How to get started with affiliate marketing as a complete newbie?

How to get started with affiliate marketing as a complete newbie?

I know what you're thinking, but Mike, you're not a complete newbie to affiliate marketing. You've been doing it for the past 15 years. Surely you don't need to ask questions like that about affiliate marketing because you're far from newbie!

I know, but I still like to hear peoples answers on this question! And I'm still learning myself! Every now and then, someone will bring something refreshing and new to the table and I'll be able to learn something new from that. Of course, if you asked me how to get started with affiliate marketing today, my response would be different to that if you'd asked me 5+ years ago, because affiliate marketing is rather like SEO, it's a constantly evolving and changing thing in that what used to work 5+ years ago, probably doesn't work as well or at all today. And what was a good affiliate company to work for before, might be old hat ant not even exist by now!

So if someone asked you, a friend or perhaps one of your clients, how to get started with affiliate marketing as a complete newbie today? What would you tell them?