Affiliate marketing is an excellent opportunity for a website or blog owner to generate additional income. It is a revenue sharing agreement between a merchant and a website publisher where the publisher agrees to promote the merchant’s products and services for a fee. The fee is in the form of profit sharing and is paid out as a percentage of each sale that is made through the merchant’s advertisements on the publisher’s website.

Many online merchants offer website publishers the opportunity to sign up for their affiliate program. When a publisher applies for the affiliate program the merchant will review the publisher’s application as well as their website. If the application is approved the merchant will send the publisher a log in I.D. and a password. This will allow the publisher to log into the merchant’s site and choose from a variety of promotional links. It is also where the sales and earnings are tracked. When a merchant accepts the application the website owner or publisher is considered to be the merchant’s “affiliate”.

The main benefit of an affiliate agreement is the freedom the publisher has to choose from a variety of merchants. With careful review and consideration a publisher can find a product or service that is complementary to their website’s genre. There are also a wide variety of ad styles to choose from including banner ads, skyscraper ads, square ads or text only ads. Once a publisher has been approved by a merchant they can strategically choose their advertising links for placement on their site.

When a sale is made through an advertising link on the publisher’s website the merchant pays the publisher a percentage of the sale. The percentage paid to the publisher depends on the merchant. Some merchants will offer five percent of every sale to the publisher while other merchants will offer twenty-five percent. The amount of money an affiliate will make from a merchant depends on the traffic that the website generates as well as the product the affiliate is promoting. It is critical that the product is related to the website. For example if you are running a parenting website you will want to enter into an affiliate agreement with a merchant that is selling parenting or child related products and services.

There are also third party companies that connect website publishers with online merchants. This is another great opportunity for website publishers looking for a variety of merchants to connect with. It allows the publisher to enter into an affiliate agreement with numerous merchants at one time rather than seeking out each merchant individually.

Affiliate marketing is a revenue generating opportunity that can be extremely profitable for both the publisher and the merchant. The income generated will depend entirely on the publisher’s site, the traffic, the advertising placements and the product being promoted.

ShareThis

“The ‘affiliates’ fortune is in the followup.”

You’ve probably heard that phrase before. It’s used in all kinds of sales. Thanks to technology, online it’s easy and cheap.

An essential tool of Internet marketing is the autoresponder. This is a software program that sends someone a pre-written email automatically, when that someone sends an email to a certain email address.

People commonly use “Out of Office” type emails when they’re on vacation. For marketing purposes, of course, you want to send messages that are more welcome to your prospects. Back in the mid-1990s when Internet marketing started, people used simple autoresponders to send out basic information such as their products, descriptions and prices.

However, that didn’t last long. Nobody wanted to send emails just to get information they felt they should be readily available on a website. So somebody had a programmer modify the autoresponder software so that it would send a series of messages, at pre-set times. This is a big advantage because most people do not buy a product the first time they visit a website. Yet that doesn’t mean they’re not interested.

You can send the most obvious types of messages to prospects. 1. This product is great. 2. Really, this product is great. 3. Buy now. 4. Really, truly — this product is really really great, so buy it now.

That worked (and still works) to a degree, because sometimes people do respond to reminders in their inboxes.

However, most prospects eventually get tired of such messages — and of you. So most people today will not give you their email address if all you offer them is more sales pitches.

So Internet marketers have found other ways to encourage people to give their email addresses. Instead of just asking people to join your mailing list (how exciting!), you can:

1. Offer a free ebook.

2. Offer a free report.

3. Offer a free teleseminar.

4. Offer a series of free lessons.

5. Offer to give them a price discount on an upcoming product — it’ll be announced only by email, so if they’re not on the list they won’t know about it until it’s over.

Number 4 is in many ways the best “bribe,” because the lessons you send them (seven is a good number) are themselves the followups. You give useful information in each one.

Autoresponder offer #1 is an affiliate product within helpful advice

Here’s an example “thankyou for purchasing our PC Optimization software to fix pc problems and help speed up Windows performance, we would also suggest that you bookmark this new free driver update software search engine that we just finished developing and whenever you need to again update your windows drivers, you can scan, find exact device driver matches and get all your driver updates for free!

