I've been in the affiliate marketing space for almost 20yrs and have done well both as an affiliate and an affiliate manager. I created sites early on (late 90's) when I just had an Amazon banner up and even as recent as November, 2016 I sold a subscription box affiliate website. I've managed small to large multi-million dollar affiliate programs (Buyseasons, Lenovo, etc...), sit on the board of Affiliate Summit the largest affiliate marketing conference.
Although this space changes a lot, some things stay the same. I hope there's something you can take from this.
Also check this link out to explore more on affiliate marketing (deck included)
http://www.affiliatemission.com/heres-free-affiliate-marketing-best-practices-lesson/