By Courtesy of Affliate Programs College
Okay, so you're looking for an affiliate program that actually works for YOU? There are of course many ways to go about doing this, but I would say the most simple way would be by making a comparison chart.
You have the compare programs and decide which one will be the most profitable for you. Compare payouts, compare payment frequency, compare how trusted the network is with their payments, and probably the most important one to consider is CONVERSION RATIO.
If you send three hundred people to that page and it doesn't convert into any sales guess what? You need to switch to promoting something else. Some sites are able to convert 1/20 visitors into buyers (mine, as an example). These are the things you have to think about as a potential affiliate.
One thing that is, surprisingly, overlooked as well yet is HUGE in making money as an affiliate marketing. Your niche. The niche you are marketing to should be carefully selected. We talk about conversion ratios and this stems from the people that you deliver to the site actually being interested in the topic. Give me one visitor that's into my niche over twenty that aren't any day. These turn into sales, and in turn, money in your pocket.
So make a pros and cons list, or a comparison chart. Far too many people that I see just blindly go into whichever affiliate program they see without really thinking it through or comparing other programs. This step truly is a much bigger part of your success than you realize right now. If you don't pick the proper affiliate program for your needs then you will die like the rest of the failed affiliates. I cannot stress that point to you enough.
Your comparison chart should lay each program out something like this:
Conversion Ratio:
Payout per sale:
Niche:
Network:
Frequency of Payments/How long it takes:
In other words, by looking at the programs on paper you can easily pick out which one may be better for you and what you are trying to accomplish in the field of being an affiliate marketer. You can't take the decision of what affiliate program to promote lightly, because it will determine your success or demise in this business. And let's face it here and now, success breeds success. I guarantee at least fifty percent of all affiliate marketers who failed picked the wrong program for them, and it left them unmotivated and defeated.
You can succeed, I know it. You simply have to know what you want and create a plan that works in order to get it.
Best of luck to you!
Article Source: http://affiliatemarketingarticles.net
Daniel Alan is the creator of the Perfect Path To Wealth system and an expert at making money online.
To your Affiliate Success and Profits
Stanley Joshua Kudolo
Friday, 14 December 2007
Tuesday, 27 November 2007
How To Inprove Your Business With Affiliate Marketing
By courtesy of Affiliate Programs College
Well, what affiliate marketing is today started with Amazon in 1996...
When it comes to the web, Amazon.com really started the affiliate marketing method and scene. In July 1996, it launched its "associates" program and now counts over 450,000 sites in its network. They don't pay as well as many of their competitors, but most affiliate marketers I know have at least played with Amazon's program, because Amazon is such a force to be reckoned with online.
The basic model of affiliate marketing works something like this: A small website owner registers with Amazon (or any other affiliate program), she then puts various links, banners, and products on her web site. When her visitors click through, using these links, and purchase a book or other product, the small web site owner is paid a commission for generating the sale.
But since 1996, (and in the last seven years since the article was written in 2000), affiliate marketing has really grown.
While Amazon is remembered as the most visible pioneer, the concept really isn't new. In fact, one of the oldest practitioners of affiliate style marketing, Amway, took to the web using what they were calling affiliate marketing, using the brand Quixtar.
While Quixtar was still more of a network of distributors (Amway-style) for many years, some very large and successful companies have come up in the middle of the affiliate marketing space.
The model is that the affiliate is paid for their performance. In all cases, the goal is for marketers to only spend money when their particular performance objective is met. While Amazon only pays when a sale is made, merchants selling big ticket items like cars, or marketing services like credit cards, have modified the model paying instead for clicks or qualified leads.
(Adsense is the prime example in this space, but that will be reserved for another article as well.)
In fact, compensation schemes are as varied as the merchants themselves from a 15 percent commission on Amazon books, to 1 percent on Dell PCs. On the financial services side, lenders will offer affiliates up to $125 for a qualified application, many credit card companies will offer $20-$40 per enrolled cardholder, and many bigger ticket digital product items can result in commissions of 50% or more.
Consider a Third Party, otherwise known as an affiliate marketing network.
As merchants (people selling stuff) have rushed to build their own affiliate programs, and platforms using in-house software like Amazon, an entirely new category has been born: affiliate networks. Running your own group of affiliates is not rocket science, but it does require quite a bit of time and commitment.
And for that reason, many merchants are finding that outsourcing their affiliate program to a third-party providers (affiliate networks) is a compelling solution.
There are a huge variety of affiliate networks, with many springing up new every year. Many have disappeared or been consolidated within months of their launch, but two of the largest and longest running networks have been Linkshare and Commission Junction, otherwise known as CJ.
Most networks today, including Linkshare and Commission Junction, provide tracking, reporting, affiliate recruiting, cutting checks, sending out end-of-year tax forms, and responding to webmaster queries.
If you want to have an affiliate marketing program for stuff you sell, you can either build your own affiliate program using software like 1ShoppingCart, or you can approach a network like Linkshare, Commission Junction, or ShareASale. There are advantages of doing it yourself and also of outsourcing affiliate management to an affiliate network, which I'll cover in a different article.
In the 11 years since it's inception, affiliate marketing has become a significant force in how ecommerce happens. Hundreds of thousands of merchants now use affiliate marketing to make sales, track what's happening, and pay the affiliate marketers who are bringing them new customers.
