Learn Affiliate Marketing

Not all affiliate marketing programs are created equal, so finding programs that sell well, pay on timeand have tools to help you market them are what you should be looking for.

Here are a few guidelines to help you make the best choices on programs to promote…

Make sure the affiliate Merchant has an Agreement
Don’t sign up without an agreement. This keeps things honest between parties. Also in a dispute you have something to refer back to.

Be sure there is no exclusivity
Exclusivity means that you cannot partner with other merchants and promote them both on your website.

Yes, some affiliate programs require that you not partner with other merchants selling similar products. 

For example, I have a guitar affiliate site and I have several affiliate programs that I promote and one of the affiliate merchants I wanted to promote was guitarcenter, however if you read their affiliate agreement, #2 of their agreement states that they shall be the exclusive seller of Musical Instruments on your site.

Be sure to read the terms and conditions carefully and make sure there is no exclusivity clause in the contract. 

How much is the Commission?
Affiliate programs vary in how they pay commissions. Some pay a flat fee for sales while some pay a percentage of the sale price. Be sure you understand the payout schedule and what you are entitled to. You don’t want surprises in the end. Also, look for merchants that pay for leads.

For example, some programs will pay a small amount for anyone you bring them that fills out a form. This is often seen on financial or credit card sites.  Doba, listed below is one such affiliate merchant.

Understand the payout schedule and minimum payment
Affiliate program pay schedules are either weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or quarterly.  This may not matter too much but it’s a good idea for you to know when you can expect your checks.  You might make a few hundred dollars in commissions but if it’s a month or more before you receive it you could be a little disappointed.

What is the minimum payout?
If a program requires you to earn $100 before they pay you and you have only $75 in your earnings account, you won’t be receiving a check from them until you reach $100, which could be another month or more. 

Most programs, however will allow you to choose how much should be in your earnings account before they pay you. 

Is there a 2-tier program?
A “two-tier” program offers two sources of income, first, a commission for bringing in business, a second for recommending new affiliates. Some programs pay a fee for each new affiliate that joins the program, while others pay a percentage of the 2nd tier affiliate earnings. Some pay in both situations.

Look for programs that use cookies
You want programs that use cookies.  Cookies allow your personal merchant URL to remain on a viewers computer for a specified amount of time such as 30-90 days, some remain as long as a year provided the owner does not delete cookies very often.  This is an important feature because if a viewer accesses a merchant’s website through your URL and does not buy anything but goes back to the site at a later date and buys, you will earn the commission because your URL will still be on the viewer’s computer through the use of a cookie.

Unfortunately, most security software today deletes cookies on users machines when they log off but that’s ok, it’s still worth having that feature because there are plenty of users that don’t use security software or turn off their software’s delete cookie option.  If you have the opportunity to keep a cookie on someone’s machine I say, “go for it”.

Are sales tools available?
This is really an important one.  The more sales tools an affiliate merchant offers, the easier it is for you to make a sale. A good internet affiliate marketing program will offer you tools in the form of sales letters, articles with embedded affiliate links, newsletter ads, sales letters or banners. You will want to thoroughly review all of these tools and use them creatively on your site. The more sales tools a merchant has, the better.

How does the affiliate site Look?
Appearance of the site is important. If they are hard to navigate, checkout is difficult or they don’t accept credit cards, this is a problem for you.  If there are third party advertisements everywhere and you see a lot of Adsenseads, don’t bother!  This will only help the affiliate manager earn income from people you send to their site.

Talk to other affiliates.  Ask the affiliate manager to put you in touch with other affiliates so you can ask them how they like the program.

A good rule of thumb is if you like the site and the products, chances are others will too.  Don’t endorse something you don’t have confidence in yourself.  Find the best affiliate programs for your specific niche.

Residual Income 
Whenever possible, look for products and services that provide residual income.  These are products or services that will provide you with a consistent monthly check for as long as the service or product continues to be paid for each month. i.e. things like hosting services, magazine or newsletter paid subscriptions, email services, etc.  As long as the member keeps paying for the service each month, you will continue to receive a commission each month.

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