By - Stephen Carter
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Affiliate marketing was a six billion dollar business in 2006, and shows no sign of tapering off any time soon. But as good as business has been for the top affiliate marketers, it could be a lot better for the majority. A real obstacle to achieving the sales goals of many affiliates involves their credibility. If I say a product is great, and I am being paid to convince you to buy it, why should you believe me?
The fact is, most affiliate sites on the web today are poorly constructed, and this beggars any authority the owner of the site hopes to convert into sales. Often these sites are thin conduits designed to ferry traffic from search engines to the sites of merchants who have neither the resources nor the time to figure out how to find the customers they need to ensure their business success. Despite this, and because the web is growing more and more congested, the value of a *quality* affiliate marketer nonetheless continues to increase. Unfortunately this simple fact is not at all recognized by the buying public who often begrudge affiliate marketers and view them as interlopers who put themselves between the customer and the merchants they are searching for. In short, the affiliate marketer has long suffered, and continues to suffer, from an image problem.
This image problem is not confined just to the public. Google, which derives huge advertising revenues from affiliate marketers, nevertheless regards affiliate marketing sites with complete disdain. Of course, affiliate marketers themselves have contributed to this problem because their websites very often contain little in the way of new or unique content, which is what Google values and believes its customers (web searchers) value. It is no surprise therefore, to find that some of the top affiliate marketers differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack in precisely this area. They offer not only critical assessment of the products they promote, but also take the time to blog and build a comraderie with the visitors to their sites. By offering unique, and regularly updated content, they appease the Gods of Google, and are rewarded with organic (non pay-per-click) traffic that very much contributes to the bottom line. In other words, the top affiliate marketers know how to project a good image--to their visitors, to Google, and to other search engines that might bring in prospects.
Blogging is a great way to produce unique content. But it is time consuming, there is a limit to how much daily content you can produce as an affiliate, and not everyone finds the task of writing content easy work. What if instead you could have the content create itself automatically? Well, actually you can. If you offer customer reviews of the products you promote you accomplish this and more. Not only is the subject matter on target, but the reviews themselves promote the products for you (supposing you have carefully chosen only the best products to promote, which is what any *good* affiliate marketer knows to do). Even better, you no longer have to worry about that credibility problem. If ten people come onto your site and say "Buy product XYZ, it rocks!" that recommendation is a heck of a lot more convincing than anything that you might say, no matter how truthful your utterances.
So, all you have to do as an affiliate marketer, to get people to "click through" to a merchant site in a buying mood is to promote good products and let people express their opinions about those products on your site. If the products are great, the reviews will reflect that. If instead it turns out that the reviews are consistently bad for one of the products you promote, then drop it! Replace it with another.
"But collecting reviews is really difficult!" I hear you object. "I simply do not have time for that. Do I?"
There is nothing inherently difficult about putting customer reviews on your site today. It does take a little time to set things up, but low-cost commercial quality reviewing applications are available to do the bulk of the work (see the one mentioned in the resource box below if you want to get a jump start on implementing customer reviews on your website). Not only does a customer review section on your site substantially increase your overall credibility, but search engines will love the content--especially if the review pages have been optimized for the search engines (as all good reviewing engines will certainly do).
There is another benefit to collecting customer reviews. Some review engines allow you to publish the reviews as RSS feeds. What this means is increased traffic. You can submit your feeds to the RSS directories. Moreover, if the reviewing application also allows you to create RSS feeds compatible with Google Base (as does the application mentioned below) you can upload your entire review database (or the first N characters of each review) to Google Base and make your reviews accessible to the various Google marketing avenues.
Given the clear benefits to implementing customer reviews on affiliate marketing sites it is surprising that so very few marketers have actually adopted this strategy to date. But as the web continues to mature, and affiliate marketing grows more professional, it is to be expected that this strategy will become more and more common on the sites of top affiliate marketers.
About The Author
Stephen Carter is the developer of Red Queen, powerful customer review software that allows webmasters to take advantage of the preselling potential of customer reviews. To learn more, see: How To Put Customer Reviews On Your Affiliate Website.
Showing posts with label affiliate programs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label affiliate programs. Show all posts
Thursday, June 7, 2007
12 Killer Rules for Choosing an Affiliate Product That Really Sells
By: Ari Krizsan
The internet is flooded with affiliate programs that promise you high earnings with little effort. But is it really so? Can you really earn huge commissions regardless which affiliate products you choose to promote? Obviously, not. There are programs that can earn you fat checks every month and there are programs that won't even get you a little pocket money. So what makes the difference between affiliate programs and products that secure you a steady income and those that are merely a waste of time?
Here is a list of the key factors that will help you in how to choose the right affiliate product to promote.
1. Site related product:
It goes without saying that you should choose products or services that match your website's or blog's theme.
2. Commission rate:
Some vendors offer very high rates compared to other affiliate programs. If it is above 20 % then you should give it a try.
3. Price:
Of course you should also know what the commission base is. If you promote a $19.95 ebook and get 75% you earn $14.96 for each book you sold. But if you promote a $156.00 software with 40% commission, you put $62.40 into your pocket after each sale.
4. Vendor's website:
Take a look at the vendor's website, sales letter and other promotional stuff there. If you were a potential customer would you want to buy what he is about to sell? Is the sales letter convincing? Does the layout of the website look professional, or is it cheap and amateurish? You should consider all these questions before you send visitors to a vendor's site because if you are not satisfied with what awaits you at the landing page, then how can you expect it from your visitors?
5. Reliability of the product:
If you have no personal experience with the product, go to message boards and read reviews or opinions of the product from people who have used it already. To locate related message boards search for 'message board' and 'the product's name' in search engines.
6. Reliability of payment:
With reputable affiliate networks reliability is not really an issue. Payment methods and periods are set in the general terms of service. With affiliate programs run by individual companies or with less known affiliate networks it can happen that they don't pay. Before joining any of these affiliate programs do your home work! Ask around on affiliate marketing message boards and find out about other webmasters' experiences with the company.
7. Demand for the product:
Do people buy this product? Is it a 'hot' niche? It is much more profitable to go for popular products than goods for which the target group is too narrow.
