/Widgets under Tools in the Amazon Associates menu.
2. Click Text Links.
3. Under Link to Any Page at Amazon.com, specify the URL of the product you want to link to. For Name Your Link, type in the text you want to appear for that link. You probably won’t know the URL of the product off the top of your head. There is a link underneath the textbox that opens a new window. Find the product you want to link to in this new window. Copy the entire URL from the Address bar of your browser (on a PC, use the CTRL-A buttons command to Select All and CTRL-C buttons command to copy to the clipboard). Now go back to the link builder page and paste the URL you copied into the box under Enter the URL. Click Get HTML.
4. Copy the HTML code from the box.
5. Switch to editing your web, blog or newsletter code in HTML. Paste that code wherever you want the Amazon link to appear.

Now when anybody clicks that link and goes on to buy the product, you will get commission for that sale. For more on Amazon’s commission structure, login to your Amazon Associations account, click Account Settings and then Change your fee structure under Payment Information.