Thursday, July 31, 2008

How To Become An Affiliate

Becoming an affiliate is one of the easiest business propositions out there, which is why it is so quickly gaining in popularity. Businesses want to have as many affiliate marketers working for them as possible, after all, it's really just a form of free advertising. For this reasons, businesses make it very easy to sign up for an affiliate program. Find a program, sign up for free, and just like that you're an affiliate.

The most important part of affiliate marketing boils down to one word: relevancy. In order to be a successful affiliate, you need to choose partnership programs that correspond to the nature of your affiliate site. So if you are running a travel affiliate site, link to affiliate sites for airfare, travel packages, clothing, and other relevant sites. Linking to a pet product affiliate doesn't make so much sense.

This is core to why experienced affiliate marketers will have a stable of sites. They'll have their travel hub, pet hub, book hub, and so on. Some affiliate marketing links will cross over, for instance, everyone needs credit cards and even airfare deals could find a home on a pet site. The basic rule of thumb is that affiliate links should be on topic.

If you're just starting out, one method to starting an affiliate site is to thumb through affiliate marketing directories and see what affiliate marketing programs interest you: do they offer a good product, do they have good terms, do they have a good rating? You could then design your website around a particular type of product based on the affiliate program you have found in an affiliate directory. If you already have a running website, check directories for new affiliate marketing programs that correspond to the site.

At times, less is more. There are literally hundreds of affiliate deals out there with good terms and a good product. Don't just cram hundreds of links onto one page. Your affiliate links should be easy to read and access, and they should be organic: they should appear to be a part of the site, rather than an obvious moneymaking opportunity. The correct way!!!! The more relevant these affiliate sites are to the main theme of the site, the more likely it is web surfers will click on the link and make a purchase.

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Monday, July 14, 2008

Why Affiliate Marketing Is So Important

Much of the information you'll find online is aimed at affiliate marketers: Make millions online! While many of these claims are overblown, they also get the attention of small and medium-sized businesses that also want to cash in on the affiliate marketing gold rush. Becoming an affiliate is as lucrative a proposition as becoming an affiliate marketer. For this reason, you'll see new affiliate opportunities arising each and every day.

Look at what a business is getting if it starts an affiliate program: free advertising. That's the simplest way to put it. The marketer signs up with the business and agrees to put a link on a website. The business only has to pay for this service if a sale is made—normally for a reasonable commission. As this is a sale that wouldn't have been made without the affiliate marketer's site, it is money well spent.

Even if a sale is not made, the link provides a method of advertising that can increase name recognition. Most business owners know that people might not make a purchase until the fifth time they see a brand name or come surfing to a site. An affiliate program can spread the word about a business on dozens upon dozens of sites. When combined with more traditional types of advertising, this can be a great way for a new business to get a foothold or an established business to expand its reach. These links can help search engine ranking as well.

The trick to a good affiliate partnership is finding quality marketers. While you obviously want to have your link on as many sites as possible, you also want those sites to be adept at generating traffic and sales. The fact remains that a large number of affiliate sites are posted and then never updated again. A business wants to find marketers who will design a professional-looking site and market that site effectively. At affiliate forums, businesses can hook up with marketers to start a relationship. A business owner can get a sense of the marketer's skill and drive from his or her stable of sites.

There's a lot of competition for marketers out there, especially established, quality marketers. Your best bet is to offer very attractive terms—a higher commission than the competition or a unique link layout. It should go without saying that your own site is well designed. An affiliate marketer wants to make a sale just as much as you do, and marketers won't sign up with a site that is poorly constructed. Offer a good site and a good product and you'll bring in more affiliate marketers. All this said, it is no surprise that affiliate marketing is growing at such an exponential rate. It is as important to business as any other type of marketing.
For more information visit: http://www.tawnlive.com