Tag: the affiliate marketer

How To Best Select An Affiliate Program


Web marketing’s broad appeal

Marketing products and services (‘products’) via the Internet is unquestionably easier, and exponentially more rewarding, than traditional marketing methods, based primarily on a worldwide market of prospective customers in the millions getting online every day and creating an enormous potential for a merchant to sell his products and generate huge income.

However, merchandisers are not the only ones who can benefit from online marketing, because Web marketing has grown into a booming industry that provides great opportunity for individuals as well as corporate and organizational marketing entities. In affiliate marketing, the affiliate marketer need not have his/her own products to sell. On the contrary, all s/he needs to do is refer people to a merchant’s business site (often described as product pages) for them to buy products and, as a result of such purchases, earn a commission.

The key to affiliate marketing success is the affiliate’s ability to choose a good affiliate program and to utilize excellent marketing techniques in promoting or selling the products to consumers. Why good and not the best affiliate program? Because there is no “best affiliate marketing program,” as one program might make one affiliate marketer a millionaire and the other, a frustrated marketer. In other words, it can be a success of one and a failure of another.

Your affiliate marketing niche

Can affiliate marketing work for you? What’s your niche? – Among the many Affiliate Marketing programs on the Web there certainly is a good affiliate marketing program to start with; and implementing it in the best and most effective way would depend on you. But before you think of how you are going to make it a best and most financially rewarding program, you must first think of how you are going to choose a good affiliate program from the thousands of such opportunities being offered on the Internet today. Try to look into the following tips and suggestions on how to best select an affiliate program that’s right for you.

Let’s begin with information, which is what you will need in order to make the right choice. It is helpful when you have already focused your search in a specific area of interest, which might also be the theme of your website (if you already have one). In this way, you would be able to direct your attention towards a program that really matches your needs, wants and resources. It would be easier for you to eliminate options that are not suited to your own criteria for a good affiliate marketing program.

You can join affiliate forums and learn some tips and get suggestions from experienced affiliate marketers, but be wise enough to weigh their ideas before you buy them.

The Internet Affiliate marketing program networks are also good places to look for choices, since this is where merchants and affiliate marketers like you meet; and merchants advertise their affiliate programs to interested affiliates who sign up with the networks for free. Third party affiliate program networks are helpful because they provide you with access to a large number of advertisers (merchandisers) simultaneously. You can easily track and compare their sales records, performances, benefits, credibility and products.

Choose the right affiliate program

So now you have choices, and the next question is, which among those options is the right one? Here are some things to consider in deciding which program(s) to take up with and which one(s) to reject. First is the quality of the products, because as an affiliate marketer your goal is not only to induce your website visitors to click the product link; but more importantly, to promote the products so they would be interested in buying it.

If customers are not convinced on going to the merchant’s business site, then you obviously don’t earn. So it is important to make sure that the products you endorse are worthwhile, or in the business vernacular, saleable. Question yourself about each product: If I were the customer, would I buy it? Would I recommend it to my family or good friend? If you can’t convince yourself or your family and friends to buy it, then you should move on to your next option.

Another criteria for choosing a good affiliate program is the merchandiser’s credibility (history, customer support, timely affiliate payments, etc.). Take a serious look at their past and present sales data, the track record of affiliate marketing systems and their partners’ experiences with them. While the success or failure of any program ultimately depends on your efforts, the merchant’s credibility is still a very important criteria in selecting a program.

Diligence & patience

Exercise diligence & patience in choosing a program – The sales records don’t only show how good affiliates are, but they speak about the products’ reliability, market availability and the company or the merchandisers’ reputation as well. Moreover, you should look into and carefully study the company’s compensation plan. Your purpose for joining the program is, after all to earn, so make sure you’ll be paid fairly and in a timely manner for all your efforts.

If you do not have much time to passionately promote affiliate products by creating banners, graphics and articles, then it might be a good idea to choose affiliate programs that assist you in creating these marketing tools for your web site. It would be great if the company provides training on how to effectively market products online; but remember that affiliate marketing is a partnership, so make sure your partner is able to support you as you help him promote his/her products.

On a sheet of paper or on your favorite editor, write down all the advantages and disadvantages of each program you are considering so you can clearly see the difference among your options. Then later compare the advantages of each program with your own checklist. Just make sure to take time to gather all the info you need to choose the right program. Remember an informed choice is the best choice!

