There are thousands and thousands of affiliate programs and products out there for you to promote... some are great, some are ok, and others are just gonna be a waste of your time and effort. How on earth do you choose the right ones?
It doesn't really have to be hard... Actually, with the right set of criteria, it can a quick and easy process. You're about to learn the most important advice I've found about finding profitable affiliate programs and products.
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There are 3 basic ways to find affiliate programs and products to promote. They can be found through affiliate networks & affiliate program directories, merchant web sites and search engines.
Affiliate Networks and Affiliate Program Directories
Affiliate networks basically function as middlemen between merchants and affiliates. Merchants list their products and the details of their affiliate programs on these networks. The affiliate network company looks after all of the sales tracking statistics, provision of marketing tools, and the issue of commission checks to affiliates.
Some popular Affiliate Networks include Clickbank, ShareaSale, CommissionJunction, and Linkshare.
Here's a very good article on other affiliate networks - 10 Alternatives to Clickbank
Affiliate Program Directories are web sites that contain lists of links to affiliate programs that have been compiled and organized by various webmasters. They usually categorize the listed programs by type of products sold (e.g. educational, business, etc.). Affiliate program directories are best used to find merchants that have stand-alone programs which are therefore not associated with the big affiliate networks.
One popular Affiliate Program Directory is Associateprograms.com
Merchant Websites
Merchants usually indicate that they have an affiliate program on their sites. You simply have to look for links on the site that say, "Webmasters", "Make Money", "Affiliates”, “Associates”, "Partners", "Earn Money”, etc. These links are usually located either at the top or bottom of web pages.
Search Engines
If you are interested in finding an affiliate program for a particular product, niche or even a particular merchant, then simply go to any of the popular search engines, such as Google, and type in the product, niche or merchant followed by "affiliate program". For example, if you want to find an affiliate program for leather bags, then type "leather bags affiliate program" into the search box.
8 Quick Tips for Choosing Which Affiliate Programs to Join for Maximum Profits
- 1Is the payment structure generous? You should choose affiliate programs which offer high commissions. Don’t go for anything less than 25% commission.
- 2Does the affiliate program have a professional looking site? You don’t want to send visitors to a site that looks unprofessional.
- 3Does the affiliate program have a comprehensive affiliate statistics page? As a minimum the statistics page should indicate the number of click-throughs, the number of sales, and the amount you’ve earned. These statistics should be in “real time”, i.e. updated automatically and immediately.
- 4Does the affiliate program provide you with a variety of marketing material? These may include but be limited to text links, articles, classified ads, solo ads, banners and graphics. The program should also give you examples of marketing strategies which have been used successfully.
- 5How often will you be getting paid? This should be at least once a month but preferably twice a month.
- 6Does the merchant offer a periodic newsletter for its affiliates? This would be beneficial as the newsletter would provide tips, information and updates.
- 7Would you receive notification by email whenever a sale is made? Nothing else provides motivation as receiving notification that you are receiving commission.
- 8Does the merchant provide good support for its affiliates? Response time to your queries should be within 48hrs, preferably within 24hrs.
