How to select an affiliate program that works for you

Written by Thomas Wall


How to select an affiliate program that works for you

Affiliate programs are a great means of earning some handy cash; but not all affiliate programs are profitable. Some will only take up your time and energy and some others may even spoil your website reputation. This is why you got to carefully select your affiliate marketing programs and make sure that they work for you same as your work for them. Given below are a few points that will help you make better decision in choosing an affiliate program that works for you rather than working only forrepparttar affiliate merchant.

Points to take into consideration before selecting an affiliate program

1.) Your website and your visitors

If you already have a website, make sure to go for affiliate programs that jell with your website theme. If your website is about cars then promoting cycle related products is going to have very less or no impact.

Secondly finding and scrutinizing your visitors and your target market is a good idea. In any affiliate program, your visitor isrepparttar 102298 one who is going to get you returns. So primarily get to know your visitors. Analyze your visitor behavior using your website statistics before deciding on which affiliate program to go for. Your objective should be to find out what your visitors are looking for and then promote products of their interest which also match with your existing products or services (if any).

2.) Affiliate merchant’s website

Most affiliates don’t give much importance torepparttar 102299 affiliate merchant’s website, forgettingrepparttar 102300 fact that here’s whererepparttar 102301 actual sales conversion is to take place. It’s very important thatrepparttar 102302 affiliate merchant’s website is designed to sell. So check and make sure thatrepparttar 102303 merchant’s website is free from unwanted banner advertisements/pop-ups and focus onrepparttar 102304 affiliate product.

Other important things to check out arerepparttar 102305 sales copy, privacy policy, product guarantees, after sales service and special discounts/offers available withrepparttar 102306 product/service. Your main aim must be to find out ifrepparttar 102307 product/service features would actually promptrepparttar 102308 referred visitor to make a purchase.

Some affiliate merchants promote more than one product/service on a webpage which can diluterepparttar 102309 conversion rate. It is best to go for affiliate programs that focus on a single product/service per webpage.

3.) Quality of goods/services

Just imagine how you would feel, if you were referred by a website to a product that turned out to be of inferior quality? Your visitors will feelrepparttar 102310 same way about your website if you promote inferior or overly priced goods/services. Always make sure to know aboutrepparttar 102311 product/service you are planning to promote. Check for testimonials and references from existing customers to find out aboutrepparttar 102312 quality of goods. If possible you can even plan on using them yourself to be onrepparttar 102313 safer side. In addition, also make sure to compare similar products available overrepparttar 102314 internet for features and rates.

There are many products that have trial periods or return policies associated with them. Products having return policies can increaserepparttar 102315 conversion rate but may also lead to debiting in case of a chargeback. Promoting products sold on a trial period basis requires cookie detection to track sales atrepparttar 102316 end ofrepparttar 102317 period which is very unreliable. So it’s better to confirm withrepparttar 102318 affiliate merchantrepparttar 102319 tracking method used orrepparttar 102320 affiliate payment scheme, in caserepparttar 102321 products have trial periods.

4.) Reputation ofrepparttar 102322 affiliate merchant

The reputation ofrepparttar 102323 affiliate merchant is important becauserepparttar 102324 odds are against you. There are chances that some affiliate merchants may not payout or make deductions to your actual payments. So make sure to find out using references aboutrepparttar 102325 affiliate merchant’s history of making proper payments.

Already existing affiliates ofrepparttar 102326 affiliate merchant are your best source of information. In addition be sure to read their business literature to get an idea about their history of past and present operations.

5.) Commission scheme ofrepparttar 102327 affiliate program

There are many different types of commission schemes that affiliate programs use to reward their affiliates. Some ofrepparttar 102328 most popular ones are pay per click, pay per lead and pay per sale schemes. Some others even offer two tiered and multi tiered commission schemes. Some commission schemes can even be a mix and match ofrepparttar 102329 above.

In case of a pay per click/hit schemerepparttar 102330 minimum commission that you can expect is $0.5 to $0.10 per click. For pay per sale a good commission rate would be 15% to 50%. Some companies even offer lifetime commissions, but as most of them are based on cookie identification, they may not work out well.

Withrepparttar 102331 competition increasing almost all merchants have started offering two tiered commissions, some even offer multi tiered ones. Joining these schemes can give you a chance to get paid forrepparttar 102332 direct sales you make and also forrepparttar 102333 sales made by affiliates referred by you.

6.) Tracking software used

Affiliate Marketing: Using Special eCourses

Written by Jude Wright


In order to make money with affiliate programs, you need to get exposure for those products. One way is to have your own website and drive traffic to that website. Another way is to have your own opt-in list or your own newsletter. There is another way besides: Write Special eCourses which are sent by autoresponder and Reports which are compiled into a pdf or ebook format. Give these eCourses and ebooks away. This is called viral marketing. The eCourse or report can't be just something filled with "fluff" and advertising. It must provide real help and information forrepparttar reader. Subscribers to any list, whether it be an ezine, ecourse or tips list, are notorious for using that "unsubscribe" link. If you're not providing excellent information they're outta there! The information product does not have to be that long. Just long enough to give good information and "teaser" to your affiliate products.

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