And yet for all the jargon, hype, get-rich-quick stuff, and other affiliate marketing junk, in the end it's about is about connecting buyers and sellers and rewarding those that facilitate the connections. Affiliate marketing for the affiliate marketer (also known as a "publisher") is basically promoting/selling other people's products for a % of the sales price. Affiliate marketing for the company with the products (also known as a "merchant")
If you're going to spend your time as an affiliate marketer, the risk is low, and like most things in life, if you will take the time to study, understand, and apply the knowledge, there is a huge amount of potential to make money.
Sign up for Linkshare, Commission Junction, ShareASale, and ClickBank. Check out the products offered through the various merchants selling in these affiliate networks. To be successful however, you need to have a good grasp of Internet marketing and understand how to promote products, and more importantly, you should learn how to help both the people whose products you're selling, as well as the people you're selling to.
After all, the value isn't in the transaction, it's in the relationship...
Hopefully this has helped to answer the question, "What is Affiliate Marketing".
Posted by Jonathan on November 24, 2007 12:56 PM | Permalink
BlinkList | del.icio.us | Digg it | Furl | Linkroll |
Jonathan of www.affiliateadvice.us
To your affiliate success
Stanley Joshua Kudolo
Please do not forget to leave your most valued comments
and to pass on to others
Well, what affiliate marketing is today started with Amazon in 1996...
When it comes to the web, Amazon.com really started the affiliate marketing method and scene. In July 1996, it launched its "associates" program and now counts over 450,000 sites in its network. They don't pay as well as many of their competitors, but most affiliate marketers I know have at least played with Amazon's program, because Amazon is such a force to be reckoned with online.
The basic model of affiliate marketing works something like this: A small website owner registers with Amazon (or any other affiliate program), she then puts various links, banners, and products on her web site. When her visitors click through, using these links, and purchase a book or other product, the small web site owner is paid a commission for generating the sale.
But since 1996, (and in the last seven years since the article was written in 2000), affiliate marketing has really grown.
While Amazon is remembered as the most visible pioneer, the concept really isn't new. In fact, one of the oldest practitioners of affiliate style marketing, Amway, took to the web using what they were calling affiliate marketing, using the brand Quixtar.
While Quixtar was still more of a network of distributors (Amway-style) for many years, some very large and successful companies have come up in the middle of the affiliate marketing space.
The model is that the affiliate is paid for their performance. In all cases, the goal is for marketers to only spend money when their particular performance objective is met. While Amazon only pays when a sale is made, merchants selling big ticket items like cars, or marketing services like credit cards, have modified the model paying instead for clicks or qualified leads.
(Adsense is the prime example in this space, but that will be reserved for another article as well.)
In fact, compensation schemes are as varied as the merchants themselves from a 15 percent commission on Amazon books, to 1 percent on Dell PCs. On the financial services side, lenders will offer affiliates up to $125 for a qualified application, many credit card companies will offer $20-$40 per enrolled cardholder, and many bigger ticket digital product items can result in commissions of 50% or more.
Consider a Third Party, otherwise known as an affiliate marketing network.
As merchants (people selling stuff) have rushed to build their own affiliate programs, and platforms using in-house software like Amazon, an entirely new category has been born: affiliate networks. Running your own group of affiliates is not rocket science, but it does require quite a bit of time and commitment.
And for that reason, many merchants are finding that outsourcing their affiliate program to a third-party providers (affiliate networks) is a compelling solution.
There are a huge variety of affiliate networks, with many springing up new every year. Many have disappeared or been consolidated within months of their launch, but two of the largest and longest running networks have been Linkshare and Commission Junction, otherwise known as CJ.
Most networks today, including Linkshare and Commission Junction, provide tracking, reporting, affiliate recruiting, cutting checks, sending out end-of-year tax forms, and responding to webmaster queries.
If you want to have an affiliate marketing program for stuff you sell, you can either build your own affiliate program using software like 1ShoppingCart, or you can approach a network like Linkshare, Commission Junction, or ShareASale. There are advantages of doing it yourself and also of outsourcing affiliate management to an affiliate network, which I'll cover in a different article.
In the 11 years since it's inception, affiliate marketing has become a significant force in how ecommerce happens. Hundreds of thousands of merchants now use affiliate marketing to make sales, track what's happening, and pay the affiliate marketers who are bringing them new customers.
And yet for all the jargon, hype, get-rich-quick stuff, and other affiliate marketing junk, in the end it's about is about connecting buyers and sellers and rewarding those that facilitate the connections. Affiliate marketing for the affiliate marketer (also known as a "publisher") is basically promoting/selling other people's products for a % of the sales price. Affiliate marketing for the company with the products (also known as a "merchant")
If you're going to spend your time as an affiliate marketer, the risk is low, and like most things in life, if you will take the time to study, understand, and apply the knowledge, there is a huge amount of potential to make money.
Sign up for Linkshare, Commission Junction, ShareASale, and ClickBank. Check out the products offered through the various merchants selling in these affiliate networks. To be successful however, you need to have a good grasp of Internet marketing and understand how to promote products, and more importantly, you should learn how to help both the people whose products you're selling, as well as the people you're selling to.
