The Newbie World of Affiliate Programs
An affiliate program is a relationship with an on-line merchant
where the affiliate earns a commission for referring potential
customers to the merchant's site, which subsequently results in
a sale.
Over recent years the number of Affiliate marketing programs has
increased dramatically. This is due to several reasons. Firstly
an increase in the number of people seeking a work-from-home,
low start-up cost business. Secondly the attraction to the
merchants of having an army of salespeople selling their
products has meant that more and more merchants are offering
such schemes. Thirdly the increase is partly due to the ease
with which it is now possible for most people to have a web
presence. Some affiliate marketing schemes even provide
completed web pages that only require simple personalization and
the site can be up and running almost immediately. Sadly,
another factor having its influence is the false impression
created by some marketers that the Internet provides the means
to get rich quickly and easily with minimum of effort. Some
skilled affiliate marketers earn thousands of dollars a month.
Some of the reasons why you should consider such a scheme are
No experience required
No stock to purchase
Low set-up cost
No premises to rent or buy
Can be operated from home
No sales experience needed
No goods to ship
Potentially good income
Addressing a world marketplace
Operates 24x7
So what factors do you need to take into account if you are
just starting out as a newbie affiliate?
What commission does the affiliate scheme pay?
Commission rates vary considerably depending upon the type of
product chosen. These can range from, say, 5% on a range of
garden products to 50% and over on ranges of ebooks. Initially
you should consider the high paying rates usually to be found on
books and software.
How frequently are the commissions paid?
The frequency of commission payment varies from company to
company. Determine whether your selected affiliate schemes pay
weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or quarterly. Some companies require
a minimum accumulated amount of commission before making a
payment.
What form of tracking cookies does the company operate?
Tracking cookies, which have a set like, are used by the
marketing company so that they can trace a customer back to you
as an affiliate. Often purchases are not impulse buys,
consequently the longer the life of the cookie, the greater
chance you have of earning commission. The life of a cookie can
range from several days to several years.
Does the affiliate scheme cater for second purchases and beyond?
Some schemes pay commission only on the product that you are
promoting. Better schemes credit you with commission on any
future products that the customer you introduced subsequently
makes. If you can, therefore, opt for this latter group, and
check that this applies if the customer, in future goes directly
to the merchants site.
What marketing materials are available on the merchant's site?
As nearly all affiliate programs are free to join you can easily
gain access to the resource pages of your intended merchants.
Examine the quality of the material. Do they provide free gifts
for you to offer? Do they offer any means of branding ebooks so
that you can stamp you affiliate identity on them?
Do they respond to emails?
A future relationship between you as an affiliate, your customer
and a merchant of your choice, can be partly dependant upon the
ease with which you, can communicate. Send the merchant an email
with a question about their affiliate scheme and look at how you
are treated. Discount the affiliate if there is a delayed reply,
or worse still, no reply at all.
How popular is the merchant's website?
Alexa at www.alexa.com carries out a continuous process of site
ranking. And will tell you how your merchant's site ranks in
popularity against all of the other sites on the web. Ranking
somewhere between 100,000 and 500,000 might be considered ideal.
A word of caution here, however. If the ranking is below 100,000
there may already be too many affiliates associated with that
merchant. If the ranking is greater than 500,000 it could just
be that you have come across a new product where you have chance
to make money as one of the first affiliates. Always examine the
product in detail, and do a Google search to find any adverse
postings. Join the forum at www.warriorforum.com and post a
topic asking the members if they have any experience of the
merchant. Again a word of caution. Be aware that any glowing
report may be coming from an existing affiliate.