Resources to Run an Affiliate Program

Brad Waller offers many points to consider, as well as numerous resources to help you create, build, and run your own affiliate program.

(Shel Horowitz's Frugal Marketing Tip, July, 2001)

TIPS ON RUNNING/BUILDING AN AFFILIATE PROGRAM

By Brad Waller [waller@ep.com]

Building the Network:

Publicity
o Press releases, articles
o Discussion Lists
o Pay per click search engines
o Affiliate Announce (http://www.affiliate-announce.com/)
o Refer-it (http://referit.com/main.cfm?screen=info/advertising)

Affiliate listing sites (the top group)
o http://associateprograms.com
o http://referit.com
o http://2-tier.com
o http://cashpile.com

Your own affiliates

Recruiting Affiliates:

Your best affiliates are likely to be the ones you find and recruit.

Identify your best potential affiliates.

o What sites would your best prospects visit?
o Do searches for your own keywords. What sites come up first?
You can't always be on top, but you can see if those that are will join your program and thus link to you.

Contact these sites with your proposal.
o Telephone contact is vital for any top prospect!
o Personalize the emails you send.
o Follow up by phone to larger sites.
o If possible, have one or more people dedicated to affiliate outreach.
o Negotiate. Consider offering your best affiliates better deals.

Active Management of the Affiliates Improves Performance:
o Regular contact - at worst monthly (email with updates, info, stats)
o Directed email to the "Zeros" (ask what is up, and problems, do they need help)
o Affiliate Digest List (groups.yahoo.com works well)
o Real-time Online Stats (keeps affiliates interested)
o Instructions and Help area (do it yourself)
o PAY ONTIME!!!

Increase Your Earnings:
Work with your top performers
o They know what works
o Let them teach others
o Let them teach you

Share information with other merchants, even your competition!
o You could exchange lists of your top performers
o Find out what works for others

Evaluate the Program:
Set goals, track results
o Dollars, percentages, impressions?

What metrics make sense?
o Dollars per pageview
o Sales per Affiliates
o Brand Awareness
o Other?

What to track
o Affiliate growth rate, activity, revenues
o Rate of change (positive or negative)

Monitor the Industry:
Join email discussion lists
o AffiliateUnion (http://affiliateunion.com/)
o Cashpile affiliate and Merchant lists (http://www.cashpile.com/)

Monitor discussion boards/News sites
o AssociatePrograms (http://webwizards.net/AssociatePrograms/discus/)
o reveNEWS (http://revenews.com/)
o geek/talk forums (unwrap if needed)

Other Related Sites
o http://affiliateforce.com/
o http://affiliatetips.com/
o http://affiliateadvisor.com/main.html
o http://www.affiliatehandbook.com/
o http://www.affiliatemetrix.com/

Advertise in e-zines (E-zine database sites):
o http://www.dominis.com/Zines/
o http://www.ezineseek.com
o http://www.bestezines.com
o http://www.ezinecenter.com
o http://www.forumone.com
o http://www.onelist.com

More Program Listing Sites:
http://associate-it.com/
http://associatecash.com/
http://cashforclicks.com/
http://clickslink.com/
http://associatejunction.com/
http://moneyonthenet.com/
http://affiliateoptions.com/
http://affiliatefind.com/
http://affiliatesdirectory.com/
http://affiliates.uk.com/
http://associateprograms.co.uk/
http://clickquick.com/

Brad Waller

Thank you reading this back issue of Shel Horowitz's Monthly Frugal Marketing Tips, published every month since May, 1997; please click here to view the complete archives, grouped by subject. Shel is an internationally known copywriter and marketing consultant, author of Grassroots Marketing Getting Noticed in a Noisy World, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First and several other books, and creator of the Frugal Marketing web site. Please click here to contact Shel.


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