Affiliate Program Launch - starva.com · Affiliate Program Launch Just for fun, ask that same question of fellow marketers in a simple, one-question Survey on the Mastermind group

Affiliate Program Launch


Brought To You By:

Angela Wills

http://www.StarVA.com

2 http://www.StarVA.com Copyright (c) 2014

http://www.StarVA.com/


Table Of Contents

Table Of Contents .......................................................................................................................... 3

Section I: Affiliate Program Overview ....................................................................................... 4

What is an Affiliate Program and Why do I Need One? ..................................................... 4When Should I Start My Program? ..................................................................................... 6How Does It Work? ............................................................................................................. 7What Exactly Do You Mean By “Affiliate Manager”? ....................................................... 7

Section II: Where The “Profitable” Comes In … ....................................................................... 8

Deciding How You Want To Run It .................................................................................... 8What and How Do I Pay my Affiliates? ............................................................................ 10Are These Cookies Spyware? ............................................................................................ 12

Section III: Payments and Commissions .................................................................................. 16

How Much and How Should I Pay my Affiliates? ........................................................... 16Payment Frequency ........................................................................................................... 19Refunds .............................................................................................................................. 21

The Clickbank Option ................................................................................................................. 23

What System Should You Use? .................................................................................................. 24

Section IV: Your Affiliate Center ............................................................................................. 27

Tools .................................................................................................................................. 27

Section V: Customer Service ..................................................................................................... 30

Help Desk .......................................................................................................................... 30Contests and Prizes ............................................................................................................ 30

Section V: Making The Most Of Your Affiliate Marketing Skills .......................................... 33

Finding Joint Venture Partners .......................................................................................... 33Never Forget Your Competitors ........................................................................................ 35

Tips To Help You Profit .............................................................................................................. 36

Bonus: 27 Affiliate Program Energy Booster Tips .................................................................. 37




Section I: Affiliate Program Overview

What is an Affiliate Program and Why do I Need One?

If you sell digital or physical products, you can expand your long-term,

recurring income dramatically by running your own Affiliate Program. This

allows your customers and subscribers to promote your products for you by

driving people from their own lists and marketing venues directly to your

order pages.

In turn, you pay them a commission.

If you ever hope to make at the very least a comfortable, steady income

from internet marketing, running an Affiliate Program is something you need

to seriously consider – and even if you’re a brand new marketer, the best

time to learn all about it and plan for it, down the road – is now.

Having your own Affiliate Program will build a foundation of income

generation that will grow as you do. It definitely deserves a solid place in

your long-term marketing career goals.

If you’re still not convinced, let me ask you this…

What’s been your biggest “draw” since you started your marketing career?

Has it been Google Adwords? Banner ads? Commenting in forums? Blog post

response? Social Networking?




Just for fun, ask that same question of fellow marketers in a simple, one-

question Survey on the Mastermind group you belong to… or on your blog,

Twitter or one of the forums you frequent.

I’m betting that the overwhelming top answer will be: “Word of mouth”.

(Either that – or “affiliate sales!”)

The written word is great; and a good graphic (which marketers are all too

notoriously rarely willing to pay top dollar for) can be worth its weight, for

certain purposes… but the truth is, there is nothing like the energy

generated when people start creating a real, live “buzz”!

Your affiliates will:

Write blog posts about you and your offerings

Interview you

Tweet about you (and retweet your posts)

Talk about you and your products sincerely and enthusiastically, which

in turn will build trust in their subscribers

Offer you Joint Ventures

Send you even more affiliates

Send you paying customers – regularly




Sound like a good strategy to plan for?

When Should I Start My Program?

That’s a really great question! Definitely not when you’re brand new and

have nothing to offer. But you’re doing the best thing, right now, by

reading this report and learning what plans to make.

If you have a list and a few products out there already, there’s really no

reason to wait – consider starting straight away.

If you’re just creating your first product, have your bonuses and second

product planned and in the works also – but now is the time to build your

Affiliate Marketing plans right into your sales funnel!

