Niche Marketing: The Affiliate Angle

If you're just dipping your toes into the waters of Niche Marketing for the first time then Affiliate marketing is the ultimate low risk choice to get you started.

Affiliate programmes cost nothing to join and present an almost infinite choice of products and services from which to build a niche business.

If you're not familiar with Affiliate marketing, let me quickly explain.

An Affiliate acts as an independent "middle man" between a Merchant and consumer by introducing new prospects and customers to the Merchant. In return the Merchant pays a commission to the Affiliate on all sales that result from his or her introductions.

OK. So now you know what Affiliate Marketing is, how do you find suitable affiliate programmes for you niche?

Here are a couple of options to get you started - Search Engines and Affiliate Networks.

Search Engines

Go to www.Google.com and type in your Niche description e.g. "low carb diet" followed by a plus sign (+) and the word "affiliate" - the search query should look like this :

low carb diet+affiliate.

In the results you will get all the pages with the term "low carb diet" and the term "affiliate".

Go through the first and second pages and list all of the sites that show relevant products with affiliate programmes. Hopefully this will give you 10 or more affiliate programmes to choose from.

You could also repeat this exercise on www.Yahoo.com to give your self more options.

Affiliate Networks

An Affiliate Network acts as "middleman" between Merchants and Affiliates, providing a centralised service where Merchants can list details of their products and Affiliate programmes, providing Affiliates with a broad and varied selection of products and services to promote.

Here are some highly reputable networks you should visit to find suitable niche products and services to add to your list of prospective Affiliate programmes :

? ClickBank - http://www.clickbank.com - specialises in downloadable digital products.

? Commission Junction - http://www.cj.com - probably the most popular affiliate network has a broad range of mainly physical products. CJ has a gate way to the "Be Free" another huge network.

? LinkShare - http://www.linkshare.com - runs the largest pay for performance affiliate marketing network on the Internet.

? clixGalore - http://www.clixgalore.com - one of the larger affiliate networks with over 4500 Affiliate programmes to choose from.

? Digital River - https://www.regnow.com - specialises in software products including games, anti-virus and anti-spam titles.

Add all the relevant programmes to list of those you gleaned from the Search Engine(s).

Selecting Niche Affiliate Programmes

Be selective in your choice of affiliate programme. Don't just signup for all of the programmes you have listed, visit each site and check each one out and make sure you "read each Merchant's terms carefully".

Here are some points for you to consider when deciding which programmes to promote:

? Commission rates - rates vary considerably, check them out to make sure get the best deal possible.

? Commission type - does the Merchant pay on a pay per lead, pay per click or pay per sale?

? Frequency of payment - most important. Payment frequency can be weekly, two weekly, monthly, quarterly - I've even seen six monthly.

? Minimum payout - what is the minimum commission amount the merchant is prepared to pay out on. You don't get paid until the amount reaches that minimum.

? Cookie duration - cookies are set to capture your referral code and expire after a specific amount of time. Make sure you get the longest time possible. Very few of your referrals will buy on the first visit, you want enough time for your referral to visit again so that you get the commission.

? Minimum traffic requirement - you don't want to find out that your account has been terminated because you aren't sending enough traffic to the Merchant's site.

? Are sales tools available - it's in the Merchant's interest to help you as much as possible. If they provide sales and marketing tools it makes getting started a lot quicker and shows that the Merchant values their Affiliates.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. As I said earlier, check all the terms carefully, then select and sign up for the programmes which best suit your niche theme and you're ready to start promoting.

Copyright © 2005, André Anthony Niche Market Know-How

André Anthony owns and operates Niche Market Know-How a resource for beginning Niche Marketers. Visit http://www.nichemarketknowhow.com today to find strategies, tips, tools, products and resources for effective niche marketing. Get his Niche Market Know-how Mini Course here: http://www.nichemarketknowhow.com/course.htm

---

Sales and Marketing: Can One Exist Without the Other?

Simply put the marketing people and the sales people depend... Read More

Perceived Value Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

Q: My partner and I are having a hard time... Read More

The Newest Marketing Course

Certainly the newest earth quaking event in Internet Marketing insider... Read More

5 Ways To Entice Your Parallel Market to Trade Links

Lots of people get confounded when attempting to exchange links,... Read More

A Quick Guide To Finding Reciprocal Links

Trading reciprocal links is one of the best ways to... Read More

Marketing Worksheet

Even the world's best marketing strategy won't work for you... Read More

Specialized Mailing Lists Make All the Difference

If there is one thing I can't say enough it... Read More

Ten Effective Ways to Capture Market

1.Evaluation of Existing Products / Therapies2.Assessment of New Products3.Market assessment... Read More

Increase Repeat Business and Referrals with Direct Mail

So you have been writing mortgages like crazy now for... Read More

Top 9 Strategies To Attract More Clients Now

1. Advertise in trade journals, ezines, and web sites that... Read More

Youre Halfway There!...Or Not Part 2

Now that you have had a chance to create a... Read More

To Swag or Not to Swag: Tip to Brand Your Tchotchkes on a Shoestring

It's interesting to see how resourceful people become when starting... Read More

Marketing Manual Sample Outline

The key to success in any business relies a large... Read More

Sage Advice from a Marketing Expert!

An international hair-cutting chain opened a new store directly across... Read More

People Do Business with People They Like

People do business... Read More

Discovering The Benefits That Hook Your Prospect

Benefits! They're what marketing is all about. No doubt you've... Read More

Self-Promotion on a Zero Budget

Recently, I've received a few e-mails from people asking me... Read More

Principles of Marketing 101

Marketing results should be measured in only one way ?... Read More

Are Your Brochures Worth The Paper Theyre Printed On?

Brochures are one of the oldest marketing weapons in the... Read More

Target Marketing: The Bell Curve

Finally, Something You Learned In Math Class Makes Sense In... Read More

Winning At Business With Your Marketing Game Plan

Stuart from Colorado had talked to a number of marketing... Read More

Packaging Trends You Cannot Overlook (Part #2)

Part #26) Food safety is becoming paramount.What this means to... Read More

Viral Marketing

Viral marketing involves the use of surf-exchanges, and if you... Read More

The Great Direct Marketing Conundrum

Many a home business owner has spent sleepless nights thinking... Read More

What Does Marketing Mean?

You can have the best little business ever with wonderful... Read More

The Key to Success

Good business is about communication... not just what you say... Read More

The Magic of Using Booklets for Tradeshow Giveaways

Candy, squeeze balls, pens, and key chains -- these provide... Read More

Youre Halfway There!...Or Not Part 1

The year is almost over and the last half of... Read More

Non-Aggressive Marketing Ideas for Enterpreneurs

Do you cringe at the thought of trying to promote... Read More

Build your Trade Show - Virtually

Virtual trade shows are gaining momentum as a way to... Read More

Create Free Internet Buzz with Your Workforce

There are many different ways to increase your traffic on... Read More

The Art of the Business Card

Use a business card as a note pad for recording... Read More

Marketing On The Cheap: Join The What?

Your local Chamber of Commerce.Now before you stop reading, I... Read More