I am the affiliate sponsor and we are looking at launching an affiliate program within the next week. We want to pay 5%-10% commission on orders, but which network do you use or do you think would be best for us to get the most affiliates. Our Site is ArticleMe, it is a open market for anyone to buy/sell articles. ClickBank, CJ, Other? Or would it be better to build in house and market our program that way? This is normally how I did it for many of our other sites and it has done well, but you never know, so I thought I would ask this time. Best, Levi
CJ is good though but i prefer affiliate junction for my products. You can also go for display advertising on some CPA/CPL models. Articles content is good to get top rankings on Google for different hot terms so you will get a massive traffic if get a better optimization of your site as well.
Hi Levi, I have had very good results with commission junction. I have also used Cickbank for some products, but was not quite as satisfied with the results. You said that you have built and used your own in house system that had worked well for you. If that is the case, I would stay with the one that has already proven to give you results. You already know how to make the system work, so you wouldn’t have to invest additional time learning other systems. On the other hand there is no reason you can’t expand to several different programs (split testing) to see which one can bring the most desirable results and that best fit into your long-term goals.
The 2 Networks you have listed are great, but obviously there are others you could use....But my concern is more with you only paying 5% - 10% commissions to your affiliates. Don't you think that's not enough? Well, unless your selling a product that's worth $1,000. Now a days, Clickbank publishers are selling their product for an average of $67, but paying their affiliates a WHOPPING 50% and sometimes 75% commission on orders. Remember to take care of the ones that are going to make you "RICH" <----affiliates
If you are a starter and has no big budget I would recommend you go to ShareAsale.com first. They are reputable and good support for advertisers. If you can afford, CJ is the best choice since most of powerful publishers are there.
I like E-Junkie. It's only $5 per month for a basic membership and there is a lot less competition than Clickbank. I've managed to get more than 50 affiliates promoting for me in just two months. I like them a lot. You can list up to 10 products for the $5 per month rate. You don't have to set up any download pages, either, as they handle the delivery of your product.
I have had good results with CJ, yet I prefer creating an in-house affiliate program; as long as you obviously have the means to support the compensation plan you establish.
Thanks for the feedback guys.... The last affiliate program I ran we paid 30% comp at that time. I agree with GuruCreation that some affiliate sponsors are paying 50%+, however as I told a friend about a year ago he better check the COGS. Unfortunately he and two other big JV guys ran their pitch, and after about a year they learned that their ROI was almost hitting zero after selling over 1 million dollars of product within the first week of launch. Unfortunately sponsors will do anything to get affiliates, but don't do the math to see that they can't pay the affiliate and keep their doors open. Thus people start getting burned and not only the affiliates get burned everyone does which is no way of building a long term relationship with your affiliates.
I understand you're concern l3vi, but do you get a lot of affiliates, or good quality ones who promote for you? Just wondering. I don't think Clickbank would allow a 5-10% commission as they are known for having vendors offer 50% and up. But... You could try E-junkie, or Rapid Action Profits (RAP), but RAP costs $197 one time fee to use their merchant processor thing, and I think it automates all the affiliate payments and such.
We did very well IMO. We stacked out over 24k a month in sales with affiliates. It was a very good business that is still going strong under it's new ownership. We already built in our own affiliate system, and are just working out the last reporting items. By mid week we should be able to launch our own system.
I would suggest Click bank as it is a much larger company like eBay etc and i know that i feel a lot safer on Click bank then any other affiliate networks, This is just my opinion.
That's actually really good! Is it 24k gross or net? But nonetheless, very good for such low commission ratings. How do you do it?