The ideal way to do it: Have a “Pre-Launch”. Test your product quietly by

creating a Special Offer, perhaps in the Warrior Forum Special Offer section

(WSO), or in any Mastermind Group or Membership site (relevant to your

product, that is) that you belong to. Make this Pre-Launch a limited time

offer, at a discount. Invite feedback when you give the Special Offer –

don’t just expect it. Tweak your product.

Got your answers? Now you’re ready to start looking for affiliates.




But be warned – it’s not something you can do in an afternoon. You need to

plan and schedule early in your sales funnel; and that’s exactly what this

Report is here to help you do.

How Does It Work?

You add a tab somewhere on your web or blog site – usually either on the

top or bottom menu bar that says “Affiliates”. People who want to become

your affiliate click on it and sign up via a contact form.

At this point, you have the option of either:

A. Automatically allowing them to join, and redirecting them instantly to

promo tools and their affiliate code

B. Have them apply, and have to wait for your approval before being

accepted (or in rare cases, rejected)

Next, you may wish to invest in an Affiliate Manager…

What Exactly Do You Mean By “Affiliate Manager”?




I’m glad you asked! This is a term that often confuses new marketers;

mostly because when seasoned marketers speak of an “Affiliate Manager”,

they usually mean automated scripts, paid “full” services or self-

managed, automated services to handle all the affiliate processes that

can be put on autopilot… whereas new marketers who hear “you need an

Affiliate Manager..” may be indulging in visions of a stern-looking woman

with glasses, wearing a beige 90’s business suit, striding around with a

clipboard.

The fact that Superstar marketers actually may outsource to a Real Live

Person or high-powered company to do precisely that – manage their

affiliates – adds to the confusion. (If you’re not quite a Superstar yet, you

can hire a good VA who specializes in this area.)

To confuse things further, note that when we are talking of a Real Live

Person you pay, this sort of Affiliate Manager doesn’t just deal with

dispensing payments and commissions – he or she is there to provide a Help

Desk, support, motivation, and surrogate live contact for you. As well as

alert you to any glitches, while helping solve them.)

That is basically what running an Affiliate Program entails. Now, let’s look at

the specifics, and make some decisions…

Section II: Where The “Profitable” Comes In…




Deciding How You Want To Run It

Hold on a sec! Before you go dashing off to start setting it up… I did

promise you information on creating a profitable Affiliate Program.

One that makes you the most money – and builds a solid, positive reputation

– isn’t going to be something you make up as you go. When you’re dealing

with real, live human beings (your affiliates), you can’t be chopping and

changing the rules on them, after you discover you’ve made a mistake and

can’t break even at the commission rate you promised them; or that it works

better for you if you only pay out commissions after every $100 worth

they’ve earned, instead of every two weeks, or every sale.

Your program needs to planned from the foundation to the top of the

highest turret, one brick at a time – before you implement a single

detail. (But don’t worry – reading this blueprint will really speed up this

process for you!)

The very first thing you need to decide is what type of affiliate program you

want to run. You’ll need to choose between:

1. Pay Per Lead – This is all about “lead generation”. You pay your

affiliate when he sends you a prospect who subscribes to your

newsletter, mailing list or freebie mini course. You are paying for (at

the very least) an email address – usually a name and email address.




This type of program is good if you don’t plan to focus on product

creation. If you run a membership site, or sell services, this may be

the option for you.

And even if you’re main marketing income is your own affiliate

commissions, and you’re planning to be the next Rosalind Gardner,

paying per lead is something that might just work for you too!

2. Pay Per Sale – You pay our affiliates (usually once or twice a month)

for actual conversions; that is, sales they have sent you.

This is the most popular option, because it’s the one that works the

best for most marketers’ budgets!