8. Two-tier and multi-tier affiliate programs:
Some vendors offer you to pay for sales that were made by you indirectly. That means if another webmaster signs up to the program through your affiliate link, you will be entitled to a commission after this person's sales, too. While some internet gurus advise you to choose two-tier (or multi-tier) programs if possible, experience shows that you won't earn much through these indirect sales. Unless you have a huge opt-in list and are considered a 'guru' or expert yourself in the subject area you operate in. Why is that? The problem with two-tier programs is that affiliates – especially newbies – will promote the program instead of the product. They will hope to make money through their 'sub-affiliates' and neglect to promote the product itself. And those who sign up through him will think similarly. So while there will be a long line of sub-affiliates, no one will really make a sale and no one will make money!
9. The lifetime of cookies:
The operating of affiliate programs are based on cookies. Cookies are simple scripts that track the visitor's path. They help in identifying through which affiliate ID a visitor came to a vendor's site and which affiliate should be paid a commission for after the visitor's purchase. At some sites cookies are set for 24 hours. This means the visitor has to make a purchase within 1 day starting from the moment he arrived at the vendor's website through your affiliate link. If he buys something 2 days later you lose commission for that sale. The longer period cookies are set for, the better. Some programs offer 30-day tracking periods, some a whole year, and there are even lifetime commission affiliate programs. That means if a visitor came through your affiliate link and bought a product or service at the vendor's site, this customer is yours forever. If he makes new purchases in the future, you will be paid after these sales, too.
10. Pay out minimum:
Usually there is a threshold that affiliates have to reach to be paid. (In most cases it is $100, but it's not a general rule.) If you don't reach this limit within a payment period, the sum will be held back and carried over to the next payment period as long as you don't earn the said amount.
11. Payment periods:
Affiliates are paid periodically. This can vary from a quarter to biweekly periods. The shorter the time span of payment is, the better for your cash flow. (People are happier if they get their earnings as soon as possible.)
12. Exclusivity:
Some vendors require exclusivity. It means if you decide to join their affiliate program and promote their products you are not allowed to advertise the competition's products. This severely limits your income opportunities.
About The Author
To discover more secrets about how to start and successfully operate a home based business or internet business, go to HomebizHerald and read the free online tutorials: www.homebizherald.com Download free web page templates and free banner templates at www.webtemplatemall.com
The internet is flooded with affiliate programs that promise you high earnings with little effort. But is it really so? Can you really earn huge commissions regardless which affiliate products you choose to promote? Obviously, not. There are programs that can earn you fat checks every month and there are programs that won't even get you a little pocket money. So what makes the difference between affiliate programs and products that secure you a steady income and those that are merely a waste of time?
Here is a list of the key factors that will help you in how to choose the right affiliate product to promote.
1. Site related product:
It goes without saying that you should choose products or services that match your website's or blog's theme.
2. Commission rate:
Some vendors offer very high rates compared to other affiliate programs. If it is above 20 % then you should give it a try.
3. Price:
Of course you should also know what the commission base is. If you promote a $19.95 ebook and get 75% you earn $14.96 for each book you sold. But if you promote a $156.00 software with 40% commission, you put $62.40 into your pocket after each sale.
4. Vendor's website:
Take a look at the vendor's website, sales letter and other promotional stuff there. If you were a potential customer would you want to buy what he is about to sell? Is the sales letter convincing? Does the layout of the website look professional, or is it cheap and amateurish? You should consider all these questions before you send visitors to a vendor's site because if you are not satisfied with what awaits you at the landing page, then how can you expect it from your visitors?
5. Reliability of the product:
If you have no personal experience with the product, go to message boards and read reviews or opinions of the product from people who have used it already. To locate related message boards search for 'message board' and 'the product's name' in search engines.
6. Reliability of payment:
With reputable affiliate networks reliability is not really an issue. Payment methods and periods are set in the general terms of service. With affiliate programs run by individual companies or with less known affiliate networks it can happen that they don't pay. Before joining any of these affiliate programs do your home work! Ask around on affiliate marketing message boards and find out about other webmasters' experiences with the company.
7. Demand for the product:
Do people buy this product? Is it a 'hot' niche? It is much more profitable to go for popular products than goods for which the target group is too narrow.
8. Two-tier and multi-tier affiliate programs:
Some vendors offer you to pay for sales that were made by you indirectly. That means if another webmaster signs up to the program through your affiliate link, you will be entitled to a commission after this person's sales, too. While some internet gurus advise you to choose two-tier (or multi-tier) programs if possible, experience shows that you won't earn much through these indirect sales. Unless you have a huge opt-in list and are considered a 'guru' or expert yourself in the subject area you operate in. Why is that? The problem with two-tier programs is that affiliates – especially newbies – will promote the program instead of the product. They will hope to make money through their 'sub-affiliates' and neglect to promote the product itself. And those who sign up through him will think similarly. So while there will be a long line of sub-affiliates, no one will really make a sale and no one will make money!
9. The lifetime of cookies:
The operating of affiliate programs are based on cookies. Cookies are simple scripts that track the visitor's path. They help in identifying through which affiliate ID a visitor came to a vendor's site and which affiliate should be paid a commission for after the visitor's purchase. At some sites cookies are set for 24 hours. This means the visitor has to make a purchase within 1 day starting from the moment he arrived at the vendor's website through your affiliate link. If he buys something 2 days later you lose commission for that sale. The longer period cookies are set for, the better. Some programs offer 30-day tracking periods, some a whole year, and there are even lifetime commission affiliate programs. That means if a visitor came through your affiliate link and bought a product or service at the vendor's site, this customer is yours forever. If he makes new purchases in the future, you will be paid after these sales, too.
10. Pay out minimum:
Usually there is a threshold that affiliates have to reach to be paid. (In most cases it is $100, but it's not a general rule.) If you don't reach this limit within a payment period, the sum will be held back and carried over to the next payment period as long as you don't earn the said amount.
11. Payment periods:
Affiliates are paid periodically. This can vary from a quarter to biweekly periods. The shorter the time span of payment is, the better for your cash flow. (People are happier if they get their earnings as soon as possible.)
12. Exclusivity:
Some vendors require exclusivity. It means if you decide to join their affiliate program and promote their products you are not allowed to advertise the competition's products. This severely limits your income opportunities.
