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| Affiliate or not to Affiliate? Written by Teresa King Affiliate programs can bring you money. They can also be time consuming and cost you money without you even realizing it. When you jump in to join an affiliate program, STOP. Take a breath, stand up and do some jumping jacks or rush off to get a glass of water then come back and ask yourself: Why am I joining this program? Does it fit in with the theme of my website? Am I an affiliate to a similar program? Can my potential customer sign up and buy from himself, leaving me out in the cold? Once you decide the above, next consider this. Am I a member of what I am affiliating with? Do I really know if what I recommend to others is quality? Will I spend money to advertise this new affiliate program? Will I spend time setting up this affiliate program? How established is this program? Who owns this program? Is he or she reputable? Well, that was a lot of questions for you, however this is what you need in an affiliate program: You need stability. You need the affiliate program to be a two tier program or one that only members are allowed to market. Why stability? Because their payment plan will more than likely stay the same, or be close to what you signed up for. Why two tier or membership only? Because, if it is one tier the chances are very high that a person who sees it is one tier will affiliate and then buy from themselves, saving them the money that should have gone for your commission! If it is two tier, at least, you have a chance of collecting a commission on the second tier. If it is a membership only, then they have to buy through you to get the product. To sum it up, unless you just love a program and you want to recommend it knowing your chances of reaping the rewards for your efforts are almost zero, then think twice before leaping into an affiliate program. Your efforts can be almost wasted in your time and advertising dollars, in recommending a program that you don't have much chance of pulling in a commission. Remember, whenever you send someone off your site, you are taking a chance of losing that customer. Be careful in where you send them. And, beware of not being a member of what you are recommending. Remember, branding your honor, reliability and trustworthiness is your "name" on the net. Making mistakes like recommending programs that you have not tried yourself; can be costly. ------ Teresa King is the author of Ezine Marketing Made Easy, Profit on the Net for Beginners and What Did Mama Forget to Teach You. Stop in to her site at www.tipsfortop.com |