I was one of those online businessowners who was hesitant
to add an affiliate program to my business building
efforts. But once my clients and customers starting asking
me if I had one that they could join, I knew it was time to
bite the bullet and conquer this particular piece of
technology.
Now, of course, I wonder why the heck I waited so long
(talk about leaving money on the table!). It couldn't be
simplier to get started with your own affiliate program.
You can get very elaborate, but the basic set-up is easy,
and once you do one campaign, the next one is a piece of
cake.
(And after just generating about $1000 in affiliate
commissions myself by sending just one pre-written email to
my list, I'm a huge fan of promoting other people's
valuable products and programs too.)
If you're not yet familiar with what an affiliate program
is, it's basically an easy way for your clients and
customers to tell other people about your products and
programs, by way of a special link, that rewards them with
a commission on each sale they make for you. Basically,
they get paid for referring clients and customers to you.
The great thing about affiliate programs is that they're
very easy to enroll your clients and customers into,
because it's a win-win proposition. They make a certain
percentage in commission for each sale, and you make a sale
you might not have otherwise.
And if you write the marketing copy for them, whether it's
for an email promotion or a simple graphic that your
affiliates can post to their own websites, you'll make it
amost effortless for them to promote your offerings.
For you, besides the benefit of having a sales force on
your team that you only pay when they make the actual sale
for you, you don't have to pay for advertising that may or
may not pay off. It's like Google Adwords. With Adwords,
you only pay Google when someone clicks on your ad. With an
affiliate program, you only pay when your affiliate makes a
sale.
Here are 4 simple steps for harnessing the the power of
your raving fans (via an affiliate program):
1. Choose Your Tool
Most shopping cart systems (like 1ShoppingCart) offer an
affiliate program as part of their service. Or you could
choose a stand-alone affiliate system. I like and use
1ShoppingCart's affiliate tools because they intergrate
with the rest of the technology I use in the cart as well
as with some of my other systems, which makes tracking and
managing my campaigns easier. And 1SC's 'look and feel' is
very familiar to online buyers, which helps attract
potential affiliates.
2. Choose Your Tier
Then you'll need to decide whether to offer a 1-tier
program or a 2-tier program. Simply put, a 1-tier program
is set up so that you pay your affiliates for any sales
they make on your behalf. A 2-tier program is set up so
that you pay a small percentage of any sales generated by
affiliates they referred to your program. To start out, I
suggest keeping it simple and choose a 1-tier program, as
you can always add a second tier later.
3. Choose Your Campaign Method
For each product or program you want to offer an affiliate
fee on, decide how you will promote it, whether it be via
unique affiliate links, banner ads, or other product
graphics with the affiliate links embedded.
Regardless of how you'll format your links, you'll want to
provide promotional copy for your affiliates to use. It's
much easier for your affiliates to promote your offerings
when all they have to do is cut and paste an email you've
already written for them (and you're really the best person
to do that anyway, since you know your offering the best).
If you make the process of promoting as easy as possible
for your affiliates, more of them will take action and
promote your offerings, and you'll both make more money.
4. Choose Your Commission
It's important to pay your affiliates a great commission
for each sale they make for you. Frankly, the more you pay,
the more you'll earn, because your affiliates will be much
more motivated to promote for you. Not only do you make a
sale that you wouldn't have otherwise, you also now have a
new client or customer, who is likely to become a repeat
buyer (because as much as 40% of people who have bought
from you once will buy from you again).
There you have it - 4 simple steps to creating your own
affiliate program. Now the next time someone wants to refer
someone to you for your product or service, you can thank
them by way of paying them an affiliate fee.
----------------------------------------------------
Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & CoachT,
founder of ClientAbundance.com and creator of 21 Easy &
Essential Steps to Online Success SystemT, teaches
professionals how to attract more clients, create
profit-making products and services, make more sales, and
ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE
tips on how to create abundance in your business, visit
http://www.ClientAbundance.com .
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