What are affiliate programs

Alfred Williams 5:02 AM 0

Complete internet marketing strategy article series focusing on effective online marketing strategies and techniques. By Shelley Lowery Developing your own product to market on the Internet isn't as difficult as you may think. Today's technology has opened a whole New World of opportunity for even the smallest homebased business owner. The knowledge you have within your own mind is all you'll need to develop a successful product. Everybody is good at something. You don't have to be a Rocket Scientist in order to create your own product. If that were the case, most of us would fail. Maybe you have a special talent or some specialized knowledge. Use this knowledge to create a product. Researching Before you begin developing your product, make sure you've done your homework. Research the market to determine exactly what people want and develop your product accordingly. If your product doesn't have a market, it won't be successful. Your product should not only fill a void, but should also be unique. The less competition you have, the better. If you enter a market in which you're competing against hundreds of other products similar to yours, your chance of success will be minimal. Develop a high-quality product that fills a void and provides people with exactly what they want. Another consideration of great importance is your product's delivery method. The best form of product delivery on the Internet is automated. Internet users want the product they order as soon as their purchase is complete. This can be accomplished in a number of ways depending upon the type of product. For example, if your product is software or information, it can reside on your server and be instantly downloaded via a link. If your product is a private site, you can provide instant access as soon as your customer's payment has been processed. Not only does instant product delivery benefit your customer, but it will also benefit you. By completely automating your product's ordering and delivery process, you can spend your time performing more important tasks, such as making more sales. Brain Storming The most difficult part of creating your own product is deciding upon the product itself. First of all, you'll need to decide what type of product you would like to develop. Some of the top Internet sellers include: • Software • Information • Private sites • Internet services Once you have determined the type, then you can focus your attention on the subject matter. If you would like to develop a software program, but aren't capable of writing it yourself, consider hiring a professional. If you would be interested in developing a desktop software program, simply visit a Search Engine and search for "software developers." If you would like to develop a software that resides on a server, search for "scripting services." Although this type of product will be the most expensive to develop, it can be very profitable. Information is a big seller on the Internet and is also the most inexpensive to develop. Your information can be in the form of a report, an ebook or even a private site. Internet users are starving for information, as that is what the Internet is all about. They have a sincere desire to learn and will search for the information they desire. The best form of information is "how-to" information that teaches or informs in regard to a specific subject. Even if the subject is very unique, the Internet is a great market for even the most niche products. If you'd like to develop a product that is very inexpensive to create and has a great profit margin, then an informational product is your best bet. Most informational products are compiled into a downloadable file better known as an ebook. In order to compile your files into an ebook, you'll need to purchase a compiler. Prices start at around $25. You can find a complete list of compilers here: http://www.web-source.net/web/Ebooks/Compilers/ For further information on creating an informational product, you may read the article entitled, "How to Create, Sell and Distribute Your Own Informational Product." http://www.web-source.net/info_products.htm Here are a few subjects to give you some ideas: Recipes Cooking Sewing Tips Gardening Canning Makeup and Skin Care Weight Loss Self Improvement Health and Fitness Child Development Teenagers Romance Dating Relationships Divorce Single Mothers Single Fathers Teenage Mothers Teenage Fathers Home Decorating Home Remodeling Home Maintenance Plumbing Carpentry Small Appliance Repair Home Buying Auto Mechanics Auto Buying Home Finances Home Business Computers Internet Internet services are also very profitable. However, this type of product requires more of your time. In addition, you must be an expert in a given field in order to provide a quality service. Here are a few popular Internet services: • Web/Graphics Design • Copywriting • Software Development • Marketing Consultant • Publicist • Search Engine Optimization/Submissions Alternative Products If you'd rather not develop your own product, you may want to consider selling someone else's product. You can find hundreds of great affiliate programs here: http://www.associateprograms.com/ If you would be interested in selling some of the top name brand items, the following website will provide you with hundreds of legitimate drop shippers. These companies will allow you to sell their products on your website and even ship them to your customers. (There is a $39.95 per year fee for this service) http://www.electronicdartshop.com/dropshipsource.html Summary Developing your own product is an essential part of your online success. Take your time and make sure you do your homework before you begin. No matter what product you develop, quality is of the utmost importance. Provide your customers with exactly what you promise and more -- over-deliver. If you develop a quality product that fills a void and provides Internet users with exactly what they want, your product will be a success. Click here for Part I of this article. Copyright © Shelley Lowery 2001. About the Author: Shelley Lowery is the author of several successful ebooks including Web Design Mastery - An in-depth guide to professional web design. Ebook Starter - A Complete Ebook Design Kit, and eZines: A Complete Guide to Publishing for Profit. Subscribe to Etips and receive a free copy of her highly acclaimed ebook, "Killer Internet Marketing Strategies." http://www.web-source.net This