Make Sure Affiliate Programs Pay For Every Sale

Writen by John Lynch

When joining affiliate programs there are many decisions you have to make. Unfortunately, few people query what kind of tracking software the program uses. To overlook this can prove costly, and means you may never be credited with 5% - 10% of your affiliate sales.

A good affiliate program will use quality affiliate tracking software that is reliable and tracks all of your sales. You must make sure that they not only track online sales, but also sales by phone, fax and mail order. Many companies only track online, and this means you will lose between 5% - 10% of your sales.

Also, make sure that the affiliate program uses 'cookie tracking' software to ensure that you will be credited for sales from people who don't buy the first time they visit your website, but come back and buy at a later date. For those of you who don't know what a 'cookie' is. A cookie is a small piece of information that a web site puts on your hard drive so that it will remember you when you return later. This is how cookies can be used to track visitors to a web site. In this way the affiliate program will be able to track all the sales from your site, even though the visitor did not buy on the first visit to the web site.

Many affiliate programs use software that only tracks about 80% of your sales. It has to be said that many of the popular affiliate companies are guilty of this. So beware big names! Some companies use tracking software that only pays if the customer visits your link and buys straight away. If the visitor returns to your site an hour later... a day later... week later... and buys, you will not be credited for the sale. Good 'cookie tracking' software ensures that this never happens.

So, before you join any affiliate scheme make sure to ask about the kind of tracking software they use. It could save you a small fortune in the long term.

© John Lynch

For information about one of the best Internet Marketing Affiliate programs on the Net with Lifetime, residual, and 2-tier commissions go to: http://affiliates.sitesell.com/finian.html

Affiliate Programs Using Ebooks

Writen by Daniel Ramerez

Affiliate programs are an advertiser's way of generating revenue through the use of other companies/people. We will use ClickBank for example, when an e-book is submitted to ClickBank it is submitted with a sales page and an affiliate program. The affiliate programme will offer the opportunity for others to sell the product and in return a percentage of the sale price is given to the affiliate. If you takean e-book book for example if you were to submit it to ClickBank and offer a 49% commission to all affiliates who sold it, affiliates would sign up to the ClickBank affiliate program and find an e-book in the lists of e-books and a hyperlink would be issued with a personalized ClickBank ID integrated inside the link. Place the personalized link on a website, in e-books or generally anywhere that the advertiser would think that will generate traffic. The personalized link will direct the customer to the sales page of this e-book. If they read it and buy the e-book you will receive 51% commission. So if 1000 people sell your e-book for you that's $25.50 x 1000 = $25,500 which is quite a nice little earner for writing an e-book.

Joining affiliate programs on Clickbank and promoting other peoples e-books is even easier than writing your own e-book. Being an affiliate is easy money for very little work it is that simple. Can you now imagine how much money you would have made if you were an advertising affiliate of an e-book? 49% commission earned from every sale, say you sell 1000 that's $24.50 x 1000 = $24,500 for only advertising and selling one guys e-book "WOW" now can you see the importance of affiliates in Internet Marketing.

These are but a few of the affiliate companies out there, you can also become affiliates of stand alone companies. No matter which companies/programs you join you will always make money from affiliates and your revenue will always grow.

If you were to write an e-book about hair loss for example then in the e-book you may want to place a resources page somewhere in the contents. On this resources page place your affiliate advertiser's link. Then as discussed earlier sell your book with resale rights and wait for the commission to come in! It's that simple. Take advantage of all the ways you can use affiliates and it will pay off.

Webmaster of http://www.uki2000.co.uk and http://www.ukisolutions.com

Continual Updating For Repeat Affiliate Site Visitors

Writen by Karen Kari

Your affiliate site visitors are really getting pretty sophisticated in searching the web, and in addition many receive ezines, newsletters, RSS feeds, research subscriptions and other sources of information. They have a multitude of options for shopping and services both on the internet and off. They can easily find many of the merchants you have as affiliate vendors without going through your site.

So why should these visitors continue visiting your site? Because you have spent your time creating an environment for the niche market they belong to. You provide them with value added products and services , and your site is the place they go to see what is new on your particular subject, what is fashionable, what the latest statistics are – whatever they want to find in one place. And you're continually doing the following:
Continually upgrading the site – the look, the navigation, and features Polling your visitors to understand how they use your site and what they want that you don't have Evaluating your merchant statistics, to understand which sellers and products are successful, and fine tuning as site visitors change and new options become available Adding relevant copy, articles, studies and other information they want Providing great customer service, promptly answering their questions and proactively upgrading service Creating forums for them to express their opinions and share information Asking experts to share information on your site Giving site visitors the ability to review products and services and write articles about relevant topics Promoting your site both offline and online venues Speaking at seminars and conferences

Site visitors return because you've earned their trust and allegiance. And you have to keep earning it over and over.

Karen Kari's articles and more information on the affiliate business can be found at:

http://www.affiliatebandit.com
http://www.advertisingcellar.com
http://www.billionfreeads.com

Organize Your Way To Affiliate Marketing Profits

Writen by Dave Cooper

Six months in affiliate marketing is a really a very short time. If this is true, how in the world in six months time did you find yourself dealing with so many different tasks on a daily basis? Maybe you are involved with many different affiliate programs? You may be managing several websites or sub-domains. Perhaps, you have multiple affiliate marketing email lists you are keeping in touch with. I'm betting you are contacting lots of potential merchants and advertising partners. Wow! This affiliate marketing stuff is hectic.

With so many tasks to accomplish, many affiliate marketers find that their whole affiliate marketing system is starting to look a bit chaotic. Okay, a lot chaotic. It is in this chaos where many affiliate marketers find they are failing and decide to call it quits. It isn't time to quit, it's time to re-take your Organizational territory!

It is without a doubt one of the least glamorous aspects of affiliate marketing. Getting and staying organized is extremely important to any aspiring affiliate marketer. You must have the foresight to create a system, an organized system! This system that you create may not work for anyone else on this planet. It doesn't have to. It only needs to work well for you. I promise you that you will thank yourself many times over for creating an organized environment that you can thrive in when your affiliate marketing business starts expanding.

Here are some of the things that you will avoid by establishing an organized system for your affiliate marketing business.

Losing passwords and email addresses - Has this ever happened to you? Of course it has, it happens to almost every affiliate marketer. At one time or another we all lose or misplace passwords and email addresses that we really, really need! You can avoid losing passwords and addresses if you create a system that has a retrieval method which is easy to remember and follow. Try keeping a simple text document of all of your most important passwords and email addresses. I promise you the few seconds it takes to document this information now will save you a huge headache in the future.

Losing track of day to day activity - It is easy for an affiliate marketer to keep track of his daily business activities if he has a system that will allow him to record such activities in a convenient, rapid, but accurate manner. Create a daily activity plan. Write it down. Do certain activities on certain days of the week. Get a daily planner and write down the things you want to accomplish that day. Don't try to do it all every day.

Mixing records of several affiliate programs - You really need to keep each and every one of the programs you are promoting separate. You don't want to mix your records. Again, you need a system of organizing the information you have accumulated for each affiliate program you are an affiliate for. Keep the information you have accumulated for each program in a separate folder on your computer. Or create a paper and pencil filing system the old fashioned way. Manila folders anyone?

No exact knowledge of the financial records - Financial records are the backbone of your affiliate marketing business. Record all of your transactions. Some transactions that you will want to include the operating expenses of your business, the amounts of commission checks received, and many other financial entries. The method I recommend for keeping track of your financial records and status is the utilization of a spread sheet. This spread sheet should show daily, weekly, monthly, and annual activities.

All the above suggestions may seem a lot of work, but any seasoned affiliate marketer will tell you that the above suggestions are part and parcel of every successful affiliate marketing business.

What are you waiting for? Get your affiliate marketing system set-up and organized as soon as possible.

David Cooper is the editor of the Affiliate Marketing Articles Newsletter. David specializes in helping affiliate marketers organize their way to affiliate marketing profits. Subscribe to his FREE newsletter at: http://www.affiliatemarketingarticles.com

Affiliate Communication

Writen by S. Housley

Communication is Key!

When building an affiliate network communicating with affiliates is important for merchants to maintain a good relationship. An affiliate's web site targets visitors, who may not necessarily view a merchant's web site, and therefore expands a merchants market. An affiliate may not be able to actively keep up with the merchants product, it is important for a merchant to keep affiliate's informed about new product information, sales, new releases, links, graphics, promotions and special offers.

Keep in mind, not all affiliates are going to produce a high volume of traffic, and importantly, visitors who want to purchase a merchant's products or services. The occasional gem makes the time taken well worth your effort. Talk with successful affiliates, find out what they are doing to effectively promote your software, and use that information to assist those affiliates who are not as successful.

Assist affiliates in understanding your product; no one knows your products like you do. For affiliates to drive traffic that will convert to sales, they need to understand the benefits of the product they are marketing. Once an affiliate knows the product, they will be better able to act as an extended sales force. In order for the affiliate to make the effort, you simply must support them!