About The Author
To discover more secrets about how to start and successfully operate a home based business or internet business, go to HomebizHerald and read the free online tutorials: www.homebizherald.com Download free web page templates and free banner templates at www.webtemplatemall.com
Friday, June 1, 2007
How To Maximize Your Profit Promoting Affiliate Programs
By - Ken Hill
Promoting affiliate programs can provide you with a good extra income or even a full time income online.
To help you maximize your profit promoting affiliate programs, I've provided the following tips to help you successfully market your affiliate programs more effectively to your site's visitors.
1. Publish an e-zine.
Running an e-zine will allow you to run prime position ads for your affiliate programs in every issue you publish, and is the #1 way for you to follow up with your site's visitors.
You can also easily increase your commissions by sending out special announcements to your subscriber base whenever one of the affiliate programs you promote is offering a special bonus or a special limited time offer.
Once you build up your circulation you can further increase your profits by charging for ad space in your publication.
2. Use a pop up on your site that promotes your e-zine.
Using a pop up as a well as a subscription e-mail or form on your site can substantially increase the number of your visitors that subscribe to your publication.
Your pop up will draw your visitors' attention right to your e-zine, and if you offer your visitors free bonuses for subscribing to your e-zine such as free ebooks or free ads you can further increase the number of visitors who subscribe to your publication.
3. Offer free e-mail workshops (e-mail courses) to your visitors.
Making e-mail workshops will enable you to effectively promote one or several affiliate programs that offer products that relate to the subject of your workshop.
Many affiliate programs provide their affiliates with articles to post on their sites or run in their e-zines which you can use to successfully form the different parts of your workshop.
If you already write articles, you can easily use your own articles to form the different parts of your workshop and transform your articles into yet another powerful marketing tool.
To get the most out of your e-mail workshops, offer your workshops both on your site and by using a pop up, and use your workshops to increase subscriptions to your e-zine as well as repeat visitors your website.
4. Publish your articles on your site.
Posting your articles on your site is a great way to continually add content to your site and draw more repeat visitors.
To successfully use your articles to promote affiliate programs offer a free e-mail workshop in your resource box or use your resource box to promote your e-zine.
This will provide you with an effective way to successfully follow up with your prospects when your articles get published as well as when your visitors read your articles.
5. Offer free ebooks on your site.
Many affiliate programs provide their affiliates with ebooks they can rebrand with their unique affiliate URL and these can be used as an effective marketing tool.
The best way to promote your affiliate programs with ebooks, however, is to make your own ebooks.
If you write your own articles, you can create a unique promotional item by making an ebook compilation of your articles with links to affiliate programs you promote.
You can also create a best of compilation of your e-zine's top issues to drive more subscriptions to your publication or if you make e-mail workshops you can transform these into your ebooks content.
To further increase your profits, offer your ebooks as a free bonus or part of a free bonus for subscribing to your e-zine, and/or allow your visitors to rebrand your ebook with a link to their own business, affiliate program or opportunity.
About the Author
Article © 2002 by writer, Ken Hill. Discover proven strategies to generating more profit promoting affiliate programs. Get your FREE 10 Part Guide To Success With Affiliate Programs marketing course now at mailto:affiliatecourse@zipresponse.com
Promoting affiliate programs can provide you with a good extra income or even a full time income online.
To help you maximize your profit promoting affiliate programs, I've provided the following tips to help you successfully market your affiliate programs more effectively to your site's visitors.
1. Publish an e-zine.
Running an e-zine will allow you to run prime position ads for your affiliate programs in every issue you publish, and is the #1 way for you to follow up with your site's visitors.
You can also easily increase your commissions by sending out special announcements to your subscriber base whenever one of the affiliate programs you promote is offering a special bonus or a special limited time offer.
Once you build up your circulation you can further increase your profits by charging for ad space in your publication.
2. Use a pop up on your site that promotes your e-zine.
Using a pop up as a well as a subscription e-mail or form on your site can substantially increase the number of your visitors that subscribe to your publication.
Your pop up will draw your visitors' attention right to your e-zine, and if you offer your visitors free bonuses for subscribing to your e-zine such as free ebooks or free ads you can further increase the number of visitors who subscribe to your publication.
3. Offer free e-mail workshops (e-mail courses) to your visitors.
Making e-mail workshops will enable you to effectively promote one or several affiliate programs that offer products that relate to the subject of your workshop.
Many affiliate programs provide their affiliates with articles to post on their sites or run in their e-zines which you can use to successfully form the different parts of your workshop.
If you already write articles, you can easily use your own articles to form the different parts of your workshop and transform your articles into yet another powerful marketing tool.
To get the most out of your e-mail workshops, offer your workshops both on your site and by using a pop up, and use your workshops to increase subscriptions to your e-zine as well as repeat visitors your website.
4. Publish your articles on your site.
Posting your articles on your site is a great way to continually add content to your site and draw more repeat visitors.
To successfully use your articles to promote affiliate programs offer a free e-mail workshop in your resource box or use your resource box to promote your e-zine.
This will provide you with an effective way to successfully follow up with your prospects when your articles get published as well as when your visitors read your articles.
5. Offer free ebooks on your site.
Many affiliate programs provide their affiliates with ebooks they can rebrand with their unique affiliate URL and these can be used as an effective marketing tool.
The best way to promote your affiliate programs with ebooks, however, is to make your own ebooks.
If you write your own articles, you can create a unique promotional item by making an ebook compilation of your articles with links to affiliate programs you promote.
You can also create a best of compilation of your e-zine's top issues to drive more subscriptions to your publication or if you make e-mail workshops you can transform these into your ebooks content.
To further increase your profits, offer your ebooks as a free bonus or part of a free bonus for subscribing to your e-zine, and/or allow your visitors to rebrand your ebook with a link to their own business, affiliate program or opportunity.
About the Author
Article © 2002 by writer, Ken Hill. Discover proven strategies to generating more profit promoting affiliate programs. Get your FREE 10 Part Guide To Success With Affiliate Programs marketing course now at mailto:affiliatecourse@zipresponse.com
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Evaluating Affiliate Programs
By - Sarah Coles
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Affiliate programs, also called partner or associate programs, have become one of the most popular ways to earn money with a website. Participants earn money by receiving commission for clicks, leads, and/or sales generated through a website. But, some affiliate programs are more rewarding than others. Knowing what to look for is the first step in choosing which affiliate programs will be most effective.Commission and Earnings per Click (EPC)
The commission an affiliate program pays can help you choose between similar affiliate programs, but it is not always the most effective measure of how the affiliate program will perform. Some affiliate programs get a lot of clicks, but very few sales. You may make more income from companies that pay a lower commission, but are easier to sell. The Earnings per Click (EPC) is the average earnings per 100 clicks and is often a better measure of how much success you will have with different affiliate programs. Many affiliate tracking programs provide the average EPC?s for their participating companies.
