affiliate tip for all us noobs out there

[yveskleinsky]

So I just spent the good part of the morning researching various affiliate programs as well as rereading the search results for affiliate programs on this site. Here's some pointers for everyone else that's (like me) just getting going with the wonderful world of affiliate marketing. I hope this info saves you some time.

1. If you want to know what other industries are offering as far as commission, if you are planning on starting your own affiliate program (also called an advertiser) is to join an affiliate program as a publisher/affiliate (it's free). You can do this by going to: www.cj.com (commission junction). There are other sites you can go to as well, this one seemed to be the first user-friendly one I came across. This info is seriously fascinating. (Another interesting thing I just realized is that a daily newsletter that I had signed up for promote a "cool site of the day". I just realized (duh) that she is either paid by the advertisers to promote them or she is an affiliate for them.

2. The commission junction people recommended that we wait about 3-6 months after our site is up and running before we lock into an affiliate program with them, as there is a 12 month contract, which would be pointless if our site isn't fully optimized.

3. The great thing about affiliate "hub" type sites like CJ is that they handle the tracking and payouts- oh, and the ads (if you are an affiliate) are premade. (This is probably assumed by most people, but I didn't know it!)

4. Shareasale.com is a good site to start out with as it is significantly more affordable than CJ. (CJ has a $3k set up fee, 12 month contract, a per transaction fee of 30% which must total at least $500/month.) ...Granted, they may have a lot more affiliates that go thru them, so it may be worth the extra money- but I know for us starting out, we are going to focus on optimization and building a community first.

Oh, and here's a great site that gives a good rundown on the basics: http://www.associateprograms.com/articles/175/1/How-to-start-an-affiliate-program

Anyone have any more tips?

 

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[gary29910]

It's much easier to make money with CPA offers getting people
to sign up for free trials & filling out forms.

I'll PM you about what I'm talking about, there's kids that
are making 1K a day doing this 7K a week & there parents are
making 1/2 of that.

 

[Strategy]

i pm'ed you gary if you can hit me back with the info also i'd appreciate

 

[Knightsman]

It's much easier to make money with CPA offers getting people
to sign up for free trials & filling out forms.

I'll PM you about what I'm talking about, there's kids that
are making 1K a day doing this 7K a week & there parents are
making 1/2 of that.

PM Me Too!!

 

[JBrown]

It's much easier to make money with CPA offers getting people
to sign up for free trials & filling out forms.

I'll PM you about what I'm talking about, there's kids that
are making 1K a day doing this 7K a week & there parents are
making 1/2 of that.

Hey Gary, I'd appreciate a PM as well!

Many thanks in advance!

 

[LightHouse]

Guys all you need to do is open up a new thread rather than PM a new member about it. Networks have quite a few free offers that pay out sort of well. There are tons of things to promote on bigger networks. There are guys making double and quadruple that amount if you look around.

This thread is about offering affiliate programs however so lets keep it on topic. Dana did you check out link share as well? i know some folks with smaller stores that are using LS over SAS or CJ.

 

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[fast_track_chaz]

ClickBank (Digital Products Retailer: Affiliate Program & Sell Online - ClickBank) is another good one, mostly for electronic "products"...

Have you had personal experience with clickbank? Would you care to share?

 

[365]

Have you had personal experience with clickbank? Would you care to share?

They have a good amount of well-converting products. Id say mainly: "make money online", "lose weight/gain muscle",forex and some software (i.e. registry cleaners).

A good place to look at data about their products is www.cbengine.com

 

[LightHouse]

They have a good amount of well-converting products. Id say mainly: "make money online", "lose weight/gain muscle",forex and some software (i.e. registry cleaners).

Define well-converting, it depends on how you are promoting. What have you had sucess with in regards to clickbank products to deduce that they are well-converting? I am just wondering not challenging your insight or anything.

 

[CMCarlin]

They have a good amount of well-converting products. Id say mainly: "make money online", "lose weight/gain muscle",forex and some software (i.e. registry cleaners).

A good place to look at data about their products is CBENGINE - ClickBank Marketplace, Preferred by ClickBank Affiliates

Hmm, but aren't those some of the most saturated markets right now?

 

[365]

Define well-converting, it depends on how you are promoting. What have you had sucess with in regards to clickbank products to deduce that they are well-converting? I am just wondering not challenging your insight or anything.

Id say some of the CB products have pretty good sales letters and sell pretty good to organic traffic.
A lot of it might be hype though. Say a new CB "make money" product comes out and gains some popularity. Many marketers blast it out to their lists and you have a good amount of people searching the web for more info on those products.

But I guess it depends on what kind of traffic you get. I mean "well-converting" will mean different things for random traffic, organic "pre-sold" traffic and traffic you get from your own list.

Of course not all CB products are well converting though. Lots of the stuff there is garbage.

Hmm, but aren't those some of the most saturated markets right now?

A lot of that stuff is definitely overpromoted, yes. Also: a lot of internet marketers only focus on CB which means you might generally encounter an unhealthy lot of competition.

 

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[mtnman]

Erm, lots to say here. I think I was 3 sheets to the wind hungover one day, wrote a post here, and then deleted it as to be sure not to offend. lol

Do you guys ACTUALLY USE the stuff you're talking about? I have nothing positive to say about any network in this thread, and will leave it at that cuz I love you guys. :coolgleamA:

But, as always, test it for yourself. Letting someone else's opinion on something stop you from trying something will get you nowhere.

As for specifics... cj sucks. Their tracking eats goat milk for breakfast and then they shaft you out of carrots. Great for finding offers, but once you get it working, go straight to the vendor.

Example: Hostgator- Somewhere along the lines of net60, they get the term screwed all to hell. Meaning, if you watch carefully, you won't be paid for signups even after retention.

But Matt, why would I take a 50% pay cut? (HG signup = 100@cj; 50 @HG direct) Well Sally, because less is more honey. You will make more money if you're getting the shaft.

This is not always the case... as I always say, try it for yourself.... it depends on your client generation quality/methods , volume, etc... IN MY EXPERIENCE!

CB... lol. Converts? Throw some money at that one and watch the clicks, lead collection, etc... and see if commission tracking is honored. There are some good offers on there still probably, I just don't use them anymore. ( a while back, when click reporting stayed the norm and payouts did not, I dumped it.)

I HAD great things to say about Ebay up until they switched to QCP... I still owe Kurt a post on the idiotic ebay store building lol, but right now the ship is under water and waiting for things to level out. No reason to talk more about something that currently is not working.

 

[Geo]

Gary could you please PM me aswell. Thanks anyway!

 

[365]

...

Alright, seems you know a lot more than I do about that stuff.
So what do you suggest in terms of finding a good affiliate network?