Make Communication Easy

Many 3rd party affiliate-tracking programs notify both the affiliate and merchant of a sale. This can often be automated and will create positive communication between merchants and affiliates. Making an affiliate's role easier will help them increase earnings and further promote a merchants site.

Provide affiliates with great looking graphics and sample text. Graphics that work best are those that highlight your web site, yet fit the look of an affiliate's web site.

Newsletters are another great way to get information to affiliates. Include tips and specific for affiliates, along with general marketing advice that helps with site promotion. If you are looking for software to manage newsletters, I highly recommend Group Mail - http://tinyurl.com/23ljy

Affiliate Taboos

An affiliate generates a sale for a product and the merchant promptly decreases the commission. This sends a very negative message to the affiliate, in many cases they've taken a lot of time to place links, promote products and because they've driven effective traffic their commission is decreased. If its necessary to decrease a commission for whatever reason, be sure to include a personal note detailing the reason and letting the affiliate know that you still support their efforts.

A Cheat?

An affiliate sale occurs, you go to their website and don't find any links you decide they must be cheating you! This conclusion is simply a based on poor communication and reporting. Many, many affiliates have multiple sites, very few affiliate tracking programs allow affiliates to list multiple sites, and in many cases the number of sites listed do not accurately reflect the number of sites owned and managed by the affiliate. Additionally many affiliates manage opt-in newsletters that may result in sales, but links are not visible on a website. An example of a popular ezine often promoting affiliates is Lockergnome!

Links, Links, Links

Keep your links valid! If you update a section of the site or remove an offer provide a redirect or retain the link saying that such and such offer has expired and a new one has replaced it. It seems a waste to discard targeted traffic because a special has expired. Be sure to communicate with your affiliates, and if a link will only be good for a specified length of time tell them up front. When an offer expires notify affiliates a week prior to the expiration with a reminder. This will give them ample time to make any needed updates.

Added Incentives!

Affiliates love added bonuses for reaching goals or specified levels of sales. Many of the 3rd party affiliate vendors run contests and provide large incentives for their top performing ones. Reward and praise successful affiliates.

Affiliates tend to be experts in other areas, which relate to a merchants business; therefore, by communicating useful information, and helping affiliates increase their earnings, they will give added exposure and increase your sales. Communicating with affiliates will ultimately benefit visitors of both sites. A little effort in the beginning can mean big rewards in the long run.

About The Author

Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless messaging software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com and http://www.small-business-software.net

So What Is An Affiliate Program

Writen by John Gibb

Affiliate programs are a great way to make money on the Internet – one of the few ways, in fact, that has managed to stand the test of time. The web today is a very different place to what it was at the start of e-commerce, but the success of affiliate marketing programs has only increased. In an unstable market like the Internet, it makes sense to seize on proven strategies like this and put them to work for you.

So what is an affiliate program? Basically, the idea is that, instead of running your own e-commerce website, fulfilling orders and all that jazz, you just set up your website to drive customers to someone else's. For example, if you're running a website with DVD reviews, you might think that it would also make sense for you to sell the DVDs – so you just sign up to an affiliate program, and link through to a store that does using your affiliate code. In return for the referral, you get a commission as a percentage of the sale price, typically somewhere from 1% to 5%.

The most important choice you have to make is exactly which affiliate program to join. You can't join too many, because your website will quickly become cluttered – and besides, many of the larger ones have rules that say you can't do this.

If your site is anything to do with books, music or movies, you would almost certainly do best to go with Amazon's affiliate program. This can work especially well if your site is quite narrowly targeted and focused. A site with comprehensive discographies for '70s glam rock bands, for example, will probably find that adding affiliate links next to the name of each CD will drive a lot of sales. This is because the more focused your site is, the easier it is for it to become an authority in its chosen area.

For non-media items, such as collectibles, eBay's affiliate program can also be effective. It is a live-updated list of current eBay auctions on items relevant to your site that your visitors will then hopefully click on, rewarding you each time.

Ultimately, though, your site might not fit into one of the big affiliate programs. In this case, just do a search for whatever your site is about followed by the word 'affiliate', and see what turns up. You might be pleasantly surprised.

John Gibb is the owner of affiliate guidance , For more information on affiliate programs please check out http://www.affiliate-program-did-u-know.info

A Poor Mans Way To Wealth

Writen by Jesse Miller

How Do I get what I know on paper to help people learn how to make money without costing them a lot of money? I Think I will try starting by talking about Google and Yahoo since they are two of the bigger search engines out today. Google is a great source to go to and make a lot of money.

I have been learning Affiliate Marketing for two years and I still am not where I want to be but I have tried these strategies and Mann they really work. So enough about me I can't wait to tell as many as I can. I am going to share things that will help you make money by saving money.

What I mean is that by not spending money on advertising than you don't have an overhead and you save money. I have three main factors that will help you do this.

First thing to do is to write and submit. You're probably asking what does this mean. What I am trying to tell you is that you should Wright an article and submit it to several articles based sites. Some are really great and easy to use and submit to and will give a great return. Here are a few 1. Ezinearticles.com, 2.Goarticles.com, & 3. Searchwarp which are all great article directory sites and Google love them for content.

Second, you should look up words using this system and you can find better optimized words that get decent traffic and not a lot of competition from other sites. You can find that if you take "quotes" and I will show you in detail when you visit my site. You put the "quotes" in and you will get back a better response and better optimizable key word list.

Third, you should do you title optimization just as you would when optimizing your website. The title is just as important as it is in your website. It will help place the article where you want it to be placed in the search engines and bring people to your Site. I will cover all this in my upcoming e-book "A Poor Mans Way to Wealth".

I hope this helped get some ideals to get your sites out there and seen and get links back to your site. I also will place a lot of ideals that are out there today that not everyone knows about on my new e-book. You can get much of these things free at my review site called www.unleashed-reviews.com.

Thank You,

Jesse Miller is the Author and you can read more at http://www.unleashed-reviews.com to get more free ideals

How To Become A Better Affiliate

Writen by Arthur Alfonso O'Donnell

First of all you need to understand that an Affiliate Program takes time to make it work. No one achieved "financial freedom" overnight. All those websites claiming to make you reach in just a couple of days (I have seen even shorter periods of time) are not telling you the truth. But that does not mean you can not make money from that program. You need to realize it can be done over time and a great deal of persistence.

It is a fact that 95% of the people who joined an affiliate program is not involved in the money making process after a year of signing up. Those are the "quitters". For the rest of us, some will make it and some won't but your chances of making it are much higher due to the time and work that you put in it, and the number of referrals you gained during this time. This is when you start seeing some pretty good results, at least compared to your first month check. You have to give it a try for at least a year to even consider working with another company or don't do anything anymore.

You need to work consistently everyday and do not fear rejection. I know people who are even afraid of sending email to their downline because they are afraid of sending them too much email and they may opt-out of the program and will loose that affiliate. Let me tell you this, if you have a downline with affiliates who are doing nothing, you get that, nothing. It does not make any difference if they quit or not, but by sending them recent news from the company, new software that you know, or even new advertising method, you get good qualified affiliates that will follow you over time.

"I have no money" How many times have you heard that? The truth is that they do not trust you or the company enough to put some money into it. Everyone has 20$-30$ a month. They are just afraid you are going to steal the money from them. Tell them the truth about the company and how, with persistence and hard work from their part they can be successful. Show them your numbers, tell them your advertising methods and the amount of money you invest in your business. Make them feel part of it, and if you can, write a step by step method to become successful with your Affiliate Program.

Advertising is a numbers game, we all know that, but good advertising is hard to find this days. That is why you need to have control of your advertising campaigns and see which ones are working for you and continue doing what you are doing. You do not need money to advertise. You can use a link at the bottom of every email that leaves your computer. Write articles. Exchange links. Add content to your website. We all know these basic principles, but we also know that it is very time consuming and painful hours in front of your computer. But that is why we call it work.

You need to see it as a hobby and spend a full hour a day working as hard as you can. Put your soul into it. And remember, you only loose the game when you quit.

Arthur Alfonso is a SFI Team Leader and Webmaster of sites like http://www.elagente.com.

The Affiliate Website How Important Is Quotabout Usquot

Writen by Karen Kari

In the affiliate world, developing a website that focuses upon the needs of a niche is, of course, key. First, you're passionate about the subject and then you create a rich site, full of what your visitors want – articles, reviews, directories, comparisons, instructions, blogs.

By virtue of the fact that you're serving the needs of this niche group, it's likely that you'll become regarded as an expert on the site's subject. You write the information and answer the visitors questions, and, based upon their visits and purchases from your merchant partners, they seem pretty happy. But how can you create an even greater bond with your audience? With an "about us" section written in the same tone as the rest of the site.

Tell the site visitors why you are qualified to run this site and be an arbiter of what they see and do on it. Go into detail about your background (no names on those scathing company tales!) and how it relates to the site. How you came to running the site. What useful or awful lessons you learned about yourself and running a site in your journey to get to today. Go into detail about any partners or employees you may have, and if there's a company pet, offer up the how, why and name, and official duties.

People need to know the credentials of the people who are furnishing them with information, with as many details and nuances as you're comfortable with, without giving anyone confidential information that could lead to identity theft. This is one more way you can personalize the site, make people feel a part of a group, and give them confidence that they're in great authoritative company.

