The affiliate networks will you save countless hours
scouring the Internet looking at individual web sites for details of
their affiliate programs. They help you keep track of the programs you signed
up for among all their merchant clients, and some issue a single combined check
on a regular basis. They provide a central site to visit in order monitor the
commissions you are generating. When you visit these sites, you can
browse through their lists of merchants and select the ones that suit your site
and your visitors best.
TAGS::::::EARN, MONEY, INTERNET
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INCREASING YOUR INCOME WITH AFFILIATE PROGRAMS
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If you're not accepting banner ads and joining affiliate
programs, then your Web site probably is not earning as much money
as it could be. An increasing number of Web site owners are converting small
portions of their Web space to cash
through the use of affiliate banner ads and strategically placed text links.
"Affiliate marketing is beginning to form the basis of
most sites’ marketing and advertising campaigns," says Gordon Hoffstein, president and CEO of Be
Free, Inc. The company manages affiliate programs for online merchants, currently boasting more than 2.4
million affiliates in its sales channels. Hoffstein believes that affiliate program advertising will grow
even more as site owners begin to realize its benefits and weed out less effective banner ads.
While many site owners are reluctant to send visitors to
other sites, Ryan Adams, whosesite ClickQuick.com evaluates affiliate programs,
said the advantages of well-implementedaffiliate programs outweigh this
concern. Topping his list is added
value to the Web site’s
visitors. Affiliate programs allow Web sites "to reach
out and provide value to their visitors
that they might not otherwise be able to. For example, a
site about cars might want to be able
to offer their
visitors a way to shop for insurance easily and quickly." And the best
part? "The owner
of the car site can
do what he or she does best: create content about cars, and attract
visitors interested in cars," Adams says.
Affiliate programs provide benefits to Webmasters,
advertisers, and visitors alike by
offering visitors easy access to a more diversified product
or service line without the
expense of additional
warehousing or site development on the part of the Web
site owner. For advertisers, it’s a no-risk proposition:
their products or services are
exposed to the site’s visitors, but the advertising costs
nothing if the product doesn’t sell.
Another benefit, according to Hoffstein, is that
"merchants are more efficiently able to
attract and retain
customers because they are placing their links in-context to where
their potential customers will go on the Web." And
visitors benefit by learning about
new Web sites that they might not have found on their own --
and by having the option
to purchase a product or service instantly.
Potential income from affiliate programs can vary from
nothing to several thousand
dollars a month. A ClickQuick survey found that only 8% of
the respondents made
more than $500 per month and most respondents were making
between $50 and $300
per month. However, the One and Only Network's top affiliate
for December 1999
made more than $12,000 in one month, proving that the
potential is there, if you
can take advantage of the opportunities.
Affiliate
Programs Explained
Unlike the old days of advertising when advertisers paid to
place ads and
Webmasters were paid based on the number of times an ad was
displayed,
affiliate programs only pay for results. What defines a
result differs from
program to program: some programs, such as About.com, pay
every time
someone clicks through and visits the site; others pay every
time someone
registers for a free service; and still others, such as
Amazon.com, pay only
when someone comes from your site and makes a purchase.
Some affiliate programs pay varying rates for registrations,
click-throughs,
and purchases. There are also variations within programs:
Amazon.com pays
15% if you link directly to a book that gets purchased and
5% of purchases if
you just link to the main page. Affiliate programs that pay
commissions also
vary on how they pay.
Some pay only if a sale is made on the initial visit, while
others encourage users to register with the site and pay the
initial referrer a
commission on all subsequent sales.
Determining who came from what site and what they purchased
is a daunting task,
especially when you
consider that some sites have huge numbers of associates. For
instance, Amazon.com
currently has more than 300,000 affiliates and this number
is growing. Merchants
have solved this problem by assigning each affiliate a unique
ID and embedding this ID into the link placed on the
affiliate site. If you’re an
Amazon.com affiliate and place a banner on your site, every
time someone clicks through to
Amazon.com, the visit is tracked and if the customer buys
something, you get credit.
Some companies turn the management of their affiliate
programs over to third parties,
such as Be Free, Inc. LinkShare.com, and Commission
Junction. These companies
track click-throughs,
issue checks, and provide an easy way for affiliates to research
and sign up for hundreds of affiliate programs at one site.
More importantly, from an
affiliate’s viewpoint, they require merchants to make
deposits into escrow accounts
to cover affiliate program costs -- and they will post a
notice telling current and
would-be affiliate
members which merchants are out of cash and aren't paying affiliates.
