Affiliate marketing is a low-cost way for merchants to build awareness and showcase their products and services. The model is simple; it works as a commission-based referral system. A partner or affiliate markets a merchant's products for a "piece of the pie."
Affiliate marketing experts often make an income that can tally over five figures per month, however only 1 to 5% of thousands of marketers achieve this level. When an affiliate reaches this elite level they are often referred to as a "super" affiliate.
How does one become a super affiliate? Can anyone do it? Super affiliates have common tactics that they embrace and put into place. Anyone can become a super affiliate, but it will not come without blood, sweat, and a hefty time commitment. The typical super affiliate possesses the following traits:
* Persistence
* Patience
* Thirst for Knowledge
These three traits combined with the following strategy gives you the formula for the makings of a "super" affiliate.
1. Find a Unique Niche
The mistake that many affiliate marketing hopefuls have in common is that they try to offer everything under the sun rather than focusing on a specific niche market. Do not scatter your efforts, focus on your niche, promote it, and sell it well.
2. Search Engine Marketing
Once you've built your affiliate storehouse you will need to promote it. Many affiliates use pay-per-click engines. I suggest that you learn how to achieve organic search results or hire a search engine marketing company. This will save you from spending all your profits on pay-per-click engines. Only use pay-per-click engines if you know what you are doing, otherwise all your profits may end in the hands of Google Adwords or Overture.
3. Know Your Product, Know Your Audience
Create a resource. By taking the time to learn about the products and/or services that you are offering you can create information that builds your credibility. That credibility builds trust. If your viewers do not have trust in you more than likely they will not purchase from your storehouse. If you want more information on the psychological process that an online buyer goes through I suggest that you read my article on the Five Levels of Internet Marketing and the Sales Process. This will help you in creating a web site that converts well, which in return will increase your cash flow.
4. Don't Put All Your Eggs in One Basket
Promote products from different merchants. This way if you have a problem with receiving payment from a merchant, or their products do not convert well the effects on your business will be minimal. Watch out for exclusivity agreements; remember this is your business. Protect yourself and diversify so that you do not feel the famine effect if something goes wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong with promoting niche products from different merchants.
5. Seek Knowledge and Embrace Change
If you are familiar with Internet marketing at all you know that what worked three months ago may not work today. Stay on top of the trends. Seek knowledge, start by learning something new about affiliate marketing daily. For example remember those marketing tools called "banner" that use to drive sales at an astronomical rate a few years ago? Well those banners developed a term called "banner blindness." That means most online viewers will not click on banners even if they do pertain to what they are looking for. To be a "super" affiliate you must always spend time reading, learning, and embracing the changes in Internet marketing.
6. Don't Give Up
It's hard to do, and most of the time those dabbling in affiliate marketing give up way too soon. Monitor your statistics, watch to see what is working and what is not. Make changes when necessary. Do one thing daily to promote your storehouse and be patient. Before you know it you will start getting payments.
Remember that it will not happen overnight. Encompass and develop the persistence, patience, and knowledge. Then follow the tactics I've mentioned above and you are on your way to becoming a "super" affiliate.
Six Strategies to Becoming a Successful Affiliate
How to Create a Successful Affiliate Marketing Program
Affiliate marketing is often termed as one of the best online marketing programs that are available to small business. Why? There is no risk when it comes to affiliate marketing, you only pay after the results are delivered. Using an affiliate marketing program you agree to pay your affiliate partners a referral fee for each lead or sale that is generated.
There are many affiliate program available on the Internet today, so it's important to make yours stand out and catch the attention of professional affiliate marketers. Once you've done that you are well on your way to a successful campaign. Here are some tips on how you can make your affiliate program stand out from the multitudes that are available:
1. Claim a niche market. Don't try to sell everything to everyone. This is the quickest way to fail in your adventure.
2. Locate niche partners. Once you've claimed your niche market research and find web sites that have viewers interested in your niche market. You will want to find partners that have already built traffic and would benefit from your affiliate offer. Your offer should be a win-win for both you and your affiliate partners.
3. Develop compelling creative. Provide your affiliate partners with creative and promotional material. You want to make their job of marketing your products or services as easy as possible. The less work they have to do and the more conversions they see the more likely they are to promote your products or services.
4. Continually be on the look out for new affiliate partners. Don't rest on your laurels just because you have a few good partners, you never know when they may decide to jump ship. Protect yourself by actively recruiting new partners. You can find new partners by advertising your affiliate program on your web site, listing or advertising in affiliate directories, or by contacting potential affiliates directly.
5. Take care of your partners. Communicate with them by welcoming them to your affiliate program send out updates on product additions or changes. Give them tips and advise on how to be successful in marketing your products. Always pay them on time.
A successful affiliate marketing program takes time to build, but with a bit of effort it has the ability to increase your Internet sales noticeably. It's worth the effort and it can become on of the best time and financial investments in your marketing plan.
There are many affiliate program available on the Internet today, so it's important to make yours stand out and catch the attention of professional affiliate marketers. Once you've done that you are well on your way to a successful campaign. Here are some tips on how you can make your affiliate program stand out from the multitudes that are available:
1. Claim a niche market. Don't try to sell everything to everyone. This is the quickest way to fail in your adventure.
2. Locate niche partners. Once you've claimed your niche market research and find web sites that have viewers interested in your niche market. You will want to find partners that have already built traffic and would benefit from your affiliate offer. Your offer should be a win-win for both you and your affiliate partners.
3. Develop compelling creative. Provide your affiliate partners with creative and promotional material. You want to make their job of marketing your products or services as easy as possible. The less work they have to do and the more conversions they see the more likely they are to promote your products or services.
4. Continually be on the look out for new affiliate partners. Don't rest on your laurels just because you have a few good partners, you never know when they may decide to jump ship. Protect yourself by actively recruiting new partners. You can find new partners by advertising your affiliate program on your web site, listing or advertising in affiliate directories, or by contacting potential affiliates directly.
5. Take care of your partners. Communicate with them by welcoming them to your affiliate program send out updates on product additions or changes. Give them tips and advise on how to be successful in marketing your products. Always pay them on time.
A successful affiliate marketing program takes time to build, but with a bit of effort it has the ability to increase your Internet sales noticeably. It's worth the effort and it can become on of the best time and financial investments in your marketing plan.
What Is the Best Affiliate Solution?
The successful affiliate program does not happen by accident. Many factors contribute to an affiliate program's ability to rise above the mediocre masses. One such factor is the level of investment by a company in the longevity and growth of that affiliate program; another is the relative experience of the affiliate manager/team.
The Achilles' heel of many affiliate programs is their hasty, uninformed choice regarding an affiliate solution provider. Although a number of decisions must be made when launching an affiliate program, the choice of an affiliate solution is one that must be given much weight.
Do your research, and make the right decision the first time. In a recent United States Affiliate Manager Coalition poll, nearly 40 percent of affiliate managers said they would select a different affiliate solution provider if they could do it all over again.
Freedom of Choice
The choices in affiliate solutions are numerous. Dr. Ralph F. Wilson breaks down the affiliate solutions into five categories in his "Report on Affiliate Management Software."
According to Wilson, the solution providers are categorized as commission-based ASPs (application service providers), fee-based ASPs, CGI programs, e-commerce programs, and in-house custom applications.
According to the affiliate metrix 2001 Merchant Report, 76 percent of affiliate programs are working with one of the "Big Four" commission-based ASPs. The fee-based ASPs, including AssocTRAC and My Affiliate Program, make up a large degree of the remaining market share.
The Best of the Best
The million-dollar question for companies interested in affiliate marketing is, Which affiliate solution provider is best? Although some industry pundits suggest that there is one answer to this question, the reality is that the best affiliate solution for you depends on your budget; your needs for technology, support, and affiliate recruiting; and your stand on exclusivity.
In general, budget is the biggest factor. Some programs can get by with the bare-bones offerings at the lower end, while Fortune 500 companies gravitate toward the higher-end commission-based ASPs.
The level and quality of technology and support vary among affiliate solution providers. What one merchant deems to be mission critical can very well be seen as superfluous by another. Before being seduced by a laundry list of features, figure out which are actually necessary for your affiliate program.