Be sure to bookmark this site and check back often for further handy computer optimization and windows tips!” See what I mean this page leads to an offer for a driver update product, which maybe 5% or so of the customers will actually buy, again!

Autoresponder offer #2 is of course another affiliate pitch and further computer tips

Now in about a week you can send another follow-up offer to your customers, convincingly shrouded within helpful advice and additional windows tips of course! Another example offer could be: Almost every PC user will at some time or another be presented with an unwanted popup, unwelcome ad or worse a malicious file that penetrates your pc security and watches your every move.

Here’s a free XoftspySE download to see if you have any of over 1 Million unwanted guests resident in your hard drive.

Not to be smug but I would bet 2-bits that you do! (as long as I can count trojans and adware within the general malware scan). The way XoftspySE works is that the software will scan without the need to register, and only if you have threats you are given the chance to pay/register so this antiapyware tool can fully zap the threats for you. Alternatively if your among th web saavy, you can use the Md5 info provided to sek out and remove the Spyware yourself without the need to pay for the XoftspySE product. Thats what I did it cost me zilchio!

The more useful information they receive in the lessons, the more likely you’ll convince them (better than any online sales letter could) that you know what you’re talking about and they should buy your book.

Of course, this also works for affiliate products. You can refer them to someone else’s book. You can refer them to many books and products.

You can set up your autoresponder account to continue sending them product recommendations every few days for months into the future. You never know. They may not buy the first 50 things you want to sell them, but the email about product number 51 arrives in their inbox just when they’re in the mood to buy it.

Do make sure that every email you send complies with the Can-Spam Act. You should identify yourself and your location. 

They’re many companies that will host your autoresponders for a small monthly fee. Most of them will host different autoresponder series for you. That way, you can set up a series of followup emails on many different products. Just do a Google search and check them out.

ShareThis

Are you looking for a way to make money using the Internet? Perhaps you wish to make a side income to complement your existing wages. Or maybe you are a mom looking for a way to stay home with your children and still be able to pay the bills. Whatever your reason to want to make money using the internet, one of the easiest ways to do so is with affiliate marketing.

You Promote OPP (Other Peoples Products)

Affiliate marketing is the process where you market another person’s product or service. You can make an income without your own product, which makes affiliate marketing perfect for those just starting out! You use your websites, forums, or other advertising venues to drive customers to the product you are promoting. In return, you receive a portion of the revenue every time your efforts result in a sale.

The first step to becoming an affiliate and making money online is to choose a product or service you want to promote. This product is the secret to making your income, so you need to choose wisely. Here are some considerations you should look at to determine which program to become affiliated with.

First, consider your target audience. For example, if you have an existing website targeted to those looking for work at home opportunities, then you should choose products to advertise that deal with working from home. You could market an e-book explaining how to manage bookkeeping for the home based business, or you could market work at home information. Keeping your target audience in mind will help you find products your readers are likely to benefit from.

Bounce-back Offers and Back-end Commissions

Second, look for a program that has backend products. Backend products are the added products that customers are offered when they make a purchase. As an example, www.Paretologic.com is great for this (sell paretologic products through the www.Revenuewire.com affiliate network), Last I checked Paretologic offers their Antivirus product for really cheap as a bounce-back offer (this is an offer presented after the original commission is already paid), which gives the affiliate another opportunity to earn a commission w/o jeopardizing the initial commission. These products bring you even more money, because they can turn each sale into a repeat customer. If the product is a high quality one, you can expect to receive some residual income from backend products.

Another thing to look for in an affiliate marketing program is the sales materials you are offered. If you are going to advertise and promote the product or service, you should be given the tool to do so. You should be given codes to create banners, buttons, or other ads on your website. You should also be given an affiliate link that you can post in forums and e-mails. If you are not offered quality sales materials, you will want to look for another product to promote.

Find a Network that Helps Affiliates

Finally, look carefully at the services you are offered as an affiliate. Will you be notified when a sale is made? Quality affiliate programs will send you an e-mail notification when a sale is made through your efforts. They should also have a system in place to track the sales you make. Keeping track of your sales is essential to ensuring you receive payment, and should not be left to chance. Look at the way you will be paid. Do you simply receive a flat commission for each sale, or will you also receive a percentage of the sales of those you refer? Finally, find out what customer service and help options they have. A good company to work with will provide customer service via e-mail or telephone, at convenient hours.

