"What is an Affiliate Program?"
by Azam Corry
You've heard all about them... what exactly are they? Affiliate
or associate programs (sometimes called reseller or partnership
programs) are usually pay-per-sale marketing programs based on
the concept of revenue sharing.
"What?" You say?
OK, I'll give it to you again ... in English!
This where companies selling products or services online give you
a cut of their profits (a share in their revenue) as a commission
on any sales you create for them (i.e. pay-per-sale) by
introducing new customers.
Though commission rates offered to affiliates vary widely, they
are all normally based on the gross value (usually the selling
price) of the product or service concerned ...
... but watch out!
Some companies only pay you a percentage of their net profit
after all deductions. That means they only pay you a percentage
of what *they* decide is their profit after subtracting what
*they* say are their costs ...
Hmm ... read the small print!
Affiliate programs have become very popular both with companies
looking to increase sales and web sites wanting to generate some
extra income. The first and most well known, Amazon.com has in
excess of 100,000 members! Now hundreds of different programs
from companies of all shapes and sizes compete for your
attention ... so you can and should be choosey!
In most cases all you need to do in order to join one of these
programs is:
* Agree to their terms and conditions
* Provide your contact information
* Advertise their products or services
* Link to their site using the unique URLs they provide toidentify you.
"Money for nothing and...."
Not all affiliate programs require a sale to be made for you to
get paid. WebSponsors [ http://www.NowSell.com/websponsors ] for
example, pay you when someone requests a free trial or sample of
a product or service. This is a pay-per-lead program. You give
them a lead and they pay you for it ...
... simple really! :-)
It's up to them to later convert the free trial into a sale. The
commissions are smaller of course, but since the offers don't
cost the surfer anything, conversion rates are higher. For this
reason low traffic sites may find this kind of program preferable
to the pay-per-sale type, which require you to send far more
visitors to get a "sale."
All the clicks
There is another variant on the pay-per-lead model. This is the
pay-per-click program. Here the company running the program pays
you whenever someone clicks on their banner or link from your
site. And guess what ...
... these programs pay you even less!
Companies offering such programs generally weight their payment
rates in favour of those sites that send the most clicks. The
more clicks you send them, the higher rate per click they will
pay you.
Some programs take this even further and adjust your payment rate
according to the quality of clicks you send them. That is the
percentage of conversions (i.e. sales) they get from the total
number of clicks sent ...
... you better hope they know how to sell!
In any event, unless you have a lot of traffic you're probably
looking at a paltry $0.01 to $0.10 per click ... don't spend it
all at once!
For these programs to be worthwhile you really need a site with a
highly targeted audience. If you then carefully choose products
or services closely matched to their interests, from professional
vendors (i.e. those that know how to sell) you can earn a
reasonable amount. Providing that you have the traffic of course!
You'll find a lot more information about the many aspects of
affiliate programs at http://www.NowSell.com
© 1999-2000 Azam Corry "Do it Better. Do it Faster. Do it Right!"
Online since 1998, Azam Corry can help you succeed. No-Bull
Marketing Help, Tools & Resources: http://NowSell.com/?AffProg
Reprint Rights eBooks & Packages: http://eBookSaver.com/?AffProg
==> Subscribe to Azam's Biz Bits Marketing eZine and get a hot
selling ebook plus other gifts FREE! BizBits@NowSell.com
Back
"Do you wait for pages to load?"
(756 words)
Most surfers wait for pages to load, use these simple techniques to avoid wasting all that time. | 
English 
Français 
Español 
Deutsch 
Italiano 
Portugues 