Support encompasses technical assistance to the merchant as well as access to an account representative and consultation for industry best practices. These valuable services are standard for commission-based ASPs and are available from some of the fee-based ASPs.
Similarly, the higher-end affiliate solution providers actively recruit affiliates into their network for the benefit of their merchants. However, it's important to note that this recruitment does not generally include the super affiliates. It's up to the merchant to proactively recruit its most desired affiliates.
There is much ballyhoo out there about exclusivity among affiliate solution providers. Though it is nice to have options, I have to question how many companies would actually endeavor to work with multiple affiliate solution providers, even if they could.
Research from affiliate metrix indicates that the majority of affiliate programs are managed by one person at the most. Over the past 15 months, there have been two of us managing the ClubMom affiliate program, and the prospect of launching a program of the same caliber on a second platform is a bit laughable.
Do Your Homework
To see the big picture about any affiliate solution provider, go out of your way to find out what merchants and affiliates think of them. Check out the affiliate marketing message boards. One caveat is that some messages are a country mile from objectivity. After monitoring the message boards for a week or so, you can get an idea about which people post useful messages and which messages are not worth your consideration.
Also, ask your prospective affiliate solution providers to provide references. Though references are given with the intention to help sell a particular provider, it should be a red flag if you ask for them and they are not furnished. You can also find merchants from a wide array of affiliate solution providers at the industry conferences, which provide a good opportunity to obtain candid references.
Some of the research has already been done for you. Wilson's "Report on Affiliate Management Software" is a useful third-party evaluation of the affiliate solution providers. Dr. Wilson selected Be Free, Commission Junction, My Affiliate Program, The Ultimate Affiliate Package, and Synergyx as the Editor's Choice picks in this report.
Now back to that budget issue. If you plan to sign on with one of the commission-based ASPs, you've got to work the numbers to ensure that it is going to be within your means.
Map out your projected affiliate program impressions, click-throughs, and transactions for the next year. Then tie in the associated costs for working with the various companies. Don't let your program implode because it is too successful (read: too expensive on the back end).
The choice of your affiliate solution provider is important -- it results in a marriage -- and can dictate the success or failure of your program. Do it right the first time, or else you might find yourself having irreconcilable differences. And think about this: Few, if any, affiliate programs have switched affiliate solution providers and have subsequently managed to sustain success.
The Achilles' heel of many affiliate programs is their hasty, uninformed choice regarding an affiliate solution provider. Although a number of decisions must be made when launching an affiliate program, the choice of an affiliate solution is one that must be given much weight.
Do your research, and make the right decision the first time. In a recent United States Affiliate Manager Coalition poll, nearly 40 percent of affiliate managers said they would select a different affiliate solution provider if they could do it all over again.
Freedom of Choice
The choices in affiliate solutions are numerous. Dr. Ralph F. Wilson breaks down the affiliate solutions into five categories in his "Report on Affiliate Management Software."
According to Wilson, the solution providers are categorized as commission-based ASPs (application service providers), fee-based ASPs, CGI programs, e-commerce programs, and in-house custom applications.
According to the affiliate metrix 2001 Merchant Report, 76 percent of affiliate programs are working with one of the "Big Four" commission-based ASPs. The fee-based ASPs, including AssocTRAC and My Affiliate Program, make up a large degree of the remaining market share.
The Best of the Best
The million-dollar question for companies interested in affiliate marketing is, Which affiliate solution provider is best? Although some industry pundits suggest that there is one answer to this question, the reality is that the best affiliate solution for you depends on your budget; your needs for technology, support, and affiliate recruiting; and your stand on exclusivity.
In general, budget is the biggest factor. Some programs can get by with the bare-bones offerings at the lower end, while Fortune 500 companies gravitate toward the higher-end commission-based ASPs.
The level and quality of technology and support vary among affiliate solution providers. What one merchant deems to be mission critical can very well be seen as superfluous by another. Before being seduced by a laundry list of features, figure out which are actually necessary for your affiliate program.
Support encompasses technical assistance to the merchant as well as access to an account representative and consultation for industry best practices. These valuable services are standard for commission-based ASPs and are available from some of the fee-based ASPs.
Similarly, the higher-end affiliate solution providers actively recruit affiliates into their network for the benefit of their merchants. However, it's important to note that this recruitment does not generally include the super affiliates. It's up to the merchant to proactively recruit its most desired affiliates.
There is much ballyhoo out there about exclusivity among affiliate solution providers. Though it is nice to have options, I have to question how many companies would actually endeavor to work with multiple affiliate solution providers, even if they could.
Research from affiliate metrix indicates that the majority of affiliate programs are managed by one person at the most. Over the past 15 months, there have been two of us managing the ClubMom affiliate program, and the prospect of launching a program of the same caliber on a second platform is a bit laughable.
Do Your Homework
To see the big picture about any affiliate solution provider, go out of your way to find out what merchants and affiliates think of them. Check out the affiliate marketing message boards. One caveat is that some messages are a country mile from objectivity. After monitoring the message boards for a week or so, you can get an idea about which people post useful messages and which messages are not worth your consideration.
Also, ask your prospective affiliate solution providers to provide references. Though references are given with the intention to help sell a particular provider, it should be a red flag if you ask for them and they are not furnished. You can also find merchants from a wide array of affiliate solution providers at the industry conferences, which provide a good opportunity to obtain candid references.
Some of the research has already been done for you. Wilson's "Report on Affiliate Management Software" is a useful third-party evaluation of the affiliate solution providers. Dr. Wilson selected Be Free, Commission Junction, My Affiliate Program, The Ultimate Affiliate Package, and Synergyx as the Editor's Choice picks in this report.
Now back to that budget issue. If you plan to sign on with one of the commission-based ASPs, you've got to work the numbers to ensure that it is going to be within your means.
Map out your projected affiliate program impressions, click-throughs, and transactions for the next year. Then tie in the associated costs for working with the various companies. Don't let your program implode because it is too successful (read: too expensive on the back end).
The choice of your affiliate solution provider is important -- it results in a marriage -- and can dictate the success or failure of your program. Do it right the first time, or else you might find yourself having irreconcilable differences. And think about this: Few, if any, affiliate programs have switched affiliate solution providers and have subsequently managed to sustain success.
Top 10 Commandments of Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate programs can be a big source of revenue. The key to maximizing your earnings is engaging your readers. Unlike traditional ads where you are paid for impressions or clicks, affiliates are only paid when/if a specific action is performed. The action might be a purchase or signing up for a newsletter, but regardless, you are not paid until you've compelled your readers to act.
With that in mind, here are the Top 10 Commandments for affiliate marketing success.
1. Know Your Audience
The most successful way to use affiliate programs is to anticipate and meet the needs of your readers. Consider why they are coming to your site. What are you providing that they are looking for? Make sure the affiliate products you are promoting provide a solution to your audience's problems.
If you are writing about sports, don't put up affiliate ads for printer toner just because everyone has a printer and those programs have a high payout. The people who are coming to read commentary or get stats for their favorite teams aren't thinking about those things when they're on your site.
The more relevant the ads are to your readers, the more likely they will use them.
2. Be Trustworthy
Readers are savvy. They know an affiliate link when they see one. If you break their trust by promoting a product you don't believe in or take advantage of their visit with too many ads, they will leave and never come back.
It is your repeat visitors that will drive traffic. They are the ones who will give you linkbacks, spread the word, and recommend your site as the go-to place for valuable content. You need to build a relationship based on genuine content.
If your visitors don't think you're being honest, they won't read anything else you have to say.
3. Be Helpful
Think of affiliate ads as additional resources that complement your content. Give value to your content by making it helpful, useful, and informative.
Don't put up a list of your favorite books, hoping people will click on the affiliate link, purchase the books (just because you listed them), so you can cash in on a sale. Take some time to write a detailed review, and use affiliate ads to point them in the right direction if they decide to act on your information. That's what affiliate ads are for. If you write a great review recommending a book and readers buy the book because of it, you should get something for that.
