Six Questions When Choosing a Affiliate Program

The Internet Marketing Newsletter
February 2007 #1

Internet Marketing Support Resources



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++++++++++++ This Week ++++++++++++


Six Questions When Choosing a Affiliate Program
By Robert Smith


+++++++++++ Feature Articles +++++++++++

Check Out That Money Making Opportunity!
By Joe Reinbold

Should You Add Affiliate Sales To Your Marketing Mix?
By June Campbell

Promoting Affiliate Products (The Right Way)
By Gail Hornback

Keeping Your Affiliates Active And Loyal
By Keller Flynn

Are Affiliate Programs Really A Money-Making
Heaven For Beginners?
By John D. Schultz

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++++++++++ This Week's Tip ++++++++++

Six Questions When Choosing a Affiliate Program
By Robert Smith

I have been working on-line over ten years now and it's is
almost as confusing now as it was when I started. I have
developed a sort of 6th sense. Today I want to tell you how I
evaluate affiliate programs and income opportunities.

"I look at what most of the others are doing and then I do
something a little different".

I have learned that whenever I consider a new business
opportunity that; "it's what they don't tell you that makes the
difference". If it's a great selling product they probably offer
small commissions. When it's a harder to sell product they will
focus on selling you their compensation plan. It's difficult if
not impossible to properly evaluate any affiliate product or
service based solely on published information

I have joined a lot of affiliate programs and some of them
are money makers and some are not. What I found was that most
affiliates are earning little or nothing. This is because most
people don't like the product well enough to buy it and become an
expert.

With enough experience you will eventually learn the right
questions on your own. I hope I can save you some time and effort
by sharing the following questions.

If I can't determine the answers quickly enough I suspect
there are other important considerations that they are also not
telling me.


1) How Much Retail Commission Can I Make?

I want to know how much as a percentage of gross sales are
reserved for a retail commission. The formula I like best as an
affiliate is a 50/50 split on the first level. I think a 50/50
split is fair because with a good commission the affiliate can
afford to spend more time and money marketing the product.

Most affiliate programs try to get as keep as much profit as
possible out of every sale. I believe that is one reason why
more than 90% of all affiliates don't earn enough income and
quit. If you are only making 10% how much time and money would
you spend to market someone else's product?


2) Is Some Or All The Income Residual

In the best case scenario, you can you sell the same product
over and over with no additional effort and earn still a
commission on every sale. Products with resale rights, services,
and consumable products are examples.

Multi-level marketers have understood residual income from
the beginning. Amway started up 30 plus years ago selling soap.
Soap is something everyone buys over their whole lifetime. Once
you sell someone soap they will continue to purchase from you as
long as the price is right and you make it easy for them to buy.
Many on-line businesses are now offering re-billing features.


3) Do I Have To Buy The Product Or Service In Order To Sell It?

You earn in proportion to what you invest. If it were too
easy to sell they wouldn't be willing to pay you to sell it.
That's why it's important to choose products where you know what
you bringing to the table. If you have little or no interest in
the product or service you won't be successful, keep shopping
products & opportunities until you find a product that is worth
buying yourself.

Most of the real moneymakers require that you become a
customer before they will allow you to re-sell their products.
This policy makes sense for several reasons.

a. If it's not worth buying - it's not worth selling
b. If you understand the product well you can sell it much
better
c. If you are required to be a customer to become a reseller
there will be a lot less other re-sellers to earn a
bigger share of the total market.
d. If the product comes with a learning curve it's actually even
better because you can sell consulting or support services.


4 ) How Much Effort Is Required To Earn The First $300?

You can use your own number. I use $300 because if it's not
reasonable to earn $300 in a month it most likely won't generate
enough income for the effort. Your number may be different.

>> The $300 Solution
http://www.smithfam.com/three300.html

For example if 30 sales earned $300. That's one sale a day,
30 sales are a lot for the average Internet marketer for one
month. If I can't earn $300 in first level sales commissions
the product should offer a residual income element.

>> Creating Residual Income
http://www.smithfam.com/residual.html

It's absolutely astounding to me how many business
opportunities don't give you enough information to answer that
one simple question. "How much do I need to sell to earn $300"?


You Want To Determine Three Things

a. How much profit you are earning per sale
b. How much effort in time and money it takes to produce the
average sales prospect
c. Find your lead to sale conversion in a percentage.

