Affiliate Programs : Golden Opportunity or Waste of Time?

Written by Steven O. Ng


Continued from page 1

As they say, "No pain, no gain". Having your own store pays very well, but requires a substantial time investment from you.

Onrepparttar other hand, if you sign up for an affiliate program, all you need to do is set up a website to promoterepparttar 102226 program. Allrepparttar 102227 ads, banners, marketing text etc will be provided to you byrepparttar 102228 affiliate program. Your only responsibilities would be to get people to visit your website, and hopefully click onrepparttar 102229 affiliate links to buyrepparttar 102230 products that you are promoting.

3) CONVERSION

Whether you have your own business or are promoting an affiliate program,repparttar 102231 bottom line isrepparttar 102232 conversion rate, orrepparttar 102233 percentage of visitors that actually buy something from you. A number of factors influence this conversion rate. Factors as quality ofrepparttar 102234 product, quality ofrepparttar 102235 website, customer support are all important. However, I personally believe thatrepparttar 102236 most important factor is trust.

When a potential customer arrives at your website, he will need to trust your site enough for him to be willing to buy from you. After all, onrepparttar 102237 internet you are just a faceless salesman. He doesn't know who is actually runningrepparttar 102238 site and whether he will actually getrepparttar 102239 goods that he orders.

Having said that, one ofrepparttar 102240 key methods of garnering trust is by recommendation and referral. If a store is being referred to or recommended by another website,repparttar 102241 potential customer will feel thatrepparttar 102242 store is trustworthy. After all, ifrepparttar 102243 store is not trustworthy, why wouldrepparttar 102244 other website recommend it?

This is where affiliate programs shine. When you refer a potential customer torepparttar 102245 store for which you are an affiliate,repparttar 102246 customer will feel more relieved, sincerepparttar 102247 store is being recommended by your site, a 3rd party. The customer will be more likely to buy fromrepparttar 102248 store, benefiting bothrepparttar 102249 store, and you as well.

There are both pros and cons to joining an affiliate program. You might earn less with an affiliate program compared to starting your own store, but I believerepparttar 102250 benefits of not having to be responsible forrepparttar 102251 logistics makes affiliate programs are very viable "passive" source of income.

For more information on affiliate programs, do visit http://www.onlinebiz-help.com

Steven is the webmaster of http://www.onlinebiz-help.com - Your Guide To Internet Business. His website contains various resources on affiliate programs and internet marketing advice to help you succeed in your internet business.


Followup, The Secret to Success in Affiliate Marketing

Written by Robert Thompson


Continued from page 1

Special Announcements

Special Announcements arerepparttar next step in building trust, and generating activity within your afiliate team. If you discover a really exciting tool, or maybe an intriguing post on business forum that will be useful to your affiliates, make a special announcement to your team. This may not light a fire under every member of your team, but it only takes one or two folks to become active to really changerepparttar 102225 dynamics of your entire organization.

Delivering Your Messages

Most affiliate programs provide a simple autoresponder which allows you to send group messages. Most of these only haverepparttar 102226 capability of sending text messages, but to send your newsletters and announcements, they can be extremely effective. If you want to really get your teams attention, try using one ofrepparttar 102227 many commercially available autoresponders onrepparttar 102228 market today. These will allow you to set up and deliver not only text pages, but HTML documents as well. For those of you who aren't familiar with this, an HTML newsletter looks like a miniature Webpage, complete with color, banners and hyperlinks. This is a great way to give a little bit of pizzazz to your written communications.

Keep in mind, that you can send newsletters and special announcements to your team, even if your team only has a few members. By properly wording your messages, you can createrepparttar 102229 illusion that you are leading a very large organization. This lends credibility to your efforts, and your response rate will improve.

Continue to Refine your Messages

Look for words and phrases that have a tendency to "tell people what to do" and replace them with "suggestions and recommendations." Nobody likes to be told what to do, and when it happens,repparttar 102230 natural reaction is to rebel, or worse yet, to ignore your message. When this happens, you risk losing your affiliate forever.

Enlistrepparttar 102231 Support of Others

When you finally do get a couple of interested and active affiliates, involve them in your daily activities. There are two immediate benefits to doing this. First, you will build a relationship that benefits both of you, because both have unique qualities to contribute torepparttar 102232 business relationship. For instance, their talents can be exploited inrepparttar 102233 areas of editing and proofreading. Second, you will be able to train your affiliate on how to proceed in their business. You will be able to pass on key knowledge as to what has worked for you, and what to avoid.

Remember, if you are getting a lousy response to your followup efforts, chances are that you only need to refine what you are doing. Use Ecards to get a reader's attention. Keep your messages short and simple. Be sincere. Build trust among your team members with newsletters and special announcements. Continually refine your messages, and enlistrepparttar 102234 support of others on your team.

By following this short lesson, you should see a dramatic improvement in your response rate, and a corresponding increase in your commission checks. : )



Robert Thompson is retired from the United States Air Force. He has operated several successful businesses. He is a Team Leader with SFI and helps others to create wealth from the comfort of their homes. To find out how you can share in the multi-billion dollar home business industry, visit http://stay-home-and-earn.com For a free copy of the Stay at Home Jobs Newsletter, send a blank Email to News@badbobrst.par32.com


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