Third-Party Tracking
Although most companies with affiliate programs are honorable and will not try to stiff you on your commissions, it is generally a good idea to choose affiliate programs where sales and clicks are tracked by an unbiased third-party. Companies that specialize in tracking commissions normally have much more reliable systems and have no incentive to miss-track your sales.
Website Reporting
If you have a website, you most likely have some sort of program that tracks the traffic to your site, but most site statistics scripts cannot track affiliate links. In order to fine-tune your site to generate the most income, choose affiliate programs that provide free software for tracking which banners or text links are getting the most traffic.
Minimum Check Requirements
Minimum check requirements are the amount of commission that you must be owed before they will send you a check. Ideally, this should be in the $25-$50 range. Much smaller and you could end up cashing dozens of $2 and $3 checks, much higher and it could be quite a while before you receive a check.
Repeat Business and Deferred Sales
Often visitors will click on an affiliate link but not purchase a product during that visit or will return later to make additional purchases. Some affiliate programs will not pay commission even though the customers were referred through your site. When possible, choose affiliate programs that will pay you for repeat business and deferred sales
About The Author
Sarah Coles is a Web Developer at Jumpline.com Web Hosting
<)))
Affiliate programs, also called partner or associate programs, have become one of the most popular ways to earn money with a website. Participants earn money by receiving commission for clicks, leads, and/or sales generated through a website. But, some affiliate programs are more rewarding than others. Knowing what to look for is the first step in choosing which affiliate programs will be most effective.Commission and Earnings per Click (EPC)
The commission an affiliate program pays can help you choose between similar affiliate programs, but it is not always the most effective measure of how the affiliate program will perform. Some affiliate programs get a lot of clicks, but very few sales. You may make more income from companies that pay a lower commission, but are easier to sell. The Earnings per Click (EPC) is the average earnings per 100 clicks and is often a better measure of how much success you will have with different affiliate programs. Many affiliate tracking programs provide the average EPC?s for their participating companies.
Third-Party Tracking
Although most companies with affiliate programs are honorable and will not try to stiff you on your commissions, it is generally a good idea to choose affiliate programs where sales and clicks are tracked by an unbiased third-party. Companies that specialize in tracking commissions normally have much more reliable systems and have no incentive to miss-track your sales.
Website Reporting
If you have a website, you most likely have some sort of program that tracks the traffic to your site, but most site statistics scripts cannot track affiliate links. In order to fine-tune your site to generate the most income, choose affiliate programs that provide free software for tracking which banners or text links are getting the most traffic.
Minimum Check Requirements
Minimum check requirements are the amount of commission that you must be owed before they will send you a check. Ideally, this should be in the $25-$50 range. Much smaller and you could end up cashing dozens of $2 and $3 checks, much higher and it could be quite a while before you receive a check.
Repeat Business and Deferred Sales
Often visitors will click on an affiliate link but not purchase a product during that visit or will return later to make additional purchases. Some affiliate programs will not pay commission even though the customers were referred through your site. When possible, choose affiliate programs that will pay you for repeat business and deferred sales
About The Author
Sarah Coles is a Web Developer at Jumpline.com Web Hosting
Sunday, May 27, 2007
A New System Of E-Commerce?
By - Terence Tan
<)))
A MLAP, short for a multi level affiliate program, is a relatively new type of affiliate program offered by some innovative web merchants.
In addition to referral commissions for their direct sales, affiliates of MLAPs also get paid commissions when their sub-affiliates at multiple levels sell affiliate products.
Unlike MLM programs, which charge "recruitment" fees, "starter kit" fees, "product testing" fees etc, there is never any money needed to join a MLAP...Which means that there is never any money to be made by simply recruiting sub-affiliates.
The power of MLAPs lies in their ability to unlock the huge potential for increased earnings that lie in the "wasted traffic" that websites receive.
For example, out of 1000 visitors to a website, perhaps a maximum of only 5 might eventually buy any affiliate products that the webmaster would recommend. The other 995 become "wasted" as they do not contribute in any way to the affiliate's earnings.
However, many of these "wasted" visitors, would see enough value in these products to sign up as affiliates themselves and sell the products to their own contacts and web visitors.
When this happens in a single level affiliate program, the original affiliate earns nothing. In a MLAP, the original affiliate would also be paid a referral commission on the sales made by these sub-affiliates.
Depending on the number of levels the MLAP uses, commissions from sub-affiliate sales get multiplied at each level, resulting in greatly increased affiliate earnings.
For the affiliate, MLAPs provide a way to maximize the value of their "wasted traffic" using the viral power of "word of mouth" marketing, without the risks associated with MLM programs.
For the MLAP merchant, an MLAP allows his affiliate program to sign up affiliates more effectively by standing out from the crowd of single level affiliate programs.
Because they are relatively new, certain issues, (such as the ideal number of levels a MLAP should have, and the percentage of referral commissions that should be paid at each level), are still open to debate.
What has become clear though, is that MLAPs have become an important option for both merchants and affiliates, to increase their share of the ever-growing size of E-Commerce.
About The Author
Terence Tan is the project manager of HugeAffiliates.com, a website dedicated towards the development of Multi Level Affiliate Programs as an alternative system of business.
<)))
A MLAP, short for a multi level affiliate program, is a relatively new type of affiliate program offered by some innovative web merchants.
In addition to referral commissions for their direct sales, affiliates of MLAPs also get paid commissions when their sub-affiliates at multiple levels sell affiliate products.
Unlike MLM programs, which charge "recruitment" fees, "starter kit" fees, "product testing" fees etc, there is never any money needed to join a MLAP...Which means that there is never any money to be made by simply recruiting sub-affiliates.
The power of MLAPs lies in their ability to unlock the huge potential for increased earnings that lie in the "wasted traffic" that websites receive.