After all, the value isn't in the transaction, it's in the relationship...
Hopefully this has helped to answer the question, "What is Affiliate Marketing".
Posted by Jonathan on November 24, 2007 12:56 PM | Permalink
BlinkList | del.icio.us | Digg it | Furl | Linkroll |
Jonathan of www.affiliateadvice.us
To your affiliate success
Stanley Joshua Kudolo
Please do not forget to leave your most valued comments
and to pass on to others
Saturday, 24 November 2007
What to look for when choosing Affiliate Programs-By Jonathan Kraft
By courtesy of Affliate Marketing Secrets
So you've decided you want to become an Internet Marketer? Will you sell someone else's products or sell your own?
If you choose to sell someone else's products, how will you know what to look for? After all, this is a new venture for you.
Or maybe it's not. Maybe you have been trying out some affiliate programs which have not brought you any money, or, worse, have not paid you for the affiliate traffic you have sent them.
If you are the new person, or the person who is floundering in Internet Marketing, this article will offer you some simple tips for choosing an affiliate program.
This article doesn't cover getting traffic to your site, which is another huge piece of the puzzle, and is covered in thousands of articles on the Internet, so let's just start with choosing affiliate programs.
You should find affiliate programs that:
a) are relatively easy to set up (code is either created for you or easy to create)
b) will pay you well. This depends on your definition of what being paid well means, but generally, for most beginners, and some novices, if you can see yourself being able to make more than $250/month, the program is at least worth looking at
c) give you products which people actually use. There are lots of products in the market which will sell, but do you really want to be selling pet rocks? If you do, please don't take offense. Most legitimate affiliate advice sites won't feature affiliate programs that are exclusively selling something like 8-Track players and tapes. While there are probably collectors out there who would love an 8-track player and cassettes, the fact is that the market is done with 8-tracks. The point is, there should be a genuine need for, or interest in, what you are selling/reselling.
So you find a program which meets the above criteria. Now what? Do a Google search on the company. Find out what people are saying about them. You may have to dig a bit, but the combined experience of the professionals (and not-so-professionals) who develop and contribute to the Internet on a regular basis is, collectively, the best source of advice you will find on making money, or affiliate programs, anywhere.
If you want advice on some great affiliate programs, you can visit sites which have already reviewed the information about companies and present it to you in a straightforward way. If you are ready to find some great affiliate programs, then you will be able to find categories of affiliate programs on these sites, which will generally represent the type of products you would like to sell.
Search engines love content, and so do your site visitors. Content is one of the most important aspects of getting people to your web site, and helping them to see the value in what you're selling. You should strive to choose programs with products which are related to your web site.
In other words, if you have a site which features information about the Toyota Camry, you're going to be pretty hard pressed to be able to get your page content matched up so that you could sell, say... baby rattles.
Find affiliate programs which relate to what you already do, and then promote those products.
Finally, see if you can find someone to actually talk to (ok, email would be okay) who has received regular checks or payments from marketing products. We think that this is, perhaps, the most important part of any affiliate program, because the main reason you promote their products is to receive a check for your efforts.
So there you have it, some simple tips for choosing great affiliate programs! Hope this helps you to reach your income goals, and also helps you to develop a long-term plan for on and off-line financial and personal success.
Jonathan Kraft has been an online marketer for many years, and now helps others understand affiliate programs at http://www.affiliateadvice.us.
To your affiliate success
Stanley joshua kudolo
So you've decided you want to become an Internet Marketer? Will you sell someone else's products or sell your own?
If you choose to sell someone else's products, how will you know what to look for? After all, this is a new venture for you.
Or maybe it's not. Maybe you have been trying out some affiliate programs which have not brought you any money, or, worse, have not paid you for the affiliate traffic you have sent them.
If you are the new person, or the person who is floundering in Internet Marketing, this article will offer you some simple tips for choosing an affiliate program.
This article doesn't cover getting traffic to your site, which is another huge piece of the puzzle, and is covered in thousands of articles on the Internet, so let's just start with choosing affiliate programs.
You should find affiliate programs that:
a) are relatively easy to set up (code is either created for you or easy to create)
b) will pay you well. This depends on your definition of what being paid well means, but generally, for most beginners, and some novices, if you can see yourself being able to make more than $250/month, the program is at least worth looking at
c) give you products which people actually use. There are lots of products in the market which will sell, but do you really want to be selling pet rocks? If you do, please don't take offense. Most legitimate affiliate advice sites won't feature affiliate programs that are exclusively selling something like 8-Track players and tapes. While there are probably collectors out there who would love an 8-track player and cassettes, the fact is that the market is done with 8-tracks. The point is, there should be a genuine need for, or interest in, what you are selling/reselling.
So you find a program which meets the above criteria. Now what? Do a Google search on the company. Find out what people are saying about them. You may have to dig a bit, but the combined experience of the professionals (and not-so-professionals) who develop and contribute to the Internet on a regular basis is, collectively, the best source of advice you will find on making money, or affiliate programs, anywhere.
If you want advice on some great affiliate programs, you can visit sites which have already reviewed the information about companies and present it to you in a straightforward way. If you are ready to find some great affiliate programs, then you will be able to find categories of affiliate programs on these sites, which will generally represent the type of products you would like to sell.