The Affiliate Marketer: A Day In the Life Of

A primary business tool on hold

Any reasonable observer might accept the correlation between today’s affiliate marketer and yesterday’s commission salesman; including the door-to-door salesman, telemarketer and corresponding salesman. If such a correlation can withstand criticism from, and debate among, members of the respective groups and as a result, these groups can therefore be viewed as similar in nature, it can also be said that a major difference between the two is the Internet.

Being in the affiliate marketing business is not as difficult today because those who engage in it have the Internet at their disposal. There is little doubt that an affiliate marketer’s job – while being done in a much more competitive environment – is made much easier by the Internet as compared to the days when marketers/salespersons had to make use of the telephones and other tools and resources of the day, to get up-to-date news, statistics and industry information on their respective fields, as well as to “track” the progress of their programs.

That having been said, let’s take a look at how technology has affected the sales (affiliate marketing) profession. Assuming of course that most affiliate marketers conduct business from home, this is an attempt to depict a day in his/her professional life…

Upon waking up and after having breakfast, the computer is turned on to check any new developments in the network. As far as the marketer is concerned there might be new items to update and statistics to keep track of.

The site design has to be revised. The marketer knows that a well-designed site can increase sign ups from visitors, as well as help in the affiliate’s conversion rates (the conversion rate is measured as clicks on product links divided by the number of product displays).

That done, it is time for the affiliate to submit his/her program to directories that lists affiliate programs. These directories are used by merchants and other affiliates to attract interested parties to join existing affiliate programs, and are therefor considered a surefire way of promoting an affiliate program.

Time to track down any sales the affiliate is getting from the efforts of other affiliates in a fair and accurate manner. It is important to point out here that phone and mail orders still exist and therefore must also be track, although to a lesser degree. Additionally, the affiliate will also check to see if they are new clients checking out the products. S/he Notes down the contact information that might be a viable source in the future.

 

There are lots of resources to sort out. Ads, banners, button ads and sample recommendations to distribute because the marketer knows that this is one way of ensuring more sales. It is always best that an affiliate marketer stays visible and accessible to the marketplace.

The affiliate marketer remembered that there are questions to answer from visitors to the various websites and product pages; but this has to be done quickly because nothing can turn off a customer like an unanswered email.

To prove that the affiliate is working effectively and efficiently, inquiries would have to be paid prompt attention to since nobody wants to be ignored; and as most seasoned affiliate marketers will tell you, customers are not always the most patient of individuals. So it is important to provide a quick answer that should also be professional courteous.

In the process of doing all the necessities, the marketer is logged on to a chat room where s/he interacts with other affiliates and those under that same program. This is where they can discuss things on how to best promote their products.

There are things to be learned and it is a continuous process. Sharing tips and advice is a good way of showing support, as there may be others wanting to join and may be enticed by the discussion that is going on. There is certainly no harm in anticipating what kind of opportunities lie ahead.

The newsletters and ezines were updated days ago, so it is time for the affiliate marketer to see if there are some new things happening in the marketplace. This will be written about in the marketer’s publication to be distributed to old and new customers alike.

These same publications are also important tools in keeping up to date with newly introduced products the marketer has put up a sale and promotion that customers may want to know about. Besides, they have to keep up with deadlines for these sales written in such publications.

The time has come now to show some appreciation to those who have helped the marketer with promotions and sales increase. Nothing like mentioning the persons, their sites and the great job they have done in helping to make everything work. This of course, will also be published in the newsletters among the more important information that have already been written.

The marketer still has time to write out recommendations to those who want credible sources for products and services being promoted; and there is also time to post some comments on how to be a successful affiliate marketer on a site where there are lots of wannabees.

Two objectives done at the same time is when the marketer gets to promote his/her product, as well as the program s/he represents and promotes. Who knows, someone may be inclined to join, right? Time flies however, and although the affiliate missed lunch s/he is still quite content with the tasks performed and can say: Job well done with a self gratifying pat on the back. Bed time….

Okay, so this may not be all done in a day; but it does give you an idea of how an affiliate marketer, a dedicated one that is, spends the marketing day. Is that success looming on the horizon, or is it just a mirage of wishful thinking? You be the judge!