I am interested to know how you decide what affiliate products to market. You may have a few ideas about the percent of affiliate comm. and market niche targeting. However, do you always purchase the products to test them for yourself before making the offer or do you rely on the salespage to do the selling? It can be cost prohibitive to buy all the products prior, but then our integrity is priceless. I'd like to start a dialog on what process works best to deliver consistent results of cashflow... BTW...find out below how many are making these significant product decisions with sage advice.
I'm very selective in the affiliate programs I choose. Most of what I see out there is not very useful or would not be useful to the audience I have reading my blog and Web site, so I do not sign up for those affiliate programs. Right now, I exclusively promote only one affiliate program and it's one I researched thoroughly and fully stand behind. I did not purchase ALL of the products before enrolling, but I did purchase three products. The site sells e-books, tip sheets, and special reports so I bought one of each. They were very high in quality, provided excellent information, and weren't riddled with errors like many of the other e-books and reports I've read. The commission structure is very fair (40% on e-books, reports, and tip sheets and 20% on the $4,000 mentoring package being offered). I also look for how an affiliate program is set up. Is there support for new affiliates? Are there affiliate tools available? The program I chose is very professionally-done and the person who owns the Web site and has written all of the info products sends out sales tips, letters of encouragement, etc. She allows affiliates to use excerpts from her products and graphics of her e-book covers to help them sell more. She also specifically states that affiliates can call her or e-mail her any time for more help. I'd suggest that anyone looking for a program do in-depth research and sign up only with programs that you deem worth your time and effort.
Everybody has their own rhyme-and-reason on what works for them. I personally don't promote anything unless I've actually used/read the product. Of course this puts a serious cap on what I recommend. But it also let's my audience know that when I say it's good, it's really good - and not a bunch of BS. That level of trust is something that's absolutely worth me paying the money to try the product. Besides, when it's all said and done, I'm going to earn that money back 10 fold. I just consider it part of the cost of doing business.