Many affiliate programs pay out monthly after you've earned
a certain amount. This minimum
varies from $25 to $50 per month. Other programs pay out
quarterly and have minimums ranging
from $50 to $200. Watch for these terms to be explained
upfront in your affiliate agreement
and find out whether you would be notified via email if
payout terms change.
Finding and
Choosing the Right Ones
Finding worthwhile affiliate programs can be difficult and
time consuming. If you’re not
sure what’s available, the easiest way to find many
different affiliate programs in one place
is by signing up with
Commission Junction, Be Free, Inc., or LinkShare.com.
These companies manage hundreds of affiliate programs and
allow you to sign up for
multiple programs by filling out a single form. If there's a
particular company with which
you would like to
affiliate, but it isn't listed with one of the affiliate managers, try the
direct
approach. Most companies will list affiliate opportunities
under the "About Us," "Affiliates,"
"Partnerships," or "Opportunities"
sections of their Web site. You can also watch the banner
ads that scroll across your screen as you're surfing the
net, because chances are if you see a
banner, the site has an affiliate program.
It's important to choose your affiliate programs wisely.
Join only those programs that
you can believe in.
Some things to consider when choosing an affiliate program:
Choose products and services that will appeal to your
visitors. Never dilute
the appeal of your own site by offering affiliate products
or services outside your
own audience
demographic. "Carefully target the affiliate programs and their products
and services sold
to the interests of your visitors," says Ryan Adams of ClickQuick.com.
"Even a
top-notch, high-commission program will perform poorly if it is not targeted
towards the right
audience." If you sell children's clothing online, consider affiliating
with an online toy
store. If you sell office supplies, partner with an online provider
of business
services. By targeting your advertising to your customers, you'll have
a higher
click-through percentage than if you choose partners at random.
Choose Web
sites with a good reputation.
No matter how
limited or valuable your time may be, invest some time in thoroughly
investigating your
potential affiliate partners. Never join an affiliate program that offers
ower quality
service or products than your own -- otherwise, your own reputation will
suffer by
association. You can find information about online companies
at RedHerring.Com
and Internet.Com. You can find reviews of affiliate
programs at
ClickQuick.com and Refer-it.com.
Don't be lured by
big, one-time payouts.
Some Webmasters,
new to the affiliate game, will be lured by the large
payouts offered by
many companies for free registration and will load their
advertising space
with sponsors paying for registration. Signing up with companies
that pay several
dollars per registered visitor could add up a lot faster than $0.02 per click.
However, many visitors won't take the time to complete the
registration process
and other visitors
will already be members, which means you get nothing even
if they click through to visit the site.
Diversify to stabilize your income.
Choose partners
with a variety of payout methods so that you can create a
stable base of
income. For instance, if you choose only partners that pay commissions
based on sales, you could have an income that
varies widely from month to month.
However, if you
choose a mix of affiliate programs with some paying per click,
some for
registration, and some for sales, you'll create a more stable income.
You might also
want to consider when programs pay out and choose some
with monthly
payouts and others with quarterly payouts.
Read affiliate agreements carefully.
Some agreements
will specify that you cannot display advertisements for similar
sites and some may
specify that you use only banners and not text links. Unless
you comply with
all terms in the affiliate agreement, you will likely find yourself
short-changed on
payoffs. And you can potentially cut off other revenue
streams that could
be more lucrative.
Choose affiliate
programs that meet your navigation objectives.
While some
affiliate programs specify exactly how banner and text links
must be created,
others will allow you to open links in a separate browser
window -- allowing
your customers to remain on your site at the same time
that you take
advantage of your affiliate opportunities.
Choose products
and services that don’t compete with what you offer.
Last but not least
-- the obvious: if you're a small bookstore, don’t partner with
Amazon.com. Even
if you think that customers will appreciate the opportunity to
find items that
you do not stock, you’ll more likely discover that your customers
prefer the lower
prices that a huge chain can offer -- on all the items.
Taking the
Plunge
After you've chosen the affiliate partners with whom you'd
like to associate, you'll need to fill
out an application and tell them about yourself and your Web
site. Others will carefully review
your site for content, number of hits, and current affiliate
programs. Acceptance criteria vary
widely. DirectLeads, for instance, requires that sites have
3,000 unique visitors per month, while
Furniture.com's affiliate agreement states that sites can be
rejected if they discriminate on the basis
of race, sex,
religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age; promote illegal
activities; or contain little or no original content.
Some programs review sites immediately, while others take
several weeks to give you
a decision. You should be notified via email either way and
if you're accepted, you'll be
sent your affiliate ID and told where you can find the html
code you'll need in order to
place the appropriate banners or text links on your site. If
you are
not accepted, you may
be told why your site was not accepted and given the option
of reapplying when you meet their criteria.
