First off, never try to sell anything. This might sound counter-intuitive, but if you focus on sales, you will become one of those bastards that writes late night infomercials selling false promises and results that only exist in children's fiction.
Instead, always focus on providing value. I could recommend many things, but I only recommend things that I personally love, and think those in my niche will also love. I'm not out to convince anyone about anything, rather, I'm out to share the benefits that I have received from a product, and let others make up their own minds for themselves if they think they would also get the same benefits.
Somewhere along the line, probably with the horrible advertising abuse that is visible everywhere now, the words affiliate, marketing, sales and mailing list - some of the most common terms in this business - got negative connotations. Affiliates are simply people that like a product and are happy to tell others that are interested about why they like it. Marketing is just connecting buyers and sellers which is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT for EVERY business. Sales is getting product into the right people’s hands and a mailing list is a way to keep in touch with people that have similar interests as you.
In all of these examples, the Internet Marketer brings value to everyone involved. The reason these terms get a bad name is because lots of people are liars and cheats. Just focus on giving value to your prospects and clients, and neither reputation nor sales will ever be a problem.