Affiliate Marketing is a powerful tool that should be in every companies toolbox. Most programs are fairly easy to setup depending on your market and should only take one to two people to run successfully. If you have been thinking about setting up an affiliate marketing program for your company, now is the time.
Affiliate Marketing Programs are big business. You can set one up internally with software like idevaffiliate, or you can use one of the many networks that provide you with the necessary tools to succeed. You will need to look at your cash flow to determine what you would like to do in order to setup the right program. One thing to remember is that an affiliate program is not set it and forget it. It takes constant updating or work to be successful. You are competing with other companies for the affiliates and you might even be competing with your direct competitors. If you have an enticing program then you have the chance to bring an affiliate from your competitors program to yours.
If you are interested in starting your affiliate program with an established network, then here are the best networks out there. Remember, starting with an affiliate network is an investment, but it will pay off in the end if you build it correctly.
- Commission Junction (CJ) – Commission Junction is one of the oldest and most established affiliate networks out there. It has great tools to help you get started and succeed with running a program. There are so many publishers (affiliates) to choose from that it makes building a good program easier to do. One downfall of CJ is the cost to start up. If you are a small business you will most likely not be able to afford their costs. This program charges a setup fee, monthly fee, and transaction %. It can be very costly if you do not have a good program.
- LinkShare – Linkshare is another old affiliate network that has many fortune 500 companies with a lot of good affiliates. This is another place to look into if you want to get a good start with your new affiliate network. The cost of this network is also pretty high and may be cost prohibitive for small to medium sized businesses. You can contact them for specifics on pricing.
- Google Affilate Program (Used to be Doubleclick Performics) – This is run by the largest search engine in the world and they also provide a great platform and tools to start and build your network. Their costs are a lot less than CJ and Linkshare, but they still provide an excellent way to get your program up and running successfully. This would be a great option for any sized business.
- ShareASale – This network is one of the smaller ones, but they offer great reporting and tools to succeed. This is a network that would help people that are price conscious to start a network. Their start up fee is under $500 and they take a small percentage of affiliate sales with very low monthly minimum requirements. There are about 1700 advertisers, but a lot more affiliates. This network is growing and very popular with a lot of affiliates.
- ClickBank – This network is different because it is geared toward digital products. If you sell music or products that your customers can download, then you should really checkout ClickBank. It is the largest network for digital downloads and outperforms many other regular affiliate networks.
These networks are probably the ones that are used the most. While there are many more networks out there, these provide the tools and the know how in order to successfully start up your affiliate program. The best part about affiliate programs is that you can specify how you want to pay your affiliates, either CPC, Cost Per Sale, or Cost per Action. You can specify the action and how much they earn. You have total control over your program. Affiliate Networks are there to help you along and provide a fantastic platform to build your program. Creating an affiliate program in-house is much harder and can be very daunting. If you are an internet retailer, then running your affiliate program on a Cost Per Sale makes the most sense because you only pay your affiliates when the traffic they send you converts into a sale. If they do not purchase, you do not pay. This also allows you to fine tune your processes during checkout if you see that many visitors are not purchasing. Affiliate Programs are a great way to debug any conversion issues that you might be having without loosing money with CPC programs. So, if you are in the market of starting an affiliate program, checkout the above networks to see if they will be able to assist you. Creating a program can payoff big time in a short amount of time if all goes well. Good Luck!
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March 3, 2011 
3 Comments
Amazon sent a letter to some government officials in California stating that they would cut ties with all affiliates if any of the proposed four laws were enacted. They estimate that the state would lose 50% of the estimated income if Amazon would cut the program. That is a large amount of money and this is only if Amazon cuts the ties. Usually other large retailers tend to follow Amazon and cut the affiliates as well. All I have to say is, California don’t be another dumbass state to think you are going to game the system. Amazon has more control over the money they dish out to affiliates than you do, and all they have to do is send a letter and then cut the affiliates. It’s time to get your governing head out of your governing ass and use common sense! Oh wait, did I just use the word common sense when speaking about government…..
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