Following
the Rules
It's important to follow the rules when you participate in
affiliate programs or you'll
find your membership
terminated or suspended. Each affiliate agreement is slightly
different, but many contain directions concerning the
following:
Placement of Ads: Your agreement will
likely specify the size, style, and
number of ads that
you can place per page, and identify whether you can
use ads in
newsletters or exclusively on your Web site. Most request ads
to be located in a
"prominent place" on the site, but a few will be
very specific
about ad placement.
Site Content: Site content provisions
vary widely. Some simply specify that
you will not post
adult content on your site and others require that your site has
valid content
concerning a particular topic -- rather than serving primarily
as a portal site
with a collection of links.
Exclusivity: Some agreements require
that you not accept advertisements
from similar
sites.
Use of Links: Most agreements require that
you use links exactly as provided
without any
modifications.
No Spam: All
agreements prohibit the promotion of their site through
the use of
unsolicited email.
Maximizing
Your Profits
Making money with affiliate programs isn't as simple as
putting up banner ads and
expecting the checks to roll in. You'll need to do some work
to get the maximum
payout from your affiliate programs. Here are some simple
steps you can use to
make affiliate programs work for you:
Keep it Clean:
Nothing turns visitors off faster than pages and pages
of banner ads.
Most visitors will quickly click to another site if your
opening page is
too "busy" or slow to download. As ClickQuick.com's
Ryan Adams puts
it: "The number-one way [to get visitors to return] is
to offer a reason
for those visitors to come back. If your site is on some
free web host, and
is filled with 25 banner ads for affiliate programs
on the first page,
your visitors have no reason to return. Matter of fact,
they will usually
hit the Back button to leave before they click an
ad to go to an
affiliate partner."
Use Text Links:
Web users are becoming immune to banners and
will ignore them.
But if you include links within an article or include a
text link and a
description, visitors are more inclined to visit the referenced site.
Provide Related
Content: Content is what brings users to your site and
what will keep
them there. Take some time to develop relevant, actionable
articles that will
provide your visitors with truly useful information rather than
simply
regurgitating the same "old" material offered on similar sites.
A site offering
garden supplies can engage visitors by offering zonal growing tips,
targeted industry
news, frost warnings, and top-notch features and discussion pieces
-- as well as a
forum area where members can post questions and discuss the topics in the
articles.
Monitor Your
Results and Adapt as Necessary: Take advantage of the
up-to-the-minute
tracking offered by most affiliate programs. Check your results
often and make
changes as necessary. If your banners aren't working, try text links. If your
hottest affiliate
program is buried 3 levels into your site, move it to the front page and see
if your results
improve. Refer-it.com's Affiliate Manager Shawn Collins has seen positive
results by moving
ads around and featuring different products. Collins said, "We feature
different books
on our homepage from time to time and whichever book we feature at a
given time tends
to outsell the others which are only featured in our bookstore."
Take Advantage of
Special Offers: Many sites run daily, weekly, or monthly
specials -- and
provide related banners! For instance, MotherNature.Com recently
ran a promotion
offering $20 off on a visitor's first purchase.
Increase Your
Hits: Take steps to increase your hits through search
engine placement
and newsletters; the more people visit your site,
the more people will
visit your sponsors.
Future
Trends
Affiliate programs are the wave of the future, according to
some Internet experts.
A study by Forrester
Research showed that on average, affiliates of top retailers
generate 13% of total online revenues and will increase to
21% by 2003.
According to Ryan Adams, "Affiliate programs will
continue to evolve.
The concept is still fairly new, and the boundaries are
still being tested. I think
in the near-term we
will see more competition for quality affiliates.
This means higher commissions or special bonuses to attract
and retain the top sites."
What changes might we see in the longer term? Adams thinks
more programs will
move to help
webmasters better integrate products and services for sale into their
content. "Banner ads are poor performers for referring
product sales, so affiliate
programs will need to better teach their affiliates how to
creatively integrate links,
and also provide additional tools to reduce the manual work
required in setting up and maintaining links."
Starting
with a Bang
Building an online empire isn't an easy proposition. It
takes hard work, products
you believe in, relevant content, excellent customer
service, and repeat customers.
Carefully chosen affiliate programs can help build your
online business
by providing a steady cash flow and bringing visitors back
to your site.
And who knows, maybe one day you'll be successful enough to
sponsor an affiliate program of your own.
TAGS::::::EARN, MONEY, INTERNET
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