Affiliate Advice

[tomh]

I am looking for some advice from affiliates. I am a merchant and I just launched my website, I need tips on affiliates look for when signing up.
We are growing and I am looking to expand quickly.

Answering some questions will help out a lot.
- Does the website influence whether an affiliate will sign up or not? What encourages/discourages sign ups?
- What is the minimum commission/pay that affiliates look for?
- What encourages you to sign up as an affiliate?
- What discourages you to sign up as an affiliate?
- Do you mainly use networks? Which?
- How do you find new products to market?

Looking for all opinions, so if you are a new or seasoned affiliate please give your input.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Tom, I'll weigh in as a management consultant, but give the answers that I believe savvy affiliates would give for a couple of your questions.

- Does the website influence whether an affiliate will sign up or not? What encourages/discourages sign ups?

Most affiliates do (or SHOULD) analyse the merchant's site to see if it looks like it will convert and especially to look for potential commission leaks like 800#s or live chat.

- What is the minimum commission/pay that affiliates look for?

The way your question is worded you may get an info product affiliate says the min they look for is 50%. But if you are selling computers no way you have the margin to pay 50%.

Comm varies widely by industry. Electronics avg 2% retail products 8-15% and ebooks can be around 75% so totally depends on the market. Best thing is to find similar products, see what comm they offer and then try to go a little higher.

Hope this helps and hope some affiliates chime in, but Sunday's are slow around here so they may not answer today.

 

[jcorkern]

I prefer networks unless the merchant has been at it a while. I tend to stay away from the new ones unless I think it is going to be a great selling product. The safety of the networks usually are paid for commissions before they happen and ensures payment. And I currently use over 8 networks, the big boys like CJ , shareasale and linkconnector and others. I do have merchants that have their own affiliate system, but unless they have a seasoned affiliate manager, I usually pass, so you need to have something special to offer if you are a stand alone.

With a network, we can also see the EPC and that is a pretty good indication that the merchant site converts, so that is a plus as a merchant and eliminates false claims by the merchant on conversion rates, and yes, the site appearance and usability are major factors, because the pro's already have an educated idea on where a site will convert.

Linda hit the nail on the head with commission rates, it is by industry, but once i have a proven track record with them, most of the time it is time to negotiate the payout, so leave some room for that because the pro's expect a little more when a lot more is given, so make sure you are somewhat flexible.

Be available when an affiliate has questions or problems. Never cheat one on their commissions or it is game over. Once bounced check and it is checkmate.

Hope this helps.

 

[Daniel Wilson]

I prefer using the affiliate networks. Why? More products, more testing, more profit. That is basically it.

I get discourage to sign up if there are bad testimonials and if the page looks outdated. Also if it supports payments to paypal is a big plus!

 

[Ron Bechdolt]

At the networks affiliate can see a merchants track record and if they are performing. Super affiliates I have worked with over the years have told me commission rate is not as important as conversion, but it is important enough to have it high enough to make it worth their while and check you out.

The really good affiliates will even try a test order to make sure that your site is customer friendly all the way through to the end. No matter how good your products, how good your prices, if you have an 8 page checkout system or one that wants way too much information about the buyer, it won't convert as well as other sites.

 

[FitGal]

I look for strong sales pages that make me feel like clicking and buying myself! And no leaks as Linda mentioned is important.

Commission rates vary depending on the product. If it is Amazon, I know many buyers will purchase multiple items so I can go lower. If it is another network I usually look for a decent commission that is worth my time promoting. This will depend on how difficult it will be to rank vs income generated.

I like to see effort put into the marketing materials for the affiliate such as banners, sample emails etc.

I also like direct deposit or paypal, prefer not to wait for a physical check.

Hope this helps.

 

[AllanJames]

I am looking for some advice from affiliates. I am a merchant and I just launched my website, I need tips on affiliates look for when signing up.
We are growing and I am looking to expand quickly.

Answering some questions will help out a lot.
- Does the website influence whether an affiliate will sign up or not? What encourages/discourages sign ups?
- What is the minimum commission/pay that affiliates look for?
- What encourages you to sign up as an affiliate?
- What discourages you to sign up as an affiliate?
- Do you mainly use networks? Which?
- How do you find new products to market?

Looking for all opinions, so if you are a new or seasoned affiliate please give your input.

Thanks,
Tom

To answer some of your questions - I have a simple rule. If you don't pay 100% commissions upfront, with at least 10% on the backend with 'Lifetime' IP tagging to give me ongoing sales through promotions you do for me, and provide HUGE value to your customers, I don't even look at your affiliate offer, much less participate.

If you provide all I've mentioned and, on top, I can earn stable residuals - then I get excited! - and will start asking questions and buy your lead product to make my own assessment.

 

[duplication]

The best way to attract affiliates is to offer at leat 50% commission if possible. The best way to do this is to signup for a vendor account on clickbank. That's if you have a digital product. If you sell physical products signup at commission junction. Commissions are normally much lower with commission junction.