How to Choose a Reliable and Profitable Affiliate Program

By Adel Awwad

 

There are literally thousands of affiliate programs on the Net. Here are eight important points that every affiliate webmaster should take into account when choosing a reliable and profitable affiliate program.
How to choose a reliable and profitable affiliate program

 

With literally thousands of different online affiliate programs, ranging across hundreds of different categories, it's not difficult to see how one may become discouraged when it comes to choosing the best and most profitable affiliate programs out there. After all, since one is going to be investing a considerable amount of time, money and resources to design, build and promote the site, then one would naturally want to ensure its success by joining and promoting the most reliable and profitable affiliate programs available.

 

When it comes to choosing a reliable and profitable affiliate program, keep in mind the following points:

 

(1) How long has the business been operating?

 

If the business/site has been operating for a considerable amount of time, then it's likely that it is fairly stable and profitable, otherwise it would not be in business. Be careful of sites and affiliate programs that spring up overnight. It is always a good idea to monitor such affiliate programs for a while before joining them, just incase they disappear as fast as they have appeared.

 

(2) Who else is promoting the affiliate program?

 

Try to find out who else is promoting the affiliate program. Visit the websites of your competition and see if they are promoting the affiliate program that you are thinking of joining. If you find a super affiliate promoting the affiliate program, then chances are that it is a profitable program to join, otherwise a super affiliate would not be promoting it at all.

 

(3) How much traffic is the website receiving?

 

Popular, successful and profitable websites receive a considerable amount of traffic. If the site you are thinking of promoting is not very popular, successful or profitable, then chances are that it will have low traffic and therefore may not be worth promoting. Check the alexa.com traffic rank of the site.

 

(4) What is the commission structure?

 

Does the program offer the affiliate webmaster a percentage of the sale, or a fixed amount per sale? Is the commission payment recurring? Is it a one tier or multi tier program? The most profitable programs offer a revenue share income. This means that the affiliate webmaster will receive a percentage of the money which the customer spends. For example, if the affiliate program offers a 50% revenue share commission, and the affiliate webmaster sells a product for $50, then the affiliate webmaster's payment should be $25. Profitable programs also offer recurring payments for the life of the customer's membership. In other words, if the customer continues to pay $50 per month for his/her membership, then the affiliate webmaster who referred that customer should receive $25 per week until the customer cancels his/her membership. Finally, a multi-tiered affiliate program is usually more profitable than a single tiered affiliate program because it enables an affiliate webmaster to generate income from the efforts of another webmaster whom he/she referred to the affiliate program.

 

(5) Read reviews about it.

 

Try to find as many reviews about the affiliate program as you can. The affiliate program may look and sound very attractive until you find a string of negative reviews from its former affiliates warning others not to join it for one reason or another.

 

(6) What is the support department like?

 

Do the support staff answer queries promptly? Are they fast, friendly and helpful? Test the affiliate program's support staff by asking them a few questions about the program.

 

(7) Do the statistical reports work?

 

Be weary of statistical reports that do not update. Find out how often the statistical reports are updated. Test your links by clicking on them yourself and seeing if they register in the statistical report.

 

(8) Minimum commission payment

 

Some affiliate programs require an affiliate webmaster to generate a minimum commission amount before receiving payment. This is fair enough since it would not make much sense to send an affiliate webmaster a check for a few cents when it would cost more to write, send and process the check. However, find out what the minimum commission payment is before you join.

 

There are a number of other things that one can look for when searching for the most reliable and profitable affiliate programs available, however, these are the main and most important points that every affiliate webmaster needs to pay attention to.

 

Adel Awwad is the webmaster of Free Casino Cash Guide

 

Copyright © 2005 http://www.casinoguide.ws
- Free Casino Cash Guide, All Rights Reserved. This document may be freely
redistributed in its unedited form and on the condition that all copyright references are kept intact along with the hyperlinked
URLs.

 

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The Many Benefits Of Affiliate Programs

By Mal Keenan

 

Throughout the coming weeks, I am going to thoroughly cover the intricacies of making money online through affiliate programs.  Consider this as an online course that is aimed for your benefit.  A good affiliate program, after all, with the generous commission scheme and the liberty it provides, is one of the best, if not the best, home business opportunities in the World Wide Web.

 

An affiliate program as a home business opportunity is an arrangement between an affiliate merchant and an affiliate, you.  Once you have enrolled in an affiliate program, you will be tasked to pre-sell the products of an affiliate merchant.  You will be able to do this by marketing the said products and finding potential customers.

 

Consider the benefits that an affiliate program can do for you and see for yourself why this is a profitably viable home business opportunity:

 

* The commission you will receive per successful sale is very high.  We’re talking in the range of 10 to 95%.  This opportunity would definitely pay better than most sales jobs in real life.