Search engines love content, and so do your site visitors. Content is one of the most important aspects of getting people to your web site, and helping them to see the value in what you're selling. You should strive to choose programs with products which are related to your web site.
In other words, if you have a site which features information about the Toyota Camry, you're going to be pretty hard pressed to be able to get your page content matched up so that you could sell, say... baby rattles.
Find affiliate programs which relate to what you already do, and then promote those products.
Finally, see if you can find someone to actually talk to (ok, email would be okay) who has received regular checks or payments from marketing products. We think that this is, perhaps, the most important part of any affiliate program, because the main reason you promote their products is to receive a check for your efforts.
So there you have it, some simple tips for choosing great affiliate programs! Hope this helps you to reach your income goals, and also helps you to develop a long-term plan for on and off-line financial and personal success.
Jonathan Kraft has been an online marketer for many years, and now helps others understand affiliate programs at http://www.affiliateadvice.us.
To your affiliate success
Stanley joshua kudolo
Sunday, 18 November 2007
How To Improve The Conversion Of Visitors Into Buyers On Your Web Site
By courtesy Of Affiliate Makerting Secrets
People often ask me what the #1 thing is that they can do to improve the conversion of visitors into buyers on their web site.
I spoke at the Affiliate Summit earlier this year in Las Vegas. At the Affiliate Summit I was talking specifically about how affiliates and merchants can work more closely together to create more sales.
What I did in order to prepare for this is I just decided to do a little bit of a survey. In that survey what I did was I just searched for a phrase. The random phrase that I picked was "red shoes," and I searched for that. Then I looked at all the Google AdWords ads that came up on the first page, and the websites that people were taken to when they clicked.
What I found was really a tragedy. Of the ten websites that I clicked on and visited, there was only one that took me to a page that specifically had red shoes. Several of them took me to their home pages, where I had to search all over again for red shoes.
There were two of them which did not have red shoes, which I found just amazing. Really, out of all of them, only one of them was doing things right so far as I could tell.
So the number one thing really is that you send your traffic to a targeted page on your catalog website. To the extent that you can, for example if you're buying Google AdWords ads, what you want to do is you want to send people to a specific page, which you want to do rather than sending them to your home page or to the wrong page or make them search again or anything
Once you get them to that page, then what you really want to do, you as a marketer, is you really want to think about what is this person looking for? What state of mind is this person in, and how can I engage with this person personally in order to help him discover that what I have here for him is exactly what he's looking for?
This article is by Mark Widawer. Mr. Widawer is the author of the widly acclaimed "Landing Page Cash Machine", and his articles really share some insight into what makes an Internet Marketing business work.
To Your Affiliate Success
Stanley Joshua Kudolo
People often ask me what the #1 thing is that they can do to improve the conversion of visitors into buyers on their web site.
I spoke at the Affiliate Summit earlier this year in Las Vegas. At the Affiliate Summit I was talking specifically about how affiliates and merchants can work more closely together to create more sales.
What I did in order to prepare for this is I just decided to do a little bit of a survey. In that survey what I did was I just searched for a phrase. The random phrase that I picked was "red shoes," and I searched for that. Then I looked at all the Google AdWords ads that came up on the first page, and the websites that people were taken to when they clicked.
What I found was really a tragedy. Of the ten websites that I clicked on and visited, there was only one that took me to a page that specifically had red shoes. Several of them took me to their home pages, where I had to search all over again for red shoes.
There were two of them which did not have red shoes, which I found just amazing. Really, out of all of them, only one of them was doing things right so far as I could tell.
So the number one thing really is that you send your traffic to a targeted page on your catalog website. To the extent that you can, for example if you're buying Google AdWords ads, what you want to do is you want to send people to a specific page, which you want to do rather than sending them to your home page or to the wrong page or make them search again or anything
Once you get them to that page, then what you really want to do, you as a marketer, is you really want to think about what is this person looking for? What state of mind is this person in, and how can I engage with this person personally in order to help him discover that what I have here for him is exactly what he's looking for?
This article is by Mark Widawer. Mr. Widawer is the author of the widly acclaimed "Landing Page Cash Machine", and his articles really share some insight into what makes an Internet Marketing business work.
To Your Affiliate Success
Stanley Joshua Kudolo
Friday, 16 November 2007
Should I Pick an Affiliate Program to Get Paid Well Today, or Get Paid Tomorrow, and the Day After That,
Should I Pick an Affiliate Program to Get Paid Well Today, or Get Paid Tomorrow, and the Day After That, and the Day After That…? Residual Commissions
by Jonathan Kraft
To Your Success by Online Affiliates College
Here’s a simple question: who makes more money?
The guy who fixes your cable when it breaks, or
the company which collects your cable bill?
Here’s another question: whose income is more stable?
The service representative who helps you buy a cell phone, or
the company which provides the ongoing service for the cell phone?
These are the questions to ponder, as we delve into the issue of whether you want to choose an affiliate program that pays one-time commissions, or an affiliate program that pays residual commissions .
When you are going to market anything, on-line, or in the “real” world, you have two basic options for types of money you can earn.
