Setting Up Your Own Affiliate Program (Part Two)

This article is the second of my two part series on setting up your own affiliate program. Once you are starting an affiliate program, you must manage and keep track of it.

The key is to promote your products and services to people who NEED them. Affiliate business is no different. You may create your own affiliate program or you may promote other popular affiliate programs that are related to your product or service.

The best way to manage and track is by creating your own affiliate program website. This is where you can list all your affiliate programs.

Keeping a track of all affiliate programs in a single network is easy. You would generally be given one username and password as well as a single interface that controls all the programs.

However, if you have many of your own affiliate programs or you promote several stand-alone affiliate programs from your website, the task of staying organized becomes a bit more complex.

There are software programs available on the Internet that organize and keep track of all data associated with affiliate programs. A typical database would include some of the following fields:

* Program Name
* URL
* Email Address
* ID
* Password
* 1st Tier Sale
* 2nd Tier Sale
* Total commission for month

Some of the advanced software programs also provide analysis and comparison tools. If you take the time to input data about clicks, sales, and page views, impressions, emails sent etc. from your various campaigns and enter all of it into the program, it will show you:

* Click to Sale Ratios
* Impression to Sale Ratios
* Amount Earned Per Impression
* Amount Earned Per Click

Keep a close watch on your activities

Ensure that your website is up and running. The danger in not knowing that your site is down comes when you are running a pay per click advertising campaign. The click costs add up whether your site is functional or not.

Check your statistics daily. This will give you a better idea of your income trends and also highlight any area of concern such as sudden decrease in revenue.

Be prompt in answering any queries from affiliate partners or customers, especially when these are about your products or services.

One of the main aspects of any affiliate program is residual income. You've got to make the most of every customer. The best way to do this is by promoting affiliate programs that offer residual commission as well as one time sales.Membership sites are a good way to collect residualcommissions.

Track your links - guesswork is no use

Track all your affiliate links. The best way to accomplish this is by setting up tracking software for your affiliate links. There are a number of scripts that will do the job.

Most tracking programs typically allow you to setup tracking links for any product you promote, telling you how many hits each product has received, and where the hits are coming from.

It is not enough to have a few banners and classified ads if you provide an affiliate program.You must provide as much help as possible .You should have tested and proven endorsements, testimonials, sig files, ezine ads, and other unique tools and techniques.You should also make yourself available to answer any questions they may have.

You should determine what methods work best for your affiliate program or one you might promote in a particular medium. For instance, which ezine ads work best and in what ezine; which banner ads produce the greatest clickthroughs and from which sites or banner exchanges; and where on your website is the most effective spot to include a testimonial.

This can only come about through active promotion and looking at results both good and non productive.Assumptions can be tested and the results guide you.Just hoping for the best is a recipe for disaster.

If you can sort out your payment procedures from the start, you will save yourself an administrative headache and more to the point,keep your affiliates happy! Or use a third party like clickbank to pay out and manage instead. Its less flexible than your own set up to begin with but everyone gets paid without you lifting a finger. You just pay out in fees.

This concludes my overview on starting your own affiliate program.If there is any one thing I would recommend, it is to track everything you can so you can refine your strategy further and increase your earnings.

Discover a simple four-step way to get bigger affiliate commissions... I'll tell you exactly what those four steps are, and how you can apply this formula right away.
Chris Ruane
http://www.seriousedge.com

---

Promoting Affiliate Programs through Personal Recommendations

Publishing articles online is a highly effective way to increase... Read More

Affiliate Marketing - Make Big Bucks Through Your Internet Home Business

Affiliate marketing has become a booming industry thanks to the... Read More

Five Ways To Maximize Affiliate Profits from Articles

What does it take to become a "BIG EARNER" with... Read More

13 Killer Ways To Increase Your Affiliate Commissions

1. Start a private web site. Use it as a... Read More

A Wake Up Call To Always Remember

I received two emails this weekend. Both were as a... Read More

Are Your Affiliate Programs Eating Away Your Money And Time

So many times I have heard this. So many examples... Read More

How to make money with Affiliate Programs - The Sensible Way

Every day, thousands of would-be marketers scour the internet looking... Read More

Grow Your Business with Affiliate Marketing

To generate additional business income, consider expanding your business through... Read More

Why Building Affiliate Websites Are the Way to Go

It seems that everybody is into making money online these... Read More

Affiliate Marketing: Starting Out On The Internet

So you want to start your own business, and you... Read More

Are You Doing Well As An Affliate Marketer?

I have been working on the Internet now since December... Read More

Ebook Review: The Super Affiliate Handbook

Rosalind Gardner's 270 page ebook "The Super Affiliate Handbook" is... Read More

9 Steps to Success in Affiliate Marketing

1.Join an Affiliate Program: Join programs that interest you personally.... Read More

The Key To High-Volume Web Sales

The quickest way to achieve high-volume sales on the web... Read More

Affiliate Programs... A Not THAT Easy Start To Your Own Online Business

"Where is all the help I'm supposed to get. I... Read More

Affiliate Marketing What Is It And Why Use It?

Affiliate Marketing is having Affiliates do your Marketing for you.... Read More

Affiliate Marketing Terminology

Affiliate Marketing is a large business piece on the Internet.... Read More

How to Create Multiple Streams of Income, Part 2

A while back I wrote a little article called "My... Read More

Using Google AdWords For Affiliate Selling

While many people may have you believe otherwise, selling online... Read More

Affiliate Programs and Picking the Best One!

Okay, so you have been looking at affiliate programs for... Read More

The Prosperous Affiliate Merry-Go-Round

In the affiliate world, just as in the rest of... Read More

How To Become A Data-Feed Super Affiliate

I am not going to describe what a product feed... Read More

Can You Really Make A Substancial Income With An Affiliate Program ?

Affiliate Program are the easiest way to make a substancial... Read More

Selling Merchandise On Your Website

If you take away poker, dating, and naked ladies, custom... Read More

Earn Top Dollar With Your Affiliate Monthly Income Stream

Virtually all online marketers have attempted lots of schemes and... Read More

Your Home Based Affiliate Marketing Business

Did you know that you can make money on the... Read More

Choosing a Niche Market to Promote ? Affiliate Marketing

I think it truly goes without saying that there are... Read More

Vital Things To Check At Any Affiliate Program

Affiliate programs are now one of the most popular ways... Read More

WHAT! Internet Etiquette / Net Etiquette?

Many people know how -- and do conduct themselves in... Read More

Why Top-earning Affiliates Have Their Own Domains And Websites

Many affiliate programs usually provide special web pages for their... Read More

Reselling - Money On The Side

The other night I had dinner with a friend who... Read More

The Many Benefits Of Affiliate Programs

Throughout the coming weeks, I am going to thoroughly cover... Read More

Common Mistakes Made by Unsuccessful Affiliates

A vast majority of successful online entrepreneurs are affiliates of... Read More