what to look for when selecting a good affiliate program

i check a lot of thing, when i look for a good affiliate programe.
i first see if it is popular, check the pr and alexa ranks, then hear some feedback from friends etc.........
then i check how much they pay, what is the work like and how frequently the checks etc comes. more over the minimum payment also matters!
i was making a affiliate site list on my web directory, and there are a lot of sites still to be put up. cheers!

 

To mvjenn20: One thing that causes frustration and great loss to most affiliates is that they look at the numerical figure in terms of commission that is associated with a particular affiliate program; not knowing that the products or services aren't sale-able. I think, one should look at how big is the possible marketplace for a particular set of products or services. If it's not as big as you think, then do you think you have the capacity or the power to advertise it?

Just like what most people have said here, it should be a 2-way business between merchants and affiliates.

Hey guys, from all of the information that we have here, how about if we summarize all of the information gathered here and make something -- say an article or whatever -- out of it? I'm sure this will be a great help to people who ar thinking about becoming an affiliate. How's that for our first group project?