Electronic commerce
Affiliate marketing typically refers to ... [a]n e-commerce affiliate ... website which links back to an e-commerce site
such as Amazon.com. When a reader of the website clicks on a link, they are connected to the e-tailer and if they purchase
something the affiliate receives a small payment, usually a percentage of the money the customer spends. Affiliates can
also be referred as advertisers. E-commerce affiliate is a multi billion dollar industry and is expected to rival
traditional affiliates in the near future.
Some advertisers offer so called multi-tier affiliate programs that distribute commission into a hierarchical referral
network of sign-up's and sub-affliates.
In practical terms: publisher "A" signs up the affiliate program with an advertiser and gets rewarded for the agreed activity
conducted by a referred visitor. If publisher "A" attracts other publishers ("B", "C", etc.) to sign up for the same affiliate
program using her sign-up code[,] all future activities by the joining publishers "B" and "C" will result in additional, lower
commission for publisher "A".
Snowballing, this system rewards a chain of hierarchical publishers who don't know of each others existance, yet generate
income for the higher level signup.
Use of affiliate links
Sites made up mostly of affiliate links are usually badly regarded as they do not offer quality content. In 2005 there
were active changes made by Google whereby certain websites were labeled as "thin affiliates" and were either removed from
the index, or taken from the first 2 pages of the results and moved deeper within the index. In order to avoid this
categorization, webmasters who are affiliate marketers must create real value within their websites that distinguishes
their work from the work of spammers or banner farms with nothing but links leading to merchant sites.
Affiliate links work best in the context of the information contained within the website. For instance, if a website is
about "How to publish a website", within the content an affiliate link leading to a merchant's ISP site would be appropriate.
If a website is about Sports, then an affiliate link leading to a sporting goods site might work well within the content
of the articles and information about sports. The idea is to publish quality information within the site, and to link
"in context" to related merchant's sites.
One common use of affiliate links is shopping directories and or price comparison websites. However, these sites should do
their best to enhance the web shopping experience. In many other cases, affiliate marketers offer unique content in niche
subject areas that they have researched well, and their text or graphic links to a merchant's site are well placed. This
principle works very well in blog website marketing as well.
Whatever affiliate program(s) you choose, it's important that your page content and the off-site advertising theme(s) remain relatively consonant. Running banners,
pop-ups, slide-ins or text descriptions that have nothing to do with your site content creates cognitive dissonance in the mind of the visitor and reflects poorly on your professional image. Indeed, "creatives" (as these ads are called) should be treated as
an integral part of your site content. They should provide the visitor with useful information and options germane to the material presented in your text. Even the best creatives are unlikely to have adequate conversion rates
unless they bear some relevance to the content that attracted the visitor in the first place. That's one of the big advantages of Google Adsense, which delivers topical ads based on Google's assessment of page content.
A sample of affiliate programs with products or services of superior quality, a money-back guarantee, good commissions and, in some cases, multi-tier structures...
Google Adsense Google AdSense is a fast and easy way for website publishers of all sizes to display relevant, unobtrusive Google ads on their website's content pages and earn money.
Because the ads are related to what your users are looking for on your site, you'll finally have a way to both monetize and enhance
your content pages. It's also a way for website publishers to provide Google web and site search to their visitors, and to earn money
by displaying Google ads on the search results pages.
Native Remedies
(1) Two-tier program with high conversion rates and top level commissions; (2) earn 25% commissions on each direct sale, and
5% on second tier sales; (3) commissions are lifetime - each time your customer buys again, you get commissions; (4) Get full
credit for Phone Sales; (5) Work with a site that ranks in the top 20,000 Alexa sites; (6) receive commissions from two top
product lines - NativeRemedies.com and PetAlive.com - all in the same program; (7) excellent conversion rates [over 6% for most
affiliates], a high EPC [$75+ per 100 clicks], and an impressive reorder rate from our satisfied customers.
ZenMed
Leader in all-natural skin and body care products for acne, cold sores, hemorrhoids, and sexual health. A heavy-duty, well-managed program with excellent creatives and a great range of tools to start your mail list, referral campaign, and submit your site to search engines.
dropship-suppliers.com
Drop Ship directory. Canadian Armand Melanson pays 50% commission on any referred sales and 50% commission on any backend sales that come from your referrals, plus commission on subaffiliate sales. Bullet proof referral tracking system.
