Remember how we brainstormed the list of KEYWORDS and then chose the best? We're going to choose affiliate partners in the same way. And, of course, Search It! will be our super-efficient assistant as usual.
Solid research sets a solid foundation. That’s why the strategies below try to cover almost every angle for choosing POSSIBLE PARTNERS. However, being this thorough can be overwhelming, especially if you are already time-crunched. So pick and choose the strategies that you know you can realistically execute. And then do them!
I highly recommend that you do at least four types of searches if at all possible. You want to increase your chances of finding quality affiliate programs that fit best with your business blueprint. But more importantly, you want to be confident about the merchants that you represent!
A good place to start your search for merchants would be, of course, at the Search Engines! Do a search for one of your keywords, plus the word “affiliate.” Let’s use this example...
+ab exercise +affiliate(The “+” sign means that both words must appear on the Web page returned by the search.)
Now open Search It! and do this search…
Search It! > Straight up Search (STEP 1) > Google, no quotes (STEP 2) > +ab exercise +affiliate (STEP 3)
Your Search It! window will look like this…
Here are the top results from our search… www.net2fitness.com/
www.cjtf7.com/
store.fitnessequipment.com/
www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com/
www.thesportsauthority.com/
seek.mooo.com/
www.gweilodiaries.com
www.putneyesl.org/
www.freetrainers.com/
Search It! > Straight up Search (STEP 1) > Yahoo, no quotes (STEP 2) > +ab exercise +affiliate (STEP 3)
Search It! > Specialty Hubs and Directories > Yahoo! Wide (STEP 2) > exercise (STEP 3) > ab exercise (STEP 4)
Since this is a large directory and there is a substantial annual fee, it has only serious merchants. Many of the sites listed here will have affiliate programs so this search is like hitting pay dirt in a gold mine. Simply enter your Site Concept word and hit Search It!.
Search It! > Monetization (STEP 1) > Find Affiliate Programs (STEP 2) > exercise (STEP 3)
This search takes you to the affiliate directory of AssociatePrograms, run by Allan Gardyne, the #1 affiliate guru on the Web. He offers objective reviews based on his extensive experience in affiliate marketing. His forum allows others to ask and answer questions about affiliate marketing in general and about specific affiliate programs in particular.
For each listing in this directory, you will see two numbers. The first number is the average rating that those who voted gave the affiliate. The second number shows how many votes that specific affiliate received on this site.
Visit a site that appeals to you. If it has an affiliate program that fits your Site Concept, first enter what kind of merchandise it sells and then enter the URL of the “join page” into POSSIBLE PARTNERS for that keyword (as explained above). Check the top ten sites -- twenty if you are feeling ambitious -- and record those with potential.
Repeat the process for each keyword in your MASTER KEYWORD LIST (i.e., replace “exercise” above with another keyword like “ab exercise”), starting with your specific HIGH-PROFITABILITY keywords and then following up with your general Concept Keywords (ex., “weight training” and other “concept-level” keywords that you develop, such as “exercise equipment,” etc.).
Read the review of each potential match. Look at the ratings and take advantage of any other evaluation services the AssociatePrograms directory may offer.You can also look for “cross-concept companies.” These are companies selling products that, because of their nature, fit with most or all Site Concepts. For example, whether your concept is about “Renaissance art” or “pricing” or “exercise,” you’ll find books about it. So always include a bookstore in your group of affiliate programs.
Still in the searching mood after all that? Try this final suggestion. You already have a list of POSSIBLE PARTNERS. Use the search tool at
AssociatePrograms to check out partners. Just enter each domain into the search tool.
Other things to do... 1) Use the AssociatePrograms’ forum. Review it for comments about programs that interest you. And ask questions. Don’t be shy -- ask whether Company ABC really is about to close its program!
2) Check out Allan’s “My Top 10,” “Top Rated,” and “Best Two-Tier.”Give special weighting to the most profitable. The most popular could reflect the results of major promotional pushes, and not necessarily profits. The most profitable are the ones that are “getting the job done” and making money for affiliates.