For example, out of 1000 visitors to a website, perhaps a maximum of only 5 might eventually buy any affiliate products that the webmaster would recommend. The other 995 become "wasted" as they do not contribute in any way to the affiliate's earnings.
However, many of these "wasted" visitors, would see enough value in these products to sign up as affiliates themselves and sell the products to their own contacts and web visitors.
When this happens in a single level affiliate program, the original affiliate earns nothing. In a MLAP, the original affiliate would also be paid a referral commission on the sales made by these sub-affiliates.
Depending on the number of levels the MLAP uses, commissions from sub-affiliate sales get multiplied at each level, resulting in greatly increased affiliate earnings.
For the affiliate, MLAPs provide a way to maximize the value of their "wasted traffic" using the viral power of "word of mouth" marketing, without the risks associated with MLM programs.
For the MLAP merchant, an MLAP allows his affiliate program to sign up affiliates more effectively by standing out from the crowd of single level affiliate programs.
Because they are relatively new, certain issues, (such as the ideal number of levels a MLAP should have, and the percentage of referral commissions that should be paid at each level), are still open to debate.
What has become clear though, is that MLAPs have become an important option for both merchants and affiliates, to increase their share of the ever-growing size of E-Commerce.
About The Author
Terence Tan is the project manager of HugeAffiliates.com, a website dedicated towards the development of Multi Level Affiliate Programs as an alternative system of business.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Can you succeed marketing an affiliate based program?
By - Ian Bosworth
<)))
Internet Marketing can be an enjoyable and profitable
experience, but it can also be very frustrating, time consuming,
money draining and anti social.
So why do we keep putting ourselves through all this pain?
Well, I’m sure that for everyone there is a different answer
depending on your driving force, but for me it’s the thought
that one day I’ll succeed and make a tidy income. God knows how
many ‘Get Rich’ schemes are out there but experience has taught
me that 95% of them are simply schemes for making the owner rich
and not the affiliate. On the plus side, they do teach you the
pitfalls of Internet Marketing and hopefully move you that
little further down the line towards your ultimate goal. You may
think that this article is simply a moan about the chaos which
is ‘Internet Marketing’ but I assure you that’s not the case. My
aim is to pass on the good and bad of this type of venture and
to hope that I can help someone to avoid the many obstacles and
reach there goal reasonable unscathed.
Can you make money from a program which doesn’t sell a tangible
product?
Time and time again you’ll see these type of programs – They’ll
say pay $5 as a one off payment and we’ll give you thousands in
return. The word that comes to mind is ‘Pyramid’. Logic tells
you that $5 can never become $1,000 without you sponsoring
thousands of people and then they’ve got to sponsor thousands of
people and so on. At some point you run out of people and the
system fails. You loose your money but the owner makes a tidy
sum. Maybe the answer is to invent your own ‘Get Rich’ scheme
but then, how do these people sleep at night? Personally, these
schemes should be outlawed because all they do is serve to
undermine the ethics of Internet Marketing. So, can you make
money from these types of programs – My experience tells me ‘No’
Should you avoid them? Most certainly ‘Yes’
What about programs where you pay a monthly fee but again there
isn’t a product?
These are very much the affiliate based programs and do have
some merits. They tend to offer the same, old same old, free
resource tools, safe lists to join and a type of ad co-op
guaranteeing leads and/or sign-ups. Of course, the tools are
usually obsolete in today’s market, the safe lists are more
geared towards the owner making an advantage by you joining
using their affiliate ID and the guaranteed leads are too old to
be of any use. I’m sorry for being a cynic but I’m sure there
are people out there who are reading this article and nodding
there head because they’ve been there.
On the plus side these programs do have a sustainable growth
because of the monthly income and so getting personally
sponsored affiliates can recoup your loses over time. The
problem however, is that people tend to be reticent to join
because of the fees and then become despondent when they
struggle to get affiliates for themselves. Most of the programs
offer free membership and ‘Yes’ you will get tens to hundreds of
people joining the free program but the ratio from free to paid
is very poor.
People enter these programs believing, that by simply joining,
they will be given thousands of Dollars for doing zilch! Like I
said these programs do have there merits and if you stick in and
spend loads of your money on advertising, hours of your time
promoting to rotators and safe lists then you may come out the
other side breaking even or with a small profit. Don’t get me
wrong I still have some involvement with these types of programs
– Why? – Because I believe the hype that I can be the one
success story and come out the other side, a rich man!
What about the programs where you pay a monthly fee and promote
a product?
If the product is unique in some way, affordable to the masses,
useable and needed and you can get in on the ground floor then
you could be onto a winner. In my experience, it’s the product
which brings in the serious marketer not the affiliate program.
Think back to the early days of mobile phones, when they use to
be very bulky and expensive and people were saying “They’ll
never catch on” However, the marketer with vision saw the mass
potential and stuck in. Oh how I wish I’d been in this game then
because now I wouldn’t be here typing this article, I’d be on a
beach somewhere and my secretary would be typing this article.
There are other types of product based affiliate programs out
there which will also give you a chance for success, but finding
it is like crawling through a minefield. Don’t simply sign up
because it’s free membership or the site looks professional,
read all the pages and understand the ethics of the owner.
Consider the product(s) on offer and think about your target
audience. The product(s) should be affordable, useable,
sellable, exciting and hopefully unique in its market. The
affiliate program should be affordable and sustainable. Look at
the Compensation plan and consider how feasible it will be for
you and your potential team, to reach the profit line. Some
plans may look impressive but sometimes they dazzle you with big
Dollars. Look at the amount of paid sign-ups required together
with the percentages paid and compare this to the cost of the
program and the cost of advertising needed to reach those
required sign-ups. Work out how long it will take you to break
even, for instance, if the cost of the program is $20 a month
and you spend $20 a month on advertising you may get 1 or 2
sign-ups a month. If the comp plan pays you $5 a sign-up you’ll
need 8 sign-ups to break even but it may take you 4 to 8 months
to get to that point. So it could cost you between $160 and $320
to get there.
Do your sums or you may never really break even?
