Thinking of starting an affiliate program, but feeling absolutely lost. What exactly do I need to look out for in my selection criteria? I know that no one software fits all needs, so any tips/guidance wld be greatly appreciated. How abt using services like clickbank to manage your affiliate program? What are the pros & cons? Pls help, tks!
Are you selling strictly downloadable products? If so, Clickbank may be something to consider. However, it takes some effort to get noticed in Clickbank until you have a lot of affiliates making alot of sales. One of the biggest disadvantages of Clickbank is you don't know who you affiliates are, so you can't build relationships with them. Installing an affiliate management program on your own server allows you to offer both downloadable and physical products, and you'll know who each of your affiliates are and how well they are performing. While you aren't paying a percentage to an outside management company, you will also have to run reports and pay your affiliates yourself. A good affiliate script will make this easy. I do a lot of ecommerce site development, and have installed and set up two different affiliate scripts. I'd be happy to send you to them if you PM me - since I'm new, I don't think I can include them in my post. Regards, Jim
tks for the insightful tips. Think will not go the route of clickbank as i believe that relationships are what makes a business successful. So i guess the way to go is software... any other opinions?
think i've narrowed down to idevaffiliate, jrox or affliate pro... seriously need some tips/advice/strategies on choosing the right one as there are hundreds of different parameters. Appreciate any answers =)
Depends entirely on the products/ target audience. I have been working as a merchant / affiliate and affiliate manager in the UK for years now and I would strongly suggest to go with a network, if you need any info drop me a PM. Brian
Costs ten thousand dollars for setup to likes of Linkshare no? I presume people are starting ideas to make money because they have none in the first place.
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
I'd suggest to check out affiliate-software-review.com that has some nice reviews from a site owner that can help you out as a new merchant. good luck -
yup, saw that. but lots of terms that i'm not sure which are impt. Which is the reason for this post =) So what factors are most impt? There are like 100's of different attributes...
The network idea is the best for forwarding your business online. This is for several reasons. They have proved tracking. Affiliates can be dubious about reporting of independent affiliate programmes, and are more likely to stick with what they know Affiliates would already be signed up to a network so would be more likely to 'give you a go'. 1000s of affiliates log onto their network accounts daily, most of which will feature new programs on their default page. You don't have to worry about software, either custom or bought in. Good affiliate software does cost £1000s. Network fees are LOW for the service they supply. There are many affiliates who won't sign up to a non-network programme as they improve their chances of getting paid each month. There is a 'not another password to remember' attitude. The affiliate will not have to spend time logging into your affiliate reporting software, they can get (most) reports through small number of networks. (managing dozens of independent accounts is a nightmare, I should know) There is definitly still a place for inhouse affiliate solutions. But it all depends on what you intent to achieve
I do understand and I do agree but ... and I will take Clickbank as an example - have you heard about some recent problems with clickbank? (some affiliates noticed an extreme downward trend in sales since the update) cf. http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=648226 - is it not hard to be noticed within Clickbank network for a new publisher with a new product? Given this 2 issues (to name but a few), we can easily understand people looking to softwares like Affiliate Pro in order to build their own thing
The main difference between the networks and in-house is in the services the networks provide - e.g. paying the affiliates, hosting the tracking, fraud protection, etc. It's hard to say what's best when starting out as there are so many factors. One key factor is to consider the affiliates - where they are hanging out, what they are looking for, what they demand re features, what the competition is offering them etc.