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It wasn’t very long ago when
the word “affiliate” left a bad taste in many a mouth.
The reason was that the larger percent were
Multi-Level-Marketing programs that had products or
services of little value, but emphasized the way to the
big bucks was in generating a downline. Reaching a large
number of people without getting too involved was the
pattern. It was referred to as the “some will, some
won’t, so what” approach. The gizmo, or product was
not the object of your ads or your marketing.
Today, if you are new to
the Internet and you want to start an online business but
you don’t have a product, a web site, or an idea of how
to begin --- then listen up because things are not as bad
as they used to be when we speak of “affiliates”.
Begin by joining an already
established company to start a small but steady income.
Since most Affiliate programs are free to join, you need
only read their Terms & Conditions (carefully), and
agree to them. They will welcome you with open arms, give
you a webpage with your own ID on it, and frequently offer
you professionally worded ads that you can post, again
mostly free.
Without spending a single
dime, you are already in business. But let’s put a
speed-bump here to caution you in your “selection” of
what you choose to attach your name to. You won’t earn
trust with a worthless product or a company that ignores
customer complaints. So here we go!
Why do they “welcome you
with open arms”? Because they too make a profit without
spending a dime – you are their profit source, you will
advertise their program or their product, and they will
pay you in one of several ways for your efforts. Let’s
examine these ways:
- Pay per sale – either
a set amount, or a percentage of each sale that you
make.
- Pay per impression –
if you have a high-traffic site (in our example, you
do not), they will pay you a few cents for every
visitor to that site that sees their banner or link.
- Pay per click – for
every visitor that clicks on their banner or link, you
are paid a bit higher than the “impression” rate.
- Pay per lead – this
does not pay as much as a “sale”, but by filling
out a form, your visitor has given the program owner
an email address. This is a valuable “lead”, and
they will pay you to gather them.
How much does the company
pay their affiliates and is it a flat rate or percentage?
Another useful indicator to
your future profits is the importance of “levels” or
“tiers” any affiliate program provides. Some are two
or three tiers, others may go up to ten. This means that
if you refer another affiliate to their program, you will
earn a commission on the sales that they make. Two tier is
the minimum in order to make “residual income”.
A replicated website, or
duplicate website with your Identification on it, is
vital. When someone buys the product from this webpage the
program owner will know that you made the sale and where
to send your money.
Hopefully, your choice of
Programs will pay you a commission on all future purchases
that your referrals make as well as a portion of their
monthly payments that are collected from some sales.
State-of-the-Art affiliate programs have well- tracked
identifications of their affiliates. After all, you are
their bread & butter.
The advantages of beginning
with an Affiliate Program to generate your first few
dollars online, are many but suffice to say you do not
have to buy their product, and you don’t have to ship
them to any of your customers. Your full time attention
need only directed at getting traffic, traffic, traffic to
your replicated website.
Once you have made your
selection, market the “product or service” for the
purpose of a sale (and thus a commission) but tack on,
almost as a PS, that “affiliate positions are
lucrative”. If the product or service they buy is
praiseworthy, they will join as a free affiliate
themselves. Now you have doubled your income with a single
ad.
© 2004 Esther Smith
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