Reach New Markets With Affiliate Programs
Topics: affiliate program, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, online business, marketing
One of my clients recently created a new bundle of products and wants to find other people willing to sell them on her behalf. In return, they get a hefty commission.
She asked me for some advice about how to best approach these people, and how to convince them to be part of her extended sales force.
So I’m going to share some of that advice with you here.
This is known as an affiliate program, where you pay others to send people to your business, and you pay the affiliates a commission if those people buy from you.
This has become extremely common on the Internet, but it’s been around long before the Internet as well for example, real estate agents sending business to mortgage brokers, and vice versa.
Three key principles
A successful affiliate program - on or off the Internet - rests on three important principles. If you get this mix right, you’ve got a better chance of making your affiliate program work.
Not all affiliate programs follow these rules. But if you break them, make sure you know why. Unfortunately, most businesses ignore one or more of these principles, without knowing why. And that’s a disaster for their affiliate program.
1. Good Match
First, there must be a good match between the two parties. In other words, choose affiliates who have a list of the right sort of clients.
Otherwise, you’ll waste time trying to recruit affiliates who aren’t interested in promoting you, because they know you’re not a good match for them.
Even if you do recruit them, if it’s not a good match, you’ll waste time creating useless joint venture deals, handling queries from customers who don’t understand your offering, and processing refunds from disgruntled customers who were promised something that you couldn’t deliver.
2. Commission Only
Second, money changes hands only on a successful sale.
Affiliates don’t pay you to join the program, and you don’t pay them unless they refer somebody who makes a purchase. This makes the deal a low-risk proposition, which makes it easy for both parties to accept.
There are different ways of calculating commissions, but the basic principle is that it’s always triggered on a sale. You don’t have to worry about paying your affiliates a “salary”; and they don’t have to worry about paying you a “joining fee”.
3. Win-Win
Finally - and most importantly - the single most important element of a profitable affiliate relationship is that both parties walk away thinking that they got the better end of the deal.
How can both parties get the “better end” of the deal? Well, the two parties bring different assets to the deal. You’re happy to sell your product or service to new clients and give away part of a profit that you never would have had; and the affiliate has a list of potential clients, so is happy to refer them to you in return for a share of the profit.
Do you follow these principles?
If you’ve got an affiliate program, are you following these principles? If not, I bet you’re struggling to make it work. You’ll get greater leverage by following these rules - at least until you’ve got enough experience to break them deliberately.
RanjuKumar is assistant to Gihan Perera is the author of “The Seven Fatal Mistakes That Most Web Site Owners Make - And How To Avoid Them” and “Spin: Turn One Idea Into Hundreds of Information Products”. Visit gihanperera.com and get your complimentary copies now.
Previous Articles Highlighter:
What CMS Tools Does Your Business Need? (1)
CMS is based on templates, of course, to be able to manage the updates. It is, therefore, extremely important that whoever uses the CMS is familiar with the template and how the changes will appear.
No Real Secret To Marketing Network Success (2)
Business associates and acquaintances to get the business off the ground. It then requires continuous commitment to the job and in finding others looking to make money through sales and distribution.
Make-Your-Own-Web-Page (3)
Macromedia Dreamweaver 3. Microsoft FrontPage All of these editing programs allow beginners to make-your-own- web-pages using templates and WYSIWYG. Simply create or select a pre-made template for making-your-own-web-page, type your content into the page on your screen, and hit the save button.
All About Expired Domain Name Evaluations (4)
There is also an intense excitement in the resell market that borders on improbable expectations. The essential principle of an expired domain name market is that people to tend to go for an expired domain, driven by the fact that there is a perceived dearth or paucity of good expired domain names.
Recruiting Downline - Why You Should Not Cold Call Leads (5)
That is why they are able to overcome their first rejection in order to achieve success. Of course, the more you do, the better you become. Unfortunately, most people do not reach that stage.
If Affiliate Marketing Is A Hobby Then You're Doing It Wrong (6)
What products do you know the most and which products could you do the best job of selling? Once you discover your specialty, perseverance, patience and determination come next.
