Affiliate programs - pros and cons

Hi all,

I would like to hear your opinion on affiliate programs.

Most of the products I know have affiliate programs, but I'm not sure what is the percentage of new customers they get from the affiliates compared to all new customers they generate.

It is certain that a person who would like to recommend your product would do it even without paying him. On the other hand, if I am interested in some product, I woud be more willing to recommend it to others if I get some profit from that..

Are you, personally, member of some affiliate program? Do you generate good enough profit from that? What product would you become an affiliate for?

I know a person who's generating $3-4K a month from amazon's affiliate program, just by writing book reviews, but he's really fond of books so he does that in his spare time, with pleasure. I think if one really likes a product / service, he can definitely benefit from an affiliate program..without too much effort

Looking forward to hearing your pros and cons..

Rgds

Chi