Promoting My Affiliate Programs. How?Written by Vickie J. Scanlon
Getting your website up, is really just first phase of your journey to a career on Internet. You must promote your website, your product or your service to world. Well, how do you do it? Maybe this article might help you in getting started or give you additional ideas.There are many different ways to promote your affiliate program, however, it depends upon what type of program it is, “Your Turnkey Program” or Affiliate Linked-Program for selling a product. Hmm-mm, interesting. What works, what doesn’t? GET OUT THE WORD Bulk Emailing – Bulk emailing use to be craze. Did you notice word use to be craze. That has changed with stricter spam rules and penalties – all to protect us. But bulk emailing can be done, if you have an opt-in list – such as, through a newsletter. But don’t overextend use, you may lose subscribers. Classified Ads – With free classified ads you can definitely get hits – and possibly some sales. But don’t choose this as your only way of getting sales. There are some drawbacks. You ask, “What drawbacks”. From my own experience, I’ve encountered individuals requesting information about my program – as a ploy to getting me to listen to their sales pitch. SPAM? Maybe. Annoying? Definitely. The height of annoyance is when they ask me to call them long distance, so that I can speak with them – only to have them give me a sales pitch on their program. However, if you have a classified ad site on your website – you’ve got yourself a built-in opt-in list. You can gently sell to them, while verifying or thanking them for their ad. Traffic Generators – Traffic generators can work on a turnkey site that many others are also partaking in to generate money for themselves. What I found is traffic generators are better suited for turnkey businesses. It is basically a simple way for you to entice other people in business to look at your program. You know – it’s “I’m not really happy with what I’m doing. I wonder what else is out there” syndrome. Or it’s – “I really need another program so that I’m not a one-man Joe in business” syndrome. In either case, it’s a safe place to see what’s happening or new on Internet. Messageboards, Discussion Groups, Forums -- These are great ways to get your message out and be personal at same time. But you have to follow rules, and you should contribute constructive and/or helpful information that is relevant to discussion at hand. This is a time-consuming way to build sales – but a great way to build credibility, business relationships, and sales. Note: Please don’t blatantly advertising. This action could cause following problems to occur: 1) you being banned from forum; 2) your advertising being eliminated and noted by administrator; 3) making other members angry and thus, losing credibility. All in all, follow rules.
| | Affiliate Program IntroWritten by Shanon Lewis
What is an affiliate program? Everyone who surfs web has come across affiliate programs. You may have seen a banner on a website that says, “click here”, and once you do, you get access to whatever’s being promoted. Or you could click on a link in an email you’ve received. You’re using someone’s affiliate program. Basically, company that sells product sets up an automated way for people to be paid a set amount to help them promote their products or services. The links send you to company’s website where you can buy product. The owner of originating website or email gets a fee for taking you there. The bookstore Amazon was first company to heavily promote affiliate marketing on internet. Although this type of marketing is ideal for businesses that only operate online, it's also become popular with businesses that have both an online and bricks and mortar presence. Affiliate programs are an ideal way to make your web site profitable. With huge range of affiliate programs now available, there’s almost bound to be something to suit you and your website. How it works Perhaps you’ve created a website about city where you live. People find your website while searching for information about your city. Once they’ve read your pages they check out your recommendations. They might click a link to book a flight there. You get paid a commission. Then they clink your link that points them to somewhere they can book a hotel room. Another commission for you. Then they might want to buy a guide-book or street map. Yet another commission. Or perhaps you have a website connected with your hobby. Maybe you want to share your enthusiasm about crafts you do. Your website could point people towards suppliers, books on subject, magazine subscriptions…the list is endless. And all time you’re earning your commission. The commission is paid in different ways according to company you’re affiliated to. You can be paid per impression, per click, per lead or per sale. The stronger likelihood of a sale, higher your commission will be. The advantages for you There’s no need for you to develop products – it’s already been done. All you need to do is to pick best out of those available. You don't need to spend money on making or storing product. Sending people to your affiliate merchants means you don’t need to take or process a single order, or worry about processing payments. You don't have to handle or mail product - your merchants do that. You don’t have to offer customer support. Affiliate programs are usually free to join. You can run your affiliate business part time for a little extra cash while making minimal effort. Choosing your affiliates It’s worth spending some time making sure that you choose right companies to affiliate with. Different companies have different requirements. Some require you to have a minimum number of visitors to your website, while others require you to have your own domain name. The best way to choose an affliate program that will suit you is according to type of people who visit your website. If your website is about guitars, you’re unlikely to have much success with affiliating with a company that sells gardening products. The first thing you need to do is know your target audience. You also might consider whether you want to join every single affliate program that comes your way. A lot of people find that they make most money from using only a small number of programs. Also, concentrating your advertisements may allow you to be paid faster. Sometimes, it can be hard to choose between two similar companies. What works well for someone else may not be best choice for you. It’s not just about how much money you can make – you’ll want to feel confident in your recommendations. You can maximize your income by thinking beyond obvious. If your website is aimed at parents, obviously you might think of affiliating to a toy company. But what about books, clothes, videos, DVDs, child oriented software… If you’re thinking about affiliating with two similar websites, you might want to choose one that easiest to use or offers greater benefit to a visitor, even if it pays less in commissions. You'll do best with programs that represent a subject you're personally interested in. Your own interest in subject will entice others.
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