How Many Affiliate Checks Would You Want?


The Affiliate Marketing model

It is often said that Affiliate Marketing is one of the easiest ways to make money online; and based on the revenue sharing model, which is a business relationship between affiliates who agrees to promote, market and sell products/services (‘products’), and the merchants who create and offer them, the prospects of making money are better than virtually any other business on the Web.

That having been said, however, it is important for every aspiring affiliate to keep in mind that the ease with which an individual can become an affiliate; and making money without investing the time, effort, and dollars required to achieve success are two entirely different things. In other words, making money in Affiliate Marketing is easy as long as the parties involved are ready, willing and able to perform their respective duties in as diligent a manner as possible.

The method by which revenue is shared in an affiliate marketing relationship is primarily commission-based and, in some cases, bonuses are paid for reaching certain milestones. When affiliates advertise a merchant’s products through his/her own efforts and expense any sale(s) that result entitles those affiliates to a commission; and for every potential referred to the merchant’s product page could result in the affiliate receiving a commission or fee even if a sale is not made at time of the initial visit; but no payment is due to the affiliate until successful results are realized.

Relationship mutuality

A mutually beneficial relationship – Compensation is based on either the number of visits (Pay-per-click), registrant (Pay-per-lead), or commission for each sale (Pay-per-sale). This system allows affiliate marketers to earn anywhere from a few bucks to thousands of dollars depending on the particular affiliate program(s). The important thing here is to understand that the opportunity to earn in affiliate marketing can only be limited by the affiliate’s determination, creativity and strategy.

In view of the above it is easy to understand why affiliate marketing is often referred to as a brilliant way to earn online, especially since affiliates don’t have to produce their own products or services to make a few dollars; but instead, to advertise a merchant’s products and get paid when their advertising efforts result in a sale. It is important to point out here that profiting from an affiliate marketing relationship isn’t immediate; the money usually starts small, but can get larger as the campaign starts to build up steam.

There are many things an affiliate marketer can do to maximize his/her profits; but if you ask any affiliate marketer how many affiliate checks s/he would want to receive, s/he will probably tell you that s/he wants as many as possible. Some affiliate checks are small, amounting to no more than $25; but others are large and can easily reach into the thousands of dollars and even more, depending on the affiliate, the program and the product; but over time these affiliate checks may build up to a really impressive amount.

Affiliate checks

To determine the number of affiliate checks – In order to achieve maximum success, you – as an affiliate marketer – should put in enough work and effort as well as utilize your imagination to find creative ways to attract more web traffic which can be converted to sales for the merchant and profit for you. Thus the question: How many affiliate checks do you want to receive?

Most affiliate marketers will enthusiastically reply that they want to receive as many affiliate checks as possible; but can it be said that merely wishing to receive checks will cause them to be paid? Obviously the answer is No! Because, like any other revenue generating business, the process is often not as easy as it sounds! Another question that is frequently asked is: Does joining many affiliate programs guarantee more affiliate checks that really amount to something? The answer is this quesion is also No!

Most affiliate marketers assume that joining multiple affiliate programs is a smart and viable option, because since it is very easy to join affiliate programs and there is really nothing to lose, affiliate marketers are tempted to join as many programs as they can in an attempt to boost their earnings. This effort often backfires however, because it ends in failure based on the affiliates inability to focus enough attention and work on any single program. The maximum earning potential of those affiliates are therefore not realized and the resulting income will be disappointing.

Affiliate potential

Realizing maximum affiliate potential – The best way to achieve multiple streams of income is to concentrate on one affiliate program at a time, by choosing product that you can promote passionately. Simply choose a product in which you have complete trust, and the best way to do this is to select a product you’ve used personally. This way your prospects will be able to sense your sincerity whenever you promote a product that you have experienced. This will also greatly enhance your credibility as well as your product’s marketability and will really encourage your prospect to purchase or avail of the product or service.

As soon as your first affiliate product is making a reasonable profit, then you can proceed to joining another affiliate program and repeat the process. “Too much, too soon” is a common pitfall in affiliate marketing which is why joining too many affiliate programs simultaneously in the hopes of having multiple streams of income simply does not work.