Karen Kari's articles and more information on the affiliate business can be found at:

http://www.affiliatebandit.com
http://www.advertisingcellar.com
http://www.billionfreeads.com

Are Your Merchants Competing With Your Affiliate Site

Writen by Karen Kari

The purpose of your site is to make money. Well, that's true for everyone but the family hobby sites, charitable organizations (although they want your contributions) and some non-commercial research sites. So after you identified a niche and pulled together the site elements they want in terms of information and participation, you established affiliate relationships with merchants who sell the kinds of products and services they want to buy. Or maybe you have always had direct product sales on your site, and you added merchants with complementary but not competing products and services.

But have things changed? Maybe you have changed the focus of the direct product sales on your site. Certainly your merchant partners have made changes, expanded product lines, even bought other sellers. Perhaps you've written a book or an ebook. It's time to take an inventory of the fit between your on-site sales and the offerings of your merchants.

If a merchant's product line overlaps your significantly, see which one makes more money. Is it time for the merchant program to go? If there's prestige in having your own products, that's fine as long as it's a conscious decision. Once you've determined and decided what to do with the overlap, then take a look at your competitors' sites and see which merchants they have as affiliates. Some of them would probably serve to strengthen your product line and give you the opportunity for additional sales. As a niche site in their space you should have no trouble negotiating a favorable agreement. Now continue reviewing and fine-tuning and it will pay you back in both visitor loyalty and commissions.

Karen Kari's articles and more information on the affiliate business can be found at:

http://www.affiliatebandit.com
http://www.advertisingcellar.com
http://www.billionfreeads.com

Affiliate Marketing Ebook Which Can Make You The Most Revenue

Writen by Adrian Henderson

I make my living buying and reviewing ebooks. I am often asked the question, "how do I know this book will help me" or something along those lines. So this article is designed to give you some tips as a consumer that will help you cut through the clutter.

Have you ever made a purchase that changed your life? Everyone has. A leather jacket that gives you a new attitude and new identity? A summer dress that you look amazingly good in. Products have the power to completely change our lives for the better. Often it has to do with a psychological shift in our self perception. Intangible but somehow very concrete.

Do you remember that pair of levi's that you kept for over 10 years because they were just bought at the right place at the right time.

Ebooks can have the same impact. Unfortunately its some sort of timing thing. Not every product we buy has the capacity to transform our outlook. But every now and then we make a purchase that is magical. Maybe it has to do with the alignment of the planets. Maybe the solar system has to be in a particular configuration that has to do with our astrological signs? Or maybe its a simple question of quality.

Products have awesome powers on our lives and if we could afford to play the "hit or miss" games and buy everything we suspect will give us the "wow factor" transformation we sometimes experience with certain products, we would live in a utopian happiness.

Well, that is possible. There are tell tail signs. I am very experienced with ebooks and I know what to look for in a sales page that demonstrates at a very high probability if a product will give us that amazing "once in a while" transformation.

Affiliate ebooks are easy and thats what I will focus on here. Below I will outline for you exactly what to look for in a sales presentation that assures that you are buying an affiliate ebook that will deliver. Ebooks about affiliate marketing are easy to asses and if you follow my simple guide below, you will always purchase the ebook that gives you a boost and helps you much more then the cost of the product.

1) When looking at the sales page, testimonials are the first thing I read. Especially testimonials that say "why" the product was appreciated. Testimonials that just use words like "fantastic and wonderful" don't sway me. I need to know what past customers are specifically happy about and do those items match what I am looking for and are my needs mentioned amongst those testemonials.

2) Price. I don't want to pay too little and if the price is rediculously low, if the price does not match the value that is presented and promised, then I pass on it. I pass on it because I simply don't believe the company have confidence in their offer despite the promises and claims. It means they know they don't really have much to offer and no matter how wonderful their sales page is, they feel they should keep the price low to reflect the low quality/content of the ebook.

The price needs to be sensible and reflective of what is offered. Of course paying too much is a concern too, but it is more often a sign of little value by coming across a disproportionatley low price compared to the benefit statements in the sales page.

3) Finally, its the length of the copy. You may be surprised to hear that this is such a large indicator of a quality Affiliate ebook, but it is. The longer the copy the better and it better not lose quality as you read. You see, a long sales letter demonstates confidence in a product. Short sales letters fairly commonly reflect a low confidence in what is being offered. The more information you are given before you buy the more likely it is that what is offered is something on the "special" spectrum. But just keep in mind that the copy on the sales page needs to continue to be compelling. If it is not then it may begin to sound like "padding" just to fill up a longer sales page. A very revealing aspect of an inferior product.

These three principles I use to choose the ebooks that I personally buy for my own business and for the purpose of review. It seldom lets me down.

Adrian Henderson reviews ebooks for a living. His currently most highly ranked ebook package on affiliate marketing is "ProfitBrat!" Click below http://www.opportunity-investor.com/investin4.html

Google Adsense And Affiliates

Writen by Karen Kari

Content rich sites can earn additional income, instead of or in addition to the use of traditional affiliate banners -- by using Google AdSense. Adsense serves up contextually targeted text and image ads that are targeted to particular pages of your site. They are designed to give ongoing, appropriate product purchase opportunities to your site visitors, with a minimum of effort by the site publisher. Once approved for the program, the site publisher places one link per site page, and is served up to three ads when pages are opened.

Google creates the relationships with the advertisers and only delivers the most appropriate ones to your web pages. Based upon keywords, a real time auction takes place as a visitor opens a page on your website. Based upon bids placed by advertisers, Google AdSense places relevant cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per–thousand-impressions (CPM) ads on your page.

Publishers need to carefully read the conditions for participating in the AdSense program. They include not obscuring the ads in any way with color or graphics, not launching a new browser when the ads are clicked on, placing the links only on pages with content, not displaying them on pop-ups, pop-unders or email, and not changing the code provided by the program for pasting into your web pages. Bringing unnatural attention to the ads by advertising on other websites or mass mailing is also prohibited, as is labeling the ads with anything other than "sponsored links" or "advertisements".

It may seem like a daunting list of no's, but upon inspection they make sense because they protect you, your site and the advertisers, to prevent misuse and fraud. If you read the rules carefully, use common sense, and don't try sneaky maneuvers, the upside possibilities are certainly worth a try.

Karen Kari's articles and more information on the affiliate business can be found at:
http://www.affiliatebandit.com
http://www.advertisingcellar.com
http://www.billionfreeads.com

Why Sports Betting Affiliate Programs Work

Writen by Blake Stevenson

Online affiliate marketing is one of the many products of the Internet boom in the mid 1990's. Due to the nature of the system and the way in which money is generated and clients determined, it could only work through a complex computerised system such as that made available by the World Wide Web. Whilst the system may appear simplistic from a business point of view, the inner workings of the affiliate program require some unique calculations.

In a standard situation, when a company wishes to advertise they can do so by hiring an advertising team, and then paying for advertising space. However the affiliate marketing program is very different. The affiliate sites are not paid up front for their trouble, they are paid as customers join through their site. If we take the model of one of the most successful affiliate programs, that of sports betting there are significant calculations that need to be made in order to accurately work out how and when to pay an affiliate.

Unlike in other affiliate programs, the sports betting sites pose a unique problem. Affiliates have the option to be paid a percentage of the money that a player who joined through them generates for the sports betting site. Therefore the sports betting site or the affiliate program needs to be able to track and accurately calculate a players betting, in order to pay the affiliate the correct amount. Firstly the affiliate is assigned a unique URL, so that the sports betting site can accurately locate where exactly the new player has joined form. The second problem is then keeping a record of the player once they are on the site, so that the affiliate is rewarded as and when thy generate money. This is usually done by assigning the new player a unique number, which can then be monitored by the sports betting site, allowing them to reward the affiliate as the money comes in.

The system is complicated in terms of the dynamics of the payment, especially when compared to the simplistic method of paying up front. But in truth the sports betting affiliate program is a simplistic automated system, which works time after time. This is a fact backed up by the thousands of sites that continue to stay with or join the affiliate-marketing program and by the huge profits that these sites are able to command. The effectiveness of the affiliate program industry has also benefited the Internet industries including but not limited to sports betting. It has also offered the opportunity to thousands of small site owners to create a small revenue for themselves, as well as creating an industry in which new businesses can be founded purely to take advantage of the lucrative marketing program.

Discover the secrets of top poker affiliates and discover how to find the best poker affiliate program at http://www.epokeraffiliate.com/

Affiliate Marketing Pros And Cons

Writen by Jason Gazaway

Want an online business with a win-win opportunity for both the merchant and the publisher? Try investing your money, time and effort in affiliate marketing business and be overwhelmed by the profit you'll get out of it. It has been written in almost all articles about affiliate marketing that it is among the greatest ways to earn money online.

For those who didn't know what it is, affiliate marketing is a cooperative effort between the merchants and online publishers or affiliates, whereby an affiliate is rewarded for every visitor or customer provided through his effort. The moment a customer is gained, a part of the profit from that customer will go to the affiliate as a commission. This compensation, otherwise known as affiliate commission may be based on a fixed value for each visit (pay-per-click), registration (pay-per-lead), or a commission for every purchaser (pay-per-sale).

