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AFFILIATE BUSINESS |
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The affiliate business is ideal for those without a product to sell, for there are plenty of firms operating on the web that will let you sell their products, and pay you a commission on each sale. There are some where they will pay you a commission for just a referral, whether a sale results or not. When choosing firms to affiliate with, one should look for those that not only pay commissions on the first sale, but also pay commissions on repeated sales from your referral.The affiliate business is also good for those who have a product to sell and would like to have lots of people selling their products, and only having to pay commissions on actual sales. The commissions for an affiliate average about $20 per sale. The range can be anywhere from a couple of dollars per sale up to one case I know of which pays $10,000 (a currency exchange company). Considering that the average commission is small, to make a decent living one needs to represent many companies (and possibly many web sites). Speaking of web sites, several companies will provide one for you that is indexed to make sure you get paid. Others, however, only provide you with indexed-links to use on your web page or outgoing e-mail sales letters. In addition, most companies sign up with a third-party processor, like PayPal or Clickbank, to handle payment of commissions, providing greater assurance that commissions will be paid. Some companies are very restrictive in their requirements, but most are not. It is very important to carefully read the terms and conditions of the contracts. There are some that you just don’t want to deal with. For instance, one that won’t pay a commission at all until you cause X number of sales in Y number of days. This could mean you will never see a commission. The affiliate idea is so attractive that an awful lot of newbies try to work with it. While easy in concept, it is not easy to be successful. Traditionally, the process involves having a very successful web page and/or having a large maillist to send e-mail ads while avoiding being a SPAMMER. In many ways, the returns available for an affiliate are similar to mail-order, where the normal response runs 1 to 2 percent. Being an affiliate means you first have to have a response in getting someone to visit your web site (see Adwords/ Keywords section), or responding to your e-mail, then getting them to go to the company’s sale-page, and, finally, actually buying. You have a better chance being an affiliate on the Internet because you can develop your relationships with buyers over time, without the cost of printing flyers, buying envelopes and stamps. It is not a business where you just set it up and forget it; it is a real business and does require work. A variation to the direct approach is the Google Adsense approach where Google looks at your web page and puts other company’s ad links automatically there. When a user clicks on one of those ads, you get paid (See the Adsense section). Combining both the traditional direct affiliate approach and the Adsense program at the same time makes a lot of sense. There are many free articles provided by companies that can start one off on the right foot. A good place to start is at www.associateprograms.com where you can download a free report called “Free 18-Step Affiliate Program Tutorial,” by Allan Gardyne. It is a six-page wonderful overview. To download it, go to the site, and drop to the bottom of the page, and you’ll see it listed as one of the recommended articles. From there, I personally recommend the highly touted and free, “The Affiliate Masters Course,” provided by SiteSell.com [http://aff- masters.sitesell.com.] It is 165 pages long in PDF format. It provides lots of information and advice as well as sub-reports and use of some specific software. Of course, they advertise constantly throughout, which is a bit annoying, but the course information is excellent. If you have 47 dollars, you might also consider buying a highly recommended report by Rosalind Gardner called, “Super Affiliate Handbook.” It is a 200-page course, and available via Amazon.com. The point is, a lot of learning must be accomplished before you dive into this business. The first time I tried affiliate marketing, I did it without doing the reading and made absolutely no money. I developed a whole site relying on banners to the companies I signed up with, and found out that was a complete waste of time. The most important decision one has to make is selecting the product field to work as an affiliate. Compounding this question is that selecting a non-popular product area, called a “niche,” can often bring the best success. The best product area, according to the Affiliate Gurus, is one where you are well-versed in and have a passionate interest. The Internet is used by so many people that there are always sufficient numbers in any niche area to provide a very nice income serving it. For instance, if you had a product that only 2,000 persons a day searched the Web for (out of each day’s 20 million searches), it would be the same as owning a store in town with 2,000 visitors each day. In the Adword/Keyword section there are several references to software programs that can help one find such a niche product area. As a matter of curiosity, the most popular products according to one study are: 40% - Computer-related products To find companies that want affiliate sellers, use the search command “affiliate networks” on Googles search engine, then explore the network directories. To get started, explore the references presented on the left side of this table.
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