Affiliate marketing can be a very attractive part of your online business. When all is said and done, you don’t have to think about hiring extra staff, increasing your investments in advertising or becoming involved with complex marketing systems. If you can find some highly motivated outside individuals or organisations which are willing to promote and sell your products and services, all you need to do is to set aside a portion of the profits to pay them for their sales.
It’s absolutely essential to spend advertising money prudently, especially during an economic downturn. Traditionally, it’s been very difficult to analyse the effects of a marketing spend and difficult to justify as well, therefore we must always act only after careful consideration.
By lining up a number of affiliates, you can leverage a significant amount of power. Performance-based marketing of this kind is extremely attractive, as you only have to pay out when a sale is actually processed. The affiliate takes on all of the responsibility for paying for advertising and marketing to get the customers, and because of this the “cost per action” method is becoming increasingly advantageous in this day and age.
As a general rule, organisations which have some kind of intangible products or services to offer should actively look for affiliate networks. These networks have already attracted interested affiliates who are looking for product or service providers to partner up with. The affiliate network company will likely need some persuading that your organisation is a good fit, and this may require some negotiation, but it is worth the setup process as you will effectively have an army of external sales consultants, ready to be paid based entirely on their performance.
Inside this market there are an incredible number of top notch affiliate networks. Some only handle certain types of business, and you need to do some research to make sure that yours is a good fit. It’s in the network’s interest to make sure that everyone wins, as their income is based on a cut of the commissions paid.
Remember that the affiliate assumes the risk of marketing to the consumer through their chosen channels, and you should make sure that you adequately incentivise them. Have realistic commissions in mind, be aware of who is signing up for your program and ensure that they always follow the rules and parameters you have established at the beginning. Just be aware that the affiliates represent your organisation in many respects, so be sure that they do not act or promote in a counter-productive fashion.
Try and attract affiliates with a good reach, through comprehensive e-mail lists, well-recognised blogs or highly trafficked websites. Create a good relationship with these key sellers and your business could grow in leaps and bounds.
If you find some affiliates to be particularly productive, set aside something additional to use to further incentivise them. Your goal must always be to fertilise any relationships that you start to build with key affiliates, to build an even more fruitful arrangement.
During your website development, don’t forget to include graphics advertising your affiliate program and links to the sign-up page hosted by your affiliate network. Remember that you have to keep an eye on your affiliate program once it’s up and running, and if you want to be spending your time relaxing on a tropical island somewhere, this would be an ideal task for your virtual assistant.
Michelle Dale is The Managing Director of Virtual Miss Friday, a state-of-the-art Executive Virtual Assistant Service which assists businesses and individuals with every aspect of their enterprising requirements. Do you want to explore these inspiring online business building success strategies? Contact VMF Now!
