Affiliate Marketing Tutorial - Step 4: Choosing the Right Affiliate Marketing Programs

Now that you have researched your potential topics and have narrowed your selection to a few niche topics that are in demand and don’t overwhelm you with an abundance of competition, you need to find products to sell, right?  Right!  Your next step is to select a few good products to promote on your website.   

Here’s how to find them: 

• Type your topic plus the word affiliate into your search engine.  It will look like this +Rock Climbing + Australia.  Make sure to use the plus sign because it tells the search engine that both words must be present on the website.  Your search should generate several companies to research.    

• You can also visit affiliate directories and affiliate networks.  These are websites that have affiliate products registered and categorized.  This makes it easy for you to search for relevant products to sell on your website.  To find an affiliate directory, simply type affiliate directory into your search engine.  There are several good ones with thousands of products to choose from.

• The last thing that you can do is visit products and services that you are familiar with.  Most major companies offer an affiliate program.  All you have to do is visit their website, look for the button that indicates an affiliate program and fill out the application.  That being said, with all affiliate programs, no matter where you find them, take the time to read the terms.  

Researching affiliate companies.  What to look for. 

When you add affiliate companies to your portfolio, make sure to only consider high quality products and services.  You’re recommending these products to people and you want them to come back and buy more from you.

You will want to investigate the merchant’s site and make sure that ordering and fulfillment are handled professionally.  Don’t be afraid to ask about their conversion ratio.  You don’t want to work hard to send potential customers to a company’s website only to have the customers turn away because the sales page isn’t convincing.    

Here’s what else to look for: 

• Where does your customer land?  Try to represent products where your affiliate link takes your customers directly to the company’s order page and not their home page.  Conversion rates sink rapidly if your customer has to hunt around on another web site to find the product. 

•  How do you get paid?  Make sure that you understand the payment method.  Do you get paid per sale or paid per lead?  You’ll also want to make sure that your commission is at least 10-20% of the cost of the product. 

• How are you supported?  All affiliate support should be detailed in the company’s affiliate guide.  Look for companies that provide sales and marketing materials for you to use in your promotions. 

• Do you get paid for recruiting affiliates?  Bonus items are companies that pay you if you send them another affiliate—this is called a two tier commission.  

• How long do your cookies last?  Many companies offer cookies that last anywhere from 30 to 90 days.  A 30 day cookie means that if your customer visits a company website and then comes back 29 days later and makes a purchase, you get the commission.  However if they come back 31 days later, no commission.  Look for companies that offer lifetime cookies.   

Next in our tutorial: --> Affiliate Marketing: Building Your Affiliate Marketing Website