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Choosing Home Business Affiliate Programs That Are Best For You
By Sean Grimes
Getting started:
Do your homework to determine the best programs for your web site.
Affiliate (aka Associate) programs are a win-win situation for everyone involved. Internet-based merchants hook up with affiliates to generate traffic to their web sites. Affiliates get paid if the traffic from their site visits the merchant web page. The smart Internet entrepreneur does some research to determine the best programs for her business.
Where to Look:
Affiliate networks are the middle man between affiliates and web sites with programs. Look for networks that provide all the tools needed to set up and maintain an program. Guidemax.net is a popular directory with information about merchants that pay you to sell their wares.
Commission Junction is a free network that offers access to thousands of the best programs. Commission Junction combines all your earnings (product sales, on-line ads, links) into one monthly check.
What to Look for:
The best programs will be those that target your customer base. An on-line florist would get little traffic from a pet supply website. You want an whose business is similar or comparable to your product. Avoid affiliates with low quality products. Ask to speak to existing affiliates to find out if a company is reputable.
Referral traffic may link to the merchant site and not buy initially but return to make a purchase weeks later. Look for programs that remember your site was responsible for that customer. The best programs remember you for 60 days by using cookies to tag the customer's computer when he visits the merchant site.
The best programs offer reliable support such as ads, logos, and sales advice.
Good programs also provide timely updates on click through sales and earnings, and, respond to questions or problems within 24 hours.
Getting Paid:
There are three common payment plans. With pay per sale, the merchant pays when the sends a customer who buys from the merchant's site. The payment could be a set amount or a percentage of the sale.
In a pay per click set up, the is paid based on the number of people who visit the merchant's web site regardless if a purchase was made.
With pay per lead programs, affiliates are paid based on the number of people who sign up as leads. A lead would be a visitor who filled out an information page on the merchant web site thus becoming a potential customer.
Multi-level payment plans allow affiliates to earn commission on sales, clicks, or leads from their sites as well as commission based on activity generated by sites they refer to the merchant site. Another form of payment is residual commission. Affiliates continue earning money after the original sale has been made. This is common in situations where customers pay monthly fees for merchant services.
The best programs pay at least 25% commission with some going as high as 50%. Payments should be made at least once a month although some programs pay quarterly or twice a year.
Honorable Mentions:
There are hundreds of good, reputable programs. http://www.guidemax.net has many programs listed that may be suitable for enrty level, intermediate level and advanced level internet marketers.
Sources:
"How Programs Work," (howstuffworks.com)
"Best Products for Maximum Profits," (bestaffiliateproducts.com)
"Affiliate Programs," (buildwebsite4u.com)
Sean Grimes who lives in Ofallon, Missouri, is an Internet Marketer. For more home business ideas and solutions, please visit:
www.guidemax.net
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