article is directed at beginners to affiliate programs marketing who wish to generate additional income of their web sites by joining these programs. It might help you to figure out which affiliate programs you shouldn't join! What are affiliate programs? Affiliate programs (also called reseller, associate programs) are programs where you (webmaster) advertise and/or promote a vendor(s) product/service or site on your site. This is usually done by placing on your site; banners, buttons, pop-up windows, text-links or/and promotion articles. You will get paid; per click or per 1000 impressions (in case of banners), per lead or per sale generated from your site. There are also the so called "2-tier" affiliate programs which pay commissions on two levels. You will receive a commission for each sale you make and for each sale your recruits (affiliates who sign up with the program through your own affiliate links) make. Affiliate programs aren't get-rich-quick models! Though there are 100.000s of affiliates scattered all over the internet, very few are making decent money out of affiliate programs. There is a famous sentence known among savvy affiliates: Only 5% of affiliates are making the 95% of sales for affiliate vendors! You will find yourself too that this statement is true in most cases. However Affiliate programs can definitely pay off, but you have to be running your operation like a business. It all depends on the volume of traffic that your site receive (without the traffic, your site isn't going to sell much), whether you provide a useful service to your site visitor, the type of your site visitors, the relevancy of affiliate programs to your visitors (targeting), and your own promotion/marketing efforts. Don't try to join too many affiliate programs with the result that your site will look like a supermarket. Instead focus your efforts on few programs, that meet the needs of your site visitors, and make them work for you! What to check out before joining an affiliate program? Too many webmasters fall for the hyped claims and signup with several affiliate programs without any consideration. You need to check out and examine few things before joining a program: - The program must offer REAL products. Programs without legitimate products are known as "ponzi" or "pyramid schemes"..... be worry! - Determine who is running the affiliate vendor site. I.e complete contact details. - Study the terms of the affiliate agreement carefully. This is a MUST! You may wish to save (or print out) a copy of the agreement. In this connection, I recommend studying the Affiliate Union Draft of Merchant Certification Criteria. - Se whether Payment terms are acceptable. Make sure the program has a reasonable minimum pay-out ($25- $50) and pays at least once a month. And make sure that the affiliate program will send payments worldwide if you are outside USA (or outside the country of the affiliate program). - Some affiliate merchants offer multiple payment options to buyers, for example credit card online merchant account, third party credit card processing, ClickBank, PayPal, payment by check, money order, etc... You should make sure that you are paid commission on ALL sales generated by you regardless of payment acceptance methods used on the merchant site. - If an affiliate merchant offers more than one product on his web site, be sure that you will be paid commission on ALL your referral sales of ALL products. - Be sure that the affiliate program offers a reliable detailed statistics and stats are updated at least once a day. - Read carefully the FAQ page of the program (if there is one). - Find out whether the program offers Support to its affiliates and whether affiliates email (questions) are answered timely or at all. - Ask yourself whether your site visitors are interested in the product/service that the program offers. Try to target the program you choose and don't just pick those programs that seem to pay most. - There should be no fee to joine an affiliate program. Be worry if the program requires joining fee. - You must perform some level of affiliate merchant due diligence to determine whether an affiliate merchant has a sound and viable business model. - Find out whether the affiliate merchant has a web site that SELLS (to convert visitors to buyers). Would your visitors buy from such a web site? Where should I place the affiliate banners, buttons and links? Many beginners make a common mistake; they put several banners and buttons on the same page to the extent that their site looks like a "banner farm". People don't like Banner stuffed pages and I can assure you that this is a way to loose your visitors. You shouldn't install more than two banners and few buttons on each page. Banners are best placed at top and bottom of a page while you may wish to place buttons within the page menu (left or right margin) or at top or bottom of the page. Use also text links. Many people don't like banners but they do click on text links. These text links should go directly to the page of the product at the vendor's site (not to the vendor's home page!). Test as many banners, buttons, text links as possible. The more you test the greater the chance that you'll find the ones that work best for your site. Occasionally test your affiliate links, banners and buttons to see whether they are working and whether the affiliate merchant is still in business. Avoid this one! At last I wish to ask you to do yourself this big favour: Refrain from the use of unsolicited bulk email (UCE) for any marketing purpose of the affiliate programs you are on. Using UCE might bring you in trouble with your ISP (internet service provider) and a bunch of people you don't know. Some recommended affiliate programs resources Affiliate Programs Directories and Guides (http://www.danex-exm.dk/guides.htm) Hundreds of Affiliate Programs, Associate Programs, Reseller Programs and Pay Per Click Programs. Affiliate Union - The Affiliate Merchant Certification Effort There is a library covering quality articles related to affiliate programs. Also a check-list of affiliate program agreement. AssociatePrograms.com Forum The forum for Affiliate Marketers (and their friends) CBGuide Forum the Place For Affiliates, Vendors, and the Affiliate Business!. ReveNews.com Forum Fresh News- and Discussion forum related to affiliate programs. http://www.danex-exm.dk/ I wish you Good Luck with your affiliate programs marketing efforts. http://udonnaanigbo.blogspot.com