| How
to Profit From Affiliate Programs .............................................................by Dirk Dupon |
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An affiliate Program (also called associate, reseller or partnership program) is a revenue sharing system used by companies who market their products and services. The company you partner with has the products and services. Affiliate programs let you sell products of popular online merchants from your web site and in return pays you a percentage of sales as commission. Usually anywhere between 10-20% of the sale. There Are Different Types of Programs: 1. Pay per sale: If you refer a visitor to the online merchant's site and if he/she makes a purchase you get a percentage of the sale as commission. Depending on the merchant, the commission may be just for that purchase or for all the purchases that customer makes in his life time, or all purchases that customer makes in a fixed period of time (usually 6 months to 1 year). 2. Bounty: You get a one-time bounty payment for the customer you referred. You will not get commission on any future purchases that customer makes. 3. Pay per click: You get paid for every visitor you send to the online merchant regardless of any sale or purchase. Usually companies pay $0.05 - $0.10 per click. 4. Two-Tier: You get commission on direct sales you generate and also you get commission on sales generated by affiliates you recruited. Usually companies pay 15% commission for direct sales and 5% for sales generated by your affiliates. 5. Pay per lead: You get paid a one-time fee for generating a lead for the merchant. Usually you get paid $2-$5 if the visitor you referred fills out a questionnaire or application. Joining an affiliate program is easy, and in most cases free. The advantage is that you get access to products from huge companies like the online bookstore Amazon.com.
You will be invited to use the affiliates marketing stuff; banners, graphics, sales letters, and very importantly a guide on how to best market their products and services. You do the marketing, they take care of the orders and you get paid for sending them customers. Sounds great, right? It is a great way of earning some extra cash. But, before rushing off, read these important tips first. If you want to succeed in this business, you will need to be ahead of the rest. Begin with designing a good looking web site that is focused on content or a theme which you know a lot about. Then you may carefully pick a good affiliate program that can provide goods and services connected to your interest.
These web sites house some good Associate Programs: http://www.befree.com The Key to Selling An Affiliate Product The key to selling an affiliate product is to have a lot of information on a specific subject and then relate your affiliate product to that. Build up trust by supplying useful information on your chosen subject so that the visitor will see that you are knowledgeable and your affiliate recommendations will appear much more attractive. Suppose your web site is about Nascar racing. You can put recommended books on your site, or have a section where you list places people can write to order books about Nascar racing, auto sports, the history about Nascar, etc... Your visitors will buy those books (I hope for you) because they trust you, and you will earn a commission from every sale. This will be little bucks, but it gives your site credibility, and that is important! Do not forget to update your web site regularly.
Provide interesting content to keep your visitors interested, or they will turn away. Remember to give before you take! Selling an item for $19.95 is as difficult as selling it for $49.95. Beware of companies that only have affiliate programs to get new customers for a low cost, paying unfair commissions. A trustful two tier affiliate program will pay you 15-45% in residual commissions.
A few other sites that will help you finding good Associate Programs : -Associate Programs.com http://www.associateprograms.com By Allan Gardyne. A categorized and searchable directory of over 1000 revenue sharing programs, recommended programs, reviews, discussion board, etc. -The Toolkit Digest. To subscribe: the-toolkit- [email protected] A moderated discussion list for the exploration of affiliate programs. Two-tier commission programs not only pay you a commission for your own sales, but also for sales generated by others who you introduced to the program. This is an incentive for you to encourage others to join the program. However, your main focus should be on generating your own commissions. Do not depend on efforts of others to provide your income. Be Specific Too many web sites try to sell everything and they do not know who to sell to. Get products that people ask for and focus your communication and marketing efforts toward the audience that has an interest in your services. Of course, you get the best deal and the most money if you do something on your own. If you sell information and distribute it electronically you take 90-100% profit! Smart entrepreneurs get their own product line and sell it through their own affiliate program. Perhaps you do not have any of your own products or a service to sell? There are ways to solve this.
Article written by Dirk Dupon, author of: 'Web Site
and Ezine
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Tip:
Start with 1 program. Get it running smoothly
and then add another. I would advice 3 to 7 programs working
for you if the internet is a part-time business. If you do
it full time, you could handle more. Just
do not end up neglecting some
of them because you took on too much too soon.
Does the affiliate program offer you to join
without buying