The key to affiliate marketing basics is finding a niche. In order to find a profitable niche, you must do a little research.
Tip: When I first started affiliate marketing, I was told "if you are not going to do the proper research, then do not go any further." That sentence sunk in and has stayed with me.
The first thing you will need to do is use a free keyword tool, my personal favorite is Traffic Travis, however there are several others out there. Google has it's own keyword tool also, which is very useful.
Use qualifying keywords to narrow down the market you have chosen. You can use qualifying words such as : find, learn, buy etc.. Buy is a good one because these people are obviously ready to buy. Look at it like this: You find a hungry market that has a problem, and you are simply solving their problem by giving them what they already want.
Once I have narrowed down my niche, I head over to Google to do a little more digging.
If you type your keywords into Google, to the right it will give you how many searches for that keyword or keyword phrase. If you put that keyword/phrase in quotations, it will give you how many competing websites use that phrase.I personally go for the a phrase that has under 30,000 competing websites. The reason is, I know I can get on the first page of Google. If there are millions you will never be found. You also want to pay attention to the number of sponsored links that run down the right hand side. If you have quite a number of those, then you know they are making money with those keywords.
Keep in mind that one of the important affiliate marketing basics is finding a profitable niche. A niche could be a hobby, dogs (people love their animals), business, relationships, beauty, weight loss, affiliate marketing and so forth. If you know about the subject that is a bonus, if you don't, you will have to do more research and learn about that market.
Affiliate Marketing Basics - Finding a Niche