This business has proven to be very beneficial. Among the advantages that you'll enjoy from affiliate marketing business are you become your own boss, which means no one will dictate you when and what to do; it gives you income 24/7 regardless of your location and what you're doing; you have the freedom to enjoy your life and flexibility of working for yourself; it can supplement your retirement; you can start even if all you have is a shoe string budget; you can live where you want and stay engage in this business; you can get as much or as little as you want; you can work for a very minimal time; you can work at home; you take a break or a vacation the moment you want it while continuously earning money; and a lot more pros.

However, let me just remind you that it also has its downside. The old adage that says nothing in this world is perfect is also true in online marketing business. And that's the reason why this page is created - to give you the affiliate marketing pros and cons.

Let's start with the pros.

To the Merchant. Affiliate marketing offers the merchant a wider place to sell their product and services. More websites will naturally provide you more customers and will create more sales. This is particularly true if the sites that you have chosen are in their niche marketing.

The only thing that's left for the merchant to do is to look for affiliate sites where your merchandise is a good fit and where your target customers usually visit. Another advantage that a merchant can get from affiliate marketing is that they can gain more and more customers without spending valuable time in searching out for them. The banner ads on your affiliate website might draw interest and drive the visitor to click on your website. Also, different consumers coming from various websites can provide the merchant a good idea regarding consumer trends and demands.

To the Affiliate Marketer. This kind of business has proved to be an easy way to create additional income for their website. The marketing banners that they stuffed under content help in making their site look good. And these banners may create instant sales wherein, they can get a commission.

Above all, the affiliate can have extra income from his or her website without investing something in making his own product and without worrying about customer support, book keeping, and ecommerce. Here in affiliate marketing, the merchant handles it all. The affiliate just needs to promote and resell the product.

To the Customers. The benefit that a customer could get out of affiliate marketing is obvious – they get an answer to their problem that they may not have found without the help of the affiliate's website. That's if, and only if the merchandise or service gives what it says it will.

That's how advantageous affiliate marketing is. But lets be aware that this online business also have some disadvantages. Just like any other businesses, this one also involves shady and even illegal practices. And we feel the need to share it with you.

To the Advertisers/Merchants. The merchant may suffer from high commission costs as well as costly set up and maintenance fees that are usually caused by lots of affiliate facilitators. And sometimes the affiliates engage in false advertising and misleading the customer in order to get commission. This means that some affiliates sometimes make claims and promises regarding the product and services which are completely wrong or they extremely exaggerate it. When this happen, the merchant usually suffers complaints and they definitely lose potential consumer.

To the Publisher/Affiliates. Sometimes unscrupulous and dishonest merchants just close down programs without informing the affiliates. And worse, they leave without paying commissions. There are also some merchants who attract new affiliates by promising high commissions then after a week or two, they dramatically drop those commission rates. Aside from that, when hijackers interfere, affiliates typically don't get just commission, it goes to the hijacker instead.

Moreover, the shady and illegal practices involved in this kind of business include false advertising, unlawful use of trade names, logos, or other branding, spamming and hijacking.

In spite of those disadvantages, affiliate marketing is still considered as one of the best ways to make money online. We just have to understand that in any thing that human do, especially if money is involved, there will always be cheaters and people who will be engaged in illegal means. And you shouldn't be one of them. Keep in mind that it is always right and advisable to act ethically and legally; work hard to make your customers and business partners trust you and always see to it that you go beyond your customer's expectations.

Discover how you can create a turnkey internet marketing system that builds massive downline for you, attracts hungry prospects automatically, and generates income non-stop, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

Find out more here: Visit How To Become Successful today!

Where Should An Affiliate Begin In Finding Merchant Partners

Writen by Karen Kari

Every affiliate needs to define its user groups. Interests, product needs, products they probably already have (with potential for upgrades), favorite activities, income – describe the typical visitor as you would a person. Then describe the focus of your site or primary products. Then the easiest way to begin is to review and add a few highly relevant sites from Affiliate Marketers, such as Linkshare and Commission Junction. Then go to the sites of brands and products you know appeal to your market. Look for a link to their affiliate program and join them individually, once you are satisfied with the site quality and the quality of the products.

Decide where on your pages you want to put affiliate links and banners. You may not want every page to be a selling page, and the best positioning on each page will depend upon the content. Links at the end of an article are a natural, following the flow of the reader's eye. Links or banners on pages that are transactional, with buttons and boxes, work better near the action.

Once your site visitors have had the opportunity to shop at your merchant sites, take a hard look at what is working and what is not, and make some adjustments. With knowledge of what your visitors want, make a wish list of companies and products that will round out your merchandise offerings. Then search the web and identify the sites. There's no problem if their sites don't make reference to affiliate programs. Approach them anyway, and negotiate an agreement. You'll know the range of commissions customarily paid for their categories of goods and services from your relationships with other merchants. And if you are polling your site visitors you'll know products, product features and accessories they are ready and willing to buy.

Karen Kari's articles and more information on the affiliate business can be found at:

http://www.affiliatebandit.com
http://www.advertisingcellar.com
http://www.billionfreeads.com

The Answer Is An Ad Tracker For Affiliate Marketers

Writen by Lionel Estridge

What exactly is an ad tracker? It is a marketing tracking software or program that let you to trace and take note of every click-through made by visitors of your site and by other customers who got your referral link. There are ad tracking service providers as well, you will just have to pay them to do the tracking for you. Ad trackers allow you to keep an eye on the movement of your marketing campaigns even offline. This tool or program is more than ever helpful if you are engaged in quite a lot of affiliate and pay-per-click programs and have placed ads in emails, pop-ups and pop-unders, message boards, auto responders, Ezines, forums, several web sites, surveys and an assortment of ad service providers.

You don't want all your hard work to be put to waste so you want to make sure you are getting paid for your hard work. Similarly, you want to make sure every dollar or cent you pay out in your advertising campaigns is intelligently spent. With the help of the ad tracker, you will know precisely how many and which of your links where clicked on, how many of your emails were opened and how many of those who opened your email clicked through the business site and purchased a product, how many products were purchased, which of your banner ads or links brought the most leads and sales and many other related facts and figures you need.

Sales records and all data stated are necessary in any business as this could establish if your affiliate program is still worth continuing. This would also help you determine which of your marketing plan is most successful and which is most favourable for each product or service you are promoting.

Every decision and plan you make must be well grounded on reality. That decision or plan of action may not be the best, but it is something not to be sorry about when you had valid reasons for coming up with such decision or plan. You cannot just come to a decision to terminate your affiliate program, just because you don't earn big in an instant.

Keep in mind that your accomplishment lies mainly on promotion and your hard work. If you don't seem fortunate enough to convince many of your site users to buy the products, don't be discouraged and jump into a conclusion that your affiliate program is a disappointment. If it works for others, it could work for you, too. Make out whether your advertising techniques are successful or not, which works best for your program and which does not.

An ingenious free website tracker that reshapes your advertising efforts and generates profits from existing website traffic can be found at http://www.lionel1.com/

Lionel Estridge is the publisher of Zero to Hero newsletter; to get tips and trick using Adsense and Ebay, just send a blank email to: ebay1@aweber.com

Affiliate Marketing An Excellent Online Opportunity

Writen by Chris Monato

Many people go online to look for a way to supplement their income or even get out of a job they detest. They end up finding many different opportunities they could get involved in. Affiliate marketing is one of best places for an individual to start because of the many advantages that it offers. Getting started in affiliate marketing is relatively simple and doesn't require a substantial investment in order to start generating income on the internet.

One of the main benefits of being an affiliate marketer is the fact that you don't need to create your own products in order to get started. For an affiliate marketer your only real responsibility is to drive as much targeted traffic to your affiliate site in order to generate sales for the company. Once a sale is made then you get paid.

Combine this with the vastness of the internet and the thousands of affiliate products you can promote the opportunity for the skilled affiliate marketer is virtually unlimited. For most affiliate programs the company will pay the affiliate anywhere from 25% to 50% of the selling price. Most affiliates will use various methods of generating traffic to their affiliate site. These methods include ppc search engines, e-mail marketing, e-zine advertising, and various other internet marketing methods.

In conclusion affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to get started making money online. Affiliate marketing provides several benefits to the affiliate and is very simple to set up and get started. If you are considering an online business don't rule out affiliate marketing. In fact strongly consider the benefits of affiliate marketing before making your final decision.

© Copyright Chris Monato.

Affiliate Marketing My Best Decision

Writen by Elizabeth McGee

When I decided to quit my job and start an internet business, I was clueless. I researched and found several viable opportunities however the more I read, the more I realized how difficult this was going to be. I did not have a product and was in no position to create one. I had it in my head I wanted to sell something so I started out in the drop shipping business.

I researched wholesalers that were willing to drop ship and found a few. I built a simple yahoo! site, created a merchant account, got my resellers license and voila, I was in business. Did I get a sale? Nope, because I did not know how the internet worked with regards to website marketing. No one could find my site and I was a marketing failure.

