Check Before Signing Up As Not All Affiliate Programs Are Worth Joining!

If you are just starting out in internet marketing, chances are you will probably notice that quite a number of bloggers and fellow internet marketers often recommending “Affiliate Marketing” as one of the easiest online marketing methods to make a buck online.

Without the shadow of a doubt, the affiliate business is a booming industry on the internet.

Affiliate sites promoting all sorts of products are plastered all across the internet.

I bet you have come across the phrase “Slap a couple of attention grabbing banners of some hyped up affiliate product on your blog or website and “Ka Ching”, the affiliate money will start rolling in”.

Sounds familiar?

However, the underlying truth about starting any form of business is that you need due diligence. Be sure to do your research before plunging head first into it.

And affiliate marketing is no exception.

So what factors should we be aware of before signing up for an affiliate program?

The best affiliate sites to join may not necessarily be the ones paying the highest commissions.

From my experience, there are quite a few factors to look out for, here’s my checklist for consideration before starting an affiliate business venture.

( 1 ) Do you need to buy the product first before you can sign up as an affiliate or do they provide a free way to join without buying the product or service?

Some affiliate programs only allow members who have purchased their products or services to become affiliates as this will cut down on “customers” who just want to get a discount.

( 2 ) Do they have a 24/7 affiliate support center that can quickly answer your questions?

This seemingly unimportant factor will apparently become your top priority especially when you have questions when it comes to irregularities in commission payouts.

 

 

( 3 ) Is the affiliate product highly targeted to your niche market audience?

No point promoting a product that won’t sell if the product is not highly targeted.

( 4 ) Does the affiliate program have real time tracking and stats reporting features that will inform you once a sale is made.

Like i often say, besides marketing & promotions, tracking is the next most important aspect of your business.

And with a tracking and stats feature, you will  be aware of which ads are making you the most money.

( 5 ) What is the lead time and commission threshold before you can receive your commission paycheck?

Another important factor when money is concerned. Shorter payout intervals means that you can put your earned profits to better use such as for another PPC or marketing promotions that will earn you more money.

( 6 ) What is the commission payout percentage?

The usual commission payout is from 25% to 75% of the selling price of the affiliate product less handing fees if it is from an affiliate network.

In my book, the actual commission received after deducting all the handling charges must be at least $30USD per sale to be worth my time and efforts but this value varies among different marketers.

( 7 ) Do you get credited for a sale if a potential customer comes back in a month’s time and then make a purchase?

This is also important as statistics have shown that potential customers need to see your affiliate ad at least 7 times before deciding to make a purchase.

Does your affiliate program make use of tracking “cookies” that are stored on potential customer’s browsers enbeded with your affiliate details? This is allow the sale to be credited to your account.

( 8 ) Do they provide you with proven sales materials suck as text links, banners, classified ads, email promos etc?

This factor in my opinion is crucial if you were to make any form of affiliate sale and commissions.

With a given set of backend materials you can quickly kick start your affiliate marketing campaign. Sure, it will certainly boost your chances of making a sale.

But to leapfrog and compete with the thousands of other affiliates who are also using the same set of marketing materials, you seriously need to “modify” them to give it a more personal touch.

Try it and I’m sure you will witness a significant increase in affiliate sales and commissions.

Well, that’s my 2 cents worth when it comes to signing up for a new affiliate program.

10 Step Start Up Plan For The Beginner Affiliate Marketer

If you are new to Internet Marketing and wish to make a living online, then Affiliate Marketing may just be the way to go.

But as a Beginner Affiliate Marketer , there are just too many things to learn and to do, all at the same time too.

This often results in "Information Overload" and high levels of "Stress".

That is why having a well laid out Start Up Plan is absolutely essential as life on the internet marketing highway is often not as rosy as most internet marketing gurus portray it to be.

In my personal opinion, there are basically 10 steps almost all affiliate marketers have to go through in order to become successful and these include the following :

(1) Selecting A Profitable Niche.

• This should be the most important aspect of any affiliate marketer’s agenda but often the least researched one as well.

• Many people just dive straight into affiliate marketing without giving their selected niches much consideration, never even conducting a wee bit of research to check whether their niche is sustainable or not.