These questions will help you evaluate the different programs you are considering affiliating with. Find a program that will help those you spend time with each day, and you will build a successful affiliate marketing business. Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to earn money with your existing website, or build a new one to start earning your online income!

ShareThis

By Beth Parker www.Constant-Content.com

The most important thing to remember when writing articles to promote affiliate products is their purpose. You want the person reading the article to click on the link at the end, go to your website and buy the product. You can write a really great article, but if it doesn’t accomplish this goal, it has failed.

One of the worst things you can do when writing your articles is to give the reader so much information that he feels he no longer needs the product. If you are selling an information product, don’t give away the information. You need to give the reader a hint of what he will learn from the product without telling him everything. If you have ever read a sales letter, you’ve seen this in action. You might tell the reader that she can learn about one amazing herb that cuts her risk of cancer in half, but don’t mention the name of the herb in the promotional article. If you do, she’ll have no reason to buy the report.

When you are writing your articles, make sure they actually promote the product. If you are selling a new sunscreen and write an article about the dangerous chemicals in sunscreen, you are probably not going to sell much of the product. On the other hand, if your product contains fewer harmful chemicals than the competition, you can use that fact when writing your article because it is now an advantage.

Since many people who look for information online skim articles rather than reading them, it is usually best to keep your promotional articles short. Three to five hundred words is a good length for articles promoting affiliate products. If you write longer articles, you are more likely to lose readers before they get to the end, which is where your link is. If they don’t see your link, they won’t click on it.

A good format for writing articles to promote affiliate products is to start with a paragraph telling a little about the problem your product solves. Follow that with three to four paragraphs of the benefits of using the product. Each benefit should have its own paragraph. At the end, add a summary paragraph that ties everything together and encourages the reader to click on your link.

If you publish your article on an article directory, you may have access to stats that let you know how many times your article has been viewed and how often your link has been clicked. If your article has a lot of hits but the readers aren’t clicking your link, try revising the article until it gets an acceptable clickthrough rate. By concentrating on writing your articles in such a way that the reader is more likely to click your affiliate link, you should be able to increase your income from affiliate product sales.

ShareThis

By Krista Tannahill www.Constant-Content.com

Affiliate marketing can be a financially rewarding opportunity for many website publishers.  However, prior to entering into an affiliate agreement it is important to review the details.  Here are a few tips to help you make the most out of your affiliate marketing adventure.

Money talks!  The first thing you need to find out is the percentage that each merchant is willing to pay their affiliate.  Merchants usually pay a percentage of each sale to the publisher when the sale has been made through an ad placed on the publisher’s website.  The commission percentage varies widely from merchant to merchant and can range from as low as five percent to as much as twenty-five percent. 

It is also important to determine if there is a minimum balance required prior to being paid by the merchant.  Some merchants require the accrual of one hundred dollars before a payment will be made to the publisher.  Therefore, if a merchant is willing to pay you only five percent commission on every sale you will need to generate a total of two thousand dollars in sales before you receive a payment.  However, if you choose a merchant that pays twenty-five percent and requires an accrual of one hundred dollars you will only need to generate a total of four hundred dollars in sales in order to receive a payment. 

Another important consideration involves both the method and date of payments by the merchant.  Find out exactly how the merchant pays their affiliates. Some merchants pay through PayPal so if you enter into an agreement with these merchants you will be required to set up an account with PayPal.  If a merchant pays by check you will need to provide them with the correct mailing address to receive payment.

Check out the merchant’s online reputation.  If there is credible information available that outlines the merchant’s history as an affiliate you should review it.  It can be extremely beneficial to determine the success rates of other publishers that have entered into an agreement with the merchant.  You may not find out how much money each affiliate has made per month but you will be able to get a sense of how satisfied each affiliate is with their merchant. 

Some programs are open to only to residents of the country that the merchants service.  For example some affiliate programs are open to U.S residents only and if you are not a U.S. resident then you may not be eligible to join their affiliate program.

Before signing up for any affiliate program it is imperative to read through the terms of agreement as well as any F.A.Q. sections that are provided.  This will ultimately help you to determine if you want to join the affiliate program as well as what to expect from the merchant once you have joined their program.

ShareThis