How to make a smart decision besides your affiliate
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. What Commissions Does the Program Pay?
3. How Much Traffic is their Website Getting?
4. How Often Are Affiliate Commissions Paid?
5. Does The Affiliate Program Use Tracking Cookies?
6. Does the Affiliate Program Pay on Subsequent Sales?
7. What Marketing Resources Does the Affiliate Program Offer??
1. Introduction
2. What Commissions Does the Program Pay?
3. How Much Traffic is their Website Getting?
4. How Often Are Affiliate Commissions Paid?
5. Does The Affiliate Program Use Tracking Cookies?
6. Does the Affiliate Program Pay on Subsequent Sales?
7. What Marketing Resources Does the Affiliate Program Offer??
Introduction
Affiliate marketing programs have sky-rocketed in popularity in the past few
years. As one of the fastest and easiest ways to start an online home
business people are jumping on this wave by the millions. Affiliate programs
offer merchants the opportunity to employ vast armies of salespeople who get
paid for the results they achieve.
The rewards for affiliates can be very good, and the skilled affiliate
marketer can earn many thousands of dollars per month. This win-win
situation has led to an explosion in the number of affiliate programs that
are available to affiliate marketers.
With this growth of affiliate, opportunities have come many questions, such
as: how do you go about choosing the right affiliate program for you? What
qualities should you look for in a program and which gives you a good chance
of making a sustainable income? Below are some tips that will help you to
evaluate affiliate programs, and help you to avoid wasting time and money.
What Commissions Does the Program Pay?
You must know how much you can expect to earn from a sale. There is no point
in spending time and money promoting a product that pays very small
commissions. You could end up spending more on marketing than you make on
sales. It is probably best to stick with marketing products with a high
commission value, unless you have found a niche market where you can sell
vast quantities of products, and make substantial commissions on your volume
of sales.
How Much Traffic is their Website Getting?
Try to discover the amount of traffic the affiliate owner’s website is
already receiving. Alexa.com is a very useful tool for doing this
research. If the website is ranked in the top 100,000, the merchant is
getting a good volume of traffic, so there may already be too many
affiliates. If it is ranked below 500,000 it may be no good, or it could
be a golden opportunity to make some real money by becoming one of the
first affiliates!
Always research a merchant’s product if their website has a low traffic
ranking. It may be a good idea to buy the product yourself if you can
afford it. Otherwise, you could search to find out if there are any
negative reviews about it on the internet. Be careful who you listen to
though because many people are in the habit of bashing affiliate programs
with nothing to really support their comments. If you find a large number
of negative reviews with little positive ones then it would probably be a
good idea to stay away from that affiliate program.
How Often Are Affiliate Commissions Paid?
Some affiliate programs pay commissions every week; some once a month,
others only pay every quarter. You must know how often you can expect a
paycheck if you are going to have financial control over your business. Do
you have the financial resources to continue to market a product if you
have to wait a long time before you get paid? It would also be wise to
find out the minimum commission that you have to earn before you get paid.
Does The Affiliate Program Use Tracking Cookies?
Many customers do not buy on their first visit to a merchant’s website. It
is important therefore that the merchant uses cookies for their affiliate
program so that you get credit if the customer returns and buys at a later
date. Check out how long the cookies last. The longer the cookies lasts;
the better the chances of you getting paid!
Does the Affiliate Program Pay on Subsequent Sales?
Some programs will only pay commission on sales that come through
customers visiting their site via a direct link from your site. They pay
you nothing for any subsequent purchases that the customer makes if they
visit the merchant's site directly. You must get paid no matter what route
the customer returns by if you are to build a sustainable affiliate
business.
What Marketing Resources Does the Affiliate Program Offer?
Look at the type and quality of the marketing resources that they provide.
Do they provide articles, advertisements, or other content that you can
use to put on your site? Do they provide free guides, special offers, free
viral e-books, or product samples that you can send to your list? If the
marketing material they provide is good then it is likely that the
business will provide good support for their affiliates.
Finding the right affiliate program for you can be tough to do. The best
advice is to do your own research, follow the advice above, and listen to
your instincts. Use the above questions as an aid to finding an affiliate
program that enables you to reach your financial goals. You never know…
You might just strike affiliate marketing gold!
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