How to attract affiliates
In this article we will discuss how to attract affiliates to youprogram.One of the biggest fears new Affiliate managers have is infinding new affiliates. This fear is a stumbling block thatstops many site owners from getting started with affiliatemarketing. Interestingly, with a proper marketing strategy,getting affiliates may not be very difficult. Given below aresome tips that may help in attracting new affiliates. Find complimentary sites "Complementary" sites are a sites that sell products orservices that compliment your offerings. If you sell "gardeningtools", a site that sells books on "gardening tips" would be aperfect affiliate. If you sell software, try looking for sitesthat sell computers or computer parts. Finding sites thatalready attract your target market, and can benefit fromrecommending your product or service to their visitors, is thegoal. Find content sites There are many sites that do not sell any kind of product orservice but are mainly content-oriented sites. Such sitespromote an idea, concept, study or belief. Content sites thatare used as a resource for your target market are idealaffiliates.Finally, there are several sites on the Internet dedicated tolisting affiliate Programs. Get your program listed in thesedirectories. Classifying Affiliates for better management The hardest part of administrating an Affiliate Program isdeciding what your affiliates need to help make the sale. But,by carefully categorizing your affiliates, you can easilydetermine what their needs are and how to accurately meet them.The plan given below helps in categorizing affiliates in orderto manage your affiliate program better.The first step is to pick at least three types of affiliates.Take a look at your affiliates and try to determine oneoutstanding characteristic that can easily be compared acrossthe board and choose at least three types of the characteristic.Here are some examples:* Level of Sales - You may find that your affiliates are socompletely different that it's hard to find something toclassify them by. Try classifying them by the level of salesthey've reached with you. You'll most likely find that you havea few forerunners that lead the pack with a number of sales,quite a few affiliates that h...
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...ave sporadically made a sale or twoand some that have yet to make a sale. This will help youclassify them based on sales.* Products - If you sell a wide variety of products for specificinterests/needs you may be able to classify your affiliates byproduct. For instance, a financial site could classify typeslike Personal Finance, Small Business Finance, and CorporateFinance.* Industry - If you market commodities like office supplies,health and beauty products, house wares and so on, you may findthat your affiliates come from a wide variety of industries. Youcan most likely classify your affiliates according to theirindustry.The Second Step is to determine the needs of each type. Each ofyour affiliate types will have different needs; some of theirneeds will overlap, but you should find a distinct difference inmany of their needs. If you find that all of them have the sameneeds, go back to step one and re-think your types. Here are some basic things to look for: * Linking Methods - Different types of affiliates will needdifferent linking methods. Let's use the example above where wehad different groups based on sales. Your low sales group may besatisfied with a banner or two to place on their site. Yourmedium sales type may be interested in an article or two foradded content on their site. Your high sales group will probablypass up banners for articles, guest books, email ads andsignature files.* Capturing visitors is what you want. In order to do so --youhave to know what they want. Visit your affiliates' sites to seewhat visitors are looking at and looking for. Ask yourself, "Howdoes my product relate to what I am seeing?"* Different types of affiliates may expect differentcommissions. You'll have some Affiliates that have joined yourprogram "on the side" and others that plan on earning asubstantial income from the program. Determine what effort theyare putting into advertising, how much other programs in yourindustry are paying, and the amount of time they devote to yourprogram.The Third Step involves the process of creating and compilinglinking methods for each group of affiliates. Based on the needsyou identified in Step two, create and compile linking methodsfor each type. Here are a few linking methods...
...s to think about.* Banners - Though they aren't as effective as other linkingmethods, banners are still widely used and expected. Makebanners in a variety of sizes to fit tops of pages, bottoms,toolbars, sidebars and other miscellaneous areas.* Articles - These are great for affiliates that need contentfor their websites and newsletters. Be sure that your articlesare articles and not ads.* Email Ads - Your active affiliates may be interested inplacing ads in e-zines or their own newsletters. Try writing afew ads in different lengths.* Signature Files - Dedicated affiliates may even add your tagto their signature line. Give them a few witty lines to choosefrom.* Guest-books: - Let your affiliates help you build your Opt-Inemail lists with guest-books. Offer them a Commission for eachemail address they send you, or each resulting sale from thesubscribers they send you.* Product Images - Give your affiliates images that show andlink directly to specific products. They'll be able to choose animage specific to their site, or choose several images todisplay.* Review each affiliate Type and match them up with your newlinking methods. You may have some linking methods that overlapTypes -- this is okay. Just be sure you are concentrating on theaffiliates' needs.The Fourth Step is to decide commission levels. Your firstdecision will be to determine whether you want to pay a flatrate or percentage of each sale. Based on the needs youidentified above for each of the affiliate types, decide on acommission amount for each Type. If you have a two-tier program,consider the possibility of different second tier rates as well.The Fifth Step is to devise promotions for affiliate groups.Once you have your affiliates properly categorized and yoursystem under control, consider developing promotions for youraffiliate groups. Give them special incentives to sell moreduring a certain time frame, move seasonal products, or increasebusiness during your slow months. Offer them additionalcommissions, or even bonuses for reaching a specific amount ofsales.In conclusion, if you follow the steps I have just outlined andif you are ready for a little work and a lot of organization,your affiliate program should be up and running in no time.
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