Matching Up With A Compatible Business Partner (7)
5. Age works two ways. While it is tempting to hook up with a business partner who is of similar age as you, do not limit yourself! A younger person will bring an enthusiasm and zest to your business which you might be lacking although you might not know it while an older individual will bring life experience and quite possibly also years of business acumen which you simply have not been able to have.
Kitchen Supplies Make A Difference (8)
Having the correct kitchen supplies available is vital in ensuring a finished product that is top notch. If you have ever been to a Pampered Chef party or crossed the threshold of your local Williams-Sonoma store, you are aware that a complete overhaul of your kitchen supplies is bound to cost you a considerable sum and it could become rather discouraging to think about making such a huge investment.
What To Look For In A DSL Provider (9)
Many people think that they can just get out of the service when that point comes, without really stopping to realise that they are bound by contract to that company and may have to pay to get out.
What About Web Hosting Services (10)
Private individuals, business entities, social clubs and organizations have jumped into the bandwagon and have gotten themselves meshed in the world wide webs dimensions through web hosting internet services. This is done by the Internet hosting service hosts offering persons and companies online pages where they can post information about their business, the products or services that they are offering, means and ways for people to contact them and almost anything that they want people to know about them.
Work From Home Vs Work From Abroad (11)
But what about, someone who is a sawfiler, - thats someone who sets up saw mills- that would be cool, travelling the globe. Or what about professional sports. We have all dreamed that dream.
5 Tips To Generating Free Web Site Traffic (12)
Dr. Daniel Trainor is an established internet marketer and mentor who has helped many people learn to make money online. To find out how he can help you, go to www.workfromhome-101.com
Promise Little And Deliver Much: A Recipe For Success (13)
All it requires from the business owners side is a measure of consistency and of course putting mechanisms in place in the business for under promising and over delivering, if not all the time then most of the time.
The Challenges Of Using Live Online Auctions (14)
It's also a good idea to read the terms and conditions of the seller that you're buying from. See whether not the auction site has some sort of an insurance program.
3 Ways To Get Your Internet Marketing Business Up And Running (15)
It is far more difficult than people think to learn how to bid on keywords that relate to the content on your site and then manage those bids to give you the highest possible bid.
Career In Fashion Marketing And Merchandising (16)
Today, consumers are more interested in projecting a particular image that will make them feel young and sophisticated - and this is what the fashion marketers take advantage of. Fashion marketers create a fantasy for selling those products to customers, through visual marketing campaigns, savvy advertising ideas or just by picking clothing from the designers, which they feel will be very popular among customers.
Marketing And Advertising Your Business (17)
In many areas of advertising it is a numbers game and the more people who see the ad, the better chance there is of making a sale. However, smart business owners look at the return on their advertising investment to determine the meaning of a successful campaign.
More Up-sell Ideas For Your Ebook Business (18)
It is a great way to up-sell, but you have to be aware of certain things. You cannot sell resell rights to ebooks that are not yours or that you haven't been given master resell rights.
Legitimate Dropshippers - How Do You Find Them? (19)
There are many people that have started making a really good income from dropshipping. Dropshippers are everywhere. You just need to know where to look. Here are some different ways that you can find the dropshippers that you want to work with.
Right Market Strategy: Go Where The Money Is! (20)
Then, and only then, can you create a product tailored to their specific needs. This will assure you of having people lining up to buy the information that you provide to them.
Newer Articles Highlighter:
Big Ticket To Wealth Business Review (1)
According to the webpage they have everything from, software to add audio to your site to ebooks that reveal the secrets to effective marketing online. All of these the member gets full resale rights to.
The Basics Of DSL And How To Make It Work (2)
One of the main benefits is that it is 'always on,' eliminating the need for dialling up and saving the user plenty of time actually getting to the internet. At the same time, DSL is much faster than regular 56K dial up internet access; as a matter of fact, it is about 13 times faster than the average dial up internet access provider, making it a hot commodity in areas where it is available.
Make Money Online: Affiliate Marketing (3)
Remember affiliate marketing is a business that will ultimately give you what you put into it and you can work when and where you want as long as you have an internet connection.