Because my site didn't sell anything, I gave up and continued on the research path. I slowly learned about how to market my site but wasn't sure I wanted to stick with drop shipping. My site costs combined with credit card merchant costs and plain old competition didn't really leave me with much profit. I realized I still had much to learn.

I went back to the research drawing board and joined a few forums to learn what else I might be able to do. At that time I learned about affiliate programs. I met people I trusted and admired who promoted affiliate programs. I asked a lot of questions and began my research. Affiliate marketing appealed to me. I didn't need a merchant account, I didn't need inventory, I didn't need my own product and I could even get away without a website. Wow, how good is that? So off I went.

As I began to research I found the best selling products were informational products and the best commissions were internet marketing products. Because I was familiar with setting up a website previously I decided to set up another site to list of all my affiliate sales products. I fell into the trap that most new web business owners fall into. Setting up a 'How to Market on the internet site'. I liked it because I was familiar with it and I had purchased some of the products through my research. So why not? Well, simply put there is too much competition in that category. I still have my site today but my sales are minimal. I offer only products that I trust and many of them I use but it's not a business path I'd recommend to someone starting out, particularly because many beginners tend to gravitate there. There are lots of other things that have good marketing potential. Affiliate marketing can be successfully applied to almost any product on the net.

If researched carefully and applied correctly, affiliate sales can be a very profitable internet business. The object is to find something you can sell and promote for merchants that will offer you a commission to sell it. You don't have to carry inventory, collect money, worry about delivery or even have a website (although a website is a good idea), but you're going to have to think about what products best suit you with regard to sales. I feel it's best to sell things that you like. Things you're interested in or have a fetish about. For instance, let's say you love crystal. If you love it then you probably know something about it, but more importantly you will enjoy researching it and offering it to someone else.

Next, research web businesses that sell crystal and offer affiliate programs. I recommend using Commission Junction or Linkshare. Keep in mind that the sites you select can sell other things, however you're focusing on just crystal. Find several sites and apply to them all. Most affiliate programs are free. A note to the wise, be sure to read the affiliate agreements and understand their rules. They are not all the same.

Once you've signed up for the programs of your choice, pay per click (PPC) search engines are the best and easiest way to sell your affiliate products. You can promote each product individually or you can promote them all by building a website and promoting your website. Again, be sure to read the agreements as some affiliate programs restrict affiliates offering their competition on the same website. This isn't true for all of them but you want to stay aware.

To get started you'll need to set up accounts with PPC search engines such as Google, Overture and Findwhat. Research how they work and set up some simple ad campaigns to start. You will also need to research keywords and what words cost the least and are the most effective. This is a topic for another article, however time spent and proper research tools such as Overture's view bids and search term suggestion tools will help keep your costs low and your profits high. By the way, use each of the keyword tools provided by each PPC search engine; this will help guide you as to what keywords to use. Keywords entered by users can differ from search engine to search engine.

If you choose to build a website, keep your sight on topic. Getting back to our crystal example, keep your site focused on crystal or glassware, don't throw in pictures or garden chairs. The worst mistake you can make is being everything to everyone. I know; I've made that mistake.

Offer information such as types of types of crystal, how it's made, textures, weight, where it's made, history of crystal, etc. Concentrate on offering information. If you give people valuable information on something they're more likely to buy it.

Of course crystal is just an example; you can apply the same principles to sofas, bicycles, computers, toys or whatever you might take pleasure in. Give it some quality thought, research carefully and take your time. If it's something you enjoy, you'll enjoy your business.

About The Author

Elizabeth McGee is the owner of Pro-Marketing-Online, the Expert Marketing Tools site. If you wish to learn more about how to market online from the experts and find expert, trusted tools for promoting your site then please visit Pro-Marketing-Online or subscribe to her newsletter found at http://www.pro-marketing-online.com or email Elizabeth at webmaster@pro-marketing-online.com

Do You Make These Mistakes With Affiliate Marketing

Writen by Alexander Marlin

Affiliate Marketing is a very lucrative business online, especially where it concerns Affiliate Internet Marketing.

Today I bring you some rare and everyday mistakes that are keeping you from making a killing with affiliate marketing.

The most common mistakes made by most online marketers :

1) You build a really flashy website and is wondering why your not making commissions.

Well, I do believe this one belongs in the number one position, because, it's the killer amongst new comers to the affiliate marketing game.

Don't believe that if you build it, they will come. Your visitors have to know where your website is, and online as well as offline, you have to do some kind of promotions.

Just don't build it, but go out and educate yourself about what it really takes to make it with affiliate marketing.

The points that follows, will give you ideas for getting yourself known as an expert in your field of expertise.

2) Not Posting And Hanging Out In The Forums.

Do you know that all of the top marketers online can be found in some forum online. Yes, it's true.

The forums are where you can go to post questions pertaining to your problems. It doesn't matter what the topic is, you can find a forum online that meets your needs.

There are huge archives of posted questions from other marketers that you can browse through. The forums are where you can go to post questions pertaining to your problems. It doesn't matter what the topic is, you can find a forum online that meets your needs.

Do you know that one very informative topic on a high traffic forum can generate 500 or more hits that same day?

3) Your Not Promoting Any Big Ticket Items.

Now, don't get me wrong here, I am saying that you should promote both high-end as well as low priced products.

But, the tough part is that you need to sell many more low priced products to make a $100 dollars, while selling just one high end product gets the same results.

4) Thinking That You Don't Need To Know Any SEO Tricks.

SEO - Search Engine Optimization is not as difficult as it seems. I am by no means a search engine expert, but I do know what is needed for optimizing my pages so that I can still benefit from all the FREE Search Engine traffic.

Go out and get yourself a SEO book, you only need one, they are all very similar. You just need to know how to write pages that the search engines loves.

5) Never, Posting Articles To The Articles Directories Online.

When I realized the power of posting articles, I was stunned by the amount of traffic I was receiving fro just one article I posted.

Just start by posting a article per week, you will be generating a constant ever increasing flow of visitors to your websites.

6) Not Building You List And Automating The Follow-Up process.

As the saying goes "The Money Lies In Your List". That is so true, if you can build a small list, you will be able to start making money with a list of just 500 members.

That is why your online business can't survive without a automatic responder. If you can't capture your visitors once they are on your site, then they are gone, lost in cyber space, off to the next web site that can solve their problem.

7) Your Not Involved With A Network Marketing Program Online.

I can hear your cries, but If you followed the 6 points described earlier, you will now finally understand why network marketing goes hand in hand with affiliate marketing.

Most, if not all online marketers use some kind of automatic responder or ad tracker service that has a residual program. That is the way to get some residual income from your list while promoting your ad tracker or automatic responder.

If, your not with an ad tracker or automatic responder service that pays residual income, then your loosing affiliate commissions.

Ask yourself, what can implement now from this article?

I do hope you can be honest with yourself and realize why your not making it with affiliate marketing, now, go out there and build your list. Just do something different.

About The Author

Alexander Marlin, Ebenezer St. Maarten A.N.
Is a firm believer that you can reduce the cost to build a website by using the cheapest hosting online.

How To Get Started In Affiliate Marketing Online

Writen by Rob A Johnson

Millions of people have jumped on the latest way to make money online and it is called affiliate marketing. Many times, you can set up an affiliate marketing campaign for free online. However, to be truly successful, you will have to create your own website and that means using a reputable internet webhosting business instead of one of those cheap or free online webhosting companies.

Before getting any further about how to start an affiliate marketing campaign, do you have any idea what it is? It is a method where established successful businesses online allows you to earn money on a commission basis through the sale of their products on your own website. You have to set up your website and advertise their merchandise through a variety of marketing efforts. In return, you can earn a percentage of each sale that spawned through your website link.

It sounds like you are doing a lot of work for free and creating more revenue for an online business. While that is true, you are also reaping the rewards from that increased revenue. Remember, you are earning a commission on every sale instigated from your website. What is so great about affiliate marketing is that practically anyone who can turn on a computer and take an online internet cruise through the World Wide Web can do it.

If you become an affiliate, you will not have to supply customer or technical support nor will you have to worry about shipping because no inventory is ever handled by you. This scenario sounds pretty good, doesn't it? The only thing you have to focus on is promoting your affiliate marketing website online.

Perhaps one of the great things about your online affiliate marketing campaign is that is becomes automatic. Except for some routine network maintenance, you can expect to earn money free and clear. Twenty-four hours in a day, seven days a week and three hundred sixty five days of the year …. That is how often you could potentially earn money. And if you go on a little vacation? No problem! Once you set up your affiliate marketing website online, there is little to do, so you will be relatively footloose and fancy-free.

Many affiliate marketing programs online are free to join and some will even train you in advertising and promotions. In addition, there are no rules that say you have to stick with one online affiliate marketing program. You can run several of these marketing campaigns simultaneously because they are low maintenance and you can earn multiple streams of income. You are not limited to only one kind of product either. You can choose from a variety of free online affiliate programs.

