Hello All,
I receive no less than 10 emails per week asking me about affiliate programs. The questions pretty much center on two areas. First people ask me "What are affiliate programs?" and secondly they ask "Do they really work?".
So...in order to answer lots of emails at once I decided to post something on my forum.
First, what is an affiliate program?
Simply put it's like working for yourself while selling something for someone else. It's essentially a joint venture of sorts. Basically you sign up as an affiliate, place some links on your site(s) and whenever that link leads to a sale you get paid a pre-agreed upon amount for that sale. Affiliate links are out there for literally everything. The hard part is sorting through them to find the ones that work and will make sales.
No, as for the question "Do they work?", well...in a word, Yes!. But once again that key comes into play. That afore mentioned hard part...finding the ones that will make sales. So, therein lay a third and more important question. "Which ones work?" or "How do you select the ones with which you are affiliated, Jim?"
Basically selecting an affiliate deal has nothing to do with how much I make per sale as much as it has to do with whether or not I myself would buy whatever it is I am thinking about selling. Afterall, if I don't want it why would someone else? So how do I find them?
1. I search ClickBank. If you are not a member of ClickBank you should be. There are literally thousands of affiliate deals through ClickBank many of which are awesome money makers. Some pay as much as 50%+ commission too!
2. I read post on forums. Whenever someone mentions an affiliate deal that is working for them I check it out. If the site looks like an Internet rookie did it I quickly move on. The post is probably nothing more than an ad. But if the site looks good and when I email them with a couple of questions they reply back to me quickly, I am in. One recent case...I registered the domain Unidate.com. It's a nice name for what it will be selling. The site is literally drawing thousands of new members every week. So I figured why not? Afterall, there are lots of people out there seeking someone to share their lives with. Nothing wrong with putting people in touch with each other. And the site is automatic. All I did was register the domain and fill in some basic info. Bingo....instant business expansion! For a cost of the registration ($13.50) plus the cost of a nice logo ($25) I have expanded myself once more!
3. People email me all the time. "Jim, please take a look at my site and offer. Let me know what you think." Some of THE best affiliate deals are these but you have to shop them. You can only advertise so many things afterall.
4. Finally I sign up for things I myself purchased and believed in. The Dropship Resource Directory is one example. It is AWESOME! It literally sells itself. Not a day goes by that I don't make sales from this one and that's with little or no ads!
The bottom line regarding affiliate deals is simple. They do indeed offer a chance to make some extra income. Believe it or not 40% of my online income comes from affiliate links, they are just that powerful. But my success with them is based on my having shopped around and found some good one, a little know-how in how to get traffic to them, some patience, and an eye for what looks like it will sell and what won't.
By far my two best affiliate deals are:
http://link.auctionhints.com/go.cgi?dropship
-and-
http://link.auctionhints.com/go.cgi?ebay
The second one above is one that I bought myself, believed in, and then signed on as an affiliate using ClickBank. Take a look at those sites. All of the hard work building the site has been done. Get some traffic to YOUR affiliate link and you will make sales and money.
I am constantly seeking other avenues of online revenue. Affiliate deals offer this. All you have to do is find them!
Good luck all. And happy bidding. (selling too)
Jim Wilson