So the question should not be how many affiliate checks you want to receive; but rather, how many “high-paying” affiliate checks can you receive. The answer lies in your determination to succeed and with the right tools, the right actions, and the right mindset, you can definitely make a good profit out of affiliate marketing.

Landing Pages: Essential to Affiliate Marketing


Landing pages

Put a landing page in your marketing toolbox – As an affiliate marketer, you will need to perform certain tasks and you’ll need a set of marketing tools to assist you in the performance of those tasks. However, what you don’t need to be concerned with is the development or creation of the products and/or services (‘products’) you are going to market, because they are all ready to go whenever you are. Consider the following scenario.

You have already signed up with the Google Adsense program or with other affiliate marketing programs, and you have already prepared the ad you want to post on your affiliate’s site. Your mind is now set on being the next most successful online businessman; but is there something else you might have forgotten to prepare? Maybe nothing! However, have you thought to prepare landing pages? Are they all set for your business?

Landing pages are simply web pages where visitors are directed to when they click a search engine results page link or an ad on the Web. For affiliate marketers, landing pages are utilized to entice website visitors to spend more time browsing their pages; and for merchants they are used to direct potential customers to particular product pages on their websites. Keep in mind that most product links on an affiliate’s website would lead to unique landing pages created by the merchants.

Landing pages are, at most times, not really different from other web pages in a particular website, especially if the website referred to is an e-commerce site. Some online business persons would even use the homepage of their websites as the landing page for their ads. Are these business persons making a big mistake? Or should you follow their method in creating landing pages for your ads?

Well, you can always follow what most online retailers do: direct their potential customers to the homepages of their websites. But if you want to achieve something more from your online business, and if you want to earn a lot of profit, you’d be better off creating a special landing page for your web ads. Why? There are a few reasons why you need to use landing pages for your web ads. And take note that it would be much better if you create a great landing page as oppose to a so-so one.

Pay-per-click

It is the only way affiliate marketers get conversions – There are a variety of affiliate marketing programs today, but most of these programs let the merchant pay the affiliate in a pay per click (PPP) basis. Basically, all you have to do is sign up with the program and submit your ad. The program owner would then distribute your ad to various affiliates who would then place your ad on their websites. Whenever your ad is clicked, a visitor would be directed to your landing page and you would have to pay the affiliate for his/her service.

As a merchant, you earn money through conversions —that result when a visitor is directed to your site and actually buys a product before leaving. Without these conversions, you actually earn nothing from the program. Also, the more visitors your affiliates have directed to your site, the larger would your expense wpould be. And the only way you can recover from these expenses is through conversions.

Of course you probably won’t get any conversion if you post an ad on your affiliate’s site without an actual landing page for the potential customer to be redirected into. It’s just like advertising a product without actually having a store from which to sell your product. Your advertisement may be enticing enough to encourage people to purchase a product, but without the landing page, how will they know where and how to purchase that product?

It is therefore important to have landing pages for your ads because it is the only way for you to earn some money in an affiliate program. Without landing pages, all you do is spend money paying your affiliates without actually getting anything in return.

The home page

Other web pages may just not be enough – Many affiliates make the mistake of making their website’s homepage as the landing page for their ads. The same is true for those who make use of other pages like a “contact us” page or a product page. Homepages are often designed to serve multiple users and contain a lot of links to other pages or to other websites.

The same is true for the other two pages mentioned. If you want to be successful in an affiliate program, it is best not to have your landing page to cater to the needs of various people, most of which may not be really interested in your product.

When choosing a landing page, you must always have the customer directed into that page you intended. Therefore your landing page must be relevant to the keywords and content you placed in your ad. It is also important that the landing page induce your visitor to take action by clicking on one of your product links or at least provide leads for potential customers.

A primary business tool on hold

Final Word

You probably entered into an affiliate marketing program with these things in mind: to save on advertising expenses and to gain more profit. But if you get into an affiliate marketing program without actually having a landing page, you’ll end up paying too much without getting anything in return. So if you still don’t have a landing page for your ads, you better start creating one now; and don’t get wrong idea; it isn’t enough for you to have just a landing page…it should be a great landing page. Good luck!