Now that you have an idea of what affiliate marketing is and would like to try this free way of making money online, you have several items to consider and think through. First, what type of affiliate marketing programs will you participate in? There are thousands of options available to you. Think of some things you are interested in, whether it be cooking, reading or other stuff. Then find some free affiliate programs that cater to that particular interest. It doesn't hurt to enjoy the subject matter!

Next in your quest to make money online is your website. If you are comfortable with the html language and can build your own web pages quite easily, then do so. Otherwise, there are a few terrific online affiliate marketing companies that will handle all that technological mumbo jumbo for you. Remember that saying that went something like, "The best things in life are not free?" Well, the saying goes for your website. Do not utilize one of those cheap or free webhosting services. It smacks of the "mom and pop" or unprofessional mentality.

For your affiliate marketing website online, don't just post the referral links to the affiliate websites. You will not get any search engine hits that way. You want web traffic to your website. To achieve this goal, incorporate content articles that are appropriate to the theme of the affiliate marketing links. In addition, there are quite a few free website content sites which might have articles that are handy to your online affiliate website.

The only way for your affiliate marketing campaign to work is to drive visitors to your website. There are a variety of ways to accomplish that goal. First, offering a free newsletter or free eBook or ezine and signing up people is one way you can target a certain clientele. With subscribers, you have a built-in mode of advertising. In addition, you can try a free link exchange or an advertising campaign using Google Adsense.

Other ways to increase your website traffic and thus increase the possibility of revenue through affiliate marketing is writing reviews of the very products you are touting as an affiliate. Providing free unbiased opinions of the products not only helps consumers make their purchasing decisions, but it also boosts the likelihood that consumers will click on your affiliate links to make a purchase.

Free is a favorite word for many people. Offering something for nothing is another common practice that works great with affiliate marketing programs. Think about it: you have a visitor who is already halfway vested in your website. After all, they found you! To keep them coming back for more and clicking your affiliate links, offer a free ezine or eBook download. Another idea is creating a free email course. Through this method, you and your affiliate marketing website are brought to their attention each and every time you show up in their inbox.

Because affiliate programs are a dime a dozen these days, you have to really be selective in what you choose. Chances are that thousands of others have also signed up as an affiliate with the same business. That is why it is important to incorporate some of the helpful hints listed in the above paragraphs as well as sign on with more than one affiliate. This will increase your chances of earning revenue.

There are more issues to deal with in regards to affiliate marketing. However, these are just a few of the basics to get you started on your road to revenue. Before jumping in with both feet, be sure and do your research. Due diligence is the key to a successful affiliate marketing campaign.

*This article was written by Rob A Johnson 03/06/2006, Rob has been successfully making money from affiliate marketing online in Australia for a number of years. He is also the webmaster of http://www.cashflowaffiliate.com, a frequently updated list of internet affiliate programs and marketing recourses.

Multiple Passive Affiliate Income Streams Revealed

Writen by Paul Wolbers

Creating multiple streams of income is a critical element of any business. Affiliate marketing is no exception. By creating multiple streams of income you ensure your business longevity should one income source dry up. Having multiple streams of income can be compared to McDonalds selling chicken sandwiches even though they are a burger and fries type of restaurant. If you put all your eggs in one basket you're just looking for trouble.

As an affiliate niche marketer it's rather simple to setup multiple streams of income because there are an abundance of different programs with quality products available. With most niches you'll likely even be able to find goods that complement each other instead of compete. This is an exceptional way to reinforce your affiliate earnings.

The first order of business is to get your own web site. Something basic will do as you won't require too much web space. There are very low-cost hosting plans available nowadays, some as economical as $3.95 a month.

Next you'll need a domain name. These are also low cost and can be purchased for less than $10 a year. Your domain name is very important. You'll want to try to include some of the keywords associated with the niche you're targeting in the domain name itself. If you're looking at the " health and nutrition" niche for instance, you may desire a name like "health-and-nutrition-tips.com" or something similar.

The next task on your agenda when building multiple streams of affiliate income should be to build your own email subscriber base. Building your subscriber base should be one of your top priorities. By capturing the names and email addresses of your prospects before sending them to the merchant website, you'll build a subscription list that you can send information and offers to that are related to your niche.

It's been said many times before, "The Money Is In Your List"! This applies to affiliate marketing as well as product creation. You can build your list by writing a free report about to the niche you're targeting. It may be you can write a review of a product you're supporting or a "top ten" list of reasons to use the product. Offer the report for free in exchange for your visitors name and email address.

After the prospect has given their information send them to the download page of your special report. By transferring them to an HTML web page you can sprinkle in links to other affiliate products related to the niche email list they signed up for.

Also, write from seven to ten emails to go out at five to ten day intervals, each highlighting a different aspect of the main product you're promoting. Then you can add more emails to go out at seven to ten day intervals exposing your readers to different products in the same niche. Explain how these products complement each other and why your reader would benefit from the purchase. These are just some ideas of how you could use your list to generate sales. The possibilities are endless.

By setting up a few of these basic sites offering an array of special reports in targeted niches you'll be promoting several different affiliate products at the same time. Find a variety of other lucrative niches to target, repeat the above process and before long you'll possess a whole network of sites funneling prospects into your sales process.

Soon you'll have multiple streams of affiliate income in several different niches producing passive income on auto-pilot.

Want to learn more about building Multiple Passive Income Streams? Discover A Step-by-step proven system for building niche affiliate websites that earn passive residual income for life. Visit: http://www.MagnumOnline.com

Super Affiliate Strategies Part 2

Writen by Rich Hamilton, Jr

If you are an affiliate that is trying to promote an affiliate program, then I don't need to tell you it's not a walk in the park, unless you know what to do. With that in mind, this is one of the main reasons I decided to write a sequel article called Super Affiliate Strategies Part 2. In this article, we are going to talk about a few ways that you can effectively promote your affiliate program.

Articles

Writing articles is another great way to promote your affiliate program and it won't cost you a cent. All you have to do is write articles that are associated with the affiliate program you are promoting. At the end of each article, will be the best time to promote your affiliate program. Make sure that the affiliate program you are promoting is relevant to the article, you'd be suprised at how many people get this wrong.

Just to give you an idea, I previously wrote an article that was entitled "The Wrong Email Format Can Destroy Your Offer". In this particular article I discussed the advantages and disadvantages of text and html email formats. At the end of the article I presented an autoresponder that is capable of performing both formats.

Custom Error Pages

If you are not using custom error pages to help lost visitors, then you should. Believe it or not up to 10% of your visitors are going to see an error page and by having custom error pages that will help your lost visitor navigate to a destination of your choice. Up to 80% of visitors that receive an error page will leave your web site completely, a custom error page is great way to keep your visitor on your web site, by pointing the way for them.

Having a custom error page is the perfect opportunity to present to your lost visitor an itemized list of your affiliate programs that you are promoting. Instead of having them leave your web site all together, just point them in the direction, but towards the affiliate program you are promoting. Having a custom error page is an effective and powerful way to make the best of your ugly error pages!

Even though this is an effective strategy, you don't want to confuse your lost visitor with too many options. If you do have too many options on your custom error page, this strategy may backfire on you. So, I recommend that you limit the amount affiliate programs on your custom error page.

Automated Messages

If you are currently using any type of automated message, then you would consider promoting your affiliate program with them. Promoting your affiliate program in your automated messages is a great way to make additional affiliate sales and it works well too. When I say an automated message, I mean any type of automated message, whether it is an invoice, newsletter confirmation, faq, etc.

The trick is to promote an affiliate program that is associated with the message. For instance, if you have a newsletter about web marketing tips and you send your new subscribers an automated confirmation message. Then you would want to promote a product that was related to the theme of your newsletter, in this case, it would be web marketing.

The same can be done with an invoice automated message, in fact, it works very effectively. Why? Because they have already bought something from you and they are still in the mood to buy. By feeding on your buyer's impulse, you can literally watch your affiliate sales skyrocket. You need to make sure that the affiliate program you are promoting is associated with your invoice message, or this strategy will not work effectively.

About The Author

Rich Hamilton, Jr is the CEO/President of http://www.ElitesMarketing.com and the Author of Inside Internet Marketing. His book will show you how to laser in on your targeted market with unconventional marketing strategies to promote your web site without ever having to pay a cent in advertising. http://www.InsideNetMarketing.com

How To Create Your Own Successful And Profitable Affiliate Program

Writen by Charles Kangethe

Most of the truly successful marketers have three competitive advantages :

• They run successful Affiliate Programs (Part 1)

• They own large Opt-In Lists and have large traffic (Part 2)

• They create their own products (Part 3)

Step #1 - Three Affiliate Program Opportunities

• Opportunity 1 - Using Own Products and Services

  Combining your own products with a successful Affiliate Program is almost a license to write your own checks.

• Opportunity 2 - Using Resell and Master Rights Products

  Surprisingly, as you will see in step 4, you can create and run an Affiliate Program even if you don't have your own products and services.

• Opportunity 3 - Substitute Joint Ventures

  All successful Affiliate Programs are joint ventures in miniature. Your affiliate partners require as much of your support and commitment as would any JV partners.