The first type of commission is earned through a one-time product or service, which the customer buys, and uses and never re-purchases (or doesn’t re-purchase on a regular basis). Examples of this might be a refrigerator, a lawnmower, a CD Player, etc.
The second type of commission is earned a multiple use product or service, which gets used, and/or repurchased on a regular basis. Examples of this might be Internet service, batteries, cable television, cellular phone service, etc.
When it comes to affiliate marketing, it is important to be aware of the differences between these types of commission structures.
Why is this important to you? Because it determines how much money you will make, both in the short-term and in the long-term.
An affiliate program that pays once will pay you a one-time commission. This might be an ebook, but generally is any “real-world” product or service, ranging from apple-flavored bubble gum to zebra-striped camouflage clothing, and any other one-time use types of products or services.
An affiliate program that pays residually will pay you an ongoing commission, for as long as the customer (you bring to someone else’s product) keeps paying on the product or service. Examples of this might include: a site license to use a specific type of software which gets renewed monthly or annually, web design or hosting which is paid for monthly or annually, and other multiple-use type products or services.
So which is better: one-time commissions or residual commissions?
There are two answers to this question:
Answer 1: Both types of commissions are important
Answer 2: The type you choose should be the best for you and your needs.
Generally speaking, residual commissions can earn you more money in the long run, and one-time commissions are more stable.
Let’s say that you have a web site about gardening. You’ve had it up for about eight months, and you’ve managed to get some decent regular traffic. Congratulations! So you have about 1000 visitors/month coming to your gardening site. You can generally assume that at least 1% of those visitors will make a purchase (hopefully your conversion is much higher, but for purposes of this article, let’s say 1%.) So 1% of your visitors buy something. That means that on any given day, ten people buy something because of their visit to your site. Let’s say that five of them buy the awesome seeds you recommend them to buy, and five of them buy a subscription to “Home Gardening and Your Lifestyle”, the magazine that you think every amateur gardener should read.
You don’t actually sell seeds or the magazine directly. You simply pre-sell people that both the magazine and the seeds are good things to have, and you direct them into someone else’s site to make a purchase. (Eventually, you should have your OWN products that you sell, but we’ll save that for another article.)
Five people buy seeds at $50 (Hey, I said that they were awesome)! A good commission on a one-time product (like the seeds) would be 40%. So let’s say that for every purchase of seeds, you earn $20. So from 5 seed purchases, you make $100.
Five people buy subscriptions at $20/month. A decent commission on a residual product (like the magazine subscription) is 10%, so let’s say that for every magazine subscription, you earn $2/month. Five subscriptions brings you $10/month.
Initially, you might look at this comparison and decide that it would be better to sell one-time commission products. But let’s look at the deeper story.
If those five people stay subscribed for just 1 year (12 months), you have now made $120. This is more than you made from the one-time commission, and you didn’t have to do additional work or get additional traffic to continue earning that income. However, you have made this income over the course of a year, and you banked on the fact that the people who subscribed would stay subscribed. If they had all cancelled at 6 months, you would only have made $50 by referring them to the (residual commission) magazine subscription instead of the $100 you would have earned referring them to the (one-time commission) seeds.
This is why, at least in the short-term, one-time commission products are generally more stable. You get paid once, you have your money, and you go out to get the next buying customer.
This is also why, in the long-term, residual commission products generally earn you more income. Once you have a large enough customer base, your monthly income becomes predictable, because you begin to learn what percentage of people cancel their subscription on a monthly basis, and you work to find ways to replace the cancellations with new members.
It is important to note that, in an information-based society, (which most of the Western hemisphere is currently in), either source of revenue can change, as soon as new information comes about.
This information can be something simple, like “Tap water is bad, and bottled water tastes better.” That little piece of information created a billion dollar industry in 3 years. (If you want proof, just ask yourself if anyone you know would have bought bottled water 15 years ago.)
So it is important to always have your ear to the ground, and be aware of what your competition is doing, and what your industry is doing, so that you can continue to have a great site with great information and useful products.
At this point, it is important to go back to the question which started this article. Should I pick an affiliate program which pays me well today, or should I pick an affiliate program which will pay me today, tomorrow, and the day after, and the month after, etc.?
My opinion is that it is important to have a mix of both. Have some high-quality, high-paying, one-time products that will help you pay your bills today, and work to promote high-quality, high-paying, ongoing commission products that will help you to buy your long-term financial freedom.
You can do it! Remember, you don’t have to get it right. You just have to get it going!
Jonathan Kraft has been specializing in Internet affiliate marketing for nearly 4 years. He works with a team on www.affiliateadvice.us, where he helps people learn to earn both one time commissions and ongoing residual commissions.
To your success
However bear in mind that every money count!
by Jonathan Kraft
To Your Success by Online Affiliates College
Here’s a simple question: who makes more money?
The guy who fixes your cable when it breaks, or
the company which collects your cable bill?
Here’s another question: whose income is more stable?
The service representative who helps you buy a cell phone, or
the company which provides the ongoing service for the cell phone?
These are the questions to ponder, as we delve into the issue of whether you want to choose an affiliate program that pays one-time commissions, or an affiliate program that pays residual commissions .
When you are going to market anything, on-line, or in the “real” world, you have two basic options for types of money you can earn.