 

* You don’t have to sell the affiliate merchant’s products.  You don’t have to worry about writing sales copies and processing payments.  You don’t have to concern yourself about deliveries and possible refunds.  All you have to do is to pre-sell the affiliate merchant’s products and hope that the person you have reached would eventually buy from your affiliate link.

 

Pre-selling doesn’t require that much work, as more often than not, everything is provided for you by the product or service owner.  You just have to make sure that the prospective client would get to know about the affiliate merchant’s offer by referring him through your affiliate link, and that’s it, basically speaking.   Of course, there’s more you could do to assure maximum success in this area, but we will discuss those in succeeding lessons.

 

* Affiliate marketing is, generally, a passive income stream, meaning, it’s a home business opportunity that could make you earn even while you’re offline.  This is made possible because the affiliate program is mostly automated.  Once a system is set into motion, you could sit back, relax, and wait for your commissions to come to you.

 

* There are so many strategies you could use for this type of home business.  If one wouldn’t give you the results you have expected, you could try a thousand more approached differently that could pave the way to your success.  Of course you could try a lot of techniques simultaneously for enhanced results.

 

* You could join as many affiliate programs as you’d like to increase the number of your income streams.  This would ensure that you could expect earnings from numerous sources.  If one underperforms, there would always be others to count on.  This can be a venture with a lot of heads that could generate so much profit!

 

Clearly, there are many fantastic advantages in capitalizing on affiliate programs!  Most affiliate programs require no fees to join, so it would be wise to take advantage of this.

 

In the next six weeks, we’re going to immerse ourselves in every nook and cranny of affiliate marketing.  By the end of the course, you will know everything there is to know about the wonderful affiliate opportunities!

 

Copyright 2005 Mal Keenan

 

Mal Keenan can show you step-by step how to set up and run a successful online home business. Learn the 7 essential strategies to internet marketing success. To receive your free 7 day mini-course visit: http://www.malkeenan.com

 

For a home business you can believe in, check out:
http://www.malkeenan.com/pips.html

 

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Here's Why Affiliate Marketing Is So Lucrative

By Jason Gazaway

There are people who think of the world as a dreary place simply because they do not find their existence charming enough to render them contented. There are those who wish that they have more than what they possess. There are those who are sick and tired of working hard yet end up having nothing better. There are those who curse the humdrum existence of having 9–5 jobs that do not give them personal and professional growth. Still these are others who want to earn money without sweating it out too much.

These are the ultimate reasons why more and more people are succumbing to affiliate marketing, one of the many money-making systems that are conceived as a result of the popularity the internet has been generating since it came into being. Since the internet is one of the media with which to view the world and interact with people without getting up from one’s seat, it has become one of the most important channels with which to sell a merchant’s products and wares.

This is the reason why affiliate marketing thrives as a result of the internet’s popularity. The products and wares which the internet markets get the necessary exposure needed to sell well. This is where the fact that affiliate marketing is a lucrative business comes in. What is intended to be sold is sold because the internet is the best place to sell all these merchandise without the merchant giving too much of an effort to sell them per se.

How does affiliate marketing generate money? The way affiliate marketing works is so simple one would have difficulty believing how such a scheme is able to generate cash. In affiliate marketing, one is introduced to a system where an affiliate, the one who owns the website, agrees to display and advertise other websites that belong, in turn, to a merchant.

The merchant is the one who hopes to generate sales through the affiliate’s promotion of his website. Once these links are clicked on by other people and a purchase is made, the merchant pays the affiliate a commission. It is by simply promoting other websites through his own that an affiliate is able to earn money for himself in the easiest manner possible.

The principle involved in affiliate marketing can be compared to the type of species interaction in ecology called mutualism where interaction between two species allows both of them to derive benefit from the situation without harming each other. The result is a relationship that allows them to coexist in harmony in the community where they both move. Affiliate marketing allows affiliates to get paid in recognition of what they were able to contribute to the process. Merchants, in turn, are able to have their products advertised and ultimately sold through the efforts provided by the affiliate.

The reason why products advertised by affiliates through their websites generate a lot of sales is because the number of people using the internet is growing every minute. Each and every merchandise advertised through this medium gets all the attention that it could possibly need to be able to convince someone that it is worth the try. This is the ultimate reason why there is money in affiliate marketing. The more links a website promotes, the more chance sales will be generated. The more sales generated, the happier the merchant, and the happier the merchant, the better it is for the affiliate both professionally and financially.

Those who have indulged in affiliate marketing have reached goals and dreams which they were not able to realize under ordinary circumstances. There are even those who have skyrocketed to the top simply because they have dedicated all their time and effort to perfecting their knowledge about this business without even a bit of hesitation. One can be sure of the fact that there is money in affiliate marketing. He only has to cope with the fact that it is impossible to generate riches in this business overnight.

Well, not really. All he has to do is to learn everything that he possibly could about the industry which he is in. If he is able to master everything concerning the tricks of the trade, then everything will follow suit.

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