Thursday, September 6, 2007
Affiliate (aka Associate) programs are a win-win situation for everyone involved. Internet-based merchants hook up with affiliates to generate traffic to their web sites. Affiliates get paid if the traffic from their site visits the merchant web page. The smart Internet entrepreneur does some research to determine the best affiliate programs for her business.
Where to Look
Affiliate networks are the middle man between affiliates and web sites with affiliate programs. Look for affiliate networks that provide all the tools needed to set up and maintain an affiliate program. AssociatePrograms.com is a popular directory with information about merchants that pay you to sell their wares.
Commission Junction is a free network that offers access to thousands of the best affiliate programs. Commission Junction combines all your affiliate earnings (product sales, on-line ads, links) into one monthly check.
What to Look for
The best affiliate programs will be those that target your customer base. An on-line florist would get little traffic from a pet supply website. You want an affiliate whose business is similar or comparable to your product. Avoid affiliates with low quality products. Ask to speak to existing affiliates to find out if a company is reputable.
Referral traffic may link to the merchant site and not buy initially but return to make a purchase weeks later. Look for affiliate programs that remember your site was responsible for that customer. The best affiliate programs remember you for 60 days by using cookies to tag the customer's computer when he visits the merchant site.
The best affiliate programs offer reliable support such as ads, logos, and sales advice. Good programs also provide timely updates on click through sales and earnings, and, respond to questions or problems within 24 hours.
Getting Paid
There are three common affiliate payment plans. With pay per sale, the merchant pays when the affiliate sends a customer who buys from the merchant's site. The payment could be a set amount or a percentage of the sale.
In a pay per click set up, the affiliate is paid based on the number of people who visit the merchant's web site regardless if a purchase was made.
With pay per lead programs, affiliates are paid based on the number of people who sign up as leads. A lead would be a visitor who filled out an information page on the merchant web site thus becoming a potential customer.
Multi-level payment plans allow affiliates to earn commission on sales, clicks, or leads from their sites as well as commission based on activity generated by affiliate sites they refer to the merchant site. Another form of payment is residual commission. Affiliates continue earning money after the original sale has been made. This is common in situations where customers pay monthly fees for merchant services.
The best affiliate programs pay at least 25% commission with some going as high as 50%. Payments should be made at least once a month although some affiliate programs pay quarterly or twice a year.
Honorable Mentions
SFI - Top Rated Affiliate Program
*Click to see what your SFI affiliate storefront will look like*
For Work at Home Ideas, Opportunities, E-Books, and Training:
www.MyAffiliateStarter.com
Starting an Online Business- All By Yourself!
Copyright 2006 Lynn VanDyke
?The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your arm.? That is an old Swedish proverb that hangs in my office. A little over a year ago I was a complete newbie to online businesses. I had absolutely no experience in building websites or HTML coding. I was completely green to the possibilities of the Internet.
In less than a year, I have 2 thriving online businesses and a few smaller ones as well. There is no doubt in my mind that within a few months, those small web businesses will be just as lucrative for me. I just need to find the time to grow and nurture them.
This is an article for the smart, down-and-dirty entrepreneur. This online business article speaks to those folks who truly and utterly get 'it'. Starting an online business is easier than many think. The trick is to know who to trust and when to pay out. Read on for more detailed insights.
When to Do It Yourself
Truth be told, I am a huge fan of doing it yourself. I think the best online business owners are those that can reproduce a profitable web business in any niche. After all, a web business in the fitness industry is built the same as one in the knitting industry.
I could have paid someone thousands upon thousands of dollars to build my online business site. I decided against it though. At the end of the day I would not have gained any online business knowledge had someone else built my site.
I would not gain any knowledge about HTML, linking strategies, RSS feeds or anything else. I would have to pay a website builder thousands and thousands of dollars every single time I wanted to build a web business.
Let me ask you this: if there was a pain free, simple, hand holding guide that taught you to build an online business? would you be interested? What if the guide was free? Well it is. You may contact me and I'll forward it to you. Learning the "how-to's" of building your own online business is one of the smartest investments you will ever make.
That guide will walk you through everything you need to know about creating an online business all by yourself. It talks about hosting, domain names, RSS feeds, linking strategies, newsletters, HTML coding (or the lack thereof necessary to build a site), search engine positioning and much more. It is a complete blue print to developing your online business.
When to Pay Someone
Just as I am a firm believer in building your website yourself, I believe in paying professionals from time to time. I outsource all graphic work to true graphic artists. I pay for logo designs, business card printing, and merchant accounts.
I believe in minimizing customer service issues. All of my billing is through a third party source. All of my products are digital or shipped directly from a third party company. They handle customer service. I simply refer their products.
The goal of a web business is to be profitable, efficient and fun! Being a web business owner is far better than being an employee. Think about that for a moment. You want to increase your profits. Create an online business by using all of your resources. Just recognize the difference of when to pay someone and when to learn it yourself.
