By Bob Dean Stanford
It certainly is reasonable to believe you can create a large group of Internet marketers selling your products online. Many people are doing it successfully. Like anything else, you’ve got to crawl before you walk, and walk before you run. Starting with baby-steps.
Many people try to jump into a project before laying the ground work. If you implement the right support services and software, things will run smooth and your Affiliates will be in their comfort zone. Companies come and go. You’ve likely seen MLM companies start up, recruit hundreds and thousands of distributors only to fail, take the money and run.
Affiliates are wise to this scam and you can’t afford to have any major crisis strike in your early formidable setup stages. Ruin your reputation and you could ruin your business. It’s not that difficult to setup an affiliate program, but there are prevailing laws that you must comply with. Believe it or not the infrastructure, software or service provider support is the easier part.
Once you setup your software or online service, the system pretty much runs on autopilot. Really! And you don’t have to be a Mensa member or Einstein to set it up. If you feel you need help with the setup there are consultants that can help you with that and assist in keeping your program legally compliant.
How do you structure your program? The easy answer is joining a few of the more popular programs to review how they are setup and structured. Try and learn how your competitors systems work and create an equal or even better program.
By joining and comparing several programs, you can utilize the best concepts and procedures from each one making a new and exciting program. The scope of this article is a brief overview. The reader will need to become familiar with various software features by comparing different packages. If you have a big markup you may wish to create a two level program. If available commissions are minimal, then a one level may be appropriate.
The major benefits of an Affiliate Program:
• Enlist a large group of energetic and highly motivated Affiliates! You have your own network selling your products at their own expense. They pay for their website, lead generation program, operating cost and etc. You pay them a commission ONLY after they have made the sale and paid you. There’s no risk and you control the product delivery.
• Your product will be advertised world wide on the web for FREE! Target individuals that already have a large mailing list of newsletter subscribers. As an affiliate of yours, they can advertise your products to many thousands of subscribers; make sales, at no cost to you. The more websites your product is featured in the more your product will popup on Google, Yahoo and other search engines. You will greatly benefit when on websites that have high search engines. Not only will you make more sales, but you will build your own newsletter clients when they visit your website and gain additional Affiliates from this FREE exposure.
• Major credibility! Having so many people recommending your product greatly reduces buyer suspicions and resistance. You become very credible in their eyes. They feel confident when purchasing your product because they see it advertised all over the Internet. This is product branding at its finest. Deal with companies that give a firm satisfaction guarantee, offering a full refund if the purchaser isn’t satisfied with their purchase. This removes resistance from most buyers.
• Operate more efficiently with very little overhead! Since your affiliates are providing all their own business and marketing expenses, you only have your initial setup costs, product cost and pay sales commissions. Even the sales commission cost you nothing because they are built into the sales price and only paid after you receive the payment for the product. And, since the program is primarily automated, you save a great deal of time permitting you the opportunity to focus on selling, not administrating.
There is software and online services that can completely automate your Affiliate Program and they won’t break the bank. Our personal choice is an online service. There are very low cost software programs making big claims about software that doesn’t live up to the brags. There is very expensive software and services that can be very complicated and horrendously expensive. Then there are software and service providers in the reasonable range that deliver adequate features and service. You will need to utilize a shopping cart in conjunction with your affiliate program. They are usually very inexpensive and can be a software package or even a hosted shopping cart. In fact one of the most commonly used is the PayPal’s shopping cart which is free. Email us if you need specifics.
Software VS. Service Provider
Normally, we prefer the service provider approach even though there are some good software programs available. We’ll list a few low end software packages for beginners but most very active companies tend to use service providers. We’ll list a few including our personal choice.
SOFTWARE
• With software you pay one price upfront then upgrade over time if you desire, usually for a fee.
• It must be stored on your computer and your computer must be connected with a broadband connection at all times. This can use up your computer resources during active times.
• There is installation and a learning curve.
• When the industry changes or new methods are popular, you will need to purchase upgrades if they are available.
• New computer technology, industry or law changes may make your software obsolete.
• You’re pretty much on your own for tech support after the warranty period is over.
• You got to be sure the software you purchased lives up to its claims and been around long enough to have the bugs worked out.
• Does the software provide additional training and related bonuses?
• Computer efficiency and Bandwidth can be major issues when you have hundreds or thousands of people trying to access your system, many at the same time.
SERVICE PROVIDER
• You have an upfront installation cost with a service provider just as you do with software.
• You don’t actually host the Affiliate activity on your computer but on the service providers system. This allows for greater bandwidth and twenty four hour tech support. No load on your personal system.
• Generally, there isn’t much of a learning curve requirement. Their control panels’ function tends to be very user friendly.
• They generally have excellent online training and live tech support when needed for as long as you use their service.
• Updates are automatic and you stay current with the latest features. No additional software to purchase.
• If there is a major computer problem or glitch, you have their support to quickly remedy the situation.
• Reputable companies offer you a trial period or money back guarantee so you can cancel if it doesn’t live up to your expectations. This is probably the number one important issue.
• Installation or setup is minimal and intuitive especially for beginners. Some are turn-key.
• Your computer doesn’t have to be connected to the Net at all times. For some, this is a benefit.
• Your computer’s memory and resources stay free from the load of a large amount of activity from hundreds or thousands of affiliates.
We learned that either a high quality software or service provider that actually uses the same system themselves for their affiliate program was most desirable. The problem with the quality software package we liked was their cost. They were very expensive or seemed inexpensive upfront with low setup and monthly fees, but then charged a percentage of sales. At first the percentages seemed small, but after crunching the numbers, we realized they could be very expensive on an annual basis. Some should have a picture of Mickey Mouse on their webpage, having questionable benefits.
Our personal Choice…
About the Author: Subscribe to the FREE "Maverick Tips" Newsletter at http://mavericktips.com - A weekly support newsletter for the TV Show and online Radio show, "The Maverick Entrepreneur," Hosted by "Maverick" (aka Bob Dean Stanford), targeting home businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. It presents cutting edge, state of the art small business marketing advice
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