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Part 3: Setting Up A Successful Affiliate Program
By: Jim Conley II, MerchantSeek.com

This is the last part of the series on "Encourage Repeat Sales
& Customer Loyalty." For the past two weeks we looked at
how to set up your opt-in mailing list, what types of content to
include in your publication, and how to gain and keep
subscribers. If you missed those issues you can view them by
going to our archive page at
http://www.merchantseek.com/merchantnewz.htm .

This week I will show you how to use your opt-in newsletter to
make your site "sticky" and the other opportunities that will
arise as a result of having your own newsletter.

Make Your Site "Sticky"

Providing a newsletter to encourage repeat visits from
previous customers, is the whole reason for providing the
publication in the first place. You don't want to only focus on
generating new clients, but also on keeping your previous
ones. You have to figure they did some shopping around
before deciding to purchase from you. Most buyers just don't
purchase from you the very first time they visit your site. They
shop around a while and see if they can take advantage of a
better deal. So after all the effort it took to get them to
purchase from you, the last thing you want is to have their first
purchase be their last one too.

You can take advantage of your opt-in newsletter by using
some of these techniques to increase return traffic:

a) Mention specific reference pages on your site in your
articles. (NOTE: Use sparingly!)

Now don't go hog wild here, don't make your articles look like
self-promotions. In fact, sometimes you may not even be able
to reference a page on your site. Don't worry about it. The
key point to remember here is don't make it appear to the
reader that your article is purely self-promotional. By all
means do include links to sites other than yours and make the
article as informative as possible.

b) Place an ad or sponsor listing geared to generate traffic to
your site or to an affiliate program you are a part of.

I do this quite often myself, in fact, in every issue of
MerchantNewz I have a sponsored listing which is a link to a
special portion of MerchantSeek. There are a number of
articles written about writing effective e-zine ads. I'd
encourage you to stop over at SitePoint
( http://www.sitepoint.com ) and read some. They will give you
some great ideas on how to go about writing your ad. While
you're at it, why not check out my past article on writing
effective e-zine ads by going to
http://www.merchantseek.com/merchantnewz/010501.htm

Did you just see what I did? Yep, that's right, I just made a
reference to my site. Sneaky, aren't I? :) And it works... you
can do it too.

Why not offer a discount for your subscribers on their next
purchase? Have them enter in a special code on the order
page for the discount. Don't forget to make it time sensitive so
it encourages people to make a repeat purchase sooner.

c) Add a "What's New!" section to your publication.

Every once in a while, after you've made a decent number of
noteworthy additions to your site it would be a good idea to
add a "What's New!" section to your newsletter and let your
subscribers know of the changes. Make it exciting, let your
readers know how they will benefit from your recent changes
and additions.

d) Make "special offer" mailings to your subscribers.

This one is used too much, and is the reason why so many
subscribers end up leaving the publication totally. But if you
limit the number of special offer e-mails you make they can be
very lucrative for your business. I wouldn't send any more
than three or four a year, at the max. Any more than that and
you'll no doubt annoy your readers. And make sure you write
about a truly special offer, and it better be a good one too.
Some of you might remember the special mailing I made a few
weeks ago in regards to Yahoo! offering sponsored listings for
business categories. Granted it wasn't directed to gain traffic
for my site, but I felt it was a very important announcement
that couldn't wait until the next issue of MerchantNewz. In
fact, I heard back from some of you on the special
announcement I made thanking me for making them aware of
this new, exciting way to gain lots of traffic for your sites.

Perhaps you have a new line of "must-have" products coming
in that you want to make a special announcement about. By
all means e-mail your subscribers with the details and
benefits. Get them excited about your latest offerings.
Remember to keep it short though, and of course, offer a link
to visit your site for more detailed information.

Joint Venture & Advertising Opportunities

Offering your own newsletter has its other benefits that you
may not have considered. As your subscriber numbers begin
to grow and your publication's overall popularity rises, you will
start to hear from people who will present different
opportunities to you. Be sure to consider each one and don't
"jump in" until you've completely considered every aspect of
the opportunity. There will be some you will wish to stay away
from, just as there will be others that will be mutually beneficial
to you and the person who approached you with the
opportunity. Also, consider your readers. Look at the
opportunity through their eyes. Is it something they would be
interested in? How will it help them? Be sure to answer these
questions first before finalizing any "deals."

Here are some of the opportunities that will pop up
somewhere down the line once your publication has really
taken "root."

Joint Ventures (JV)

At some point you are going to have companies contact you
about allowing you to sell their product/service offerings
through your newsletter. This can be rewarding and beneficial
for not only yourself, but also for the other party involved in the
JV and your subscribers as well. But, on the other hand if you
don't carefully check out every "nook and cranny" of a JV, you
could very well be hammering hails into your newsletter's
coffin, so to speak.

Here are some points to consider when a company proposes
a JV deal:

1. Will the company you will be endorsing be of benefit for
your current and future subscribers?

2. How are you, the editor, going to benefit from this venture?

3. Is the company reputable? Do they answer customer
support issues quickly and have fast turnaround times on
order fulfillment and shipping?

4. Is their product offering reliable, proven, safe, effective,
etc.?

5. Are the company's offerings something you would be
willing to fully back and use yourself?

These are just some of the points to consider when presented
with a JV deal. The worst thing you can do is endorse a poor
company with poor products. You don't want to receive an
inbox full of e-mails from your subscribers saying they didn't
like the products/services you were advertising, or they got
"ripped off" by the company you are endorsing. This will
instantly ruin the credibility you've worked so hard to obtain.
Your best bet is to first take advantage of the company's
offerings yourself before endorsing them. It's always a good
idea to get a feel for the company and how they operate.
Don't just take up an offer because they are willing to split
profits 50/50. Look beyond your benefit and see if it's
something your subscribers will benefit from and enjoy.

Advertising

Since the first issue of MerchantNewz went out, I've been
presented with several requests to accept advertising in my
publication. I haven't "given in" yet to the requests because
I'm waiting for subscriber numbers to grow just a little more.
But eventually I will be offering it, and once subscriber
numbers grow with your newsletter you will be able to take
advantage it also.

Generally, it is a good idea to wait until you have 5,000 or
more subscribers before offering advertising in your
publication. Anything less and it won't be lucrative enough for
your advertisers to continue their marketing efforts in your
publication.

Just as with Joint Ventures, don't accept an advertising
opportunity that you aren't fully willing to back up. As they
say... if in doubt, leave it out.

Don't clutter your newsletter with too many advertisements.
People don't mind a few here and there, just don't clump 10
together and expect everyone to read them. Chances are
they won't. I see this a lot. I subscribe to a number of web
marketing e-zines that have 2 or 3 articles and about 10 or 15
advertisements. That's really pushing it, in my opinion. Too
many and the advertisements lose their effectiveness, no
matter how well they are written. Many places offer 3 ad
"slots" in their publication. One at the beginning, another in
the middle and one at the end. Pricing will vary according to
their position, with the top slot usually the one that costs the
most and the ending slot being the least.

With that last bit said, this will end our three part series on
"Encourage Repeat Sales & Customer Loyalty." In this series we
looked at how to accomplish this by having your own opt-in
newsletter. There are other areas concerning customer loyalty
and retention that we'll be looking at in future issues of MerchantNewz. For more information on this topic I suggest
reading the review I did on a great book titled "E-Service."
It can be found at http://www.merchantseek.com/feb01review.htm
and consider purchasing the book for your business. It's an
excellent resource that concentrates carefully on ways to retain
your customers and other related areas.

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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/