Think Of It Like Dating (4)
As I pulled my car into their valet area, a man greeted me before I could even step out of my car saying, "A technician will be right with you.
Strategies For MLM Advertising (5)
So, the first thing that you have to do is find a way to present your business in the most clear and concise way. You have to be sure to tell your audience what you are doing, how they can make money, and that it is safe and secure, and you have to do it in advertising that is quick and easy to understand.
Writing Articles To Generate Tons Of Free Traffic (6)
'The fish were begging for more of this fish bait after my first cast!' If you were a fisherman, you would keep reading. Another thing about writing articles that you plan to submit to article banks is that they need to be short.
Use Social Bookmarking Sites To Enhance Your Articles (7)
The freedom to post as many pictures as you'd like. You don't have to spend endless hours on bookmarking sites for them to have an effect on your articles.
The Truth About Making Money Online (8)
It can take well over six months to get any website in the high rankings of the search engines but once you get there your site will be flooded with laser targeted traffic.
Strategies For Successful Internet Niche Marketing (9)
SEO is a complicated process with no guarantees for success. Many who profit from increased traffic to their websites are wise to employ consultants to properly optimize the ir websites.
Seven Great PR Tips For Winning Press Coverage (10)
Put the real news in the headline and first paragraph. Before you send a release, put yourself in a reporter's place. "Could I write a story using this information?" A regular "drumbeat" of releases (one or two a month) keeps your visibility high and helps keep you current when reporters do Internet searches to look for information.
Doing The Google Dance With Page Rank And Backlinks (11)
It is however, controversial as to the manner of how individuals get their links as well as almost everything concerning page rank. Some individuals get their backlinks by purchasing them for others or a link broker; however, Google discourages this type of practice to do so.
Overview Of Basic SEO Strategy And Website Optimization (12)
4) The domain name and what keywords are in it - Domain names that have your main keywords in the name can save you thousands of dollars in advertising and SEO.
What Information Is Best For Press Releases (13)
A press release is a form of writing that is expressly for reporters to use in part, in whole or for a stepping stone towards an article for publication. Unlike an article that goes into great detail, examples and even personal opinion, a press release is more about facts that are told in a simple way.
The Power Of Internet Affiliate Programs In Making Money Offline (14)
Now that you have discovered this secret of making money, use it to find those affiliate products and services that you can learn and then teach others, or those that will give you a marketable skill that is in demand for making those big bucks at last.
The Best Marketing MLM Network Offers (15)
Make sure that you know if the business opportunity you are being offered really could make a profit. Strong growth history. Look to see if the company has grown rapidly or if it has gained a massive amount of personal over a gradual time period.
How Do You Free Your Time While Still Building Your Business? (16)
4 - Automate your marketing, so you are building relationships and adding value often - even if you happen to be lying on the beach in Mexico. What systems can you set in place to communicate consistently with your audience and build your list of new prospects?
Teleseminar Secrets: How To Build A 6-Figure Business While Becoming An Expert (17)
You show off your knowledge base. The way you do it is by critiquing someone's work. Don't worry - they're not a sacrificial lamb. As the subject of the critique or case study, they are on stage, and they are learning invaluable lessons, so it's very beneficial to them.
Affiliate Marketing - The Biggest Scams Of All Time (18)
Yet, there are some big lies being told to people who are new to affiliate marketing... lies that are big enough to prevent any real success. I call them scams, because the folks who spread these lies know better.
Having A Niche Feel And Mass Appeal (19)
What about their Suburban? Know these things and customers will flock to you! If you cannot compete with Wal-Marts volume pricing, amaze your consumer with variety. If standard beeswax candles cost $1 each at the big store and you need to sell them for $2 to make a profit, carry 50 varieties in shapes in colors and you will be sure to make sales.
The Basic Description Of MLM Or Network Marketing (20)
MLM can be a good home business if you take the time to learn all of its details. Todd Ash Is An Entrepreneur and A Master Of Network Marketing.To Find Out More About Succeeding Online Visit www.ToddAsh.com or send an email to: toddash@getresponse.com