Choosing The Right Affiliate Program

Choosing the right affiliate program is vital for your success. We don't want to end up with lemons, right? It is not advisable to invest time and effort into something that will not yield the best return for the energy expended.

In this lesson, we're going to learn how to distinguish an excellent affiliate program from a rather mediocre one. Yes, indeed. Not all affiliate programs are created equal. Some are simply better than others. Here are some things you need to think about if you are considering entering the affiliate marketing arena:

* How much is the commission rate being offered by the affiliate program? Ideally, you would want a high commission rate. Who wouldn't, right? But don't let this mislead you into thinking that a high commission rate is equal to a good home based business opportunity. An affiliate program that offers 80% commission per successful sale, for example, may also ask you to pre-sell products that aren't really sellable. What good is an 80% commission then when you won't have any sales to speak of? So this leads us to our next consideration?

* How sellable is the product? You could always ask for statistics from the affiliate program. Don't forget that. You could demand to see the sales chart for the past few months, so that you'd know that there are people who are actually willing to purchase the product. We can safely say that an affiliate programs offering high commission rates for very sellable products is an excellent opportunity.

* How credible is the affiliate program? There are many things that should be factored into this consideration. Determine how long the program has been operating. If they have been in existence for a long time with nary a complaint that can be seen, then they must be doing something right! Do a search on Google or online forums to check out other affiliates opinions of your prospective business partner.

* How will you get paid? This may be a little too prospective a thought, but you have to ensure the utmost viability of any money making opportunity. What payment method can you accommodate? Will the affiliate program be able to oblige to such method? If the affiliate program pays its affiliates through PayPal exclusively, for example, and you're living in a non-PayPal territory, then you might encounter some problems. Ask the affiliate merchant if he could make some considerations for your case. More often than not, he will try to accommodate your request. If he can't, then your time would be better spent with an affiliate program whose payment you would actually receive.

If the above considerations are all favorable for you, then grab the said opportunity as quickly as you can. Start earning money right away, for time is gold in this business!

In the next article, we're going to discuss the proper steps you should take in starting out with this type of home based business opportunity.

Copyright 2005 Mal Keenan

Mal Keenan can show you step-by step how to set up and run a successful online home business. Learn the 7 essential strategies to internet marketing success. To receive your free 7 day mini-course visit: http://www.malkeenan.com

For a home business you can believe in, check out: http://www.malkeenan.com/pips.html

In The News:


TechCrunch

Refer.ly Lets Regular Folks Earn Affiliate Revenue For Recommending Products ...
TechCrunch
Will a few dollars in affiliate revenue motivate people enough to use Refer.ly? Don't we just share products with friends and family because we genuinely love to help other people out? Morrill said she doesn't expect Refer.ly users to make a living off ...
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Advertising, affiliate revs lift Scripps: Revenue rose 11% to $535 million
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Scripps Networks Interactive, parent of Food Network, HGTV and The Travel Channel, said strong advertising and affiliate revenue boosted profit last quarter despite hefty programming costs. Net profit rose to $115 million from $101 million.
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Many nonprofits incorrectly claim no expense for fund-raising
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By Thomas Hargrove Scripps Howard News Service Goodwill Industries operates more than 2600 retail stores, like this one in Sarasota, Fla., where leaders are rethinking how they report overhead costs to the Internal Revenue Service and the American ...
Local charities following tax reporting rulesRecord-Searchlight
Scripps national investigation: Thousands of nonprofits misreport fundraising ...Corpus Christi Caller Times
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Wall Street Journal

AMC Networks Earnings Call Insights: Affiliate Revenue Growth, Ratings
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Two questions first on the affiliate revenue growth, 8% in the first quarter, two things there. Number one, it is an acceleration from your full year rate from last year. Does that acceleration represent some – or is that primarily due to some of the ...
AMC Networks 1Q Net Rises 45% On Strong Advertising RevenueWall Street Journal
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Three Multistate Tax Alerts from McDonald Hopkins law firm --
Sacramento Bee
A United States District Court in Colorado recently issued a permanent injunction against the Colorado Department of Revenue from imposing strict notice requirements on out-of-state sellers who do not collect sales tax on internet sales in the state.

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MiamiHerald.com

Viacom Reports Higher Results For Second Quarter 2012
MarketWatch (press release)
Revenues in the second quarter increased 2% to $3.33 billion, driven primarily by higher Media Networks affiliate revenues. Operating income grew 23% to $932 million, reflecting the overall increase in revenues, as well as lower expenses principally ...
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News Corporation Reports Third Quarter Earnings Per Share of $0.38; Growth of ...
MarketWatch (press release)
Contributions from STAR in India were essentially in line with the prior year, as higher revenues were offset by increased programming costs, including those from new channel launches. Affiliate revenue growth of 15% at the domestic cable channels for ...

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PFSweb Reports 50% Service Fee Revenue Growth in First Quarter of 2012 ...
MarketWatch (press release)
"New business agreements and expanding existing client engagements continue to drive our strong Service Fee Business growth, resulting in a 50% increase in Service Fee revenue for the first quarter of 2012 compared to the first quarter of 2011," stated ...

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TIME

The Walt Disney Company Reports Second Quarter Earnings
MarketWatch (press release)
The increase at ESPN was driven by higher affiliate and advertising revenue partially offset by higher programming and production costs. The increase in affiliate revenue was due to contractual rate increases and a reduction in revenue deferrals ...
Disney 2Q Profit Climbs 21% On Cable, Theme Park GainsWall Street Journal
Walt Disney's CEO Discusses Q2 2012 Results - Earnings Call TranscriptSeeking Alpha
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Limbaugh Affiliate Cumulus Media Reports Millions In Lost Revenue
Media Matters for America (blog)
If carrying Limbaugh on 38 stations results in millions in advertiser losses over the course of two months, then when you factor in all the other affiliates as well as Premiere's own advertiser interests, the scale of lost revenue associated with ...

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