One drawback of any of the Top 10s… They likely will not cover programs that fit your concept. Don’t pick a Top 10 unless you can figure out how it fits into your concept.
3) Subscribe to Allan’s e-zine to stay up-to-date. There’s some excellent material in each issue. I always make time for his newsletter. (I receive no commission for this recommendation.)
4) Read the articles. But don’t get sidetracked -- you can get that famous golfing disease... “paralysis by analysis.” Keep moving forward.
If you want to be really, really, really thorough, and you have more spare time than I do, you could check out these affiliate directories…Refer-It
http://www.affiliateworld.com/
AffiliateMatch.com
Our own affiliate program, the 5 Pillar Program, is consistently the #1 topearning program of AssociatePrograms.com (the #1 affiliate directory). Anyone who visits your site is bound to be curious how she found you, and how you did such a wonderful job.
For more information about our affiliate program... http://affiliates.sitesell.com/There are several companies that provide the tools, technology and services that online businesses need to register, track, report and pay affiliates. In other words, merchants don’t have to “do it themselves” because these companies provide all the backend functionality necessary to run an affiliate program.
The “backend providers” prefer to call themselves “affiliate networks.” Why?Because they do more than just provide merchants with affiliate software. They also provide merchants with affiliates, and vice-versa. Since they have a pool of hundreds of thousands of affiliates, a merchant’s program gets instant exposure to potentially interested affiliates.
And affiliates get exposure to a wide variety of merchants. So join each of these backend providers. You will likely come across many of the same merchants that you found in the affiliate directories. But you will also find new ones. So it is worth checking to see whether they feature any programs that fit with your concept....
Commission Junction http://www.cj.com/If you find merchants with products that fit, enter what kind of merchandise they sell and also enter the URL of the “join page” to the POSSIBLE PARTNERS column in your MASTER KEYWORD LIST for each keyword that is relevant.
Do a search for the Web site you are evaluating. In this example, we are looking at net2fitness.com. This was the first result in our Search Engine affiliate search. Now it's time to use Alexa to find potential affiliates.
Search It! > Popularity (STEP 1) > Alexa Rankings and Review (STEP 2) > net2fitness.com (STEP 3)When the page opens, click on Related Links on the left of the page.
Alexa also displays traffic ranking, IN-pointing links, and even visitor reviews!
Once you establish which sites in your niche are the big players, use the Related Links tool from Alexa to expand your horizons!
How else can you find merchants through the Search Engines? Easy!...
1) Visit the advertisers!
2) Sniff affiliate sites. (They’ve already done the homework for you!)...
These “linked-to” merchants already have affiliate programs -- all you have to do is check them out and see if they fit with your Site Concept! Add the ones that do fit with your list of POSSIBLE PARTNERS.
Search It! > Back Links (STEP 1) > Back Links to Site (Yahoo! Search) (STEP 2) > net2fitness.com (STEP 3)
This search yields a number of results. Let’s say your eye catches this site… thepumpingstation.com. From the list of links, you find interesting affiliate programs.
World Wide Sport fits with an idea that you had added to the IDEAS FOR CONTENT column. So you entered www.wwsport.com into your list of POSSIBLE PARTNERS for the keyword “weight training equipment.” (See how you can use the MASTER KEYWORD LIST to group programs according to keywords?)
We’ll use wwsport.com as our example of how to grow your list of POSSIBLE PARTNERS for “weight training equipment”....Start by checking which OTHER affiliates link to www.sport.com! How? Simple. Go to…
Search It! > Competition (STEP 1) > Back Links to Site (Yahoo Search) (STEP 2) > wwsport.com (STEP 3)
At the time of writing, 653 pages linked to wwsport.com. Many of these sites will be CONTENT sites that also link to other exercise-related merchants as affiliates (you can often tell by the linking URLs). So most likely...
… these linked-to merchants already have affiliate programs -- all you have to do is check them out and see if they fit! Add the ones that fit to your list of POSSIBLE PARTNERS for each keyword.
And you can use this Search It! link-finder technique for all of your POSSIBLE PARTNERS for all of your keywords!