Why haven’t I included “Pay Per Click”? Well, that’s not usually a viable

option for most marketers (unless they already make millions, and can

afford to pay out a lot of money for clicks.) We’ll leave Pay-Per-Click affiliate

programs to Google Adwords, for the moment…


TIP: That reminds me… If for some reason you decide to use PPC in your actual product launch, stick to countries known to generate sales, not just clicks. Actively remove non-profitable countries from your PPC list in Adwords, ruthless though that may sound – it will save you a lot of money!

Certain countries are notorious for generating clicks but no sales. Your best bet is to stick to the U.S., Canada, Central Europe, the U.K. and Australia.



What and How Do I Pay my Affiliates?

This is the million-dollar question! Fortunately, there are some formulas you

can use to calculate your commission rates..

Before you start figuring out formulas, however, you need to consider a

“hidden” equation not too many new Affiliate Program managers are aware

of: the types of affiliates you will undoubtedly attract. You’re dealing with

real, live people, so you need to set up a program that is clear, fair and

attractive. If you realize up front that your affiliates are not all little clones,

driven by the same motives and inspiration, you’re likely to make better

decisions concerning them.

Pass the Cookies, Please

Now that we’ve considered type of programs you can choose (or not

choose), it’s time for a cookie break before continuing to explore more

variables.

Uh… hold on a sec… I didn’t really mean “Go and get a cup of coffee, and a

cookie” (though I’m sure that’s got you feeling ready to tackle the finance-

and-fiddly-bits, now that you’re back at your computer) but let’s get back to

business…

Cookies, as you probably know all too well, are markers that allow your

Affiliate Manager (and in this case, we’re talking about your script or service)

to track which affiliate ID number each lead and/or sale comes from,




so you can properly reward your hard-working affiliate. This type of cookie

is a chunks of text sent to your computer, to be read and tracked.

There are 3 types of cookies you can use: Lifetime, long-term and short-

term.

Cookie Types

Lifetime Cookie created with no “expiry” date

Long-

term

Cookie with a long life-span (usually around a year)

Short-

term

Cookie which expires within a short period of time (usually a

couple of weeks to a month)

Hard-

coded

This is not so much a 'cookie' but a permanent referral. If

you use a program that hard codes affiliates into your system

they'll get referrals for every single sale their referral makes.

This makes your program extremely attractive to affiliates!

What’s the difference between “lifetime” cookies and ones that expire?

Lifetime cookies:

Allow your referring affiliate to earn from all future sales from that

customer – even if they arrived at your latest product because of some

other affiliate’s link

Attract affiliates who are likely to promote you consistently over long

periods of time




Cookies that expire:

Allow you to offer a higher commission, to offset the fact that repeat

sales will not be credited to the first-time referring affiliate. You will

make more in the long run when the customer buys directly from your

promotions, but that high first commission often appeals to affiliates

looking for quick profits

Are These Cookies Spyware?

Absolutely not! Their sole purpose is to make sure the referring affiliate gets

the credit they deserve. Beyond that, there is no covert attempt to track

anything it shouldn’t be tracking.

Most affiliates are happy to have these cookies on their computer. They

make the affiliate money. It’s the sort of cookie that ensures she doesn’t

have to input information over and over, when the cookie “remembers” her.

And let’s not forget the Human Factor, when we’re making all these

calculations and decisions. Let’s take a look at what motivates your affiliates

– and some common “types” you can expect to deal with…




Your Potential Affiliates

The

Olympic

Affiliate

Has a large list and boundless

enthusiasm. Will promote your

products relentlessly, better than

you yourself could! Brings you a

major part of your affiliate sales –

and takes a major part of the

commissions.

If you’re ever lucky – or

smart – enough to land

one of these, you’re

steady income is

assured! This affiliate is

worth every dollar and

more!

The

Sprinter

Affiliate

Good for fast, short bursts. This

sort may start off like

gangbusters, but stop promoting

fairly soon. Flighty, flighty, flighty.

