In a nut shell -- affiliate marketing is all about placing links on web page of any sort and then having your readers click on them.
When the links are clicked on you can make money per click or you can make a commission when somebody goes to the recommended site and then buys something.
It is in essence, a quiet, unobtrusive way of being a salesperson.
You don't necessarily need talent or even good grammar to write a blog.
You do however need a real passion for what you are writing about and to have some kind of idea of what you would like to sell that might be attached to your blog and the keywords that go along with it.
Once you have decided what you want to sell finding affiliate links is pretty simple.
Let's say that you want to write about exotic bonsai trees on a blog.
Your next step is to simply type in the words "bonsai - affiliate" into a big search engine like Google and you will be lead to scores of sites that have affiliate programs for selling bonsai.
Sometimes the affiliate link will also read "affiliate program", "associates" or "partners"...
there will normally be some kind of help section on how to sign up.
The good thing is that this signing up part of the affiliate program process is always free.
Depending on what type of program or site is mastering the affiliate program you can make money per click or on different rates of conversion.
You can also make money if you persuade someone else to join the same affiliate program.
A highly recommended source of affiliate revenue is Clickbank, which has an average commission rate of 50%.
The good thing about Clickbank is that the checks to affiliates do arrive in the mail on time every two weeks.
It is a very reliable site when it comes to payouts.