What does your affiliate program offer?
What you will need to include on some kind of “sign up” page is the following ...
Instructions on how to join your affiliate program.
When and how the affiliate will be paid.
How much per referred sale the affiliate will be paid.
Information regarding how the affiliate will access stats.
A brief overview of how the affiliate program works.
An affiliate program terms of agreement page.
Most of this will be taken care of by using Clickbank® as we talked about earlier if you go with that solution.
Note: I do recommend that you have your own “terms of agreement”
available at your site that affiliates must agree to before they can join your program. There are some standard forms you can find by searching Google.com. Or you can use a software service such as Autoweblaw.com. If you can afford it, you can always hire an attorney to create them for you.
Okay, so that’s the first “A”, “Assemble tools”. Now it’s time to move on to step
#3, the “L” of your S.A.L.E.S. A.R.M.Y.TM, which is...
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Step #3: L – LOOK For An Edge
News flash: you aren’t the only person with an affiliate program. You’ve got competition.
So, why should anyone join YOUR affiliate program instead of (or in addition to) that of your competition?
I want you to learn something today about affiliates that should be engrained in your head from now on –
Affiliates are fickle.
Listen, they go where the money is. And, rightfully so. Why promote a product or service that’s making you $100 per month when you can devote the same time and energy to a product or service that’s making you $200 per month?
So, what makes your affiliate program attractive to affiliates?
Let me quickly run down some things that affiliates want in an affiliate program and then I’m going to give you three simple strategies for making your affiliate program irresistible.
7 Things That Attract Affiliates
1. Something EASY. We’ve talked about this earlier, but it’s worth mentioning again. Affiliates want things that are “turnkey”. They want to copy and paste, point and click.
2. Something RESIDUAL. More than commission from a one-time sale, affiliates want to earn profit from multiple customer transactions. Offer numerous products to your customers and pay your affiliates commissions on all additional sales generated from the customers they refer.
3. Something SUPPORTIVE. You need to be visible and accessible to your affiliates. One of the largest virtually ignored demographics is “non- super affiliates”. That is, newbies and intermediates who can only generate a handful of sales for you. Support them and see how hundreds of these kinds of affiliates can produce thousands of dollars in profit each month.
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4. Something INCLUSIVE. Affiliates also want a sense of community. They want to “belong” to something. Turn your affiliate program into more than
“just another program”; make it a place where affiliates can repeatedlyvisit and interact with others. (Hint: An affiliate forum would be a great addition.)
5. Something VALUABLE. Everyone seems to be giving away “creatives”
these days as we talked about earlier. However, most of them just really aren’t that good. If you provide high-quality free content to distribute, chances are you’ll separate yourself from your competition. Don’t just throw together some materials, make them first-rate.
6. Something RELIABLE. Affiliates want to be paid promptly. They want to know that you are a person of integrity; that they can count on you.
7. Something PROFITABLE. Let’s face it, this is the biggie. Affiliates wantto make as much money per time invested as possible. That’s the primary reason why they are affiliates, right? You’ve gotta do everything in your power to help them make the most money they can.
Now, those are all pretty straightforward. No big surprises there. What I want to do now is give you three simple strategies you can implement to attract new affiliates. I call them “affiliate magnets”.
By using these three ideas, you should be able to easily distance yourself from your competition and attract affiliates for your program.
There’s a joke told about two guys out hiking when they see a bear running towards them. One guy begins to quickly take off his shoes so he can run faster. The other guy says, “Hey, you can’t out-run that bear!” The first guy says, “I don’t have to out-run the bear.
I just have to out-run YOU!”
Here’s the point: all you need to do is out-run your competition. All you need to do in order to attract affiliates is to be better than those who are offering affiliate programs in your chosen field.
Now, specifically, in reference to “affiliate magnet #1”, you need to offer better compensation than your competition.
Affiliate Magnet #1: Better Compensation Than The Competition.
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That is, your affiliate program should offer greater financial rewards than your competition does.
What I want to do is give you four suggestions on how to make your affiliate program more lucrative and attractive for affiliates in regards to earning them greater profit.