The first type of commission is earned through a one-time product or service, which the customer buys, and uses and never re-purchases (or doesn’t re-purchase on a regular basis). Examples of this might be a refrigerator, a lawnmower, a CD Player, etc.
The second type of commission is earned a multiple use product or service, which gets used, and/or repurchased on a regular basis. Examples of this might be Internet service, batteries, cable television, cellular phone service, etc.
When it comes to affiliate marketing, it is important to be aware of the differences between these types of commission structures.
Why is this important to you? Because it determines how much money you will make, both in the short-term and in the long-term.
An affiliate program that pays once will pay you a one-time commission. This might be an ebook, but generally is any “real-world” product or service, ranging from apple-flavored bubble gum to zebra-striped camouflage clothing, and any other one-time use types of products or services.
An affiliate program that pays residually will pay you an ongoing commission, for as long as the customer (you bring to someone else’s product) keeps paying on the product or service. Examples of this might include: a site license to use a specific type of software which gets renewed monthly or annually, web design or hosting which is paid for monthly or annually, and other multiple-use type products or services.
So which is better: one-time commissions or residual commissions?
There are two answers to this question:
Answer 1: Both types of commissions are important
Answer 2: The type you choose should be the best for you and your needs.
Generally speaking, residual commissions can earn you more money in the long run, and one-time commissions are more stable.
Let’s say that you have a web site about gardening. You’ve had it up for about eight months, and you’ve managed to get some decent regular traffic. Congratulations! So you have about 1000 visitors/month coming to your gardening site. You can generally assume that at least 1% of those visitors will make a purchase (hopefully your conversion is much higher, but for purposes of this article, let’s say 1%.) So 1% of your visitors buy something. That means that on any given day, ten people buy something because of their visit to your site. Let’s say that five of them buy the awesome seeds you recommend them to buy, and five of them buy a subscription to “Home Gardening and Your Lifestyle”, the magazine that you think every amateur gardener should read.
You don’t actually sell seeds or the magazine directly. You simply pre-sell people that both the magazine and the seeds are good things to have, and you direct them into someone else’s site to make a purchase. (Eventually, you should have your OWN products that you sell, but we’ll save that for another article.)
Five people buy seeds at $50 (Hey, I said that they were awesome)! A good commission on a one-time product (like the seeds) would be 40%. So let’s say that for every purchase of seeds, you earn $20. So from 5 seed purchases, you make $100.
Five people buy subscriptions at $20/month. A decent commission on a residual product (like the magazine subscription) is 10%, so let’s say that for every magazine subscription, you earn $2/month. Five subscriptions brings you $10/month.
Initially, you might look at this comparison and decide that it would be better to sell one-time commission products. But let’s look at the deeper story.
If those five people stay subscribed for just 1 year (12 months), you have now made $120. This is more than you made from the one-time commission, and you didn’t have to do additional work or get additional traffic to continue earning that income. However, you have made this income over the course of a year, and you banked on the fact that the people who subscribed would stay subscribed. If they had all cancelled at 6 months, you would only have made $50 by referring them to the (residual commission) magazine subscription instead of the $100 you would have earned referring them to the (one-time commission) seeds.
This is why, at least in the short-term, one-time commission products are generally more stable. You get paid once, you have your money, and you go out to get the next buying customer.
This is also why, in the long-term, residual commission products generally earn you more income. Once you have a large enough customer base, your monthly income becomes predictable, because you begin to learn what percentage of people cancel their subscription on a monthly basis, and you work to find ways to replace the cancellations with new members.
It is important to note that, in an information-based society, (which most of the Western hemisphere is currently in), either source of revenue can change, as soon as new information comes about.
This information can be something simple, like “Tap water is bad, and bottled water tastes better.” That little piece of information created a billion dollar industry in 3 years. (If you want proof, just ask yourself if anyone you know would have bought bottled water 15 years ago.)
So it is important to always have your ear to the ground, and be aware of what your competition is doing, and what your industry is doing, so that you can continue to have a great site with great information and useful products.
At this point, it is important to go back to the question which started this article. Should I pick an affiliate program which pays me well today, or should I pick an affiliate program which will pay me today, tomorrow, and the day after, and the month after, etc.?
My opinion is that it is important to have a mix of both. Have some high-quality, high-paying, one-time products that will help you pay your bills today, and work to promote high-quality, high-paying, ongoing commission products that will help you to buy your long-term financial freedom.
You can do it! Remember, you don’t have to get it right. You just have to get it going!
Jonathan Kraft has been specializing in Internet affiliate marketing for nearly 4 years. He works with a team on www.affiliateadvice.us, where he helps people learn to earn both one time commissions and ongoing residual commissions.
To your success
However bear in mind that every money count!
Thursday, 15 November 2007
How To Make More Money-By Jonathan Kraft
By courtesy of Affiliate Cash Programs College
Some people wonder about selling cards from their site. They think that it maybe isn’t a legitimate business, or perhaps, they just don’t want to sell something on their web site.
The fact is, however, that calling cards are used around the world every day. People want to talk to their friends, and they need inexpensive ways of doing so. Often, it’s very expensive to make national or international phone calls using a home phone service, and using a cell phone ticks away minutes on the cell phone’s plan. This leaves two options: Voice over IP, and calling cards. VOIP technology is so new that many people don’t yet understand how it works. This will change in the next 5-10 years, but in the meantime, the option for calling is calling cards. Calling cards are simple to use, so people are willing to pick them up and use them all around the world.
