Affiliate Programs

Become An Affiliate

There are a good number of affiliate programs on the net, each of which will need to be scrutinized if you intend representing them as an affiliate/associate/reseller/referrer/partners, etc. Small business can use affiliate programs to create a new revenue stream for their business using their website.

For example, you are a landscaper. You could become an affiliate for a company that sells gardening supplies and other products related to your business. You would get a commission for each sale without having to be bothered with actually handling the products. Also you could sell to people outside your local area through your website.

WARNING...DO NOT join any affiliate program that:

Is really just a way to legally bribe folks to recommend overpriced, "un"-delivering products in order to collect large commissions.
Uses a "Pay-per-click" method of payment. In this method, you get paid whenever a visitor clicks on your link. No purchase or lead-generation necessary. Unfortunately, it's wide open for abuse.
Has a Multi-tier commission -- this is MLM, which is perfectly legal, of course. But, unlike 2-tier, the incentive switches from selling products to signing up people in your down line. Best to avoid these programs.
Practices any unethical conduct.
Provides slow and/or poor support.
Has reports of late or no payment to affiliates.
Provides confusing or very little information about the affiliate program. What kind of priority could it have?
Has dead links on the merchant site.
Has no clear anti-spamming policy visible on the site.
Allows spam, or seems to spam themselves.
Promotes "get-rich-quick" gimmicks.
Has a defective joining process. (How well do you think their payments process will work?)
Appears financially unstable. Sometimes hard to tell, but worth looking into especially if they pay recurring commissions.

How Can You Identify a Profitable Affiliate Program?

How long has the affiliate program been around? A new affiliate program is not necessarily a bad thing, but unfortunately they may still be working out some kinks. Also, they might not have much in the way of promotional material for you to use. An established affiliate program on the other hand, will usually have payment schedules, tracking statistics, and ad creation down to a science. The longer a program has been around, the better the chances are that it is successful too.
How much commission can you earn? Some affiliate programs pay very little. Some as low as 2%! Others offer outrageously high commissions- up to 75% in some cases. Why the difference? Usually, it's related to the products or services being offered. Unfortunately, the commission structure can cause a program to fail too. Let me explain...
A company who sells products or services with a 30% profit margin, might decide to only offer 10% affiliate commissions. This, in their mind, is safe, because it allows the company to generate enough profit to continue operating. Another company however, might decide that paying affiliates more money will make them grow faster, so they'll decide to offer a 25% commission... leaving themselves with only 5% profit. With very little potential for profit, a company is much more likely to fold, or at the very least close their affiliate program. So, try to weigh the long-term value of a given commission structure, with both the stability and profitability of the company, before choosing which program to join.
Would you use the products? This may seem like a no-brainer, but it really is hard to promote a product you wouldn't use. (I mean, why would you bother?) If you really like something, really believe in it, it will come out every time you talk or write about it. You'll find yourself referring personal use with conviction. And these brief mentions can turn into sales. Sales that you'll make commissions from.
It is possible to promote a product that you don't use. For example, as a webmaster, I don't need to use the services of a professional web designer. But, I can check out their work and prices and see what experience others have had with them. Based on that information, I can make a recommendation.But it won't have the same force as personal use.
How many products or services do they provide? The number of products or services can make a huge difference in your earnings through affiliate programs. You want your visitor to make a purchase, don't you? In general, the more the products and services your affiliate programs provide, the more likely your visitor is to find what they were looking for and order it.

So, do a little research before selecting your affiliate programs. Dig into the company's website and see what you can find. If you're still not sure, I wouldn't join unless they are the only provider of that product available and the probability of that isn't too high.

Start Your Own Affiliate Program

Affiliate marketing is simply an inexpensive way of hiring sales people to sell your products and services. No sales, no money spent on your part. For each sale, you pay a commission (percentage or flat rate) to the affiliate that sent you the customer. You use affiliate tracking software programs to track how many sales result from each affiliate (advertiser). You build a team of affiliates who happily promote your products and services for a commission and you sit back and wait for customers.

The Benefits of an Affiliate Program
If you are selling products or services on the Internet, and aren’t yet using an affiliate marketing strategy, you are doing business the hard way. Having affiliate programs in place entice advertisers to promote your products. Advertisers can simply add affiliate links and banners to their websites, newsletters, e-zines or promotional email to recommend your products and services.

Amazon is probably the most well-known pioneer of affiliate marketing. Without an affiliate program they would have ended up just another web-mall. But with an affiliate program Amazon has grown into an online shopping giant.

The primary benefits of starting an affiliate program are:

Generate Website Traffic- As affiliates post your website link on their websites you have many more avenues for traffic.
Get Incoming Links- Similarly, as you increase the amount of affiliates promoting your products or services the incoming links to your website grows.
Higher Page Rank, Popularity and Search Engine positioning - the number of incoming links are one of the factors that increase page rank.
Increases Sales- the more potential customers you have the more you will sell. Period.
Improve branding and website awareness- you no longer are alone in advertising your products and services, you have a cost effective sales force spreading the word about your products and services.

You have nothing to lose and lots to gain by starting an affiliate program. For information on affiliate tracking software, Click Here.