Hello mate, I will like to hear from you. What you consider as the major factors in qualifying an affiliate programs as the best money making program. For example, some people consider huge affiliate commission as a major factor. Some all consider recurring commission as a major factor. Please what others factors can you share with me? Thanks for your thoughts.
First, I don't even consider a program/product unless I have used it, am familiar with it, and feel it will benefit my customers. Once I have made that determination, I figure how well it fits one of my niches and decide how easy/hard it will be to market it based on sales material provided by the company versus how much I will have to create.. If it has a large commission or recurring commission, all the better...but these are not major considerations for me. Once I started picking affiliate programs/products using this criteria, my profits starting increasing, and I haven't looked back. Jim
Hi Ozim, I'm a newbie on affiliate programs and am looking round what to do next. The two I'm using are restricted firstly on market ie mainly UK oriented and also they have limited support if the site goes down so I am and would suggest to anyone that they also consider verifying the program is applicable to the market you trade in as well as the level of support available if their system goes down or has a fault. I'm not an expert but I'm looking for a program where these are covered at the moment. Paul
Here's how I decide on which affiliate programs to try. No - huge affiliate commissions are not my #1 factor. First, I'm checking how related is the offer to my site's content. If it's not related - it's not for me. Second, I prefer offers that provide a 100% free service/product - they are the easiest to convert. After that, free trials - they're not as good as the free offers but MUCH better than paid services that don't offer anything for free. A mix of CPA and a CPS is also something that I look at and like. I want to earn a commission both for sending a free trial user and for the sale itself (if that user makes a purchase). The program type that I hate the most is CPS only.
I look for quality of product, size of commission, and an important factor for me is the method of payment. I also like to look for good quality recurring commission products such as membership sites, web hosting, autoresponders, etc.
Some very interesting answers, and some I never thought of. I will have to reconsider the thoroughness of my checklist. Thanks to those who have posted. Jim
I would consider reporting, payout, multiple payment methods and popularity of the prodcut or service on offer.
Heres what i would suggest to look at:- 1, Market size, prefferably worldwide market 2, Demand of product 3, How long has it been around 4, Got to be residual income, IMO 5, Commision structure 1st level and following levels 6, Bonuses offered by programme for hard working affiliates 7, Many payment methods 8, Repatation of company 9, One that gives online and offline training, for example webinars and training and recognition events. 10, All of above, I know my affiliate prgramme has all of these and more which is why i got involved in the first place
Don't forget the importance of the networks tracking capabilites. There is absolutely no point in speding time and money on a campaign that doesn't track..
I like to check the AGE of the program, its reputation and most importantly if they offer rev sharing. Forget the quick buck. You can earn today and keep earning for years. Trust me!
Some great info in this thread. Always good to know what others consider important factors. Personally I put the most weight on relevancy to the site I will be marketing it on, reputation and time online, and how useful will it be to my visitors. Provided that criteria is met then rev sharing or commissions. Thats my criteria, hope it helps someone
There is less than 50% tracking in some networks discussed here on DP and people think they are good enough. Test your traffic with them Sam
I would like to see the commission rates first. If it is 30% or more then I will join because it would compensate fairly my effort in promoting their products. Currently I have 3 affiliates which pay me 50% commission for their beauty and health products. I already got my first check from one of them.
I didn't say I hate CPS - I said I hate 'CPS only'. I prefer to be paid for both the free trial/free member registration AND for the actual sale (if there is one). An affiliate program that offers this model, will get a priority over a program which offers 'CPS only'. When an affiliate is being offered a commission for both, I know that this site probably has a higher conversion rate, since the merchant pays for 'free members'. He probably knows that these free members convert to pay members pretty well, so he's willing to open his wallet and pay for these free ones. When the merchant works solely with a CPS model, he can sit back and do nothing to increase his site's conversions. What does he care? He risks nothing. If there is a sale - great. If there isn't - no big deal. He lost nothing.
Hi Affiliategirl, It is true that there are some good high-paying campaigns around, but sometimes it is better to work with low-value campaigns that convert well. E.g, would you rather receive 100 x $3 or 10 x $20 This all depends on the individual programme of course...
My main concern is that the product is solid, and useful to the people I am sending to it. I've never pushed something that I was not thoroughly familiar with (having been a customer or signup myself), because it allows me to presell the product more effectively and increases the chances that my referrals will trust me in the future. After that, it's available market, conversion and profit, in that order. By available market I mean that, if a $200 ebook on how to make better seal harpoons is converting 1:5 among inuit reindeer-herders, I still don't want to promote it if there's only 10 reindeer-herders with internet access. Especially if someone else has already dominated that microniche