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Affiliate Revenue Information"Affiliate Programs to Avoid"
by:
Rosalind Gardner
Affiliate Programs to Avoid
Copyright 2003 (c) Rosalind Gardner, All Rights Reserved.
As an affiliate merchandiser of Cyberspace chemical analysis services, I'm always on
the lookout for nice quality chemical analysis sites and products to offer my
single visitors. Merchants help me out once
they let me cognize
about their new products and affiliate programs.
I was therefore excited
once
one of my friendly affiliate competitors
got in touch to tell me that he'd started his own Cyberspace chemical analysis
service and affiliate program.
Having launched a community membership site myself last year,
I could fully appreciate the brobdingnagian figure of time and money my
friend had endowed
to develop this new site. He was with reason
proud of his accomplishment and I was excited by the prospect
of having a product to promote that would-be benefit everyone -
my customers, my friend and myself.
Unfortunately, it didn't quite activity out that way.
The 1st staggering block was the low commission he offered. His
top rate was 30%, with no commissions on continual
sales.
This nonplused me. As an affiliate merchandiser of chemical analysis programs, he
should have been aware that new sites offer at least 50% on
new and continual
sales to provoke nice affiliates to sign up. If
commissions on continual
sales are not offered, then the rates on
new sales should be accumulated to between 70 and 100 percent.
In most cases, his affiliate program would-be have affected out for me
at that point. However, as this was my friend's site, it occurred to
me that maybe his product was so unique that the potential for
high volume sales power offset the lower commission. Hoping for
the best, I continuing
my review.
When I got to the site, the 1st thing I detected
was '6 registered
members' conspicuously
displayed at the top of the homepage.
That commonly wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that my
customers are looking for friends and soul mates. If I send them
to a site wherever
there are only six folk to meet, they'll likely be
disappointed. Worse, by wasting their time, they lose trust in my
judgement and then I wish lose them as customers.
That's not good. My customers are virtually
my bread and butter.
Giving them what they want and expect is how I stay in business.
Paying for traffic that I send to a bourgeois site wherever
there is
nothing to buy, wish put me out of business.
(This is how a membership site should be structured. Once
starting a chemical analysis service, the bourgeois pays for advertising to
bring folk to their site. To provoke visitors to sign up as members,
he wish at first offer his services for fr*ee. Once
the info
is
large enough to attract paying customers, the affiliate program
manager then invites potential affiliates to join their program.)
Although my friend's program had already affected out for my customers
and me, I was still curious, so I unbroken
on looking.
Next I clicked on a link labeled 'Dating Resources'. Expecting to find
Internet chemical analysis tips and advice, I found links and banners inform
to Lavalife, FriendFinder and different connected chemical analysis sites instead.
When I asked him just about placing affiliate programs on his site, my
friend aforementioned he just wanted to supplement his financial gain
until the
dating service got *rolling*. I can understand his motivation. However,
what he doesn't understand is the construct of consumer
'hijacking'.
As an affiliate, you pay nice money to get visitors to your site. You
presell your merchants' products and expect the bourgeois to honor
their end of the bargain by fashioning the sale and causation
your
commission check. You don't pay for the bourgeois to send YOUR
customers to THEIR connected merchants.
I didn't need to look any further. I told my friend that I would-be hold
off on language up and why. Fortunately, he understood and has already
alleviated several of the problems I mentioned.
Knowing once
NOT to sign up for an affiliate program can sometimes
be a tough call. However, you can alter the process considerably.
Put yourself inside your customer's head. If the product won't activity
for them, the program strikes out. Simple as that.
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