You should look at the make-up of the down line and how it fits
in with the matrix/comp plan. Some down lines have legs, in that
you build so far down and then the line splits off and begins
again. This usually happens when you reach another level in the
comp plan, but the resulting effect can make it hard to progress
to the next level. Some have a straight down line so everyone
who joins will be in your line. This can be misleading in that
you believe that it’s your sign-up and you’ve earned money.
However, it does allow you to assess the popularity of the
program and help you decide if you should continue.
Now Image you’ve come across an affiliate site (Not hard to do
with today’s Internet) Ask yourself the following questions:-
Does the site look impressive? Does it make you want to read on?
Does it have a product that excites you? Could you use the
product? Could you sell the product? Would you buy the product?
Is the product affordable? Do I get the product as part of the
affiliate program? Can I afford the monthly payment? Do they
have a worthwhile Compensation Plan? Do they have a matrix or a
straight down line? How quickly will I break even? Can I make a
profit?
SO CAN YOU SUCCEED BY MARKETING AN AFFILIATE BASED PROGRAM?
Find today’s ‘Mobile Phone’ with an affordable affiliate
program, offering you a good compensation plan, workable matrix
and responsive down line and the answer is undoubtedly
‘YES’
Thanks for reading my article. If you want to subscribe to my
newsletter then go to
http://www.profitmashine.com/biztipspop.html
About The Author:
The author is Ian Bosworth who has 2 years experience in
Internet marketing. He has put together a website and newsletter
designed to help other marketers looking for a home based
business http://www.profitmashine.com
<)))
Internet Marketing can be an enjoyable and profitable
experience, but it can also be very frustrating, time consuming,
money draining and anti social.
So why do we keep putting ourselves through all this pain?
Well, I’m sure that for everyone there is a different answer
depending on your driving force, but for me it’s the thought
that one day I’ll succeed and make a tidy income. God knows how
many ‘Get Rich’ schemes are out there but experience has taught
me that 95% of them are simply schemes for making the owner rich
and not the affiliate. On the plus side, they do teach you the
pitfalls of Internet Marketing and hopefully move you that
little further down the line towards your ultimate goal. You may
think that this article is simply a moan about the chaos which
is ‘Internet Marketing’ but I assure you that’s not the case. My
aim is to pass on the good and bad of this type of venture and
to hope that I can help someone to avoid the many obstacles and
reach there goal reasonable unscathed.
Can you make money from a program which doesn’t sell a tangible
product?
Time and time again you’ll see these type of programs – They’ll
say pay $5 as a one off payment and we’ll give you thousands in
return. The word that comes to mind is ‘Pyramid’. Logic tells
you that $5 can never become $1,000 without you sponsoring
thousands of people and then they’ve got to sponsor thousands of
people and so on. At some point you run out of people and the
system fails. You loose your money but the owner makes a tidy
sum. Maybe the answer is to invent your own ‘Get Rich’ scheme
but then, how do these people sleep at night? Personally, these
schemes should be outlawed because all they do is serve to
undermine the ethics of Internet Marketing. So, can you make
money from these types of programs – My experience tells me ‘No’
Should you avoid them? Most certainly ‘Yes’
What about programs where you pay a monthly fee but again there
isn’t a product?
These are very much the affiliate based programs and do have
some merits. They tend to offer the same, old same old, free
resource tools, safe lists to join and a type of ad co-op
guaranteeing leads and/or sign-ups. Of course, the tools are
usually obsolete in today’s market, the safe lists are more
geared towards the owner making an advantage by you joining
using their affiliate ID and the guaranteed leads are too old to
be of any use. I’m sorry for being a cynic but I’m sure there
are people out there who are reading this article and nodding
there head because they’ve been there.
On the plus side these programs do have a sustainable growth
because of the monthly income and so getting personally
sponsored affiliates can recoup your loses over time. The
problem however, is that people tend to be reticent to join
because of the fees and then become despondent when they
struggle to get affiliates for themselves. Most of the programs
offer free membership and ‘Yes’ you will get tens to hundreds of
people joining the free program but the ratio from free to paid
is very poor.
People enter these programs believing, that by simply joining,
they will be given thousands of Dollars for doing zilch! Like I
said these programs do have there merits and if you stick in and
spend loads of your money on advertising, hours of your time
promoting to rotators and safe lists then you may come out the
other side breaking even or with a small profit. Don’t get me
wrong I still have some involvement with these types of programs
– Why? – Because I believe the hype that I can be the one
success story and come out the other side, a rich man!
What about the programs where you pay a monthly fee and promote
a product?
If the product is unique in some way, affordable to the masses,
useable and needed and you can get in on the ground floor then
you could be onto a winner. In my experience, it’s the product
which brings in the serious marketer not the affiliate program.
Think back to the early days of mobile phones, when they use to
be very bulky and expensive and people were saying “They’ll
never catch on” However, the marketer with vision saw the mass
potential and stuck in. Oh how I wish I’d been in this game then
because now I wouldn’t be here typing this article, I’d be on a
beach somewhere and my secretary would be typing this article.
There are other types of product based affiliate programs out
there which will also give you a chance for success, but finding
it is like crawling through a minefield. Don’t simply sign up
because it’s free membership or the site looks professional,
read all the pages and understand the ethics of the owner.
Consider the product(s) on offer and think about your target
audience. The product(s) should be affordable, useable,
sellable, exciting and hopefully unique in its market. The
affiliate program should be affordable and sustainable. Look at
the Compensation plan and consider how feasible it will be for
you and your potential team, to reach the profit line. Some
plans may look impressive but sometimes they dazzle you with big
Dollars. Look at the amount of paid sign-ups required together
with the percentages paid and compare this to the cost of the
program and the cost of advertising needed to reach those
required sign-ups. Work out how long it will take you to break
even, for instance, if the cost of the program is $20 a month
and you spend $20 a month on advertising you may get 1 or 2
sign-ups a month. If the comp plan pays you $5 a sign-up you’ll
need 8 sign-ups to break even but it may take you 4 to 8 months
to get to that point. So it could cost you between $160 and $320
to get there.
Do your sums or you may never really break even?
You should look at the make-up of the down line and how it fits
in with the matrix/comp plan. Some down lines have legs, in that
you build so far down and then the line splits off and begins
again. This usually happens when you reach another level in the
comp plan, but the resulting effect can make it hard to progress
to the next level. Some have a straight down line so everyone
who joins will be in your line. This can be misleading in that
you believe that it’s your sign-up and you’ve earned money.