But just throwing out links to products with no rhyme or reason will result in a quick exit by visitors.
4. Be Transparent
Always disclose your affiliations. Your readers will appreciate your honesty, and will feel better about contributing to your earnings. If they sense that you are being less than honest about your affiliations, they are savvy enough to bypass your link and go directly to the vendor just to avoid giving you referral credit.
Honesty and full disclosure is a necessary part to building a loyal reader base. They know they are supporting you by using your referral links. Make them happy and eager to do so.
5. Select Carefully
Take the time to go through all the different options for products or services available through the programs. Put some thought into which products or services your readers may need or like. Also, change the ads around often, try different ones, and use different graphics and text to see which are the most effective.
It may take some time before you figure out the best formula, and you may also find that you need to continually rotate ads to attract more attention.
6. Try Different Programs
If one particular program doesn't seem to be working for you, try another one.
Affiliate programs don't look the same. They offer different products, services, and payment structures. Some programs will have a lifetime payout on sales while others will limit it to 30-90 days. Some programs allow much more flexibility in the types of ad units available, as well as colors and design so it fits better on your site's layout.
Also, check your favorite vendors to see if they run their own affiliate program. Sometimes you can go directly to the source. You're not limited to big affiliate networks.
Integrate systematic ad testing into your strategy to maximize your profits.
7. Write Timeless Content
Your old content can still be valuable even though it's no longer on your front page. Take advantage of the long term opportunities by making sure you provide timeless content.
If visitors come across your older content first, and find that it offers dated information, they will leave right away. Of course, information moves forward, so relevant content changes quickly. You can make your content timeless simply by adding links to your updated articles on your old ones.
Many platforms allow you to show "most recent" or "most popular" or "related articles" on every page, so no matter how old the article is, it will always show access to your new ones. Your old content can make money for you indefinitely.
8. Be Patient
Affiliate revenue grows and builds up with time. Remember that some programs offer lifetime payouts. If you refer a visitor, you may continue to make money from that one visitor even if he doesn't come back to your site. Also, as long as you have referral links still active in your old posts, they may still payout for you.
Affiliate programs aren't a get rich quick plan, but it provides opportunity to make passive income in the future.
9. Stay Relevant
Keep up to date on the latest offerings of your affiliate programs. New ad units, advertisers, and tools are constantly being added to improve usability and be more visually appealing. Small changes go a long way in motivating action by readers. You may be left out in the dust by being complacent with your strategy.
Don't get lazy about monitoring trends and exploring new opportunities.
10. Content Comes First
Above all else, your content must be your highest priority.
Your content is your foundation, the life blood on which the site exists. Without valuable and helpful content, readers won't come. Focus on providing excellent content, and the monetizing strategies will work out.
Once you start compromising your content to cater to the affiliate programs or any other money making venture, you will lose your readers. Once that happens, you will lose the opportunity to receive any earnings from any of your ads, be they CPM, CPC, or referral based.
3 Most Common Types of Affiliate Payment Programs
Affiliate programs can be an effective tool to use on your blog or website earn extra money for you. But it is important to choose the right affiliate program based on the nature and content of your site and one that offers the most earning potential.
To understand how affiliate programs pay, it helps to know a few terms first:
* Customer: A customer is someone that clicks through from your website to to another website (a merchant site) from yours. A customer may or may not have to make a purchase for you to be paid depending on the terms of the affiliate program.
* Merchant: The merchant is the business that that you generate sales, click-throughs, or leads for. Simply put, merchants are the businesses that you are making money or generating business opportunities for.
* Affiliate: In an affiliate program, you are considered the affiliate (or you may also be referred to as an "associate").
Types of Affiliate Programs
The three most common financial arrangements affiliate programs offer are:
1. Pay-per-lead: Affiliates are paid a fee for each customer they refer to a merchant site that completes some sort of information query. Information gathered from lead generations may be used by the merchant site itself, or sold to another party.
In all fairness to your own site visitors, you should offer a disclaimer that the information they provide in a lead query is captured and could be sold to someone else.
I find this type of affiliate program the least effective for generating income because unless you have a very specialized website that serves a focused purpose (i.e., offering information about insurance) most people are not going to take the time to fill out lead queries.
2. Pay-per-sale: The merchant site pays the affiliate when a customer referred by the affiliate makes an actual purchase. Pay-per-sale programs may offer a flat fee for each sale, or a percentage based on a variety of factors, or even a combination of flat rate and percentage payments.
This is the most reliable way to earn income from affiliate programs. It is easy to track what people are buying, how much you are earning, and make adjustments in your affiliate program ads to maximum selling potential.
3. Pay-per-click: A merchant pays you for every click from your site to the merchant site whether or not a sale results. This may sound like an easy way to make money but it is not. Unless you have very high traffic to your site, this is not an effective tool to use and may actually detract from the quality of your own website.
There are many flaws in the pay-per-click system and even Google was sued in a class action lawsuit for misleading advertisers by deliberately using “parked websites” to create an illusion of the number of paid ads being placed, and for failing to disclose click-through information on customer bills, thereby inflating AdSense profits for Google.
Merchants are often targeted by individuals who sit and click repeatedly from their own sites or ask family and friends to click for them – people who have no intention of ever buying anything. This practice is unethical and unfair to other business owners.
If a merchant believes you are artificially inflating click-throughs or using automated methods to increase clicks they have the right to refuse to pay you anything at all.
Affiliate programs should be used as a business tool, not as a substitute for a business. If you work hard to create a blog or website that offers something of value to your own site visitors, you are far more likely to earn income by using affiliate programs.
To understand how affiliate programs pay, it helps to know a few terms first:
* Customer: A customer is someone that clicks through from your website to to another website (a merchant site) from yours. A customer may or may not have to make a purchase for you to be paid depending on the terms of the affiliate program.
* Merchant: The merchant is the business that that you generate sales, click-throughs, or leads for. Simply put, merchants are the businesses that you are making money or generating business opportunities for.
* Affiliate: In an affiliate program, you are considered the affiliate (or you may also be referred to as an "associate").
Types of Affiliate Programs
The three most common financial arrangements affiliate programs offer are:
1. Pay-per-lead: Affiliates are paid a fee for each customer they refer to a merchant site that completes some sort of information query. Information gathered from lead generations may be used by the merchant site itself, or sold to another party.
In all fairness to your own site visitors, you should offer a disclaimer that the information they provide in a lead query is captured and could be sold to someone else.
I find this type of affiliate program the least effective for generating income because unless you have a very specialized website that serves a focused purpose (i.e., offering information about insurance) most people are not going to take the time to fill out lead queries.
2. Pay-per-sale: The merchant site pays the affiliate when a customer referred by the affiliate makes an actual purchase. Pay-per-sale programs may offer a flat fee for each sale, or a percentage based on a variety of factors, or even a combination of flat rate and percentage payments.
This is the most reliable way to earn income from affiliate programs. It is easy to track what people are buying, how much you are earning, and make adjustments in your affiliate program ads to maximum selling potential.
3. Pay-per-click: A merchant pays you for every click from your site to the merchant site whether or not a sale results. This may sound like an easy way to make money but it is not. Unless you have very high traffic to your site, this is not an effective tool to use and may actually detract from the quality of your own website.
There are many flaws in the pay-per-click system and even Google was sued in a class action lawsuit for misleading advertisers by deliberately using “parked websites” to create an illusion of the number of paid ads being placed, and for failing to disclose click-through information on customer bills, thereby inflating AdSense profits for Google.
Merchants are often targeted by individuals who sit and click repeatedly from their own sites or ask family and friends to click for them – people who have no intention of ever buying anything. This practice is unethical and unfair to other business owners.
If a merchant believes you are artificially inflating click-throughs or using automated methods to increase clicks they have the right to refuse to pay you anything at all.
Affiliate programs should be used as a business tool, not as a substitute for a business. If you work hard to create a blog or website that offers something of value to your own site visitors, you are far more likely to earn income by using affiliate programs.