The industry average might be only one or two percent
conversion from prospect to customer. I have been able to
average five percent average after a lot of fine-tuning and
highly targeted marketing.

As I have mentioned before using my follow-up system two of
each ten requests for information result in sales. While that
may not seem to be a lot it's over 400% better than I was used to
earning and almost 8 times the industry average.


5 ) Can I Cross-Market Off-Line?

Most Internet marketers disregard a profitable source of
income. Targeted marketing off-line is usually as profitable as
on-line marketing. Off-line marketing often gets neglected
because of the myth that it's easy to earn a fortune almost
overnight on-line.


6 ) How Many Income Levels Does The Opportunity Offer?

This one may surprise you.

Traditional multi-level marketing doesn't usually offer
enough income to be profitable to anyone except the business
offering the opportunity. This is because it gets divided so
many ways. If the product costs one hundred dollars and fifty
dollars is profit. You could earn the whole fifty dollars with a
single level affiliate program.

If the program is two levels as many affiliate programs are
today. Instead of earning the whole fifty dollars profit you
might earn thirty dollars or less. The other twenty dollars
profit goes to your up-line for doing nothing, sounds good? In
reality the first level commission of thirty dollars is all you
will usually see.

The problem with multi-levels is that the opportunity pays
to little retail to be worth your time and effort. Even a great
product won't sell if it's over-priced. At the same time I think
it's unreasonable to expect others to do work if you are not
setting the example by selling retail product.

Another all to common outcome is that your marketing
becomes more focused on finding more resellers in the hope that
they will do what you are no longer focused on doing, selling
retail product.


In Conclusion

Look for products in your niche that you want to use
yourself to re-sell. Look for a high percentage of profit on the
first level. Choose products and services that are consumable so
you can sell it over and over. Understand the commission
structure and learn exactly what you must do to reach your first
income goal. Last but not least don't become a recruit. Market
on and off-line and earn the biggest commissions on your own
retail sales. Most of all don't expect others to do all the work
for you.

<-------------===> About the Author <===------------->

ROBERT SMITH helps thousands successfully market their Internet
based business. You'll find tons of free marketing tools &
resources on his Internet Marketing web site at:
>> http://www.smithfam.com/.

The WebKit CD - Complete Marketing Toolkit
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You can reach him by phone at: 689-1847 PST
and by email at.

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++++++++++ FEATURE ARTICLES ++++++++++


Check Out That Money Making Opportunity!
By Joe Reinbold ©2001 All Rights Reserved
Too many people today look at an opportunity online, fall
for the hyped claims and signup without thinking. You really need
to take a step back and examine it before joining. Here are some
things to consider.
>> http://www.smithfam.com/news/june01k.html

<==========*($)*==========>

Should You Add Affiliate Sales To Your Marketing Mix?
By June Campbell © All Rights Reserved
It might be time to implement an affiliate programHome
businesses aren't excluded. Many a home biz operator has
generated excellent sales by incorporating an online affiliate
program into the marketing mix.
>>
http://www.smithfam.com/news2/affiliate-program-sales.html

<==========*($)*==========>

Promoting Affiliate Products (The Right Way)
By Gail Hornback ©2002 All Rights Reserved
Experiencing success as an affiliate of someone else's
products takes investment on your part - both time and money. And
both of those are easily wasted, especially if you're still
convinced you're going to find that perfect get-rich- overnight
plan.
>> http://www.smithfam.com/news/feb02p.html

<==========*($)*==========>

Keeping Your Affiliates Active And Loyal
By Keller Flynn ©2001 All Rights Reserved
Have you noticed lately that some of your affiliates seem
to have disappeared from the face of the earth? ith so many
affiliate programs available these days, people can, and often
do, jump from program to program with little thought, and this is
bad news for affiliate directors.
>> http://www.smithfam.com/news/sept01n.html

<==========*($)*==========>

Are Affiliate Programs Really A Money-Making
Heaven For Beginners?
By John D. Schultz ©2000 All Rights Reserved
One of the most depressing statistics I've ever heard was
that over 90% of all affiliates fail to make money. Yet if you've
ever joined a discussion group on affiliate programs, you'll know
that this statistic is uncomfortably accurate.
>> http://www.smithfam.com/news/feb01t.html

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