Step #2 - The Top Ten Features Of A Good Affiliate Program

1. It delivers consistent sales for Affiliates, by marketing products with high consumer benefits.

2. It operates on a Leveraged I'ncome Pay structure, which extends a number of levels deep.

3. It operates on a Residual I'ncome Pay structure giving Affiliates repeat I'ncome.

4. A good program has high quality marketing tools and incentives for the Affiliates.

5. It pays out big percentages of the sale to the Affiliates and it pays promptly

6. The administration function tracks and corrects affiliate issues quickly, and effectively.

7. A good program trains and supports Affiliates enthusiastically.

8. It offers Affiliates complimentary, high value, front and back end products for promotion.

9. It handles all end customer care issues.

   10) A good program constantly tests new ideas to support and strengthen ties with affiliates and end customers alike.

Step #3 - "Own Product Affiliate Program"

Most people join an Affiliate Program on the strength and reliability of its compensation plan.

* Compensation Structure Planning :

• Who can join the program

  
  Is it open to anyone or just selected, approved partners ?

• Downline matrix structure for Leveraged I'ncome

  
  How deep is the matrix of downline earnings for Leveraged I'ncome ?

• Residual I'ncome Payments

  
  Does the program pay Residual I'ncome, on repeat subscriptions for as long as the end customer renews ?

• Minimum Payment amounts, and deadlines.

  
  Policy on payments, returns and deductions from Affiliate payments must be clear from the beginning.

• Affiliate monitoring of the program

  
  Affiliates must be able to easily monitor referrals and earnings. Clear and accurate reports to Affiliates should be available online or sent by e-mail.

* Marketing Plans

Develop high quality graphical links that Affiliates can use on their own websites to point to your program. These include

• Web Templates and copy

• Banner Links

• Button Links

• Text Links

Write e-courses coaching your Affiliates on what works best in promoting your products and services.

Do not make the mistake of thinking that when they sign up the whole thing will run on autopilot.

* Legal Issues

Consult professional, qualified lawyers to help you draw up your program terms and conditions before you go to market. The upfront cost involved may save you greater expense in the future.

Step #4 - Resell and Master Rights Product Affiliate Programs

An Affiliate Program without your own products is possible, but use caution - it is less likely to be a huge earner, than one promoting your own stable of products.

Why would anyone join an Affiliate Program to promote a resell or master rights product, that they could buy and sell earning 100% of the profits ?

The answer is reduced effort, time and money.

An Affiliate Program for resell or master rights products saves the affiliate from having to buy, process, add value to and give customer service to the resell rights product.

It becomes an easy I'ncome stream that people may want to join.

The trick in this situation is to

• Spot a product with selling potential, that is relatively scarce and has not been over marketed.

• Create the Affiliate Program where the product owner has failed or is incapable of seeing the market opportunity.

Remember caution - Do not spend huge sums setting up this type of program because the "Return on Investment" is likely to be low.

Step #5 - Mini Joint Venture

JV partners bring "something with them, to the party" - This might be funding, a huge opt-in list, a product or service, or ideas.

Affiliate partners on the other hand, bring only their desire to promote your products and services.

However, the practical day to day administration of the two types of programs is very similar.

For instance:

• You should coach affiliates and JV partners in the best way to market the products.

• You must listen to their issues and deal with them effectively and efficiently

• You must make sure they are happy with the program arrangements, in order that they promote it strongly and join up for future promotions.

JV's and Affiliate programs are different, but only in small details. Treat them with similar care.

Step #6 - Affiliate Program Automation

Quality tools are indispensable for Affiliate Program Automation

• Affiliate Scripts - These are commercially available scripts that allow you to set up programs of various complexity in terms of compensation plans, account management, and program administration.

• Administration Tools - These allow you to see in detail which Affiliates are performing and deserving of more of your effort, time and attention and which ones are not and can therefore be dropped from the program.

• Sequential Autoresponder - Use this to coach and train your Affiliates by sending them regular e-mail.

• VoIP Communicators - These allow you to hold Cheap Live training and support seminars where your Affiliates can virtually attend, see, hear and talk to one another from across the Globe without the need for expensive travel or phone costs.

• Payment Processor - This is the facility by which your Affiliate partners will be paid.

• Product Fulfillment - A successful program will generate many sales and the fulfillment process must be able to cater for the heavy workload.

• Customer Care - The extra sales means that you may need to handle higher levels of end customer issues including returns.

Step #7 - In a Nutshell

This may seem daunting at first reading, but in reality setting up an Affiliate Program is straightforward.

The blue print is :

• Decide on the product type you want to set a program up for.

• Decide on Affiliate entry and acceptance criteria

• Decide on the compensation plan

• Decide on the marketing plan

• Decide the legal structure

• Choose your automation tools

• Market the program

• Train and support your affiliates, especially your winners.

• Don't be afraid to test new ideas

Relevant Resources

Affiliate Program Setup Scripts

• TWSC Affiliate Lite! from http://www.twsc.biz

• Affiliate Scripts from http://www.affiliate-scripts.com/

Affiliate Program Administration Tools

• AssocTrac from http://shmyl.com/sjm

Sequential Autoresponders

• Getresponse from http://www.getresponse.com

• Aweber from http://www.aweber.com

VoIP - Cheap Live Communicators

• http://shmyl.com/agz

Wealth Creation Strategies - F'REE 10 part e-Course

• http://www.simplyeasier.com/wcs

Affiliate Programs - An example Promotion Template

• http://www.simplyeasier.com/client/simplyeasierprofits.html

(c) 2004 Charles Kangethe

About The Author

Charles Kangethe of http://www.simplyeasier.com is a leading new wave marketer and a published author from England. The "Simply Easier" brand name is your guarantee of high value, quality Marketing Products, Services and Resources.

charles@simplyeasier.com

3 Tips To Succeed With Affiliate Programs

Writen by Shrinivas Vaidya

Dear friends, when it comes to promoting affiliate programs we all follow a certain defined process. We first go to google.com, type affiliate programs in the search field. When the results get displayed we look for "high paying" affiliate programs. By "high paying" I mean those who pay 25% commissions.

Then we visit each and every website listed and join the programs becuse they are free! to join. We put all sorts of banners and text ads on our links page and expect to see a check in our mail box the next morning.

Well, I am here going to reveal a very different way of promoting affiliate programs. Let us revise the process one-by-one.

Step 1: Search for affiliate programs with your favorite search engine. Look for only those affiliate programs whcich have products which interests you. For example if you are interested in "radio controlled airplanes" then look for such products first. Don't start with promoting "herbal shampoos" or "yoga cd's" just because they pay 40% commissions.

Since you already know a little about rc planes it wiil be much easier for you to promote various aspects of the product.

So when selecting the affiliate prgram keep in mind the following sequence

a) Product which you know about or are interested in.

b) Qulaity of the product. To know the quality of the product it is advisavle to buy the product yourself first.

c) The organisation associated with the product. Look for the promotional material they are giving to affiliates. This shows the confidence of the manufacturer in their own product.

d) Commission structure. Some webmasters provide 2 tier commission structure. Some have a threshhold amout before the affiliates get paid. Here is a nice place to sart with. This is a list which contains 50 affiliate Programs That Pay AT LEAST 50% commissions.

Visit http://www.myfriendlyebooks.com/Aff/a1.htm

Step 2: Design a simple landing page to "presell" the product before sending the visitors to actual sales page. Now this step is extremely imporant. Why do you to presell the product ?. This is because this is internet. No one knows you here or has seen you personally.

Normally when someone buys from the internet he is going to look for similar 4-5 products before he gets to the final decision. Here if he comes to your affiliate landing page it becomes much easier for him to compare the product you want to promote with similar 4-5 products in the category.

The landing page you have designed can have testimonials, which you can borrow from the sales page. It can also contain your own experience about the product. You can use before/after situations for describing the benefits of the product. You can use photographs of yourself using the product successfully. This adds instant credibility to the product you want to promote.

Step 3: When the visitors reach your landing page you must have a system to capture their names and email addresses. Because as I said earlier there are many people who look for similar 4-5 products before buying. By capturing email addresse you can "follow up" your subscribers later on using newsletters or product features using email autoresponders.

The best way to capture email addresses is to provide a free gift related to the product. This free gift can be an eBook written by you or many webmasters already have an ebook written for the affiliates. So again this is a very important point, join only those programs where you will find a decent promitional material already prepared for the affiliates.

That's it friends. I hope these words were helpful. I wish you good lick in your affiliate promotional journey

Copyright 2005 Shrinivas Vaidya

Shrinivas Vaidya is the webmaster of http://myfriendlyebooks.com

To help you start with right affiliate progrmas I have assembled a list of 50 affiliate programs that pay AT LEAST 50% commissions. You can access the listing for free at the following url: http://www.myfriendlyebooks.com/Aff/a1.htm

Affiliate Marketing Courses

Writen by Shankar Pandiath

Affiliate marketing has been around on the Web for quite sometime now, but there are still a lot of people who doesn't know much or even nothing about it.

Most of the people that don't know about affiliate marketing and has just discovered it normally think that they can make a quick buck or two from affiliate programs. Well that's not the case. Now the question is can someone really make money with affiliate programs?

