Affiliate marketing is a business model in which one could start without a website. It is mostly a myth that a website is completely needed in order to be successful online. Therefore, promoting affiliate products or services can be done through alternative strategies that can generate free traffic and leads, which will in time, translate into profit.
Marketing affiliate links or products with free tactics can range through a variety of methods in the Affiliate Marketing business model. All free methods can be highly valuable if incorporated strategically into an online business.

Email Marketing-

Promoting affiliate links using email can be extremely effective to a list. Having a list of many people who are potential customers; or being apart of a membership site, both allow you to use email marketing as a means of promotion. Through this way of marketing you can email these people an affiliate link which will divert them to an affiliate site. If they follow your affiliate link and purchase the product/service, you will get a commission.

Article Marketing-

Submitting an article to a directory and getting highly targeted traffic to an article on a specific niche is common. However, many article directories have stopped allowing authors to put an affiliate link in the author’s signature area. The goal with article marketing is to find directories which will allow you to place affiliate links so you can proceed to build highly targeted traffic to the affiliate programs you’re promoting and then eventually convert this traffic into profit.

Yahoo Answers-

Marketing in Yahoo Answers consists of finding people who are asking related questions to your product, and then promoting your affiliate link through your answer. However, simply pushing the affiliate link will not be effective enough to make a sale, but providing a good and valuable answer in addition to asking the asker to visit the affiliate site. This tactic will dramatically increase the chances of making commissions and attaining leads through Yahoo Answers.

Ebook Marketing-

Viral ebook marketing is another form of marketing that can promote your affiliate programs. Viral marketing is where you can create an ebook which explains certain information which can be valuable for the readers and make them want to share this information with their friends by passing the ebook around. Within this viral ebook strategy the author leaves affiliate links at strategic locations in the ebook content, and as the readers click the links they will be taken to the appropriate affiliate sales page. The entire concept of viral marketing lays in the fact that the more this ebook is passed around the better the chances are for making sales.

These are only some of the methods that can be used in generating traffic to certain affiliate programs using affiliate links. If done properly, these methods; such as article marketing, ebook marketing, and email marketing, can provide highly targeted traffic to these programs for possibly many years, or as long as the links remain active. There are various other methods that can generate traffic and without having “your very own website”. The tactic of not having to have your own website will make the goal of becoming a successful internet marketer easier to attain; especially if one is just starting out.

Although it is possible to start some affiliate based programs even without a website, and some profitable offline packages are already found on and off the net, but once you have your own website you can have better chances to earn an income from that. SEO is going to help generating traffic for that in the long term and then by joining some top paying programs, your monthly revenue would be fixed.

Of course you can have a profitable online business without having a website. There are a ton of affiliate programs you can promote on Facebook and other sites.

Yes you can have profitable business without having your own website, but possesing it would be for sure helpful in that matter.

However, now a days, having website doesn't cost you much but what you need to focus on its promotional aspect.

I think that Email marketing is a bad technique

There's nothing wrong with email marketing as a technique. If properly managed, it can be a phenomenal tool.

You have to be careful and be innovative about the e-mail marketing.It should not look as Spam.There are different ways to do that.

Let's not forget also :

Social Media Marketing

Sure, you don't need a website, but I think it could be a very helpful tool, along with the other strategies outlined. Websites have become so cheap that it wouldn't take a big chunk out of profits either.

You're absolutely right - websites can be an invaluable investment.

Well, it is a good discussion already and I think I will not harm it by saying that posting articles in a forum (where people are suppose to have discussions) is not the best practice.

Now on the topic. I do no understand "Ebook Marketing", but from what I've read it is a form of referring visitors to any URL through content (eBook) and it looks interesting.

While you are still able to make money selling affiliate products without running a website, I would recommend to create on if you want better results. I read that your promoting links should point to your website listing the affiliate products instead of the product owners' websites.

How to manage it to not be considered as spam?

Thanks for the great post!

I find that yahoo answers is the best way to get quick and effective results. Cause it opens you to already seeking customers, for the required product or service you are marketing. Giving greater conversion ratio.

Only send your emails to people who have specifically asked for them, and make the content relevant, informative, punchy and readable, not just an advert for whatever you're promoting this week