Affiliate Marketing Secrets

I was contemplating doing one. They don’t cost any money except to purchase a domain name. I do know they require you to fix any problems that may occur with the site, from a control panel at the site. That might be a bit of a challenge for me, I would think.
Then there would be the advertising. If done by email, anything other than ‘permission based’ email marketing is not tolerated.
Any information would be helpful. Good stories, bad stories, advice, places to advertise, etc.