1. MAKE SURE THE PRODUCT YOU CHOOSE MATCHES YOU
Once you learn how to promote on the Internet, move on to different products.
Learning the process of marketing will be easier, and more fun, if you are promoting something you know and love.
This is true for two reasons.
- If you promote something you know about you don’t have to learn BOTH the process of marketing and gain product knowledge at the same time.
- Being passionate about a product (or subject) means you will know automatically who will make a good customer and what their interests are — because they will be like you!
2. CHECK IT OUT
The key now is to look for quality.The quality of the products you promote matters greatly.
Here’s why.
You are going to build a list of buyers of your product (yes, this can be done as an affiliate) and so those customers need to be happy with you AND the product.
If they are happy, they will buy again. And those sales will be the easiest you ever made in your life. Now you are a trusted friend, advising them about how they can benefit from your recommendation.
Ask yourself this question: is the product or service you are promoting something you would bring to your best friend?
- If yes, move ahead.
- If not, you may want to keep looking.
3. TALK TO THE PRODUCT OWNER
You should be able to talk via email to the person who owns the company BEFORE spending your hard earned money and precious time promoting their product.
When you can contact the owner, or his or her staff, and get real help and answers you will have found a company that cares about affiliates.
And that is what you want.
So now you have chosen a product, feel confident about the quality and have had your questions answered by a real person.
4. HOW WELL DO THEY SELL?
Conversion simply means that for every 100 people who visit the site a certain number buy something. It is usually expressed as a percentage like 5% or 15%.So if 100 people visit the site and 5 of them buy that would be a 5% conversion.
You need to ask how well the product or service you will be promoting ‘converts’.
For most established products you will promote you can expect this number to range from .5% to about 10%. Anything higher or lower and you need to be careful about them telling you the truth.
Sadly, some product owners will misrepresent their conversion by cooking the books or just outright make it up.
5. WHAT IS THE COOKIE DURATION?
Most affiliate programs track using ‘cookies’ that are set on the visitor’s computer.A cookie is simply a small file that is downloaded to the visitor’s computer. This cookie identifies you as the affiliate so you will be paid the commissions.
That’s one very important cookie!
You need to know two things about this cookie.
- How long does it last? (Cookies generally expire after X days)
- Can it be overwritten?
- For example, if a company has a short cookie duration then you want to focus on ads that make the sale now. Your advertising needs to focus completely on them buying now.
- If they have a longer cookie duration you can use other methods that are more passive and seem less intense and pressured.
You also want to know if the cookie can be overwritten. This is called a “last affiliate” policy.
What that means is that the LAST link clicked will get the sale.
So if someone who first learned about product X from you clicks another person’s affiliate link to buy that person gets the commission, not you.
This is a common practice in affiliate marketing.
6. DO YOU EARN ‘BACKEND’ COMMISSIONS?
“Backend” commissions mean you get paid when someone you refer buys a second product.This is good if you can get it but it’s less common.
- The merchant will feel that he or she is doing the work for the second sale so they should not have to pay a commission.
- The affiliate will feel that the merchant would never have had that customer if not for them and so they earned the commission.
Some people will not promote if this is not in place. Others look for a middle ground. You will ultimately have to decide what works best for you.
Some sites even promise “lifetime” commissions where you earn on every sale the customers you send ever make.
7. DO YOU EARN RENEWAL COMMISSIONS?
This is another hotly debated issue that deserves your attention.While you can’t control many of these things, knowing about them gives you the knowledge you need to make wise choices.
The key question to ask is this – if you send someone to a site where they pay a monthly or quarterly fee, do you get paid every time or just once?
8. DO THEY SUPPORT YOU?
You should expect the program you join to provide marketing tools as well as some training on how to sell their products.You should expect reasonable support from an affiliate program, just as you do when you buy a product.
What is reasonable support?
- Providing pre-written ad copy.
- Providing banners and other graphics.
- Providing email “swipes” you can send to your list.
- Them building an entire funnel for you at no cost.
- Them writing custom ads for you whenever you ask for it.
- Them paying you an above-normal commission before you have actually made any sales.
WHERE TO FIND GOOD AFFILIATE PROGRAMS
There are many ways to find affiliate programs.One of the best is to think about a product you love and visit their site to look for an affiliate program link.
Another option is to visit affiliate program portals like the following. You will find many products that can earn you commissions ranging from 5% to 100%!
Forums are excellent resources to learn what really works because you can often communicate with people promoting a particular product right now.
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