9 Part-Time Home Business Ideas
Many people have had a dream of starting their own business but are afraid to give up the security of their day job and risk everything on self employment. Others would like to find a way to supplement their income while doing something they love. Here are 9 business you can start from home part time and grow while you still have your full-time job. You're sure to learn a lot about running your business and you'll be able to test the waters without taking a huge risk.
1. Home Based Business Idea - Computer Tutor
If you're good with computers and know your way around a laptop and a desktop and you have a patient personality, starting a part-time business as a computer tutor can provide extra income nights and weekends and give you time to start growing your client list and word-of-mouth referrals. You can get started with just minimal advertising and keep your services confined to a small area so you don't run up any travel expenses.
This part-time business can also lead to a new career or a business in which you expand your services by publishing eBooks, online tutorials and more.
2. Part-Time Business Ideas - Disc Jockey
Get ready to boogie down with a part-time business as an independent disc jockey. Since nearly all the events you would be hired for are going to take place at night or on the weekends, why not have some fun and earn a few bucks in the meantime? Although this business will require you to have some investments in music and equipment, it's perfect for the music hobbyist to gain experience in a competitive area where there are many wannabes and not enough professional caliber DJs out there. And, you'll get to be the life of the party, too!
3. Part-Time Home Business Idea: Home Safety Inspection Home Business
Help families lower their risk of injury under their own roof with a part-time home safety inspection business, an offshoot of the occupational safety and building inspection profession. This type of business lends itself especially well to starting on a part-time basis and working strictly out of your home.
While some training is required to be considered knowledgeable enough to offer advise to other homeowners, if you're already involved in public safety it's a perfect fit and business you can run after hours and on weekends, which your clients will love since that's usually when it's easiest for them to meet with you anyway.
4. Part-Time Home Business - Independent Wine Consultant
If you enjoy wine and hosting parties, becoming an independent wine consultant could be the perfect choice for a part-time home business. The most popular company that offers business set-ups for independent wine consultants is probably The Traveling Vineyard.
If you've thought about Tupperware or Avon, you might give the idea of being an independent wine consultant a more thorough look because it's ideal to start on a part-time basis - or keep part-time if you so choose.
5. Part-Time Furniture Refinishing Home Business
If you're good with your hands, a part-time furniture refinishing business could be just the ticket for you to start doing something you actually enjoy. Since your work will be done in your home shop, you can arrange to pick up pieces on certain designated evenings or weekends and do the work in your spare time. You'll gain additional experience and referrals, you'll earn some extra money, you don't need a gazillion dollars worth of equipment to get started and you just might have a lot of fun in the process!
6. Part-Time Home Business - Wedding Photographer
Photographers can make around $2,600 for a $20,000 wedding. And, because weddings are almost exclusively held on the weekends, this is a home business you can start part-time while you build your portfolio.
The price of weddings is expected to climb significantly within the next few years, meaning a percentage deal will reap more money for the wedding photographer. A six-figure income is attainable for full-time, seasoned wedding photography pros, so the business has very good growth potential and could turn into a full-time pursuit in a short time.
7. Part-Time Home Business - eBay Trading Assistant
If you've had success as a seller on eBay, you probably have plenty of tips and tricks up your sleeve that could help others succeed in selling on eBay too. Plus, you'll make money doing it!
eBay Trading Assistants who operate a home business typically go out to client's homes or businesses to photograph and pick up items and then sell them on eBay on consignment, with the Trading Assistant handling all of the details of the sale and collecting a commission once the item is sold.
eBay's continued popularity is making the Trading Assistant idea a popular idea too, as evidenced by neighborhood storefronts popping up in many areas. However, as a part-time eBay Trading Assistant you can differentiate yourself by coming right to the home.
8. Affiliate Marketing Online Home Business
Virtually any business you start online can be handled on a part-time basis as you build traffic and revenues during the early startup days. Over time you'll learn the tricks of the trade and how to maximize traffic and click throughs to boost your earnings. If you love being online and are looking for an online business that requires a tiny initial investment that you can do whenever you want, an affiliate marketing home business may be just the ticket for you.
9. Part-Time Small Business Ideas - Party Planner
Party planner engagements can range from weddings and product launches to corporate seminars and awards dinners. Tasks can include renting a hall, mailing out engraved invitations, coming up with a theme, booking entertainment, deciding on the food and hiring waitstaff.
It's easy to see how this could be a time-consuming full-time home business, but you don't necessarily have to start that way. You might even consider volunteering to plan a few upcoming events for family and friends to get your experience.
Once party planners establish themselves in their own business, their income potential can grow exponentially.
1. Home Based Business Idea - Computer Tutor
If you're good with computers and know your way around a laptop and a desktop and you have a patient personality, starting a part-time business as a computer tutor can provide extra income nights and weekends and give you time to start growing your client list and word-of-mouth referrals. You can get started with just minimal advertising and keep your services confined to a small area so you don't run up any travel expenses.
This part-time business can also lead to a new career or a business in which you expand your services by publishing eBooks, online tutorials and more.
2. Part-Time Business Ideas - Disc Jockey
Get ready to boogie down with a part-time business as an independent disc jockey. Since nearly all the events you would be hired for are going to take place at night or on the weekends, why not have some fun and earn a few bucks in the meantime? Although this business will require you to have some investments in music and equipment, it's perfect for the music hobbyist to gain experience in a competitive area where there are many wannabes and not enough professional caliber DJs out there. And, you'll get to be the life of the party, too!
3. Part-Time Home Business Idea: Home Safety Inspection Home Business
Help families lower their risk of injury under their own roof with a part-time home safety inspection business, an offshoot of the occupational safety and building inspection profession. This type of business lends itself especially well to starting on a part-time basis and working strictly out of your home.
While some training is required to be considered knowledgeable enough to offer advise to other homeowners, if you're already involved in public safety it's a perfect fit and business you can run after hours and on weekends, which your clients will love since that's usually when it's easiest for them to meet with you anyway.
4. Part-Time Home Business - Independent Wine Consultant
If you enjoy wine and hosting parties, becoming an independent wine consultant could be the perfect choice for a part-time home business. The most popular company that offers business set-ups for independent wine consultants is probably The Traveling Vineyard.
If you've thought about Tupperware or Avon, you might give the idea of being an independent wine consultant a more thorough look because it's ideal to start on a part-time basis - or keep part-time if you so choose.
5. Part-Time Furniture Refinishing Home Business
If you're good with your hands, a part-time furniture refinishing business could be just the ticket for you to start doing something you actually enjoy. Since your work will be done in your home shop, you can arrange to pick up pieces on certain designated evenings or weekends and do the work in your spare time. You'll gain additional experience and referrals, you'll earn some extra money, you don't need a gazillion dollars worth of equipment to get started and you just might have a lot of fun in the process!
6. Part-Time Home Business - Wedding Photographer
Photographers can make around $2,600 for a $20,000 wedding. And, because weddings are almost exclusively held on the weekends, this is a home business you can start part-time while you build your portfolio.
The price of weddings is expected to climb significantly within the next few years, meaning a percentage deal will reap more money for the wedding photographer. A six-figure income is attainable for full-time, seasoned wedding photography pros, so the business has very good growth potential and could turn into a full-time pursuit in a short time.
7. Part-Time Home Business - eBay Trading Assistant
If you've had success as a seller on eBay, you probably have plenty of tips and tricks up your sleeve that could help others succeed in selling on eBay too. Plus, you'll make money doing it!
eBay Trading Assistants who operate a home business typically go out to client's homes or businesses to photograph and pick up items and then sell them on eBay on consignment, with the Trading Assistant handling all of the details of the sale and collecting a commission once the item is sold.
eBay's continued popularity is making the Trading Assistant idea a popular idea too, as evidenced by neighborhood storefronts popping up in many areas. However, as a part-time eBay Trading Assistant you can differentiate yourself by coming right to the home.
8. Affiliate Marketing Online Home Business
Virtually any business you start online can be handled on a part-time basis as you build traffic and revenues during the early startup days. Over time you'll learn the tricks of the trade and how to maximize traffic and click throughs to boost your earnings. If you love being online and are looking for an online business that requires a tiny initial investment that you can do whenever you want, an affiliate marketing home business may be just the ticket for you.
