So this is one of my big gripes with so many affiliate marketers and when I find my list members or people I am coaching making this same old mistake, I insist they consider rectifying it before they move on.
Ok, so when you join an affiliate program, you get what is called an affiliate link, which will be something like http://www.yourusername.theopportunityname.com or http://www.theproduct.com/yourusername
Something along those lines anyway and the thing is, not only does it look messy and unprofessional, it can lose you sales for a number of reasons.
1) your prospect will see you as an amateur and will not want to work with you for that reason.
2) your prospect will just remove your username and go straight to the main merchant page, meaning you lose the sale.
3) your prospect will type it wrongly and get someone else's afilliate landing page.
Whatever the reason that you lose your sale, the bottom line is the same, you lost it.
I always tell my mentees that before they put an affiliate link infront of any prospects, they must get themselves a domain that is relevant and catchy. One that has a name that will create interest in their prospects and get them to click on it.
Your ability to choose a domain name that will entice prospects to take action is something that will improve with practice.
The most important thing to do, is get that domain and forward and mask it so that when a prospect sees your domain and clicks on it, they are directed to your affiliate landing page but they never get to see your affiliate link.