======================================================================= 1- Intro 2- How to Start Your Own Affiliate Program ======================================================================= Vstore.com lets you open your own FREE online store in 5 minutes: * Choose from over one million products * Make your store be your brand with a look and feel all its own * Keep customers in your store-when they buy, they buy from you * Earn up to 25% of each sale in commissions Open your own store today! CLICK NOW - http://destinationsite.com/c?c=61647.37409.0.1.0 ======================================================================= 1- Intro Running your own affiliate program is one of the best and most effective ways to increase traffic and sales. For this issue, we asked Normand J. Charette of AffiliateBroadcast.com to write an article about how to start your own affiliate program and tell us the difference between setting up your own affiliate tracking software vs. going with an affiliate network broker. As always we ask that if you like our newsletter, please forward it to all your Webmaster friends or whoever might be interested. Subscription is completely free and can be obtained at: http://destinationsite.com/c?c=61647.37409.0.1.1 Thanks, Submit Express ======================================================================= If you are interested in newsletter advertising or opt-in email marketing, click on the link below: http://destinationsite.com/c?c=61647.37409.0.1.2 Your exclusive ad can be sent to your targeted audience. We have 3000 categories and 5 million "NO SPAM" opt-in email addresses available. If you are interested in targeting webmasters or website owners, then consider advertising in this newsletter. See details at: http://destinationsite.com/c?c=61647.37409.0.1.3 ======================================================================= 2- How to Start Your Own Affiliate Program What are affiliate programs? An affiliate program is a system where people can join and represent a company or product and be paid based on a flat click thru rate or a percentage of the total sales they have referred as their commission. Basically, the word "affiliate" is synonymous with "being a partner," "an associate," or "salesperson" for a company or products. How do they work? The most basic form of an affiliate program is through a specially coded referral link, either through a text link in an HTML web page, a graphic link (banner), or a text link in a newsletter. Each time someone clicks on that link, the affiliate program owner's affiliate tracking software will record a click to the affiliate ID. At the same time, most affiliate software programs will store a cookie (small file containing information) on the person's computer that just clicked the specially coded link. This cookie stored on the visitor's computer has the referring affiliate ID stored in it. If that visitor makes a purchase on the site that the referring link redirected them to, the affiliate will get credited the sales commission rate they were given when they signed up. The normal rate on the Internet for compensating affiliates is about 15% on the first tier and 5% on the second tier. I will explain second tier a little later. Some will pay more and some will pay less, depending on the profit margin they have. I have seen some affiliate programs pay as much as $250 per sale as they have a big ticket item to be as much as $1200. Different ways to reward referring affiliates: 1. Pay per sale: If you refer a visitor to the online merchant's site and if he/she makes a purchase, you get a percentage of the sale as commission. Depending on the merchant, the commission may be just for that purchase, or it may be for all the purchases that customer makes in a fixed period of time, or possibly all the purchases he makes in his life time. 2. Per referral: You get a one-time referral payment for the customer you referred. You will not get commission on any future purchases that customer makes. 3. Pay per click: You get paid for every visitor you send to the online merchant, regardless of any sale or purchase. Usually, most companies pay $0.04 - $0.20 per click. 4. Two-Tier: You get commission on direct sales you generate, and also you get commission on sales generated by affiliates you recruit. Usually companies pay 15% commission for direct sales and 5% for sales generated by your affiliates. What is affiliate tracking software? Put simply, Affiliate Tracking Software is software that allows the affiliate program owner to know "where the sale came from and who to compensate for the referral." Sounds simple enough doesn't it? Yes, it does. However, the programming and software to do such tracking can be rather complex. Currently there are two types of affiliate tracking software options available on the Internet: 1. An affiliate network broker firm OR 2. Your own in-house affiliate tracking software. What's the difference? Again, put simply, through the affiliate network you sort of lease the software, and with the in-house software you own the rights to use the software by paying a one-time fee for the license. I will expand more at length by answering the next question. Should I go with an Affiliate Network broker firm, or have my own in- house affiliate tracking system? What are the differences? I guess this all depends on the type of person you are, including your personality, need for control, and manpower available to you. These are only a few factors. There are lots more. First, let me say that either option can have a lot to offer, and one is not necessarily better than the other. It all depends on your needs and personality. However, if the following describes you, more than likely you would be happier with your own in-house affiliate tracking program. 1. You have a great need for control and you do not like to depend on others. As a general rule, you do not delegate much and like to do the important things yourself. 2. If given the choice and if you had a need for a Gym, would you prefer to have your own Gym at home with all of the weights and exercise machines at your fingertips? Perhaps you would prefer to have your own pool and spa in your own backyard. The cost? Time to maintain and repair the equipment and the initial capital investment. On the other hand...if you prefer one of the following... 1. Have other people to take care and maintain the equipment for you, so that all you have to do is show up and work out and have more time available to work on better paying tasks. 