9. Part-Time Small Business Ideas - Party Planner
Party planner engagements can range from weddings and product launches to corporate seminars and awards dinners. Tasks can include renting a hall, mailing out engraved invitations, coming up with a theme, booking entertainment, deciding on the food and hiring waitstaff.
It's easy to see how this could be a time-consuming full-time home business, but you don't necessarily have to start that way. You might even consider volunteering to plan a few upcoming events for family and friends to get your experience.
Once party planners establish themselves in their own business, their income potential can grow exponentially.
Home Business Idea - Internet Affiliate Program Online Home Business
An Internet affiliate program and affiliate marketing networks can be used to market goods and services online. Some Internet affiliate programs offer two ways to make money online - by selling products or services as an Internet affiliate and by signing up other people to join the same Internet affiliate program.
Pros of an Internet Affiliate Program Online Business:
* Internet affiliate program businesses feature ery low start up costs - it's usually free to join as an affiliate - and no inventory or supplies to carry.
* No shipping is involved, there are no returns to worry about with an Internet affiliate program and like any online business, you can make money 24/7 while you sleep or play.
* No licensing or specialized training is required, but you should learn about websites and maximizing traffic so your Internet affiliate program will be successful.
Cons of an Internet Affiliate Program Online Business:
* You'll need to find ways to get LOTS of traffic to your Internet affiliate program website(s) because the profit on a single sale is often quite low.
* Many Internet affiliate programs require that you make a certain amount of money (threshold) before they will release any funds to you.
* You'll need to watch out for false promises and companies that want to sell you "guaranteed turnkey Internet affiliate program packages". These really aren't necessary if you'll take the time to learn what works and what doesn't. Most people just end up losing their investment.
What You Need to Get Started with an Internet Affiliate Program Online Business:
* You'll want to decide which Internet affiliate programs you'll choose based on potential earnings, reliability,etc. because you'll want the content of your website to be themed toward the products and services being offered by those programs.
* You'll want to learn as much as possible about building and maintaining a website or blog, hosting issues, and traffic building techniques.
* You'll need a reasonably priced web or blog host.
* You should also learn about pay per click advertising, like Google AdWords, as it can be used to attract targeted traffic and generate sales.
Real Life Internet Affiliate Program Online Business:
Rather than concentrate on only one Internet affiliate program or network, it's best to select several for diversification purposes, and to choose programs that deal with subject matter in which you have a keen interest. Using variety also allows you to see which Internet affiliate programs are worthwhile and which are not.
Franklin Banker is a successful affiliate marketer on the Web. Franklin markets in several areas including sports, online shopping, affiliate marketing, health & nutrition and entrepreneurship. His article, Create Multiple Streams of Income with Affiliate Marketing provides several tips for being a success with an Internet affiliate program.
As you research this business on the Web it would be wise to keep your guard up. Remember that many of the sites you'll be visiting are sites of other affiliate marketers who make a profit when you click through on a product or service for more information. Keep in mind as well, that there are plenty of offers out there promising thousands or even hundreds of thousands in income each month with "everything you need" for an Internet affiliate program online business. In reality, most people who fall for those promises end up getting burned.
Internet Affiliate Programs Take Work
Don't let anyone kid you. Being a success with an Internet affiliate program is just like being a success in anything else - it takes hard work and determination.
Pros of an Internet Affiliate Program Online Business:
* Internet affiliate program businesses feature ery low start up costs - it's usually free to join as an affiliate - and no inventory or supplies to carry.
* No shipping is involved, there are no returns to worry about with an Internet affiliate program and like any online business, you can make money 24/7 while you sleep or play.
* No licensing or specialized training is required, but you should learn about websites and maximizing traffic so your Internet affiliate program will be successful.
Cons of an Internet Affiliate Program Online Business:
* You'll need to find ways to get LOTS of traffic to your Internet affiliate program website(s) because the profit on a single sale is often quite low.
* Many Internet affiliate programs require that you make a certain amount of money (threshold) before they will release any funds to you.
* You'll need to watch out for false promises and companies that want to sell you "guaranteed turnkey Internet affiliate program packages". These really aren't necessary if you'll take the time to learn what works and what doesn't. Most people just end up losing their investment.
What You Need to Get Started with an Internet Affiliate Program Online Business:
* You'll want to decide which Internet affiliate programs you'll choose based on potential earnings, reliability,etc. because you'll want the content of your website to be themed toward the products and services being offered by those programs.
* You'll want to learn as much as possible about building and maintaining a website or blog, hosting issues, and traffic building techniques.
* You'll need a reasonably priced web or blog host.
* You should also learn about pay per click advertising, like Google AdWords, as it can be used to attract targeted traffic and generate sales.
Real Life Internet Affiliate Program Online Business:
Rather than concentrate on only one Internet affiliate program or network, it's best to select several for diversification purposes, and to choose programs that deal with subject matter in which you have a keen interest. Using variety also allows you to see which Internet affiliate programs are worthwhile and which are not.
Franklin Banker is a successful affiliate marketer on the Web. Franklin markets in several areas including sports, online shopping, affiliate marketing, health & nutrition and entrepreneurship. His article, Create Multiple Streams of Income with Affiliate Marketing provides several tips for being a success with an Internet affiliate program.
As you research this business on the Web it would be wise to keep your guard up. Remember that many of the sites you'll be visiting are sites of other affiliate marketers who make a profit when you click through on a product or service for more information. Keep in mind as well, that there are plenty of offers out there promising thousands or even hundreds of thousands in income each month with "everything you need" for an Internet affiliate program online business. In reality, most people who fall for those promises end up getting burned.
Internet Affiliate Programs Take Work
Don't let anyone kid you. Being a success with an Internet affiliate program is just like being a success in anything else - it takes hard work and determination.
Affiliate Programs - Do Affiliate Marketing Programs Really Work?Affiliate Programs - Do Affiliate Marketing Programs Really Work?
I've read some of your articles on About.com and you seem to know your stuff. I have a question though; I want to start a web business to supplement my regular job income. I'm not looking for a get rich quick scheme, or to make $50,000 a month online (thought if it happened I certainly wouldn't mind! :) ). I've seen the claims about affiliate marketing making x bazillions per month, etc. What I'm trying to find out is; do any of these affiliate programs really work?
I want something that I can work on in the evenings while I still have my 9to5. An Internet biz seems like the perfect fit for my circumstances; I just don't want to waste time and money on a load of crap. I don't have a physical product to sell so I guess the whole affiliate thing is what I need to focus on unless you have another suggestion.
If you've read this far I thank you very much! I'm just looking for an objective opinion from someone who doesn't have a stake in trying to sell me something. Any advice or tips would be very much appreciated!!
The Realities of Affiliate Programs
We've all seen the claims of affiliate marketing programs - make hundreds of thousands of dollars a month while doing absolutely nothing. Sure, there have been a few big-time affiliate marketers who have made lots of money by using one or more affiliate programs ads on their websites. When visitors click through to the affiliate sponsor and make a purchase (convert), the home business affiliate marketer makes money. How easy is that? No product inventory to stock or ship, no customers to service. Making money with an affiliate program must be a piece of cake, right?
Wrong. For every affiliate marketing success out there, literally thousands have failed to make any money with an affiliate program.
Success Tips for Affiliate Programs
There are a few things you can do to improve your chances for making money with an affiliate marketing program:
* Get lots (and lots, and lots) of traffic visiting the websites you use for your affiliate programs.
* Associate only with good affiliate marketing programs that offer products or services or information that your website visitors will actually want to purchase.
* Look for affiliate programs that pay high commission rates on time and who keep their customers happy, not just their affiliate marketers, by providing actual value.
* Would you buy the product or service the affiliate program is offering? If not, why would you expect your site visitors to click through? If you are linking out to affiliate marketing scam artist, eventually the word will get out and you'll lose credibility. People won't want to come back to your site and they may not click through to your other affiliate programs that may very well be legitimately offering value.
* You need to provide content on your home business website that is related to what your affiliate programs are offering. For example, if you write about figure skating, it's not likely your visitors will be looking to buy a book on motorcycles or a new set of saddlebags.
