Quick Links: Home > MerchantNewz Article Archive > ...

Part 2: Setting Up A Successful Affiliate Program
By: Jim Conley II, MerchantSeek.com

Last week we looked at the planning stages of setting up an
affiliate program. Perhaps you spent this past week doing just
that. Maybe you already have an affiliate program but would
like to know some great ways of supporting your affiliates.
Either way you should find this article beneficial to developing
that successful affiliate program you're after. This week I want
to talk to you about choosing the right affiliate
tracking/management software and supporting your affiliates.

Choosing The Right Software

There are a number of affiliate tracking programs available.
Doing a quick search on http://www.cgi-resources.com will
yield a nice list of affiliate programs to choose from, but
choosing one that will best fit your needs will require some
researching.

First, you need to consider your budget. Not all affiliate
programs cost the same. Some range from under $100 to well
into the thousands. Though for your needs, an affiliate
program on the lower end of this price range will probably
work great for you.

You have two options to choose from when it comes to
managing your affiliate program. You can either run the
program yourself or outsource. Personally, I would suggest
running the program yourself. I suggest this for two reasons.

1. Personally interact with your affiliates one-on-one

With all the convenience technology the web has to offer
people are still looking for personalized, human support.
People want to know there's a living, breathing person behind
all the affiliate technology you've implemented. They want to
hear from you, rather than some computer-generated response.

2. Less out-of-pocket expense

Unless you have a deep-pocket budget, outsourcing your
affiliate support and commission payments to someone else
should be left to the "big dogs."

Next, you need to decide whether you are going to host the
affiliate program on your servers or have someone else host it.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both of these
options. By housing your affiliate program on your servers you
can setup self-replicating web pages. This way each affiliate
has their own affiliate site they can market using the many
different promotion faucets the Internet has to offer. What
does this mean to you? It helps to increase your link
popularity, thus increasing your search engine rankings. But
on the other hand having someone else host your software will
help relieve any stress that your server may experience if you
housed it on your servers.

If you decide to only allow certain people to sign-up for your
program, then housing the affiliate program on your servers
would certainly be of benefit to you. In this case you would
only be working with a small group of people, rather than
thousands of affiliates. If you decide you are going to allow
anybody and everybody to sign-up, then having someone else
host your affiliate program would probably be your best choice.

There are a number of companies out there that can provide
both these options to you. Again, doing a search for "affiliate
programs" on http://www.cgi-resources.com will generate a
number of different scripts you can choose from to install on
your server, some of which are free. Some of the other affiliate
companies you can research are:

* MyAffiliateProgram - http://www.myaffiliateprogram.com

Lots of options available, decent prices, great support.

* Commission Junction - http://www.cj.com

A little more costly, but offers great tracking and management.

* AffiliateShop - http://www.affiliateshop.com

Low cost solution, but has many great features and should
definitely be looked at strongly.

* Your Own Associate Program (YOAP) -
http://www.palis.com/yoap/

Written in Perl and runs off your server allowing each of your
affiliates to have their own web site to promote, thus increasing
link popularity for you.

* AssocTRAC - http://www.assoctrac.com

Yet another good affiliate program solution you'll want to
research.

There are many more programs than the ones I've listed, but
this will give you a good starting point when searching to find
the right one for you.

Alright, once you've figured out what software solution you are
going to use, have it set up, and start growing your affiliate
base, it's time to start...

Supporting Your Affiliates

Answering affiliate e-mails with questions is not the only form
of support you should be providing your affiliates. When I say
support I mean helping your affiliates succeed so both you and
your affiliates can benefit. Sending your affiliates a welcome
e-mail with links to banners for them to add to their site is only
(should only) be a start. Unfortunately, for many affiliate
programs this is where it stops. Supporting your affiliates is an
ongoing project that shouldn't have an end.

Set up an Affiliate Resource Section on your website that will
help your affiliates along. Here are some great ideas you can
add to your resource page to make it invaluable to your
affiliates.

* Message Board - Allow your affiliates to communicate with
one another and with you. Here they not only can post
questions, but give other affiliates help in generating more
sales.

* FAQ - Here you can explain how to set up banners and
answer all the other common questions that arise from your
affiliates. It will help cut down on the e-mail support questions
you receive allowing you to spend more time helping your
affiliates become successful.

* Affiliate Toolkit - Don't just give them a few banners, give
them a variety of ways to promote their affiliate site.
Remember as you're helping them you are helping yourself.
Some things you could add to your affiliate toolkit: e-zine ads,
printable flyers, sales copy, testimonials, press releases,
signature files, etc. The list goes on, look at the ways you
promote your site and mention it in your affiliate resource
section.

* Affiliate Newsletter - How about a bi-weekly or monthly
newsletter to your affiliates that includes promotion tips, who
generated the highest sales the previous month, etc. There's an
unlimited number of things you can do. The important thing to
remember here is that you need to stay in contact with your
affiliates. This is the best way to do it.

Here are a few ideas that might require some extra resources on
your part, but will show your affiliates how important they are
to your business.

* Chat Room - Why not start up a monthly chat seminar with
your affiliates to discuss ways of generating more sales?

* Live Chat - If you have the time and resources, setting up a
live chat feature on your affiliate page will help build the
relationships you have made with your affiliates. You can
offer help by chatting with them live one-on-one, answering
their questions and giving them some great ideas to promote
your business. A good free live support program is
http://www.livehelper.com

So which affiliate tracking software will it be? Again, if you're
a small or home-based business owner look towards running it
yourself and let the larger companies with deeper pockets
spend more on the affiliate solutions they need. Decide
whether or not you want to host your affiliate program or allow
someone else to. And lastly, don't forget to set up an affiliate
resource page to encourage affiliates and help make the whole
affiliate venture a win-win situation. Don't just send them a
welcome message and say "Good Luck!" Stay in contact with
your affiliates and let them know how important they are.
Create a fire within that will skyrocket them to success...and
you too!

-----------------------------------------
Jim Conley II is the CEO/Founder of MerchantSeek. MerchantSeek allows merchants from around the world to search FREE for a Merchant Account Provider that best fits their businesses needs and budget. Visit us at http://www.merchantseek.com/