Affiliate Marketing Means Take Action Now
October 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Internet marketing is really possible for anyone to do. The cost of having your own website is about $10 a month, after you buy a domain name for about $15. So, the first month is about $25, then $10 each month thereafter. The only output that is required of you is your time. And that is where most first time affiliate marketers make their biggest mistakes. They do not really appreciate that old, time is money, adage. Most new marketers are hell bent on being able to say that they spend only $10/month and they want to insert $10,000/month as profit. That would be great, of course, and it can happen, but it’s going to take a lot longer to do if you don’t invest a little bit to get started in the right direction.
There are $100 guides and tutorials that can get you started in the right direction much faster than if you floundered around forums for months trying a little bit of this and that. This is not an article that attempts to sell you anyone of these things. This article is selling the concept of time is money. Would you rather spend $100 on a set of video tutorials that taught you how to how to make $100/day in a month, or spend $0, and search and search forums for a year before you were able to make $100/day? The answer is pretty clear to me, I would spend the $100 immediately so I could become profitable in a much smaller time frame. However, many people say that they know they can find the information for free on the Internet, and there is no need to spend money on information that can be found for free. And they are told that this mindset is correct by forum owners. Forum owners who stand to profit more when beginners stay searching their threads hopelessly for hours on end.
The information is probably in these forums somewhere, but it will take you months to piece together everything to become profitable. And the harsh reality is that the most successful marketers don’t sit in forums giving away all their best secrets. The only way you get one on one advice and coaching is by paying for it. This is not necessarily a bad thing at all. It saves you tons of time with minimal financial outlay. Time is money, so the sooner you learn the right information, the sooner you will start to profit. Of course, you are going to want to ask around or do your homework about programs that are worth the money. But do this research and just buy something good. Forums will waste your time all day long. No one is going to answer all of the 5,000 questions that must be answered to get started for free. You need to pay for that, but the cost is in the hundreds of dollars, not 10s of thousands or 100s of thousands like a college education. Take action. Just don’t sit in forums, it’s death.
With So Many Affiliate Programs, Which One Should I Choose?
September 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment
The number one thing you need to do when looking into the myriad of affiliate programs available is to ask questions first before you join any program. You have to do the research about the choices of each program that you are thinking about joining. Get the answers before joining because they will be the deciding factors of what you will be achieving later on.
I have listed here some of the main questions that you need to ask any retailer offering an affiliate program.
“Will it cost me anything to join?” The majority of affiliate programs offered today are free of charge, so why pay for those that charge you something before joining? Unless there is only a very small fee and a very large ROI (Return On Investment), paying to be an affiliate just doesn’t make sense.
“When do they send out the commission checks?” Each program is different, so this is an important question. Some issue their checks once every month, every quarter, etc. Find the one that is best suited to your payment schedule choice. There are many affiliate programs that are setting a minimum earned commission amount that you must meet or exceed in order for them to issue you a check, so be sure to ask if they have a minimum.
“What is their hit per sale ratio?” This very important question tells you what the average number of banner or text link “hits” it takes to generate a sale. A “hit” occurs when someone clicks on the banner or text links. This is based on all affiliate statistics. This ratio is extremely important, as it will tell you approximately how much traffic you need to generate before you can start earning commissions from the sale.
“How will the referrals from my affiliate’s site be tracked and also how long do they stay in the system?” You need to have the confidence that the program will track the people you refer from your site. This is the only way that you will get credit for the sale. The period of time that your referrals stay in the system is also extremely important. The reason is because some visitors do not initially buy the product, but may want to return at a later time to make the purchase. You need to know if you are still going to get credit for the sale, even if it is done a few days or months from a certain day. Most programs track between 45 and 60 days, though some programs track referrals for as long as a year or more.
“What are the kinds of affiliate stats available?” The affiliate program you choose should be offering detailed statistics for your review. These should be available at anytime online. By constantly checking your individual stats, you know how many impressions, hits and sales are already generated from your site. “Impressions” are the number of times your banner or text links are viewed by the visitors of your site.
“Besides the commissions on sales, does the affiliate program also pay for hits and impressions?” It’s best if you can find a program where impressions and hits are also paid, as this will add to your earnings along with the sales commission. This is especially important if the program you are in offers a low sales point to be able to hit any ratio requirement they may have.
“Who is the online retailer you’ll be dealing with?” You need to find out whom you will be doing business with to know if they are a really solid company. Check out the products they are selling and the average sales amounts they are achieving. The more you know about the retailer offering the affiliate program, the easier it is for you to decide if that program is really the right one for you and your site.
“Is the program a one tier or two tier affiliate program?” A single tier affiliate program pays you only for the business you yourself generate. A two-tier program pays you for the business/sales you bring in, plus it also pays you a commission on the sales generated by any sub-affiliate you sponsor under you in the program. Some two-tier programs even pay a small fee for each new affiliate you sponsor. This is a recruitment fee, which usually only goes down one level.
Lastly, “what is the amount of commission paid?” Depending on which market you get into, you’ll find that 5% - 20% is fairly standard commission that most programs pay out. .01% - .05% is a typical amount paid for each hit. If you find a program that also pays you for banner/text-ad impressions, the amount paid is usually not much at all. As you can see from the figures above, you now understand why the average sales amount and hit to sale ratio is a very important fact to know about before getting into any affiliate program.
These are just some of the questions that need to be answered first before you join an affiliate program. You should also become familiar with the many important aspects that your chosen program has before incorporating them into your marketing campaign and website. Ask your affiliate program choices these questions. They can help you select the right program for you and your site from among the many available.
My recommendation for one of the best Affiliate Commision sites going is Commision Junction. They have a wide variety of both affiliate programs and payouts. CJ is certainly worth a look if you want to get serious about this type of Affiliate Marketing.
To your continued success!
Bill Gould