Statistics prove it. In the United States alone, calling card sales generate more than 4 billion dollars per year. By 2010, annual revenue is forecasted to reach over 10 Billion dollars!
So why should you sell calling cards on your web site?
Three reasons: it’s simple, it supplements your income, and virtually any web site can do it.
It generally takes about 5 minutes to sign up for a calling card affiliate program, and you’re up and running. It takes some additional time to take care of paperwork for tax reasons, but most programs let you do that down the road. Most phone card affiliate programs these days give you the option of simply cutting and pasting code which will place a search box right into your web layout, wherever you choose to put it. These things make a calling card affiliate program simple.
There is a lot of money being made in affiliate programs right now, with phone and calling cards being one of the market leaders in the affiliate program arena. There are people working who are exclusively selling calling cards and phone service, who are making multiple 6 figure incomes from calling cards, phone cards, and phone service. With a 10 billion dollar market available, there’s a big pie to bring to market. This supplemental income really does make a difference in doing more than just getting the bills paid!
So the question is how you can incorporate calling cards into your existing web site. While it is true that not all web sites can effectively and unobtrusively incorporate calling card search forms into their sites (an auto dealership site might not be the best place for a calling card search), there are many sites that could place a calling card or phone search on their sites quite simply. Example of this include; a real estate agent placing a calling card or phone rate search within their site for a new homeowner, a study abroad exchange student posting pictures online who offers their friends a calling card search for cheap ways to call them, a travel site offering customers a phone card search for wherever they’re traveling to or from, a state government site showing site visitors ways to save money on phone service in their state, and the list goes on.
When it comes down to it, the market is predicted to grow to 10 Billion by 2009. I don’t know about you, but thinking about a 10 Billion dollar pie, I’d sure like a slice. (I’d be happy if I could just lick the knife!) Either you and your site visitors will buy calling cards through your site, or you’ll buy them through someone else’s. By setting up a calling card affiliate program, you give yourself an additional way to cash in on what's going on in the affiliate program market.
Jonathan Kraft has been an online marketer for many years and helps others with affiliate programs at http://www.affiliateadvice.us. Most recently, he has helped people find the best phone and calling card affiliate programs at http://www.affiliateadvice.us/phone-calling-card-affiliate-programs.html
Some people wonder about selling cards from their site. They think that it maybe isn’t a legitimate business, or perhaps, they just don’t want to sell something on their web site.
The fact is, however, that calling cards are used around the world every day. People want to talk to their friends, and they need inexpensive ways of doing so. Often, it’s very expensive to make national or international phone calls using a home phone service, and using a cell phone ticks away minutes on the cell phone’s plan. This leaves two options: Voice over IP, and calling cards. VOIP technology is so new that many people don’t yet understand how it works. This will change in the next 5-10 years, but in the meantime, the option for calling is calling cards. Calling cards are simple to use, so people are willing to pick them up and use them all around the world.
Statistics prove it. In the United States alone, calling card sales generate more than 4 billion dollars per year. By 2010, annual revenue is forecasted to reach over 10 Billion dollars!
So why should you sell calling cards on your web site?
Three reasons: it’s simple, it supplements your income, and virtually any web site can do it.
It generally takes about 5 minutes to sign up for a calling card affiliate program, and you’re up and running. It takes some additional time to take care of paperwork for tax reasons, but most programs let you do that down the road. Most phone card affiliate programs these days give you the option of simply cutting and pasting code which will place a search box right into your web layout, wherever you choose to put it. These things make a calling card affiliate program simple.
There is a lot of money being made in affiliate programs right now, with phone and calling cards being one of the market leaders in the affiliate program arena. There are people working who are exclusively selling calling cards and phone service, who are making multiple 6 figure incomes from calling cards, phone cards, and phone service. With a 10 billion dollar market available, there’s a big pie to bring to market. This supplemental income really does make a difference in doing more than just getting the bills paid!
So the question is how you can incorporate calling cards into your existing web site. While it is true that not all web sites can effectively and unobtrusively incorporate calling card search forms into their sites (an auto dealership site might not be the best place for a calling card search), there are many sites that could place a calling card or phone search on their sites quite simply. Example of this include; a real estate agent placing a calling card or phone rate search within their site for a new homeowner, a study abroad exchange student posting pictures online who offers their friends a calling card search for cheap ways to call them, a travel site offering customers a phone card search for wherever they’re traveling to or from, a state government site showing site visitors ways to save money on phone service in their state, and the list goes on.
When it comes down to it, the market is predicted to grow to 10 Billion by 2009. I don’t know about you, but thinking about a 10 Billion dollar pie, I’d sure like a slice. (I’d be happy if I could just lick the knife!) Either you and your site visitors will buy calling cards through your site, or you’ll buy them through someone else’s. By setting up a calling card affiliate program, you give yourself an additional way to cash in on what's going on in the affiliate program market.