However, it does allow you to assess the popularity of the
program and help you decide if you should continue.
Now Image you’ve come across an affiliate site (Not hard to do
with today’s Internet) Ask yourself the following questions:-
Does the site look impressive? Does it make you want to read on?
Does it have a product that excites you? Could you use the
product? Could you sell the product? Would you buy the product?
Is the product affordable? Do I get the product as part of the
affiliate program? Can I afford the monthly payment? Do they
have a worthwhile Compensation Plan? Do they have a matrix or a
straight down line? How quickly will I break even? Can I make a
profit?
SO CAN YOU SUCCEED BY MARKETING AN AFFILIATE BASED PROGRAM?
Find today’s ‘Mobile Phone’ with an affordable affiliate
program, offering you a good compensation plan, workable matrix
and responsive down line and the answer is undoubtedly
‘YES’
Thanks for reading my article. If you want to subscribe to my
newsletter then go to
http://www.profitmashine.com/biztipspop.html
About The Author:
The author is Ian Bosworth who has 2 years experience in
Internet marketing. He has put together a website and newsletter
designed to help other marketers looking for a home based
business http://www.profitmashine.com
Saturday, May 19, 2007
The 3 Sins of Affiliate Landing Pages
By - Jason Hulott
<)))
Does your affiliate program have enough working affiliates? We can all do with more affiliates right? Are you advertising for these affiliates? Are you buying advertising to attract these affiliates? If you are then I think you may want to read this article to help get your more affiliates and stop you throwing money down the drain.
Put yourself in the shoes of an affiliate for a minute. You see a new program that fits your website or niche, the payouts look good and the creative / brand looks good too. A Perfect Match. But before you get too excited by things you decide to visit the site.
All looks good here too. You are taken to the program homepage.
Then you sign up.
You get your nice little affiliate signup with your trackable links.
You test the link and visit the page. Then you look at the site landing page.
Something is different but you can't quite put your finger on it. Then suddenly several things leap out all at once.
Is that an Adsense block? Why is there huge Call Free number plastered on the top of the page? Why are there banners advertising other products?
As an affiliate you would leave and never ever come back! As the merchant your ears would be burning as the affiliate calls you all the names under the sun.
The affiliate will not be back....
If you had just had that affiliate sign up via an advertisement or Pay per click listing - you have just wasted an awful lot of money!
You could have also just lost a huge potential income earner for your business! You really need to look at your affiliates landing pages to make sure you are maximising trust and motivating affiliates to use you.
Why would I give you traffic for free that you can turn into Adsense or contextual ad revenue? You think it is a shrewd move to do this to offset your costs but trust me this will bite you in the ass!
Here are our Top 3 Affiliate landing Page Sins, avoid these 3 sins and you will be well on the way to more affiliates, more sales and therefore, more income.
Adsense / Contextual PPC AdBlocks
Adsense / Contextual ads such as Kontera, Blog Ads, and the others out there are a great tool for generating revenue. However, they should not be used on affiliate landing pages.
Affiliates will spend time, effort and money driving traffic to their affiliate links so they can earn income. Why would you steal from them? Get caught doing this and not only could you lose the affiliate you could damage your affiliate program irreparably. Is it really worth that for a few clicks!
Phone Numbers
Now this one I can understand, you copy your site template onto a new page so you can design a landing page, the header has always had the phone number on it so you just leave it there. Well, time to design a new header. Unless you have way of tracking telephone calls to the affiliate then lose the number.
An affiliate will not like you getting FREE business of the back of his efforts. Don't give the site visitors using affiliate links ANY method of purchasing your product without affiliate tracking.
If you can't track that phone number and accredit the sale to the affiliate, then pull the number!
Affiliate Ads
This is one I have seen quite recently and makes the mind boogle. Sites that have landing pages with product links using affiliate networks promoting OTHER Companies products.
So you have a mobile phone site and you give affiliates an affiliate landing page that has advertising banners for car hire, or loans....
What on earth are you thinking about?
Think about the affiliate landing page in the same way you would (hopefully) a Pay Per Click landing page, i.e. there is ONE call to action and that is to buy the product.
Make these changes to your affiliates landing pages and your program will gain some much needed credibility.
Good Luck!
About The Author
Jason Hulott is an Author, Affiliate Program Manager, and creator of “Affiliate Communicator”, a new tool which allows the user to create Affiliate Marketing newsletters at the push of a button. Auto loaded with articles, products tips and useful Resources, Affiliate Communicator is THE tool affiliate marketing managers can’t live without! To receive a free course on the best ways to attract new affiliates and get them to put your links live click here
<)))
Does your affiliate program have enough working affiliates? We can all do with more affiliates right? Are you advertising for these affiliates? Are you buying advertising to attract these affiliates? If you are then I think you may want to read this article to help get your more affiliates and stop you throwing money down the drain.
Put yourself in the shoes of an affiliate for a minute. You see a new program that fits your website or niche, the payouts look good and the creative / brand looks good too. A Perfect Match. But before you get too excited by things you decide to visit the site.
All looks good here too. You are taken to the program homepage.
Then you sign up.
You get your nice little affiliate signup with your trackable links.
You test the link and visit the page. Then you look at the site landing page.
Something is different but you can't quite put your finger on it. Then suddenly several things leap out all at once.
Is that an Adsense block? Why is there huge Call Free number plastered on the top of the page? Why are there banners advertising other products?
As an affiliate you would leave and never ever come back! As the merchant your ears would be burning as the affiliate calls you all the names under the sun.
The affiliate will not be back....
If you had just had that affiliate sign up via an advertisement or Pay per click listing - you have just wasted an awful lot of money!
You could have also just lost a huge potential income earner for your business! You really need to look at your affiliates landing pages to make sure you are maximising trust and motivating affiliates to use you.
Why would I give you traffic for free that you can turn into Adsense or contextual ad revenue? You think it is a shrewd move to do this to offset your costs but trust me this will bite you in the ass!
Here are our Top 3 Affiliate landing Page Sins, avoid these 3 sins and you will be well on the way to more affiliates, more sales and therefore, more income.
Adsense / Contextual PPC AdBlocks
Adsense / Contextual ads such as Kontera, Blog Ads, and the others out there are a great tool for generating revenue. However, they should not be used on affiliate landing pages.