* Ideally, your affiliate program links should blend in with your content - not deceptively, but so that they don't disrupt the flow of your web pages. In general, text affiliate marketing program links seem to convert better than image links. Most affiliate marketing programs don't require you use the exact text they provide in the code. (Unfortunately, some of these links are pretty terrible and most seem to want to use "click here" for the text that creates the link.)
* Consider inserting rel="nofollow" into your affiliate program links so that you do not drain off the ranking power of your website to the affiliate program.
* If you also use ads on your website, such as Google AdSense for making money, be advised that having both affiliate program links and AdSense links on the same page may result in poor performance of both. I've seen actual cases where AdSense revenues fell after adding affiliate marketing program links.
* If you can afford to experiment a bit, try setting up ads in Google AdWords for your affiliate marketing program (make sure your affiliate program allows you to use their product names, etc. and allows you to advertise as part of your affiliate program). If it costs you 50 cents per click for your AdWords ad and it takes an average of 40 such clicks to make a sale in your affiliate marketing program, your cost of that sale is $20. If your commission is $40 per sale, it would be well worth it to advertise. One successful affiliate marketer told me that pay per click advertising with Google AdWords was how he was able to make money - more than both of his parents combined - with an affiliate program.
Plunging into Affiliate Programs
If you decide to go ahead with one or more affiliate programs, read up and get what tips you can, ideally from those who have been successful with the same affiliate program. There is a wealth of information available on the Web on how to make money with affiliate programs. Does that mean you should spring $50 for a get-rich-quick affiliate marketing programs book or kit? No. Look for reliable sources. Check out different affiliate marketing programs and try out different ways to get traffic to your website and visitors to click through to your affiliates. Test different methods on different pages and go with what works.
Affiliate Marketing Programs Summary
It takes time, knowledge and considerable effort to succeed with affiliate programs, but there's no reason you couldn't make money with an online affiliate marketing home business. Just don't believe the outrageous claims and don't plan on quitting your day job right away.
An affiliate marketing business is like any other business you might want to start. It takes planning, time and some money as well as a lot of hard work and determination.
Overall, you chances for making money with an affiliate program are probably no better and no worse than any other type of Internet home based business.
I'd love to hear from those who have been successful in making money with affiliate marketing programs as I'd like to offer my readers more tips on being successful with affiliate programs in future articles.
I want something that I can work on in the evenings while I still have my 9to5. An Internet biz seems like the perfect fit for my circumstances; I just don't want to waste time and money on a load of crap. I don't have a physical product to sell so I guess the whole affiliate thing is what I need to focus on unless you have another suggestion.
If you've read this far I thank you very much! I'm just looking for an objective opinion from someone who doesn't have a stake in trying to sell me something. Any advice or tips would be very much appreciated!!
The Realities of Affiliate Programs
We've all seen the claims of affiliate marketing programs - make hundreds of thousands of dollars a month while doing absolutely nothing. Sure, there have been a few big-time affiliate marketers who have made lots of money by using one or more affiliate programs ads on their websites. When visitors click through to the affiliate sponsor and make a purchase (convert), the home business affiliate marketer makes money. How easy is that? No product inventory to stock or ship, no customers to service. Making money with an affiliate program must be a piece of cake, right?
Wrong. For every affiliate marketing success out there, literally thousands have failed to make any money with an affiliate program.
Success Tips for Affiliate Programs
There are a few things you can do to improve your chances for making money with an affiliate marketing program:
* Get lots (and lots, and lots) of traffic visiting the websites you use for your affiliate programs.
* Associate only with good affiliate marketing programs that offer products or services or information that your website visitors will actually want to purchase.
* Look for affiliate programs that pay high commission rates on time and who keep their customers happy, not just their affiliate marketers, by providing actual value.
* Would you buy the product or service the affiliate program is offering? If not, why would you expect your site visitors to click through? If you are linking out to affiliate marketing scam artist, eventually the word will get out and you'll lose credibility. People won't want to come back to your site and they may not click through to your other affiliate programs that may very well be legitimately offering value.
* You need to provide content on your home business website that is related to what your affiliate programs are offering. For example, if you write about figure skating, it's not likely your visitors will be looking to buy a book on motorcycles or a new set of saddlebags.
* Ideally, your affiliate program links should blend in with your content - not deceptively, but so that they don't disrupt the flow of your web pages. In general, text affiliate marketing program links seem to convert better than image links. Most affiliate marketing programs don't require you use the exact text they provide in the code. (Unfortunately, some of these links are pretty terrible and most seem to want to use "click here" for the text that creates the link.)
* Consider inserting rel="nofollow" into your affiliate program links so that you do not drain off the ranking power of your website to the affiliate program.
* If you also use ads on your website, such as Google AdSense for making money, be advised that having both affiliate program links and AdSense links on the same page may result in poor performance of both. I've seen actual cases where AdSense revenues fell after adding affiliate marketing program links.
* If you can afford to experiment a bit, try setting up ads in Google AdWords for your affiliate marketing program (make sure your affiliate program allows you to use their product names, etc. and allows you to advertise as part of your affiliate program). If it costs you 50 cents per click for your AdWords ad and it takes an average of 40 such clicks to make a sale in your affiliate marketing program, your cost of that sale is $20. If your commission is $40 per sale, it would be well worth it to advertise. One successful affiliate marketer told me that pay per click advertising with Google AdWords was how he was able to make money - more than both of his parents combined - with an affiliate program.
Plunging into Affiliate Programs
If you decide to go ahead with one or more affiliate programs, read up and get what tips you can, ideally from those who have been successful with the same affiliate program. There is a wealth of information available on the Web on how to make money with affiliate programs. Does that mean you should spring $50 for a get-rich-quick affiliate marketing programs book or kit? No. Look for reliable sources. Check out different affiliate marketing programs and try out different ways to get traffic to your website and visitors to click through to your affiliates. Test different methods on different pages and go with what works.
Affiliate Marketing Programs Summary
It takes time, knowledge and considerable effort to succeed with affiliate programs, but there's no reason you couldn't make money with an online affiliate marketing home business. Just don't believe the outrageous claims and don't plan on quitting your day job right away.
An affiliate marketing business is like any other business you might want to start. It takes planning, time and some money as well as a lot of hard work and determination.
Overall, you chances for making money with an affiliate program are probably no better and no worse than any other type of Internet home based business.
I'd love to hear from those who have been successful in making money with affiliate marketing programs as I'd like to offer my readers more tips on being successful with affiliate programs in future articles.
Affiliate PPC Brand Bidding: Right For You?
Over the last two weeks, I've had the opportunity to participate as speaker on a marketer teleconference called the "Paying for Performance Teleconference" and at Affiliate Summit. In both venues, debate centered on the issue of whether affiliates should be allowed to bid on keywords with direct links -- particularly brand keywords -- or whether this activity should be tightly regulated or prohibited. Surprisingly, the debate didn't revolve as much around a firm "yes" or "no," but examined ways marketers should take advantage of the PPC (define) portions of screen real estate to maximize overall profit.
In this column, I'll provide my take on the matter from the perspective of "affiliates" (as defined by common usage as performance-based media buying relationships), and from the standpoint of the broader ecosystem encompassing publishers, channel-partners, distributors, or retailers.
Marketers prefer easy answers. Whether to allow affiliates, channel partners, distributors, publishers, or retailers to bid on your brands and trademarks is a tough dilemma. Unfortunately, there's no one single solution. Legal issues aside, I'm only going to cover issues involving profit maximization. Clearly there's an additional layer of complexity when legal issues are included.
Regarding the profit outlook for PPC search brand bidding, in every case we've tested, there's been at least one scenario where having incremental screen real estate has resulted in greater overall profit to the marketer.
Before addressing the affiliate issue, there are some questions one should ask. I'll cover these questions and why they make a difference:
1. Who else is bidding on your trademark or brand now? If you have already clamped down on trademark bidding, you may be the only paid listing, but see the fourth question.
