Affiliate is not a Dirty Word

It wasn’t very long ago when the word “affiliate” left a bad
taste in many a mouth. The reason was that the larger percent
were Multi-Level-Marketing programs that had products or
services of little value, but emphasized the way to the big
bucks was in generating a downline. Reaching a large number
of people without getting too involved was the pattern. It was
referred to as the “some will, some won’t, so what” approach.
The gizmo, or product was not the object of your ads or your
marketing.

Today, if you are new to the Internet and you want to start an
online business but you don’t have a product, a web site, or
an idea of how to begin --- then listen up because things are
not as bad as they used to be when we speak of “affiliates”.

Begin by joining an already established company to start a
small but steady income. Since most Affiliate programs are
free to join, you need only read their Terms & Conditions
(carefully), and agree to them. They will welcome you with
open arms, give you a webpage with your own ID on it, and
frequently offer you professionally worded ads that you can
post, again mostly free.

Without spending a single dime, you are already in business.
But let’s put a speed-bump here to caution you in your
“selection” of what you choose to attach your name to. You
won’t earn trust with a worthless product or a company that
ignores customer complaints. So here we go!

Why do they “welcome you with open arms”? Because they too make
a profit without spending a dime – you are their profit
source, you will advertise their program or their product, and
they will pay you in one of several ways for your efforts.
Let’s examine these ways: Pay per sale – either a set amount,
or a percentage of each sale that you make. Pay per impression
– if you have a high-traffic site (in our example, you do
not), they will pay you a few cents for every visitor to that
site that sees their banner or link. Pay per click – for every
visitor that clicks on their banner or link, you are paid a
bit higher than the “impression” rate. Pay per lead – this
does not pay as much as a “sale”, but by filling out a form,
your visitor has given the program owner an email address.
This is a valuable “lead”, and they will pay you to gather them.

How much does the company pay their affiliates and is it a flat
rate or percentage?

Another useful indicator to your future profits is the
importance of “levels” or “tiers” any affiliate program
provides. Some are two or three tiers, others may go up to ten.
This means that if you refer another affiliate to their
program, you will earn a commission on the sales that they
make. Two tier is the minimum in order to make “residual
income”.

A replicated website, or duplicate website with your
Identification on it, is vital. When someone buys the product
from this webpage the program owner will know that you made
the sale and where to send your money.

Hopefully, your choice of Programs will pay you a commission on
all future purchases that your referrals make as well as a
portion of their monthly payments that are collected from some
sales. State-of-the-Art affiliate programs have well- tracked
identifications of their affiliates. After all, you are their
bread & butter.

The advantages of beginning with an Affiliate Program to
generate your first few dollars online, are many but suffice
to say you do not have to buy their product, and you don’t
have to ship them to any of your customers. Your full time
attention need only directed at getting traffic, traffic,
traffic to your replicated website.

Once you have made your selection, market the “product or
service” for the purpose of a sale (and thus a commission) but
tack on, almost as a PS, that “affiliate positions are
lucrative”. If the product or service they buy is
praiseworthy, they will join as a free affiliate themselves.
Now you have doubled your income with a single ad.

© 2004 Esther Smith

Written by Gian Luigi Ruggeri © 2001 - All rights reserved
To find other tips, advices, as well as articles, tools and
resources to help your net marketing activity
MARKETERS ONLY, The Netmarketers Help Centre
http://NetmarketersHelpCentre.com (http://
NetmarketersHelpCentre.com)