I'm looking to start a small company that is similar to Azoogle, Copeac, all those affiliate networks... Now I must admit I don't know a thing about how to set this up business/programming wise but on the other hand I have been working as an affiliate marketer for 6 years now and have amazing success with that. Now I probably sound over my head right now but I really want to do this and am hoping to read some literature on what to do. Anyone have any suggestions for me? Is their any how-to books out there on how to start an affiliate network? Are there any scripts out there to help with affiliates and such? My goal is to start out very small. I have 20 people I'm going to train (plus I'm looking for about 10 more) and I have 3 companies already interested in joining my network for advertisement so I'm not completely starting out from scratch here. lol I know theres already many companies like this out there but I do have some unique ideas for mine that will make the company different from the rest.
I would look at the DirectTrack script that many CPA networks are already using. There's some quick information about DirectTrack here with a review. I think with getting this script, your network would already have a few offers in it from the start, but not 100% sure. Good luck with your affiliate network.
Yep DirectTrack has something called "CrossPublication" so that an ad can be placed on all affiliate networks using their software. The downside to this is that you have the same offer as everybody else and no exclusives, the upside is that you already have offers ready for affiliates to use. This isn't something that you should depend on but use it to build up your affiliate base, then when you have enough affiliates promoting the offers you can go to the advertisers and show them your stats and data so they take you seriously. But I should warn you, running an affiliate network is no easy or cheap task. If you're going to do this you will need to invest some serious time and money and make sure you hire the best people.
DirectTrack is hosted and there's a monthly fee but if you're serious and want to compete with the other 200+ n/w's that run of DT then this is a good one to check out first.
direct track cost a lot .. there are some cheap affiliate scripts which cost very less you can try them .
If your serious with your network then the quality of the script should come first and not the cost. People will also notice this. There are many publishers that have used DirectTrack alot that they now prefer to keep with these networks because they have got the feel of using it and are more comfortable using the script rather than trying a network that is using a totally new script.
Actuallly if your are real serious about starting an affiliate company you should have a custom script built as well as hire a staff of just 2-3 people who know coding and can manage everything for you as you will need this script and website to be updated a lot. I would say you need at least 250k start-up if you are looking to do it on a serious level. I think if you use what everyone else i using you could easily get lost in the crowd and it would be hard not to if you are all using the same thing.
Your differentiation in the market should not be based on which script you use anyway. If you have 3 companies then just start small by creating a network with them using your unique ideas. If it works, then expand it further.