2. Who else currently has the right to bid on your trademark including publishers, retailers, channel partners, and distributors? Many companies have other business units to consider that may be bidding on brand names, products, or the parent company name.
3. Do you have a good organic position for the brand, product, or trademark term?
4. What does the organic portion of the SERP (define) look like? Are those with high positions surrounding your listing (assuming you have good position) valued partners that provide a strong user experience associated with the purchase of your brand or the potential to positively influence the visitor towards eventual purchase? Look, in particular, above the fold and the upper left corner. Consider universal search results as well.
5. If there are links to affiliates and/or partners on your terms in either the paid or organic listings, is your competition merchandised on the landing page as an alternate choice?
6. If you have a good organic position, what's the title, description, and landing page for each listing? If your listing isn't enticing and gets a low CTR (define), then chances are searchers are clicking elsewhere.
7. What's the click-back percentage (or page/site abandonment percentage) for visitors to the landing page that garners the brand searchers to your site? If you're losing your searchers back to the SERP, a second, third, or fourth bite at that apple might make sense.
8. In the organic results, are there some affiliate or business partner organizations that might already be bidding on PPC?
9. If you were to allow a partner to do trademark bidding (assuming it's currently not allowed) and if this partner is primarily helping you harvest existing demand, what else can you ask for from the partner or what other value are they currently providing?
10. What does your online and offline product/services distribution ecosystem look like now and how would you like to change it if you could?
11. Do you have several types of customers who respond to different kinds of messages and prefer different types of user experiences?
After digesting these and other questions stimulated by this kind of discussion, you'll likely come to the conclusion that additional screen real estate will be of value. Nearly every merchant or marketer does. However, I disagreed with some panelists in my two discussions on the subject of transparency.
If a third-party partner is able to assist in harvesting demand on your behalf, then you, the marketer, should know that partner's profit level or rate of return. Having this partner on a unified transparent technology platform can help address this issue while simultaneously addressing bid escalation issues.
Policing Your Affiliate Policy
Any time you have affiliates there will be an incentive for them to cheat, regardless of your terms. The search engines are in the best position to police any trademark or brand bidding. The engines know every instance of your trademark being used in a campaign and they can also set up broad matching to exclude those that include your trademark from showing. However, search engine enforcement is often lax and affiliates engaging in PPC SEM have a strong financial incentive to cheat. While a partner network can be effective in ratting out those who are making their PPC bidding more challenging, the numbers of ways that affiliates cheat is quite large and changes regularly. Policing affiliate bad behavior is a cost of having an affiliate program and there are plenty of other areas where affiliates walk the line, with e-mail and forced clicks for example.
When evaluating your brand bidding guidelines, one size doesn't fit all. Your needs may change over time. Continue to test and refine your policy.
In this column, I'll provide my take on the matter from the perspective of "affiliates" (as defined by common usage as performance-based media buying relationships), and from the standpoint of the broader ecosystem encompassing publishers, channel-partners, distributors, or retailers.
Marketers prefer easy answers. Whether to allow affiliates, channel partners, distributors, publishers, or retailers to bid on your brands and trademarks is a tough dilemma. Unfortunately, there's no one single solution. Legal issues aside, I'm only going to cover issues involving profit maximization. Clearly there's an additional layer of complexity when legal issues are included.
Regarding the profit outlook for PPC search brand bidding, in every case we've tested, there's been at least one scenario where having incremental screen real estate has resulted in greater overall profit to the marketer.
Before addressing the affiliate issue, there are some questions one should ask. I'll cover these questions and why they make a difference:
1. Who else is bidding on your trademark or brand now? If you have already clamped down on trademark bidding, you may be the only paid listing, but see the fourth question.
2. Who else currently has the right to bid on your trademark including publishers, retailers, channel partners, and distributors? Many companies have other business units to consider that may be bidding on brand names, products, or the parent company name.
3. Do you have a good organic position for the brand, product, or trademark term?
4. What does the organic portion of the SERP (define) look like? Are those with high positions surrounding your listing (assuming you have good position) valued partners that provide a strong user experience associated with the purchase of your brand or the potential to positively influence the visitor towards eventual purchase? Look, in particular, above the fold and the upper left corner. Consider universal search results as well.
5. If there are links to affiliates and/or partners on your terms in either the paid or organic listings, is your competition merchandised on the landing page as an alternate choice?
6. If you have a good organic position, what's the title, description, and landing page for each listing? If your listing isn't enticing and gets a low CTR (define), then chances are searchers are clicking elsewhere.
7. What's the click-back percentage (or page/site abandonment percentage) for visitors to the landing page that garners the brand searchers to your site? If you're losing your searchers back to the SERP, a second, third, or fourth bite at that apple might make sense.
8. In the organic results, are there some affiliate or business partner organizations that might already be bidding on PPC?
9. If you were to allow a partner to do trademark bidding (assuming it's currently not allowed) and if this partner is primarily helping you harvest existing demand, what else can you ask for from the partner or what other value are they currently providing?
10. What does your online and offline product/services distribution ecosystem look like now and how would you like to change it if you could?
11. Do you have several types of customers who respond to different kinds of messages and prefer different types of user experiences?
After digesting these and other questions stimulated by this kind of discussion, you'll likely come to the conclusion that additional screen real estate will be of value. Nearly every merchant or marketer does. However, I disagreed with some panelists in my two discussions on the subject of transparency.
If a third-party partner is able to assist in harvesting demand on your behalf, then you, the marketer, should know that partner's profit level or rate of return. Having this partner on a unified transparent technology platform can help address this issue while simultaneously addressing bid escalation issues.
Policing Your Affiliate Policy
Any time you have affiliates there will be an incentive for them to cheat, regardless of your terms. The search engines are in the best position to police any trademark or brand bidding. The engines know every instance of your trademark being used in a campaign and they can also set up broad matching to exclude those that include your trademark from showing. However, search engine enforcement is often lax and affiliates engaging in PPC SEM have a strong financial incentive to cheat. While a partner network can be effective in ratting out those who are making their PPC bidding more challenging, the numbers of ways that affiliates cheat is quite large and changes regularly. Policing affiliate bad behavior is a cost of having an affiliate program and there are plenty of other areas where affiliates walk the line, with e-mail and forced clicks for example.
When evaluating your brand bidding guidelines, one size doesn't fit all. Your needs may change over time. Continue to test and refine your policy.
What Is the Best Affiliate Solution?
The successful affiliate program does not happen by accident. Many factors contribute to an affiliate program's ability to rise above the mediocre masses. One such factor is the level of investment by a company in the longevity and growth of that affiliate program; another is the relative experience of the affiliate manager/team.
The Achilles' heel of many affiliate programs is their hasty, uninformed choice regarding an affiliate solution provider. Although a number of decisions must be made when launching an affiliate program, the choice of an affiliate solution is one that must be given much weight.
Do your research, and make the right decision the first time. In a recent United States Affiliate Manager Coalition poll, nearly 40 percent of affiliate managers said they would select a different affiliate solution provider if they could do it all over again.
Freedom of Choice
The choices in affiliate solutions are numerous. Dr. Ralph F. Wilson breaks down the affiliate solutions into five categories in his "Report on Affiliate Management Software."
According to Wilson, the solution providers are categorized as commission-based ASPs (application service providers), fee-based ASPs, CGI programs, e-commerce programs, and in-house custom applications.
According to the affiliate metrix 2001 Merchant Report, 76 percent of affiliate programs are working with one of the "Big Four" commission-based ASPs. The fee-based ASPs, including AssocTRAC and My Affiliate Program, make up a large degree of the remaining market share.
The Best of the Best
The million-dollar question for companies interested in affiliate marketing is, Which affiliate solution provider is best? Although some industry pundits suggest that there is one answer to this question, the reality is that the best affiliate solution for you depends on your budget; your needs for technology, support, and affiliate recruiting; and your stand on exclusivity.
In general, budget is the biggest factor. Some programs can get by with the bare-bones offerings at the lower end, while Fortune 500 companies gravitate toward the higher-end commission-based ASPs.