The OHB Affiliate Program
Organic Health and Beauty provides health and beauty products with all natural ingredients. Thousands of customers and growing exponentially. Pays 10% for every sale (average is $75). Plus, every time you refer an affiliate, you make an additional 25% on all of their sales.
60 Minute Trader™
A unique, original system now being offered for the very first time allowing everyday people to BEAT THE PROFESSIONALS! Two tier affiliate program. Item: 60 Minute Trader, Win 75 Times Out Of Every 100 - Trading System, Price: $97.00.
You receive $40 for per sale, and $10 per level two sale.
ClickBank
Sign up for a free account, select a product and obtain links to promote it. Individual vendor set the commission. For example, Affiliate Money Tree, by Mike Delrue, pays 60% commission on every $49.95 eBook sale.
eBay.ca
You must register as an affiliate of eBay.ca to gain access to the Editor Kit.
This powerful tool enables you to create up-to-date listings of products on your Web site.
Associates.com
This affiliate directory lists 5500 programs. An excellent resource, with many helpful articles to facilitate affiliate success. The AssociatePrograms.com directory helps you
find the best affiliate programs or associate programs to earn money from your website. Be sure to check out their Top 10.
AffiliateDirectory.com The Nets Largest Directory of Affiliate Programs, Associate Programs and Partner Programs. Affiliates can earn commissions and generate extra income by joining some of the affiliate programs listed in our Directory. Learn about affiliate programs by using
our marketing tools, marketing resources and affiliate marketing advice. I quite enjoy this Web site. Check out their Affiliate Academy and sign up for the
monthly Affiliate News Ezine.
AffiliateGuide.com
Guide to the best web affiliate programs, associate programs and profit sharing. Useful for both webmasters and merchants looking for affiliate program information.
AffiliateMatch
Very useful site featuring quality programs and a newsletter.
Affiliate Showcase
Search Engine and Affiliate Programs Directory System that you can own. Rank your search results and highlight your best affiliate programs. Earn extra cash from all of your best affiliate programs.
eSponsors.ws
This Directory of Affiliate Programs is nicely organized and includes featured recommendations.
Affiliate Link Cloaker
Did you know that unscrupulous or mean-spirited individuals can hijack your hard-earned affiliate commissions? How? They can delete your affiliate ID from the URL and then make their purchase, denying you credit for the referral. They can also replace your affiliate code with theirs at the tail of the URL,
then purchase the product(s) for themselves at a discount. But Jim Edwards has developed a great piece of software to help protect you. I use it for all of my affiliate links. The Affiliate Link Cloaker is a snap to learn - you can easily figure it out on your own and have your bullet-proof affiliate links up and running in a matter of minutes, but there's
also an illustrated manual in case you need help. Cost: $59 USD
Featured eBook
Rosalind Gardner has written one of the most exhaustive eBooks I've come across on the nuts and bolts of affiliate marketing.
I read this 259-page pdf in one sitting. Despite what one might infer from its subtitle, The Super Affiliate Handbook
is not a guide to quick and easy to riches. Instead, it's a thorough breakdown of Gardner's successful schema for setting up and operating an affiliate business.
Gardner is very well organized and passionate about her online initiatives. When her health began to suffer after nearly twenty years as an air traffic controller, she responded to a banner ad
for a dating service that offered webmasters a chance to earn money online. She decided to give it a try. That was in 1997, and she was starting from scratch. By 2000, her online businesses were
generating sufficient income for her to leave her job.
Rosalind hasn't looked back since. She now makes $30-50K/mo in affiliate commissions, with a 40-50% profit margin.
Such sums seem way out of my league. It's difficult even to imagine earning that kind of money. But in pragmatic and unequivocal terms, Rosalind makes it clear that success such as hers
is not rocket science. It requires research, planning, the courage to act, and the will to continue in an organized, determined manner. She provides you with the cognitive framework you need and
suggests the appropriate tools you can use to build your affiliate business from the ground up. This information is current. You can use it immediately.
If you're new to affiliate marketing, you'll find everything you need to understand, select, and work with affiliate programs. And if you've already got a Web site, if you're already
bringing in money from affiliate marketing, you'll also gain insights that will streamline your efforts and protect you from commissions theft. This eBook is an excellent contribution to the field. Cost: $47.00 USD
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Copyright Richard Dagan 2000-2008
Richard Dagan 2000-2008