Jonathan Kraft has been an online marketer for many years and helps others with affiliate programs at http://www.affiliateadvice.us. Most recently, he has helped people find the best phone and calling card affiliate programs at http://www.affiliateadvice.us/phone-calling-card-affiliate-programs.html
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
Easier To Increase Sales Than To Cut Costs
By courtesy Of Online Affiliates
We are constantly hearing about the importance of cutting costs to get a business back on track. I certainly believe that we should spend wisely, but serious cost cutting is killing some companies who could direct their efforts in a more productive manner that would benefit their company, their investors, and their employees a lot more. That is increasing sales.
Logically, you can only cut costs to a point after which you are basically out of business. Sales, however, have an unlimited potential. Why do folks not focus on sales as much as costs? I have asked business owners that question many times and here is what I conclude from their answers.
First, cost cutting is usually immediate and gets people's attention. So there is a quick return. Second, it is something that generally every department can do, so there is a dramatic impact on expenses. These of course are all short term answers to bottom line problems.
The intermediate and long term answer is increasing the top line -- sales. That does take longer, but it sure has a lot more benefits. You can keep your employees, pay bills, and grow the business to name just a few.
The key for increasing sales is to start before disaster is knocking at the door. If your sales team has stalled in their growth, give them a boost. Get them Prospecting for new business. Get them some sales training. Get them out of their doldrums.
I don't mean to focus on Rah Rah stuff, I mean that they have to start doing something new. Remember, if you keep doing the same thing, you will keep getting the same results!!! You want different results, so get them doing different things.
Being a sales trainer with a specialization in Prospecting, I feel this is the way to really get a sales force pumped up and producing. Sales Management has to lead the way in this regard. No sense in crying over spilled milk. Simply get on with changing the daily activities of the sales team.
If you don't have a formal Prospecting System get one. Have the sales people start Prospecting within their customers. Most of the people I work with are not selling all they can within their existing customer base because they only call on one or two of their Prospects. Call on everyone within a customer who can use your products or services.
Follow up on old customers and Prospects on whom you have given up.
Then start Prospecting on new people. Prospect every week, not just certain times of the year. Sales Managers should be keeping track of new Prospects and the follow up made on them.
Pretty soon you will see that the top line is growing and for some reason everyone in the company will start feeling better. This all happens when leaders learn that it is easier to increase sales than to cut costs.
Sell Well and Often,
Keywords: Sales, increase sales, grow sales, top line growth
About the Author
Bill Truax
Field Prospecitng and Making Cold Calss
Bill@BlitzCall.com
More Details about Grow the top line here.
Bill is a field sales Prospecting consultant in Cleveland, OH. He provides skills and tools that field sales professionals use. He has The BLITZ CALL Prospecting Kit which includes his 4 books, 2 CDs and one year of Free e-mailing consulting to assure implementation. visit www.BlitzCall.com
We are constantly hearing about the importance of cutting costs to get a business back on track. I certainly believe that we should spend wisely, but serious cost cutting is killing some companies who could direct their efforts in a more productive manner that would benefit their company, their investors, and their employees a lot more. That is increasing sales.
Logically, you can only cut costs to a point after which you are basically out of business. Sales, however, have an unlimited potential. Why do folks not focus on sales as much as costs? I have asked business owners that question many times and here is what I conclude from their answers.
First, cost cutting is usually immediate and gets people's attention. So there is a quick return. Second, it is something that generally every department can do, so there is a dramatic impact on expenses. These of course are all short term answers to bottom line problems.
The intermediate and long term answer is increasing the top line -- sales. That does take longer, but it sure has a lot more benefits. You can keep your employees, pay bills, and grow the business to name just a few.
The key for increasing sales is to start before disaster is knocking at the door. If your sales team has stalled in their growth, give them a boost. Get them Prospecting for new business. Get them some sales training. Get them out of their doldrums.
I don't mean to focus on Rah Rah stuff, I mean that they have to start doing something new. Remember, if you keep doing the same thing, you will keep getting the same results!!! You want different results, so get them doing different things.
Being a sales trainer with a specialization in Prospecting, I feel this is the way to really get a sales force pumped up and producing. Sales Management has to lead the way in this regard. No sense in crying over spilled milk. Simply get on with changing the daily activities of the sales team.
If you don't have a formal Prospecting System get one. Have the sales people start Prospecting within their customers. Most of the people I work with are not selling all they can within their existing customer base because they only call on one or two of their Prospects. Call on everyone within a customer who can use your products or services.
Follow up on old customers and Prospects on whom you have given up.
Then start Prospecting on new people. Prospect every week, not just certain times of the year. Sales Managers should be keeping track of new Prospects and the follow up made on them.
Pretty soon you will see that the top line is growing and for some reason everyone in the company will start feeling better. This all happens when leaders learn that it is easier to increase sales than to cut costs.
Sell Well and Often,
Keywords: Sales, increase sales, grow sales, top line growth
About the Author
Bill Truax
Field Prospecitng and Making Cold Calss
Bill@BlitzCall.com
More Details about Grow the top line here.
Bill is a field sales Prospecting consultant in Cleveland, OH. He provides skills and tools that field sales professionals use. He has The BLITZ CALL Prospecting Kit which includes his 4 books, 2 CDs and one year of Free e-mailing consulting to assure implementation. visit www.BlitzCall.com
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