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Lynn VanDyke's content website is in the top 1% of all websites worldwide according to Alexa. She recommends this hosting company for your online business: http://my.sitesell.com/buildit . For your free online business "How To" guide, please visit: http://my.sitesell.com/action-guide
Boost Your Online Sales With Long Tail Marketing
Years ago, when I first heard the phrase 'Long Tail Marketing'
I did a double take and wondered what the heck the phrase
was referring to? Little did I know then how important a
factor it would play in the overall success of my online
websites.
I first heard of Long Tail Marketing from Chris Knight
who runs Ezinearticles.com, an online article site which
is ranked around the Top 500 sites on the Internet.
Ezinearticles had also sent over 50 thousand unique
visitors to my main website so I knew any marketing
information coming from Chris was the real deal.
Unfortunately, when you run several sites on Internet
marketing you are constantly bombarded with online
marketing products, techniques and the latest marketing
fads... you become very cynical of the latest trends.
I only half-heartily started testing Long Tail marketing
- huge mistake - for I immediately started seeing results
with my online sales. Just wish I had paid more attention
to Chris's advice on Long Tail marketing and implemented
it sooner in my overall marketing strategy.
It has made all the difference in the profitability of
my websites. The reasons why are explained below, as well
as a detailed description of Long Tail Marketing and how
you can use it to boost or increase your online sales.
Don't make my initial mistake, discover everything you
can about Long Tail Marketing and start using it in
your own marketing.
What is Long Tail Marketing?
Long Tail Marketing refers to the technique or method
of using a long string of keywords when targeting
prospective buyers. Instead of using/targeting one or
two single keywords in your online marketing - you
use a longer keyword phrase or a whole group of related
keywords - thus the name, a long tail or string of keywords.
Perhaps, the best way to explain Long Tail Marketing is
to use a simple example. Lets say you have a travel business
and you have an online site associated with your business.
Instead of targeting the keyword 'vacations' which will
be very competitive and very hard to place on the first
page SERPs in the major search engines such as Google,
MSN, Yahoo... now with Long Tail Marketing, instead of
targeting the broader competitive keyword 'vacations',
you target a longer, more precise phrase - 'honeymoon
vacation packages to Niagara Falls'.
Keep in mind that keywords are the exact words surfers
type into search engines to find what they're looking
for on the web. You can plainly see that the second
keyword phrase is more targeted than the general keyword
'vacations'.
Why is Long Tail Marketing So Effective?
There are several reasons why Long Tail Marketing is so
effective. It has narrowed down and targeted exactly
what the prospective buyer is searching for. It is
precisely the product or service that they intend
to buy. It's only a matter of you selling it to them.
But more importantly, by using Long Tail Marketing,
you have found the prospective buyer at the exact
time or stage when they are ready to buy. You have
found them at the right moment in their buying process
- they have made up their minds to exactly what
they want and are just looking for a quality product
or service to meet their needs. You satisfy their
needs with a quality product or service.
Lets look at an example from my own marketing, I run
a simple online laptop guide within one of my sites.
Instead of targeting the very competitive and
unreachable general keyword 'laptops', I go for
a longer keyword phrase such as 'best gaming laptops'.
And the even more targeted 'Alienware Aurora m7700'
- someone searching for the last keyword phrase more
than likely has already decided on what type of gaming
laptop they want to buy. This last keyword phrase is
much more likely to convert into a sale.
How do I Use Long Tail Marketing with My site?
Remember back to when you last bought something online,
what keywords did you use to find it? If you have an
online business, you must target the keyword phrases
your customers would use to find your product or service.
You have to find these keyword phrases and use them in
your marketing.
Most professional marketers use some type of keyword
software to research their keywords and keyword phrases.
I use the very powerful Keyword Elite by Brad Callen and
it quickly gives me all the keyword information I need
to put my Long Tail Marketing into place.
But this software is expensive, so another alternative
would be to use such sites as Wordtracker or the
one I like www.nichebot.com - it will tell you how many
searches are made each month for your chosen keyword
phrase and give you some indication of your competition.
The real beauty of using Long Tail keywords - there is
little or no competition for your keywords. You will find
it easier to place on the first page of the different
search engine for your targeted phrase. If you do
Pay-Per-Click advertising, you will save on costs by
using Long Tail keywords. Plus, both your conversion
rate and ROI will be higher.
Marketing Tip: Always create a page on your site for each
Long Tail keyword phrase you target, place it in the title
and the url. Plus, if you write articles, place your keyword
phrase in the title of your article and syndicate your articles
around the web using sites like Ezinearticles.com mentioned
above.
Of course, all income results from Long Tail Marketing
or any marketing method will depend on your own effects
and marketing abilities. No one can guarantee sales but
I hope you will give Long Tail Marketing a go. It is
simple, direct and effective.
Long Tail Marketing has made all the difference in how
profitable my sites have become. It is the one marketing
method I use daily and plan to use for years to come.
In fact, Long Tail Marketing has become the backbone of
my whole online business. Go figure!
....
The author is a full-time online marketer who operates
numerous websites, including two sites on Internet
Marketing. For the latest web marketing tools try:
Internet Marketing Tools
To get more clicks on your site, try free thumbnail previews here:
Free Thumbnail Web Images
Copyright ? 2006 Titus Hoskins. This article may be
freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
