Affiliate Programs : Golden Opportunity or Waste of Time?

Written by Steven O. Ng


Now thatrepparttar idea of doing business overrepparttar 102226 internet has been firmly established, many potential internet businessmen are searching forrepparttar 102227 best way to do business. Usuallyrepparttar 102228 choice comes down to whether you want to set up your own business and online store, or sign up for an affiliate program.

First of all, let's define what we mean by an affiliate program. An affiliate program is basically an internet business set up by someone else. They could be selling physical goods, education, information or any other products that can be sold online. By signing up as their affiliate, you are helping them promote their business or store. In return, they will pay you a commission for each sale you bring them. The amount of commission varies between different affiliate programs. Examples of affiliate programs include Amazon.com and Wordtracker, which you can visit at:

http://www.onlinebiz-help.com/links/wordtracker.html

1) EARNINGS

So how does an affiliate program differ from starting your own online store? Let's start by looking atrepparttar 102229 potential earnings. (After all,repparttar 102230 main reason everyone wants to start an internet business is forrepparttar 102231 money). When you sign up for an affiliate program, you will be paid a commission for each sale you refer torepparttar 102232 online store. This commission can range from 5% to 15% for physical products, and possibly up to 50% or more for virtual products such as subscriptions and ebooks.

Onrepparttar 102233 other hand, if you start your own store, your profit can be much higher. For virtual products, your profit can be 100% of your selling price. After all, oncerepparttar 102234 newsletter or ebook is created, you do not need to spend any more effort. When someone buys your ebook, they just download it from your website. If you are selling a physical product, your profit depends on whether you are manufacturingrepparttar 102235 product yourself, or buying from a wholesaler or dropshipping company. Your profit in this case could easily be more than 40% or 50%.

So, if you only considerrepparttar 102236 potential earnings, starting your own business is more lucrative than joining an affiliate program.

2) LOGISTICS

However, money isn't everything (Or so they say). When you are starting your own internet business, there are a number of logistic issues you need to look at. Here are a few things you would need to take care of:

a) Create your website b) Design your product (if you are selling new products) c) Create your product (if you are selling new physical products, or any virtual products) d) Set up an online store e) Set up a merchant account or payment gateway f) Set up a warehouse or storage space (if you are selling physical products) g) Have procedures and staff ready to fulfill orders h) Set up an affiliate program to get others to marketrepparttar 102237 products for you i) Monitor for fraud j) Monitor stock levels

Followup, The Secret to Success in Affiliate Marketing

Written by Robert Thompson


Followup, The Secret to Success in Affiliate Marketing

Whether promoting SFI, Goji, Amway or any other Affiliate Marketing program, it seems that I always hearrepparttar same complaints from other affiliates in those programs.

"I never hear from my downline!" or "No matter how many times I write, My downline affiliates never seem to get involved." In fact, this is very common throughoutrepparttar 102225 affiliate marketing industry. In most cases it takes as many as 100 new affiliates to gain one who is active and will actually take action to build a business.

This is totally unacceptable, and avoidable if you use proper followup techniques. In fact,repparttar 102226 one in one hundred ratio can be improved dramatically by using a solid followup plan. The plan included in this article has four parts that if followed, will cause your affiliate marketing results to skyrocket.

Get Your Reader's Attention

What I mean by this, is that you need to get them to actually read what you have to say. Those interested in a business opportunity usually sign up for several different programs. Each of these programs is competing forrepparttar 102227 readers attention, and as a result, your messages can easily be lost inrepparttar 102228 clutter.

What is needed is a way to make your messages stand out fromrepparttar 102229 crowd. Snappy headlines help, but to really get a reader's attention, try using Ecards in your followup program. Ecards have a couple of advantages that can ignite your followup campaign. First, everybody likes getting a greeting card and when they see a notice in their in box that someone has sent them a card, their natural curiosity getsrepparttar 102230 best of them, and they openrepparttar 102231 card. Second, most Ecard providers provide a tracking service that notifies you when a card has been opened. This allows you to gaugerepparttar 102232 effectiveness of your followup campaign.

Here are a couple of hints that will definitely help you inrepparttar 102233 use of Ecards. First, limitrepparttar 102234 use of these cards to special occasions. Your initial introduction, and a congratulatory message upon completion of a training event should dorepparttar 102235 job. Do not over use them, or Ecards can become ineffective. Second, keep your messages short and sweet. The idea is to get your reader used to dealing with you. After a couple of contacts, they will be more likely to look for your Email address on normal correspondence.

Ecards are available from a variety of sources and are usually provided for free byrepparttar 102236 major Internet Service Providers. You can also purchase custom cards for a smalll fee from companies like Hallmark.

Write a Newsletter

Getting responses from your downline affiliates is all about building trust and your initial contact is onlyrepparttar 102237 beginning. In order to develop this trust, follow up on a regular basis with a newsletter to your entire organization. Make your newsletter fun and upbeat. Include a useful article or two, and a couple of references to useful tools. Also, if one of your affiliates achieves a milestone, for instance Top 100 placement, mention it in your letter with a congratulation and a nice reward. Spend some money for a co-op share for them, or send them a free Ebook.

"But I only have a couple of affiliates right now" you say.

It doesn't matter if you have two or two thousand affiliates in your downline. The effects arerepparttar 102238 same. By sending out a newsletter to your affiliates, you will generate interest, establish yourself as a leader, and as someone who cares about your team members. This goes a long way toward establishing trust and fostering teamwork.

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