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People kept asking me for suggestions for
romantic gifts and other things but I didn't want to sell a lot of things on my
site so now I get paid for referring customers to other sites. The more money I make
on the website allows me to continue to expand it and give out more free
information. More importantly, the income gives me more time with my family and for charitable work (I volunteer as our church's youth
pastor among other things). After
a bit of trial and error, here are some pointers on having a successful affiliate/referral
program. 1. TRAFFIC-- You can't refer your
visitors to other sites (and make money) if you don't have any visitors to
start. Besides getting in search engines and exchanging links (go to my links
page if you would like to exchange links), purchase visitors
at services like Overture.com
(click on this link to get a $10 sign up credit) and FindWhat.com. For
as low as a penny a hit, you can drive significant
traffic to your site. If you make an average of 7 cents per visitor, then
calculations tell you should "buy" as many visitors as is possible at
one cent each. 2. QUALITY SITE -- A quality site
will bring visitors back to your site as well as lend credibility to what you
recommend. The more "professional" your site appears, the more likely
people will click on links you suggest. 3.
BANNERS RARELY WORK -- You probably don't notice how I promote various affiliate programs
on my site.
I use text links that blend in with the rest of my content. A banner tells
people they are clicking on an ad (I do sell banners on my site but they aren't
part of my affiliate partnerships). A text link is more "personal" and
gets much greater click throughs. 4.
PERSONAL ENDORSEMENT -- I don't always send my visitors immediately to another site.
First, I tell them a little bit more about the program. That way, they only go
if they are really interested. Otherwise I might lose that visitor once they
leave my site. I do this for programs where I am paid when someone signs up for
a particular program or product. The affiliate program calls these
"leads." If I am paid per "hit" only, then I try to get them
to go straight to that site. 5. MAKE THEM
APPROPRIATE -- Most of my affiliate programs are related to what my site is
about. Try to pick programs that would be of interest to those visiting your
site. But don't be afraid of adding some programs that are more "general
interest" as they might bring in significant revenue. 6.
TEST -- Put about six or eight programs on your site and
test to see how they do over a month's period of time. Drop those that aren't
performing and try some new ones. My rule of thumb is that I try to make at
least 7 cents on average from every visitor I send to a site. 7.
HITS, LEADS, PURCHASES -- Programs that pay per hits are very safe bets. You are
guaranteed to make a certain amount for everyone you send their way. Try to find
programs that will give you at least 5-7 cents for everyone you send their way. Some
companies will pay you a large commission for every sale that comes via your
site, but unless people are buying often from them, they perform very poorly. I have
had great success with programs that pay you per "lead." 8. GOOD COMPANY -- Sign up
with a reputable affiliate company that offers a variety of programs. I have
heard about some programs that don't pay their bills on time. (see my recommendations to the left) 9. TWO-TIER
PROGRAMS -- There are many two tier programs you can sign up with. In addition
to your own sales commissions, you receive a percentage of every dollar earned
by those who sign up under you. Some of the programs I have recommend in the
past have been two-tiered. I make over $4000 a month, NOT counting two tier income, so
you don't have to rely other people signing up under you to make good money. 10.
NEWSLETTERS -- If you have a newsletter, an affiliate program gives you a never
ending stream of ads. Plus, since your newsletter usually goes to people who are
familiar with you already, they are more likely to check out the items you
recommend. Once you have
some programs up and
running, I'd be happy to take a look at what you have done and try to give you
some additional pointers. Just email me using the contact link at the bottom of
this page.
-- Michael
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