There are obviously many ways to make money online: Some simple, some quite complicated. Affiliate programs are a great way to reinforce your home business. Affiliates struggling to earn $150 a month often find it hard to believe that other people could possibly earn as much as $8,000 or even $80,000 to 100,000 a month in commissions.

In fact, such commissions do happen!

Now, wouldn't you like to be more successful in Affiliate Marketing?

Wouldn't you like to become a 'true' expert in how you sell products and services on the web?

Then the first step you ought to take is to get hold of some FREE Affiliate Marketing Courses

Given below are some free downloads. These free downloads are not just for beginners. Even if you have been involved in affiliate programs for some time, you will benefit greatly from the below mentioned free downloads.

You can use these downloads to either start an affiliate marketing business, or use it to learn the essentials of online marketing, or to learn how to start a web based internet home business that can earn you substantial recurrent income or just to make money with a simple Google AdWords campaign which takes less than 30 minutes a week, but can earn you thousands per month

There are also FREE Affiliate Marketing Courses how to sell your services to other people and profit from the experience, how to price your products at the optimum level - so they sell, develop a powerful auction site where you can sell almost anything, learn how to write powerful words that SELL products on the net and finally develop and sell your own book!

If you don't have a specific online service, or product in mind then there are tons of affiliate programs you can find online in affiliate networks Some of them will undoubtedly relate to your special interest.

Equipped with these basics, I reckon you more or less have the theoretical side to affiliate marketing in your hands. What remains is the practical side and that is something no one can teach you - you gotta learn it by yourself!

Wishing you all the best in your affiliate marketing!

Shanks Pandiath is a part-time affiliate marketer. Feel free to use this article online, as long as you do not make any changes in its content, you keep all the links in it as it is.

CLICK HERE for some Free Downloads on Affiliate Marketing Courses.

Online Casino Affiliate Make Money From The Online Casino Boom

Writen by Blake Stevenson

Casinos have often been a way for local governments and entrepreneurs everywhere to earn a highly lucrative salary. Epitomised by the huge popularity and revenue of Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States, the industry has provided financial booms all over the world. Casinos lure in customers with the promise of unimaginable wealth, amazing entertainment and the glamour and excitement that has become synonymous with the industry. Now that same excitement and huge wealth is being generated in the virtual realm of the Internet. Without the limits of space and employees, online sites have created a brand new and rejuvenated face for casinos everywhere. New games, new experiences and new opportunities have made the online casino industry one of the most profitable around.

But much like the real life casinos bring in huge revenues for their surrounding areas, so have the online versions found ways of distributing and generating extra revenue. Due to the huge boom in popularity, a similarly large number of companies and online giants have been quick to jump on the bandwagon. Due to the number of online casinos competition between companies has become intense, with each one desperate to attract new members. Some are lured by off line advertisements and huge bonus offers, but most are found through affiliate programs.

The online casino affiliate program offers a casino experience to Internet users of all levels. All that is required is a site, some space on which to place advertising and the will to market external sites. Casinos offer their affiliates a cut of the players profits that they pass on to them. Affiliates may be offered anywhere between 20 and 30% of the money a player generates during their lifetime on the site. In turn the affiliate then takes on the risks and potential gains that are associated with casinos. Whilst most will not charge affiliates when a player gains money, some will so affiliates should make sure beforehand what their situation is. Unfortunately whilst the online as well as real life casinos can create a huge amount of money through games that favour the house, because it is gambling there is also the chance of losing money.

Affiliates don't have to endure the stresses and strains of owning a casino, but still have the opportunity to earn a cut of it. If an affiliate can find a failsafe program, in which they will never lose money, there is the chance to earning some serious cash. Casino gamblers win and lose huge sums each year at the virtual tables, by joining an affiliate program any website owner can get a percentage of the casinos fortunes. Unlike the gamblers that the affiliate coaxes in, they have none of the risk or financial dangers associated with casino gaming. Just a regular income from a reliable source, which depending on the number of guests can amount to a large subsidiary paycheck.

If you're making money from a casino affiliate program, learn how to promote poker affiliate programs at http://www.epokeraffiliate.com/

Making Money With Affiliate Programs Part I

Writen by Nowshade Kabir

If you have a website and you are not involved in any of the thousands of affiliate programs available on the Internet, you are loosing great opportunities to make some extra income. As in the case of some top affiliate marketers this extra income might even transform into thousands of dollars.

Affiliate program is one of the most effective methods of producing sales second only to direct mail. According to Forrester Research, a marketing research company, in this year 21% of all online sales will be generated from affiliate sites promoting affiliate products.

If you do your homework right, you too can earn handsomely from the correct use of affiliate programs.

What is an affiliate program?

The concept of affiliate program is based on the age-old business practice of referral service. This is quite common in many industries. An attorney, for example, gets a certain percent of commission if he refers a client to another lawyer.

Back in 1996 Amazon.com started the first widespread use of referral service on the Internet. If a client comes to Amazon.com and buy a product using a link provided by Amazon, from a website which signed affiliate partnership agreement, that site receives 10 to 15% commission from the sale. The Amazon Affiliate Program became so successful that it prompted others to follow the suit. Today, affiliate programs became ubiquitous on the Internet making them one of the primary methods of online marketing of products and services.

Affiliate Program can be defined as Internet marketing system where a company allows and helps third party websites, called affiliates to post link and refer clients in return for a predetermined flat-fee or percentage-based commission.

Benefits of affiliate programs
Affiliate Programs became so popular because as a partnership it's a win-win situation for both the program owner and the affiliates.

Benefits for program owners include:

Increase Sales
The primary reason for most of the companies to adopt an affiliate program is the possibility of boosting sales. In fact, proper implementation of a quality affiliate program is capable of increasing sales dramatically.

Free promotion
A successful affiliate program can easily become the largest traffic generator for the company website. Many websites receive major portion of their visitors from their affiliate links. To find suitable websites with required content in order to run a banner or link campaign is time consuming and require large resources; affiliate programs in comparison can resolve this issue often with a far smaller investment.

Increase search engine ranking
Search engines, Google in particular, calculate link popularity as one of the main factors in their ranking algorithm. Backward links from affiliate sites certainly help improving this.

Branding
Thanks to its affiliate program Amazon.com banner links can be seen on numerous websites. Popularity of Amazon.com among the newcomers to Internet proves that Amazon.com was successful in creating its online brand name. No doubt, omnipresent visibility of their logo on the affiliate sites definitely had a huge impact on the brand recognition of the Amazon. Offline companies had to spend billions of dollars of advertisement money to get similar results!

How about the affiliates? What are the benefits they get from an affiliate relationship?

No product or service to carry
Online business with your own product or service might be rewarding, but it requires substantial investment from your part. With carefully chosen affiliate programs you can have your online business without the requirement of having your own products.

The investment is low as all you need is a website.

No need to have a merchant account
Since you don't carry your own products or services you do not have to go through the hassle of having a merchant account to cater your clients. Your affiliate program owner will do everything. All you have to do is supply clients through your designated link.

Possibility of residual income
Many programs pay you a commission from the sales made to the customers generated from affiliates, who have signed up as an affiliate following your link. This kind of affiliate system is called 2-tier system.

Visitor tracking system allows affiliate programs to pay you a commission when same visitor from your website makes repeat purchase.

Some affiliate programs that promote monthly or yearly subscription services pay a commission each month as long as customer referred by you stays subscribed.

Complement you website with added products and services If your site is dedicated to certain products or services, there must be other stuffs that go well together with your own products. It's a good idea to seek out viable affiliate products of these items and promote through your site. Your visitors will love this and this will help building loyalty among your visitors.

Have new contents for your site
many affiliate programs supply you with valuable marketing materials. Some of these materials can be nice addition to your site content bringing further value to your website.

Various Affiliate programs

There are two ways of running an affiliate program: The company owns and handles the program itself, using certain software.

The company uses third party administered affiliate programs. The reasons why many companies prefer to hand over management of their affiliate programs include technical aspects, cost factor and human factors.

– Companies do not have to spend money on developing, running and updating the software.

– Proven technology allows companies to concentrate on their job of selling their products and services.

– Many prospective affiliates prefer third party managed programs, because they rightfully ponder, in this case the program owners have less chance to cheat their affiliates.

Find below a list of some leading third party affiliate program administrators:

http://www.befree.com
http://www.linkshare.com
http://www.cj.com
http://www.clickbank.com

However, this does not mean that you should avoid company run affiliate programs. On the contrary, some of the most successful and best affiliate programs are run by the owners.

If you find an affiliate program that suits your requirement and you feel that the company is a reputable one, by any means you should give it a try!

Nowshade Kabir is the founder, primary developer and present CEO of Rusbiz.com. A Ph. D. in Information Technology, he has wide experience in Business Consulting, International Trade and Web Marketing. Rusbiz is a Global B2B Emarketplace with solutions to start and run online business. You can contact him at mailto:nowshade[at]rusbiz.com, http://ezine.rusbiz.com , http://www.rusbiz.com , http://ezine.rusbiz.com/newsletters/newsletter21.htm