Internet Retailer - Internet Marketing » affiliate programs http://www.internet-retailer.com Reviews and Discussion about Interent Retailing and Internet Marketing Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:10:31 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Choosing an Affiliate Program – the Key Points to Consider http://www.internet-retailer.com/index.php/2009/03/choosing-an-affiliate-program-the-key-points-to-consider/ http://www.internet-retailer.com/index.php/2009/03/choosing-an-affiliate-program-the-key-points-to-consider/#comments Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:39:02 +0000 admin http://www.internet-retailer.com/?p=224 An affiliate marketing business is a great way to earn money online, working from your home. It does not require any direct interaction with your customers. You are not required to stock any goods or to worry about shipping and handling. These are all handled by the merchant. You only have to promote the products and earn commission on each sale. There are hundreds of affiliate programs available online. Each program has it’s own advantages and disadvantages which must be considered before joining the program. The following are some key points which must be considered before joining an affiliate program:

  1. Join only reputed affiliate programs. Before joining any program, do some research about it. You can make a quick search on Google or any other search engine to find out the necessary information and reviews. Forums are also a good source of information. Use Alexa.com to find out the amount of traffic which the merchant website is already receiving.
  2. Select products in which you are personally interested. The best thing is to buy and use the products yourself. Your personal experience of using the products will make it easier for you to convince your customers about the usefulness of the same. The products should be of high quality and capable of solving people’s problems. They should not be too costly. Always go for niches which are growing but do not have too much competition.
  3. The affiliate program must provide the necessary marketing tools, which will help to promote the products.
  4. The program must offer high commission rates. Unless you receive a high commission on sales, you may not be able to recover your marketing and advertising expenses. Always go for programs, which offer commissions of between 30%-70%.
  5. Study the commission structure offered by the program. Some programs pay a fixed amount per sale, whereas others will pay you for having people complete some survey or provide some information. Some programs will pay for repeat sales from the same customer. Some programs follow a 2-tier system where the affiliate is paid for his own direct sales as well as for recruiting new affiliates. All these factors require important consideration.
  6. Look at the payment system. Some programs pay weekly whereas others pay on a monthly basis. Most of the programs have a minimum payout level. You may receive your payment through check or through Paypal or any other payment processor. Make sure that the payments are received in time and on a regular basis.

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