Multiple web sites and distributors selling your product can
result in increased sales and profits. Unlike conventional
advertising, affiliate programs pay only for performance.
Commissions are not paid out unless sales are made.
How To Start Your Own Affiliate Program
Author: Stephen Pope
1. Why Start Your Own Affiliate Program?
Multiple web sites and distributors selling your product can
result in increased sales and profits. Unlike conventional
advertising, affiliate programs pay o要ly for performance.
Commissions are not paid out unless sales are made.
Also, with many more web sites linking to yours, your link
popularity is sure to increase in search engines, resulting in
additional traffic and income.
2. Combine a Merchant Account with Your Affiliate Program
If your product is downloadable (such as electronic books or
software), you might consider ClickBank.com. For a $49.95
initial fee, you can process credit cards and o要-line cheques
for $1.00 per transaction plus 7.5% of sales. As an added
bonus, you have your own built-in affiliate program.
ClickBank gives you a listing o要 their web site and visitors
can buy your products and join your affiliate program. You
choose the commission rate you are willing to pay. All
commission payments are handled by ClickBank. o要e downside is
that you can`t run a two-tiered program.
3. Use an Affiliate Program Script
If you are comfortable with running CGI scripts, you may wish
to install your own affiliate program o要 your server and
administer the affiliate program yourself.
Be forewarned, though, that this is a lot of work. You will be
responsible for all the testing, security, commission payments,
promotion and so o要. Another downside: Will your potential
affiliates trust you since their commissions are not tracked
and paid by an independent third party?
4. Use a Hosted Solution
There are good reasons for not hosting your affiliate program
on your server. Perhaps you don`t have the time to administer
all the aspects of an affiliate program. Maybe your time could
be used more productively in other areas of your business.
Additionally, an independent third party tracking and paying
affiliate commissions inspires confidence in prospective
affiliates. Finally, you just might benefit from the additional
exposure that an affiliate network brings you.
ClixGalore.com is an example of an affiliate network. You will
need to pay a $75.00 deposit to cover affiliate commissions.
They charge 25% of any affiliate commissions paid. For example,
if you paid an affiliate a 10% commission o要 a $100.00 sale, you
would pay the affiliate $10.00 and ClixGalore $2.50.
With ClixGalore, you can also have a two-tier program. Taking
the above example, if you paid affiliates for finding other
affiliates, you might pay 2% o要 your second tier. That would be
another $2.00 commission and $ .50 affiliate network fee for a
total of $15.00 in commissions o要 both levels.
5. For All Affiliate Programs
Setup your own web page (or pages) outlining the benefits of
your affiliate program. Offer articles, suggestions, text and
banner links, and other useful support for your affiliates.
Offer a generous commission so that others feel motivated to
sell for you. Obtain the e-mail addresses of your affiliates so
that you can keep in touch with them to aid them to sell more.
For increased traffic, sales and profits, start your own
affiliate program.
About The Author: J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting
Inc., has been helping clients to earn maximum business profits
for over twenty-five years. To learn more about affiliate
programs and other profitable Work at Home Small Business
Ideas, visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/affiliate.html
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