How to Choose Good Affiliate Programs
Once you're ready to start promoting other people's products as an affiliate
marketer, your first question might be how to choose a good affiliate
program? And the answer usually is: It varies. There are many things to take
into consideration in choosing an affiliate program, so we'll look at
several of the most important ones here.
1. What market are you promoting to? An affiliate program which sells
shoes won't be much good to you if you're selling to people who want to
learn how to train their new puppy. So the first step in choosing good
affiliate programs is to only choose from those which fit your particular
affiliate marketing niche.
2. What are the commissions? Knowing how much commission you'll earn
from one affiliate program to another can help you decide which one might be
best for you. There are other things to consider besides commission levels
of course, but most new affiliate marketers feel this is important. They'd
rather earn 50% sales commissions instead of 35%.
3. How much actual cash do you earn? Most new affiliates don't
realize this, but sometimes a high paying commission rate is not as good at
it might first look when choosing an affiliate program. If you choose to
promote a $50 product for 50% commissions for instance, you'll earn $25. If
on the other hand, you promote a product which sells for $150... even though
you're earning 35% commissions, that ends up being a cool $52.50 for you.
Twice as much as that "higher" paying affiliate program.
4. What are the program's terms? It's very important to read the
rules, terms of service, and all fine print for any affiliate program before
you join. Unfortunately there are some affiliate programs which aren't
overly kind to affiliates in their terms of service. If they only allow you
to earn sales commissions when someone clicks your link for instance, but
not if they come back an hour later, you might want to reconsider joining
them.
5. What are the payment terms? Some affiliate programs require you to
earn over $100 before they'll send your earnings to you, and others will
only pay you once every three months. Many new affiliates can't afford to
wait three to four months for a payment, and many also can't earn $100 or
more very quickly when they're first starting out. So find out what their
payment terms are before joining, and be honest with yourself about whether
that payment plan will actually work for you or not.
6. How good is the sales page? This is a very important item that
many new affiliate marketers are clueless about. If the sales page will not
sell, then you're not likely to make much - if any - money promoting that
product. A good rule of thumb is to check out the sales page first, and gauge
your own reaction to it. Does it make you want to whip out your credit card
and buy? If so, then it's worth at least a trial promotion period.
If the sales page makes you scratch your head, say "hmmm" or "huh?", or you
find yourself constantly trying to reread a section to understand it, you
may want to pass this one up. If it's not good enough to engage the reader
and make them want to buy, it's not likely going to help you make affiliate
sales.
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