1. How to Choose Your Affiliate Program Wisely
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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 sales people 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.
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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?
It is very important that you 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 product, and make substantial commissions on your volume of sales.
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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 it’s possible that 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 do a 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 amount 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. It is important that you know how often you can expect a pay check if you are going to have
financial control over your business. Do you have the financial resources to continue to market a product
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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 merchants site directly. It is important that you get paid no matter what route the customer
returns by if you are to build a sustainable affiliate business.
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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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