2. Value your time and your spare time more than you value having control over everything. ... Then the Affiliate Network broker firm is probably for you. The cost: The time to drive to the spa, control, and possibly paying more in the long run than purchasing your own gym. Now those are just guidelines. If you find that you fit in one or the other, I still recommend that you do your own homework and see for yourself which will work better for you. The most important thing is, which one will make you feel most "comfortable?" See which option resonates the most with you and go with that. Chances are if you do this, you will be happy with it for times to come. Now that you understand the concept of either belonging to or having your own gym, let's go ahead and see how this applies to the Affiliate Tracking Software options available to you. Let's begin with the Affiliate Network Broker solution. There may be more, but the most popular ones that I am aware of are: PlugInGo - www.plugingo.com Commission Junction - www.cj.com BeFree - www.befree.com ClickTrade - www.clicktrade.com CashPile - www.cashpile.com ValueClick - www.valueclick.com ADVANTAGES: All of your affiliate sales commissions and accompanying paperwork is taken care of for you. This gives you more time to concentrate on your market positioning and marketing campaign. The Affiliate Network will often times run advertising campaigns to bring in more affiliates to your particular product niche. They will also have an arsenal of resources and tools to promote your website and recruit new affiliates. They provide an easy affiliate sign-up where the new affiliate can choose from a list of affiliate programs they wish to join, including yours. They take care of disputes and charge backs. They keep their affiliates and merchants aware of the latest developments through their newsletter. Some may offer more. However, this gives you a good idea of what to expect if you choose to let an affiliate broker firm handle your affiliate program. DISADVANTAGES: You are not in control of your money as much. The affiliate network firm controls the affiliate payments. The average signup fee is around $750. You need to deposit money with them, in an escrow account, to cover your affiliate sales payment. The average minimum amount I have seen is about $250. You must pay a 20% -30% transaction fee on all commissions paid. This means if you pay your affiliate $10 per sale or lead, the Affiliate broker firm will charge you $2 - $3 for the transaction. When you add the average credit card fee of 3% to 8%, depending on your merchant account, it amounts to quite a bit. If you have margin in your sales price to include the extra expenses, then this may work out OK for you. OWNING YOUR OWN IN-HOUSE AFFILIATE TRACKING SOFTWARE There are a few affiliate tracking software packages available on the net, but I will be talking about one that I am most familiar with: Pro-TRACK affiliate tracking software. http://destinationsite.com/c?c=61647.37409.0.1.4 DISADVANTAGES At the end of the month you must run the affiliate sales report yourself and pay your affiliates. If you have chosen that option, you must manually approve or decline all sales from the control panel. Takes more time out of your schedule to run your affiliate program. You must recruit your own affiliates. However, this can easily be done if you already have a good-sized mailing list and/or offer an enticing affiliate commission. I am aware of one new affiliate program owner that sent an email to his list of clients and recruited over 300 new affiliates in less than ten days. ADVANTAGES: Basically, Pro-TRACK affiliate tracking software will do all of what the Affiliate Network software does, in terms of tracking and rewarding the sales, except that you will be the one approving or declining sales along with running the end-of-the-month report and cutting checks to your affiliates. Pro-TRACK will automatically issue and email your affiliate's affiliate code upon registration. After you have approved the sale, Pro-TRACK will also automatically email the affiliate a notification of commission earned. With your own affiliate tracking software, you run everything from the Administrative Control Panel loaded in your web browser. You can set and easily change the commission amount you want to pay your affiliate through the control panel. Your affiliate program is only down when your server is down, and not when someone else's server is down. You are not depending on a third party. You have complete control over the affiliate sales and commission process. You pay a one-time fee for the software to be installed on your server, and that's all the cost in running your own affiliate program, except for the advertising expense in recruiting new affiliates. For example, Pro-TRACK www.affiliatesoftware.net sells for $497, and that includes installation from one of their programmers, which ensures that all will be working smoothly. There is no third party fee involved and no money to invest in escrow for charge backs or unforeseen expenses. Just like Affiliate Network firms, Pro-TRACK will register new affiliates to your affiliate program while you sleep. All is done automatically. Pro-TRACK also provides some affiliate resources and tools for recruiting affiliates. Biggest Benefit - Pro-TRACK costs less, only $497 (the average price ranging between $450 - $1400), and you have privacy over your sales information since only you have access to your sales statistics. For more information on owning your own in-house affiliate tracking software, visit Pro-TRACK at: http://destinationsite.com/c?c=61647.37409.0.1.5 In closing, I hope that you now feel more informed about affiliate programs and affiliate tracking software. I also hope that this article was helpful to you. Again, a system is only better for you if it appeals to your values, beliefs, and needs. Both systems have their place, values, and benefits. In fact, I may add that both programs are doing really well, and with the affiliate and e-commerce explosion hitting the net at the turn of the new millennium, they do not have shortage of clients. Normand J. Charette, Ph.D. is the co-publisher of the popular affiliate newsletter "Affiliate Today." Affiliate Today mainly focuses on promoting new emerging affiliate programs to their subscriber base of over 29,000 subscribers. You may subscribe to Affiliate Today by filling out their subscription form at: http://destinationsite.com/c?c=61647.37409.0.1.6 ======================================================================= Is your site anywhere to be found in the search engines? Do you need to be in the top 10 of search engines, but don't know how? Are you tired of trying everything you possibly can and still are nowhere to be found? If you need help getting your site in the top 10 of major search engines, please check out our search engine optimization services: http://destinationsite.com/c?c=61647.37409.0.1.7 We guarantee results or your money back. We can also give you free advice when you order our 800+ search engine submission. We will visit your site and send you a list of suggestions on how to improve your rankings. 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