Affiliate Programs – What Are They?
What is an affiliate?
An affiliate is, in the 
simplest terms, a person or a company that sends visitors to a website in return for commission (money).
As an affiliate, you will be given a link to send visitors through, and if those visitors buy a product, you will receive either a percentage of the value of the sale or a set amount. The vast majority of affiliates own their own websites. However, this is not a requirement. You can buy advertising in a variety of forms, and send visitors directly to the product site. The choice is yours, and there are advantages to both ways of doing it!
If you are totally new to affiliate marketing, then please don’t worry. It can sound daunting at first, but the rewards of being able to work for yourself are well worth the effort it takes to get started. With affiliate marketing, you really do get out what you put into it. The more time and effort you are able to spend on creating your sites and/or your advertising campaigns, the more money you will earn. It really is as simple as that.
Why should my business become an affiliate?
If you currently have a website, and you have unused “real estate” on that site, you are missing out on an opportunity to attract visitors. One of the most successful affiliate programs your business can take advantage of is Amazon.com. Amazon has hundreds of thousands of products that you can add to your website for the occasional browser, or even the brand loyalist. Granted, large businesses will only show their products or pages related to their brand, but as a small business you may want to expand your horizons. Another affiliate program is Google Adwords. Seriously? Sure. You can target the ads that show on your site to a specific product you do not offer or a business that you’ve partnered with and have them do the same. Google is also very good at reading the content of your site and targeting ads that complement your business. Networking with other businesses to increase traffic to your website is always a good bet.
Why should my business have an affiliate program?
There are several good reasons why your business needs affiliates. The first is profitability. With affiliates promoting your products and/or services you have a ready workforce of people willing to help your business grow. You also have a workforce that is never late for work, doesn’t have to leave early, and there are no other costs associated with hiring someone like retirement, health care, paid vacations. An affiliate is his/her own boss and will work to increase their own income. It’s an instant sales force on commission only. Next is visibility. Affiliates will (because of their own interest in making money) make your web site more visible to the browsing public.
Additionally, having affiliates promote your products and services could mean lower advertising costs for your business. Instead of running ads on Google, Bing, or in newspapers, affiliates (in most cases) are much better at using PPC or PPV advertising.
Now the downside to having affiliates is brand loyalty. If your affiliates do not have the tools to promote your products then you have affiliates who look elsewhere for commissions. These tools should include banners, properly formatted links to your offers, and most importantly, fresh content. You should not expect your affiliate team to create the content for you (although there are some who like to do just that) or buy your products to test or promote them. and beware of affiliates who promote in multiple programs – these individuals are looking for whatever the “flavor of the day” is, and you will be competing with other brands similar to your own.
The other benefit to having your own affiliates is the possibility of international sales. The number of affiliates in other countries is increasing and some of these home businesses have a huge network of people they can tap into.
And finally, should you have an affiliate program manager? The best short answer is YES. You should have someone who is dedicated to that one task of managing your affiliate program. This person will track sales and viability of your marketing efforts, and develop tools and creatives for your products/services. An alternative to hiring someone for this function is to outsource to a company that has it’s own staff. There are a number of companies that do this everyday.