• And that is precisely why so many aspiring affiliate marketers are doomed before they began.

• Take for example, the "Internet Marketing" Niche, sure it is profitable, but considering the fact that almost 90% of all aspiring internet marketers are vieing for a piece of the pie, won’t it be better if we start off our online business venture in some other less competitive yet more profitable niches.

• For goodness sake, we’re better off buying lottery to "win" our first million dollars than trying to outgun the top marketing gurus who have a mailing list of millions, stop and think about it.

(2) Selecting a "Main" Product To Promote.

• The easiest product for the beginner Affiliate Marketer to promote is an Information Product such as an E-Book that is directly related to their selected Niche.

• This Information E-Book should preferably be less then $50 and must be immediately downloadable, everyone hates to wait for something if they already paid the money for, right?

• You can easily source for great information products at Clickbank , one of the premier affiliate marketing sites on the market.

 

(3) Select Your "Secondary" Products To Promote.

• Choose about 4 to 5 "Secondary" or "Complimentary" products that is closely related to your selected niche.

• These products should be preferably higher priced items that pay higher commissions and are commonly used for "Up Selling" or "Cross Selling " to your existing or potential customers.

(4) Select A Related Membership Program To Promote.

• Choose and promote a closely related membership program in your niche that you know is giving its subscribers "Value For Money" information.

• Promoting a good membership program allows you to earn a sustainable Residual Income as most customers will continue subscribing if they find the information useful to their needs.

(5) Creation of your Business Website.

• Set up a decent looking website and create an irresistible "Opt In" or "Squeeze" page to capture potential subscribers.

• Remember, we always start our primarily focus on marketing the "Main" product as the chances of a possible sale is much higher. ( cheaper and more affordable )

• If you "Suck" at web design or have absolutely no idea what basic HTML is, my recommendation is that you outsource it instead of wasting your time figuring out the nitty gritty details, it might just take your forever.

• A good outsource site to consider is Getafreelancer .

(6) Traffic Generation.

• There are many views on how to generate traffic to your site, but personally i prefer to use a combination of PPC & Article Marketing.

• Social Network Marketing and Forum Marketing works fine but like i said, it is a matter of personal preference here.

(7) Build Customer Relationships.

• Set up a auto-responder and periodically send out "Valuable " news and information with your subscriber’s list, try to pace the intervals closer in the beginning.

• A word of caution, in the initial stages, DO NOT and i repeat DO NOT bombard your lists with tons of promotional materials while trying to make a quick buck, you will lose credibility faster than you can blink.

(8) Subsequent Promotion Of Your "Secondary" Products.

• These promotions should only come after you have build up some form of relationship with your subscribers.

• Perhaps after 8 to 10 weeks of relationship building with periodic email updates, subtly "Training " your subscribers and "Potential" buyers to open and read your information-packed emails will they be susceptible to even considering what you are offering.

• As a subscriber yourself, we all know that most of us have the "Habit" of subscribing to tons of newsletters and blogs in a bid to get the "Free" gift or report, but in actual fact how many of us actually reads the plethora of email offers we get in our in-box every single day?

(9) Track Your Campaign.

• There may be some things i don’t necessarily agree with the advices made by some top internet marketing gurus, but it seems like almost all of them would tell you that tracking your ads and campaign on a daily basis is an essential trait every internet marketer should possess and i couldn’t agree more.

• Always check and tweet your marketing campaigns especially if you are running PPC ads.

• You certainly do not want to wake up one morning and suddenly find out that Google has slapped or ban your site and burned a hole in your wallet due to the astronomical PPC rates you shouldn’t be paying.

(10) Build Long Term Customer Relationships.

• The key here is "Long Term" , not a one off relationships with your customer base.

• Perhaps you didn’t know but statistics have shown that it is far easier to sell to your existing customers than find new ones.

• Don’t just keep sending emails promotions to your list, give them what they want and they will return the favor in true fashion.

• Always "Under-State" But "Over-Deliver" , it always works like a charm for me.

Hope these 10 simple steps will make your life as a beginner affiliate marketer a little easier, but ultimately it all boils down to "Hard Work" on your part.

 

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