Affiliate marketing programs that can add value without costs to
Web sites.
Many small businesses have found ways to earn money from
visitors to their Web site, even though their sites are not
equipped to handle Internet transactions. How? By joining an
affiliate marketing program.
After taking the time to create and promote your Web site, you,
too, may find that joining an affiliate marketing program is a
cost-effective way to enhance the value of your own Internet
investment. That type of "virtual" alliance may help you
increase revenue without increasing costs. In addition, an
alliance can increase the value of your customers' visits by
increasing the quality of your Web site, thereby encouraging
more visits and increasing your opportunities to establish and
maintain relationships with your customers.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing programs came into their own during the
Internet boom of the mid- to late-1990s. Organized to create
virtual business relationships, they are an agreement between
two companies to steer business in the form of Web traffic from
one Web site to another in return for compensation. If organized
correctly, they are a win-win situation for both partners. They
help large companies with elaborate, transaction-oriented Web
sites increase their Web traffic while providing increased cash
flows to smaller businesses with brochure-style Web sites.
How do affiliate programs work?
When you join an affiliate program, you will be able to download
an icon or button to add to your Web site. Visitors to your site
who click on that button will be sent to the transaction portion
of your partner's site. Your partner should have specialized
internal computer systems in place. Those systems track all
sales generated during the visit that originated from your Web
site. In other words, you will own a portion of all sales
generated during that visit. If the visitor places an order, you
will receive a percentage of the proceeds of the sale, based on
the original agreement. A typical revenue-sharing arrangement is
for 5 percent of the total sale, regardless of the size of the
sale.
Choosing an affiliate partner-
Keep some important points in mind when choosing your affiliate
partner:
* Don't partner with a company that charges a fee or requires a
minimum level of sales to waive a fee. An affiliate program
should not cost you a dime. Programs with conditions are little
more than pyramid schemes and should be avoided. * Do choose a
company with which you already have a working relationship. If
you've worked with a large supplier or customer over a period of
time, you know whether they are trustworthy or not, and have a
good idea of the kind of reputation they have in the local or
national business community. That gives you the opportunity to
avoid partners who are not ethical. * Choose a partner that will
enhance the value of your site to your customers. By making a
link to a company on your Web site, you are making a statement
about the quality of that company to your customer base, your
most important corporate asset. You don't want to jeopardize the
goodwill you've built with your customers, so choose your
partners wisely.
Potential benefits-
A well-planned affiliate-marketing program can accomplish two
important goals for your business without increasing costs. The
first and most important is the real opportunity to grow
revenue. Second, by aligning with the right partner, visitors to
your site may find it a good jumping-off point to the rest of
the Internet. That could turn your site into a "portal," which
could help get your customers into the habit of visiting your
Web site more frequently.