Website Development, Email Marketing and Search Engine Optimization Tools & Resources

It takes time to buildup your website and make money from your own Products
The right Affiliate Program can help to offset your startup costs.Choosing an Affiliate ProgramWhen
choosing an affiliate program, there are several factors you should weigh:

• What is the commission rate?
• How much commission do I have to make before I receive a check?
• Are the products or Services I am linking to relevant to my website?
• Is the company providing the affiliate program reputable? Will I get paid?
• Can I track my affiliate sales?

Affiliate Commission Rates:When you select an Affiliate Program, skip anything that
doesn’t™ give at least 5-15% commission on all sales. Creating your links and placing them strategically throughout your website can take a lot of time and energy. If you are making 1or 2% commission, this can equate to being played well below minimum wage. Ask yourself what your time is worth.

Program Payouts: Many companies will not send you a check until you have reached a specific level of commissions, usually $20-50 dollars. This may seem fair enough, as they do have the costs involved in printing checks and doing the book keeping, but it
isn’t™. Companies that normally use this strategy payout very low percentages of commission. The end result is that you may never get paid!

Choose Relevant Affiliate Programs:If your website is about cars,
do’t™ choose an affiliate program for memberships to a sailing website. Admittedly this example is a bit extreme, and the affiliate program mentioned probably
doesn’t™ even exist, but the concept is firm. You can effectively earn commissions on books, tapes, and services if they relate directly to your site. Going back to our example, you site about cars could use programs that sell supplies, services, training, books, videos, and accessories for the automobile aficionado, mechanic, or everyday Joe.

Pick an established or reputable Affiliate Program:When choosing an Affiliate Program look for a company that has been around for a while,
doesn’t™ use any disreputable tactics on their website and provides detailed information about their program.

Tracking Affiliate Sales:If the program
doesn’t™ provide a way for you to accurately track your sales and click through rates, forget them! You want to be able to setup a link on your site, go to a browser click on it and see it reported by your affiliate program. This is not an absolute necessity, but it will guarantee that all your hard work in setting up the affiliate program on your website will not go to waste. If you
ca’t™ track your clicks accurately, how do you know your being paid for your referrals?

Marketing Affiliate Programs:  

• Antion & Associates - 20 - 50% Commissions.
  Antion’s™ products sell themselves, and are applicable to a wide range of website concepts, both on and off the web. 
• NetAim.Info - Internet Association of Information Marketers, 20 - 50% commissions.
• Kick Start Cart - 20% commission FOR LIFE. They give a 30 day Free trial, so this is another program that will sell itself.
• eZine Director
  - A flat fee of $20 is paid for each referred registration that becomes a paying
  customer. This affiliate program will sell itself, with the free trial of up to
  1000 members!

Hosting & Development Affiliate Programs:

• Colligan, Inc. - 5 - 20% Commissions. A great company, roviding a wide range of marketing and development resources for anyone who has a website. 
• Monster Templates - Beautifully designed website templates and 20% commission payouts.
• HostGator - Not only do these guys rock as a hosting company, but they have a great affiliate program! You can make up to $125 per sale!

Filed Under: Affiliate Programs on June 22nd, 2008