Affiliates will spend time, effort and money driving traffic to their affiliate links so they can earn income. Why would you steal from them? Get caught doing this and not only could you lose the affiliate you could damage your affiliate program irreparably. Is it really worth that for a few clicks!
Phone Numbers
Now this one I can understand, you copy your site template onto a new page so you can design a landing page, the header has always had the phone number on it so you just leave it there. Well, time to design a new header. Unless you have way of tracking telephone calls to the affiliate then lose the number.
An affiliate will not like you getting FREE business of the back of his efforts. Don't give the site visitors using affiliate links ANY method of purchasing your product without affiliate tracking.
If you can't track that phone number and accredit the sale to the affiliate, then pull the number!
Affiliate Ads
This is one I have seen quite recently and makes the mind boogle. Sites that have landing pages with product links using affiliate networks promoting OTHER Companies products.
So you have a mobile phone site and you give affiliates an affiliate landing page that has advertising banners for car hire, or loans....
What on earth are you thinking about?
Think about the affiliate landing page in the same way you would (hopefully) a Pay Per Click landing page, i.e. there is ONE call to action and that is to buy the product.
Make these changes to your affiliates landing pages and your program will gain some much needed credibility.
Good Luck!
About The Author
Jason Hulott is an Author, Affiliate Program Manager, and creator of “Affiliate Communicator”, a new tool which allows the user to create Affiliate Marketing newsletters at the push of a button. Auto loaded with articles, products tips and useful Resources, Affiliate Communicator is THE tool affiliate marketing managers can’t live without! To receive a free course on the best ways to attract new affiliates and get them to put your links live click here
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Keep Affiliate Marketing Simple
by David Cooper
<)))
Affiliate marketing is an incredibly popular way of earning money online. It avoids the pains and hassles of product creation and allows Internet entrepreneurs with a streamlined means of lining their pockets. Unfortunately, too many affiliate marketers fall into a trap. They turn their backs on simplicity and make the process complicated. As a result, they experience diminished returns and frustrations instead of fast moneymaking and excitement.
Making money online isn't rocket science. There are many good ways to combine solid effort with a little know-how and some skill to generate revenues. That doesn't mean it's easy--it can take a lot of work. It does, however, mean that it's simple.
Affiliate marketing, for instance, is simple. You drive potential clients to a product's sales page. When one of those prospects makes a purchase, you receive a hefty commission. It's an incredibly simple model.
Too many affiliate marketers "gunk up" that elegant system by complicating matters. They worry about pre-selling. They worry about showcasing the product as they drive traffic. They're preoccupied with a million and one different details they believe will produce record sales and giant commission checks.
Many of them develop a vision problem. They stop seeing the forest and focus almost exclusively on a never-ending collection of individual trees. Some of them even lose trace of the trees because they're busy studying individual pieces of bark! They start worrying about things they shouldn't even think about. Remember, the attraction of affiliate marketing is that it makes things easier for the entrepreneur. When you start biting off more and more, the efficiency-robbing complications start to take center stage.
The key to affiliate marketing is simplicity. Deviation from that basic tenet is the easiest way to decrease both your efficiency and your sales.
There is such a thing as pushing too hard, you know. Prospects can grow weary of too much salesmanship. If you're pre-selling and pre-selling and even doing a little selling, that means your pouring your effort into jobs the affiliate program should be handling. It also means you aren't spending your resources where they can provide maximum payout.
If you know how to choose a good product and how to drive traffic to an affiliated sales page, your home free. That's what it's all about. Finding the right product and driving traffic are what really matter. A good product is going to have a good sales page. If you can deliver targeted traffic, people will buy and you will get those fat checks.
About The Author
David Cooper was shocked to learn that more than half of all affiliate marketers surrender before they cash a single check! There is a way out. Affiliate marketing is a serious business moneymaker when you know how to do it the smart way. Affiliate Avalanche is the one-of-a-kind guide to joining the moneymaking minority of highly successful affiliate marketers.
<)))
Affiliate marketing is an incredibly popular way of earning money online. It avoids the pains and hassles of product creation and allows Internet entrepreneurs with a streamlined means of lining their pockets. Unfortunately, too many affiliate marketers fall into a trap. They turn their backs on simplicity and make the process complicated. As a result, they experience diminished returns and frustrations instead of fast moneymaking and excitement.
Making money online isn't rocket science. There are many good ways to combine solid effort with a little know-how and some skill to generate revenues. That doesn't mean it's easy--it can take a lot of work. It does, however, mean that it's simple.
Affiliate marketing, for instance, is simple. You drive potential clients to a product's sales page. When one of those prospects makes a purchase, you receive a hefty commission. It's an incredibly simple model.
Too many affiliate marketers "gunk up" that elegant system by complicating matters. They worry about pre-selling. They worry about showcasing the product as they drive traffic. They're preoccupied with a million and one different details they believe will produce record sales and giant commission checks.
Many of them develop a vision problem. They stop seeing the forest and focus almost exclusively on a never-ending collection of individual trees. Some of them even lose trace of the trees because they're busy studying individual pieces of bark! They start worrying about things they shouldn't even think about. Remember, the attraction of affiliate marketing is that it makes things easier for the entrepreneur. When you start biting off more and more, the efficiency-robbing complications start to take center stage.
The key to affiliate marketing is simplicity. Deviation from that basic tenet is the easiest way to decrease both your efficiency and your sales.
There is such a thing as pushing too hard, you know. Prospects can grow weary of too much salesmanship. If you're pre-selling and pre-selling and even doing a little selling, that means your pouring your effort into jobs the affiliate program should be handling. It also means you aren't spending your resources where they can provide maximum payout.
If you know how to choose a good product and how to drive traffic to an affiliated sales page, your home free. That's what it's all about. Finding the right product and driving traffic are what really matter. A good product is going to have a good sales page. If you can deliver targeted traffic, people will buy and you will get those fat checks.
About The Author
David Cooper was shocked to learn that more than half of all affiliate marketers surrender before they cash a single check! There is a way out. Affiliate marketing is a serious business moneymaker when you know how to do it the smart way. Affiliate Avalanche is the one-of-a-kind guide to joining the moneymaking minority of highly successful affiliate marketers.
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