What are affiliate programs?
What do they ask for?
Okay, I joined, know what?
How much can I make?
How do I see what I've made?
What is a two tier program?
What is a pay-per-click program? |
So what are affiliate
programs? Affiliate Programs allow anyone with a webpage to earn
commissions by linking to another site. You get paid per-click, per lead, or per sale.
I'll discuss these three commission examples more below.
I think the best way to start is with an example...I'll choose Amazon.Com!
There's a good chance you've heard of them. They have over a quarter of a million
Associates
working for them! If you haven't heard of them, they sell books, CDs, Movies, and
electronics.
So let's start...Amazon.Com offers an affiliate program that pays you commission on
"sales" that
are generated through your link to their site. Amazon.com handles all of the customer
service, fulfillment, shipping, and tracking of sales generated from your site. They have
different ways you may choose to link to them. You can link to a particular item such as a
book or CD, put a search box on your site or simply link to the Amazon.Com homepage. Okay,
lets join! But wait,...
What do they ask for?
Amazon.Com asks for the following...
Payee e-mail address: To send you your link information and
how to check your statistics.
Payee name: Unless you don't want a check.
Your address: Where to send that check.
You Phone #: Don't worry, they won't call unless it's something really important.
Your website name: Why not ask?
The URL of your website: Where the link to their site will be placed.
Where did you here about them: Helps them know what's bringing you there.
Some sites may ask for your Social Security number for tax purposes, and how many
hits your website is receiving and maybe few other questions. Oh, and don't forget to read
the operating agreements. There's nothing surprising on Amazons, but never the less, it's
a good thing to do.
I did it, Now
what? Link to them! Well, Amazon will send you a conformation email
within 24 hours, but in the meantime, we can place links to their site on our website!
There are many options to choose from. When you go to the linking instructions page, you
will see all the methods you can use. Here's one choice....
<A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/your_associates_id">
<IMG SRC="home100x70.gif" BORDER="0" alt="In
Association with Amazon.com"></A>
Looks funny huh? Well when you insert this code into your
HTML, it will look like this:
Be sure to put your associate ID where it says above so you get paid for you sales when
someone clicks on this banner and buys from Amazon.com!
Other sites? Well, many are all similar to Amazon.Com's linking options. Most offer you a
choice of a text link, button, or banner. They usually all pay the same no matter what
linking option you choose. What works best, text link or a banner link? Some
people are a bit tired of looking at banners on many sites, however it can still be quite
effective. My advice, try both and see which is getting more clicks. Remember, to many
banners on the same page may slow your site down. So I'd leave it to only one or two per
page.
How much can I make? Amazon.com
Associates earn up to 15% of the sale price on individually linked books that you feature
on your site and 5% on anything else that is purchased through your links, including CDs,
videos, DVDs, toys, consumer electronics, and more. I'd go for the 15% obviously as with
5%, you would have to sell $1000 dollars worth
of CDs etc... to get $50 dollars. That's a lot of toys!
Here's some other examples:
MGAWEB Super Submission! $2.00 to $16.00 commission on every submission order
that comes through your FREE website! Also, earn $1.00 to $5.00 commission on
every submission order that comes through any FREE website that was sponsored by your
site!
MGAWEB is a 2-Tier program. Most two
tier programs are the same as the Amazon.Com example above except: If
someone clicked on the link above (lets say your link) to MGAWEB and didn't order any
products or services, but decided to join their affiliate program (of course, they could
do both)...When they place their affiliate program link on their website, you will earn
commissions on what they sell through their link! It's usually less than if
someone ordered directly from your link, but never the less, it's a nice bonus!
Here's another example:
ClickAgents is a two tier Pay-Per-Click
program. Pay per click programs vary on the
the amount they are willing to give you when somone clicks on your link to their
website.
The price range usually is around 5 to 10 cent per click, but some offer only 1
cent per click and some as high as 25 cent or more. In short, you place a
banner or text link on your website and get paid when someone clicks on it!
 You can choose a banner like this one from ClickAgents.
How do I
see how much I've made? Well, most affiliate
programs provide online
tracking. They will send you an URL along with your ID and password for you
to check how much commissions you have earned. Many are "real-time
statistics,"
while others may a have a brief delay depending on the program you choose to join.
If the program does not provide online tracking, I'd advise not to join it!More on the way!
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