Do you complement your income by promoting affiliate programs? This little trick has produced returns of 10,000% (yes you read correctly, 100 times! the initial investment) with very little effort, and no website required.

The concept behind affiliate marking is fairly simple - you use your website to advertise products from other sites that are related in some way to your business. Before committing to an affiliate program, you will need to consider a couple of pointers.

As the web continues to develop, retailers are constantly trying to adapt technological advances, utilizing the latest methods of capturing and converting new customers. Static text and graphics sites, those without any type of video, still predominate the Internet retailing landscape, which means that sites offering some type of video designed to convert sales are unique enough to garner a potential buyer's attention.

In this section, we will examine 10 ways in which you can protect your business against dishonest consumers. Above all, retailers must use common sense to guard against being ripped off. Look for the warning signs as discussed in the first part of this article and utilize the following strategies to ferret out potential perpetrators.

You have just received a large quantity order for one item that a customer wants sent overnight. You note that the billing address is not the same as the delivery address and that the consumer has a free e-mail account. It's one of the largest orders you've seen in a long time and you get right to the task of shipping it out. Wait a minute, not so fast. You may want to do a few things to protect yourself.

No matter what size your company may be, you need to develop a clearly articulated security policy for your employees to follow at all times. More than 40% of UK businesses, some of which are very large, do not have such a policy. Without a written document devoted specifically to Information Technology security, you run the risk of engaging in haphazard practices that can jeopardise your company's viability.

If you're a UK retailer involved in distance selling, then you will need to adhere to the Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI) Distance Selling Regulations (DSR) that were adopted in 2000.

You may still be using paper invoices and doing so for various reasons. Perhaps you're unsure of the viability of electronic invoicing? Or maybe you don't trust cyberspace? It may be that you're intimidated by the changeover or feel that it will take too much time and effort? The fact is paperless invoicing is easy, convenient and inexpensive.

There's good news for retailers: credit card losses due to fraud are down by 13%. Many attribute this to the use of Chip and Pin technology, which requires that a cardholder enter a pin number when purchasing items at a store. But there is also bad news.

Whether you're a supplier or a buyer, it's essential that when an electronic payment is made it reaches its destination in a timely manner, and securely.