It's back-to-school time! And with the back-to-school season the second largest retail season (second only to the major holidays), affiliates have a great opportunity to boost their earnings.

Some great verticals for affiliates to focus on promoting during the back-to-school season are fashion and apparel. That's right: every kid, tween, teen, and college kid is going to need new threads. Not only is summer ending and autumn on its way in, but every student is thinking about making an impression on their classmates when they head back to the classroom for the first time in months.

With the back-to-school season such a big retail season, consumers are also looking to save where they can. So affiliates should also consider promoting back-to-school fashions that offer consumers savings. Merchants with special deals and coupons, then, offer and added opportunity for affiliates' back-to-school campaigns.

With the Underground Hip Hop affiliate program, for example, affiliates can reach out to all the tweens, teens, and college kids looking for some new urban threads. Affiliates can promote 1,000 different t-shirt designs, 100 different sweatshirt/jacket designs, and 100 hat designs. There's really something for just about any urban-minded back-to-schooler.

In addition to a 60-day cookie and flat CPA of 10%, UGHH.com also offers affiliates a number of coupon deals to promote. Affiliates can offer their users coupon codes to save 10% off on all orders, $10 on orders of $75 or more, or $25 on orders of $150 or more.

And for affiliates looking to target the back-to-school ladies, there's the Stylefly affiliate program. Emphasizing wearable, feminine pieces from popular women's designers, it's the perfect opportunity for affiliates looking to target girls who want to head back to the classroom looking smart.

Stylefly also offers affiliates coupon codes. Through the Stylefly affiliate program, affiliates can offer their users coupon codes that will save them 25% on orders Store-Wide, until September 30th, 2009.

As for those back-to-schoolers who think that they're, well, too cool for school, affiliates can promote the T-Shirtmonster affiliate program. In addition to featuring a 60-day cookie, affiliates can promote thousands of cool designs. T-Shirtmonster also lets them create their own custom T-Shirts within minutes -- and we all know how much tweens, teens, and college kids like to express their individuality!

With the way that consumers spend before heading back to the classroom, affiliates can't afford to miss out on this seasonal trend. And since everyone needs new threads for the changing season and to strut their stuff, apparel is a great vertical for affiliates to promote.

What affiliates should do, then, is look for affiliate programs that let them promote apparel that appeals to kids, tweens, teens, college kids and their parents. And if they can offer those parents some extra savings, all the better.