A newbie strikes

Hi guys,

I'm a newbie to the field thirsty for info and clarification. Can you kindly confirm the following statements:

(i) I understand that the first step in online marketing is to find a good niche and market. Upon choosing such a market, I then start looking for particular products to join as an affiliate. Next I will have a hop link linking to the sales page to start promoting the product. Am I correct to say that to do this, one must either send the link to an email list or else master SEO techniques so as to feature one's link on search engines?

(ii) If I already am affiliated to a product with its own sales page which does not contain an opt in feature, is it possilbe for me to include one? If the page does not allow me to do so, how can I create an opt-in to this page? (to clarify - the salespage was built by the product owner and I was only given the hoplink to it)

(iii) I have quite a good list to start off with. When I choose the product I want to JV with, can I offer my traffic to sell their product in exchange for their list of contacts so as to increase traffic and focus the market more? If so, how is this done?

(iv) What programme can be used to send emails which are automatically personalised with the receiver's name?


Thanks for your time,
Josette