The level and quality of technology and support vary among affiliate solution providers. What one merchant deems to be mission critical can very well be seen as superfluous by another. Before being seduced by a laundry list of features, figure out which are actually necessary for your affiliate program.
Support encompasses technical assistance to the merchant as well as access to an account representative and consultation for industry best practices. These valuable services are standard for commission-based ASPs and are available from some of the fee-based ASPs.
Similarly, the higher-end affiliate solution providers actively recruit affiliates into their network for the benefit of their merchants. However, it's important to note that this recruitment does not generally include the super affiliates. It's up to the merchant to proactively recruit its most desired affiliates.
There is much ballyhoo out there about exclusivity among affiliate solution providers. Though it is nice to have options, I have to question how many companies would actually endeavor to work with multiple affiliate solution providers, even if they could.
Research from affiliate metrix indicates that the majority of affiliate programs are managed by one person at the most. Over the past 15 months, there have been two of us managing the ClubMom affiliate program, and the prospect of launching a program of the same caliber on a second platform is a bit laughable.
Do Your Homework
To see the big picture about any affiliate solution provider, go out of your way to find out what merchants and affiliates think of them. Check out the affiliate marketing message boards. One caveat is that some messages are a country mile from objectivity. After monitoring the message boards for a week or so, you can get an idea about which people post useful messages and which messages are not worth your consideration.
Also, ask your prospective affiliate solution providers to provide references. Though references are given with the intention to help sell a particular provider, it should be a red flag if you ask for them and they are not furnished. You can also find merchants from a wide array of affiliate solution providers at the industry conferences, which provide a good opportunity to obtain candid references.
Some of the research has already been done for you. Wilson's "Report on Affiliate Management Software" is a useful third-party evaluation of the affiliate solution providers. Dr. Wilson selected Be Free, Commission Junction, My Affiliate Program, The Ultimate Affiliate Package, and Synergyx as the Editor's Choice picks in this report.
Now back to that budget issue. If you plan to sign on with one of the commission-based ASPs, you've got to work the numbers to ensure that it is going to be within your means.
Map out your projected affiliate program impressions, click-throughs, and transactions for the next year. Then tie in the associated costs for working with the various companies. Don't let your program implode because it is too successful (read: too expensive on the back end).
The choice of your affiliate solution provider is important -- it results in a marriage -- and can dictate the success or failure of your program. Do it right the first time, or else you might find yourself having irreconcilable differences. And think about this: Few, if any, affiliate programs have switched affiliate solution providers and have subsequently managed to sustain success.
The Achilles' heel of many affiliate programs is their hasty, uninformed choice regarding an affiliate solution provider. Although a number of decisions must be made when launching an affiliate program, the choice of an affiliate solution is one that must be given much weight.
Do your research, and make the right decision the first time. In a recent United States Affiliate Manager Coalition poll, nearly 40 percent of affiliate managers said they would select a different affiliate solution provider if they could do it all over again.
Freedom of Choice
The choices in affiliate solutions are numerous. Dr. Ralph F. Wilson breaks down the affiliate solutions into five categories in his "Report on Affiliate Management Software."
According to Wilson, the solution providers are categorized as commission-based ASPs (application service providers), fee-based ASPs, CGI programs, e-commerce programs, and in-house custom applications.
According to the affiliate metrix 2001 Merchant Report, 76 percent of affiliate programs are working with one of the "Big Four" commission-based ASPs. The fee-based ASPs, including AssocTRAC and My Affiliate Program, make up a large degree of the remaining market share.
The Best of the Best
The million-dollar question for companies interested in affiliate marketing is, Which affiliate solution provider is best? Although some industry pundits suggest that there is one answer to this question, the reality is that the best affiliate solution for you depends on your budget; your needs for technology, support, and affiliate recruiting; and your stand on exclusivity.
In general, budget is the biggest factor. Some programs can get by with the bare-bones offerings at the lower end, while Fortune 500 companies gravitate toward the higher-end commission-based ASPs.
The level and quality of technology and support vary among affiliate solution providers. What one merchant deems to be mission critical can very well be seen as superfluous by another. Before being seduced by a laundry list of features, figure out which are actually necessary for your affiliate program.
Support encompasses technical assistance to the merchant as well as access to an account representative and consultation for industry best practices. These valuable services are standard for commission-based ASPs and are available from some of the fee-based ASPs.
Similarly, the higher-end affiliate solution providers actively recruit affiliates into their network for the benefit of their merchants. However, it's important to note that this recruitment does not generally include the super affiliates. It's up to the merchant to proactively recruit its most desired affiliates.
There is much ballyhoo out there about exclusivity among affiliate solution providers. Though it is nice to have options, I have to question how many companies would actually endeavor to work with multiple affiliate solution providers, even if they could.
Research from affiliate metrix indicates that the majority of affiliate programs are managed by one person at the most. Over the past 15 months, there have been two of us managing the ClubMom affiliate program, and the prospect of launching a program of the same caliber on a second platform is a bit laughable.
Do Your Homework
To see the big picture about any affiliate solution provider, go out of your way to find out what merchants and affiliates think of them. Check out the affiliate marketing message boards. One caveat is that some messages are a country mile from objectivity. After monitoring the message boards for a week or so, you can get an idea about which people post useful messages and which messages are not worth your consideration.
Also, ask your prospective affiliate solution providers to provide references. Though references are given with the intention to help sell a particular provider, it should be a red flag if you ask for them and they are not furnished. You can also find merchants from a wide array of affiliate solution providers at the industry conferences, which provide a good opportunity to obtain candid references.
Some of the research has already been done for you. Wilson's "Report on Affiliate Management Software" is a useful third-party evaluation of the affiliate solution providers. Dr. Wilson selected Be Free, Commission Junction, My Affiliate Program, The Ultimate Affiliate Package, and Synergyx as the Editor's Choice picks in this report.
Now back to that budget issue. If you plan to sign on with one of the commission-based ASPs, you've got to work the numbers to ensure that it is going to be within your means.
Map out your projected affiliate program impressions, click-throughs, and transactions for the next year. Then tie in the associated costs for working with the various companies. Don't let your program implode because it is too successful (read: too expensive on the back end).
The choice of your affiliate solution provider is important -- it results in a marriage -- and can dictate the success or failure of your program. Do it right the first time, or else you might find yourself having irreconcilable differences. And think about this: Few, if any, affiliate programs have switched affiliate solution providers and have subsequently managed to sustain success.
How to Create a Successful Affiliate Marketing Program
Affiliate marketing is often termed as one of the best online marketing programs that are available to small business. Why? There is no risk when it comes to affiliate marketing, you only pay after the results are delivered. Using an affiliate marketing program you agree to pay your affiliate partners a referral fee for each lead or sale that is generated.
There are many affiliate program available on the Internet today, so it's important to make yours stand out and catch the attention of professional affiliate marketers. Once you've done that you are well on your way to a successful campaign. Here are some tips on how you can make your affiliate program stand out from the multitudes that are available:
1. Claim a niche market. Don't try to sell everything to everyone. This is the quickest way to fail in your adventure.
2. Locate niche partners. Once you've claimed your niche market research and find web sites that have viewers interested in your niche market. You will want to find partners that have already built traffic and would benefit from your affiliate offer. Your offer should be a win-win for both you and your affiliate partners.
3. Develop compelling creative. Provide your affiliate partners with creative and promotional material. You want to make their job of marketing your products or services as easy as possible. The less work they have to do and the more conversions they see the more likely they are to promote your products or services.
4. Continually be on the look out for new affiliate partners. Don't rest on your laurels just because you have a few good partners, you never know when they may decide to jump ship. Protect yourself by actively recruiting new partners. You can find new partners by advertising your affiliate program on your web site, listing or advertising in affiliate directories, or by contacting potential affiliates directly.
5. Take care of your partners. Communicate with them by welcoming them to your affiliate program send out updates on product additions or changes. Give them tips and advise on how to be successful in marketing your products. Always pay them on time.
A successful affiliate marketing program takes time to build, but with a bit of effort it has the ability to increase your Internet sales noticeably. It's worth the effort and it can become on of the best time and financial investments in your marketing plan.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