They’re probably like this with

their own projects too… always

jumping from one irresistible inbox

offer to the next… Or just looking

for easy cash…

If you’ve been offering

big commissions for

signing up, this is the

sort you’re likely to

attract. Many of them

love new product

launches, and make

good allies when

you’re having one.

The

Marathon

Affiliate

Devoted, slow and steady, they

don’t dazzle you with spectacular

big numbers… but they do bring in

a steady stream (or trickle).

They’re dependable, loyal and

experienced. They enjoy

recognition and tracking.

The backbone of your

affiliate system, and

worth every penny.

Steady trickles add up.

Many of them have

multiple sites and do

this for their sole

living.

The Novice

Affiliate

They slap a link to your site on

their web page, hoping that

Sometimes, they’re

actually just really new.




hordes of people will magically

click on it and create cash.

They’re the ones that like to wear

the team jacket, but are afraid to

get up on the horse.

They don’t know what to

do or how to do it. If you

recognize their

underlying sincerity and

are willing to help them

get into the saddle, you

may be pleasantly

surprised!

The

Sidelines

Affiliate

This affiliate longs to be in the

race, but has confidence issues.

She’s signed up for your program,

but dislikes selling and sometimes

even feels guilty earning any

money.

Remind her she can send

people to pick up your

freebies. This won’t feel

like “being pushy” to her

– and once she sees a

response, she will grow

more comfortable

promoting!

Realizing you don’t have cookie-cutter affiliates – yet that most of them

really do fall into recognizable “types” – should help you better decide how

you can effectively support them.

That being said, each one is an individual, and should be made to feel

supported and valued.

After all, they’re making it possible for you to be a profitable Affiliate

Manager!




Section III: Payments and Commissions

How Much and How Should I Pay my Affiliates?

Back to the bean counting… Calculating commissions and commission

structure, and deciding when and how to deliver payment, exerts a major

effect on your futures profits. You have some idea now about how you want

to handle your cookies and what type of affiliate you’re most likely going to

attract, and you’re all prepared for the Human Factor. Now let’s get down to

one of the most crucial issues you have to address: how, what and when

you are going to pay your affiliates.

Start by checking out what your direct competitors are offering for

their commission structures. It should give you a good idea of the

various ways you too can set up your structure, what’s comparable in your

niche – and you can sit back and really think about the pros and cons.

If you are just starting out and need to build your list, you may even

consider offering your affiliates 100% commission on only the first paid

product in your sales funnel, and at least 50% for future ones.

If you do decide to go this route, definitely use short-term, expiring

cookies; not lifetime ones. The loss you take on that first paid product

should be more than offset by the additions to your direct list and future

sales they bring to your table.




If you do this, make sure your affiliates know the 100% is a one-time thing.

And do remember that your product creation is not “free” – you would not

be “making” 100% of the retail price anyway: You would need to deduct the

cost of:

Graphics

Your VA’s services (if you have one)

Any copywriting fees

The cost of any PLR you purchased to use as the skeleton framework

for your eBook or Report

Software you had to purchase

Any videos or audio files you had made to include as “bonuses”

Your time

Your monthly fees – ESPECIALLY if you are using a service with high

sign-up fees!

What’s left, after you subtract these figures, is your profit (though most new

marketers don’t deduct time because otherwise their profit ratio would likely

be a minus.)

If you are having a physical product created, say… a DVD from Kunaki… you

would need to deduct the fee you pay Kunaki per unit; and if you’re not

using a fulfillment company, consider whether or not you want to build




shipping costs into your price, or charge customers extra. (Make provisions

for international customers too – and don’t forget your taxes!)

Your best bet, if you are new, is to create a digital information product that

requires no manufacture or shipping. Your profit ratio will be much higher

than with a physical product.

Also consider the amount of actual profit against the commissions your

competitors are offering, and the type of sale you’re generating –

whether you need to calculate per product unit. Factor in all these important

aspects, before deciding on a final amount (and whether or not you’re going

to go for lifetime cookies or short term).

Some points to ponder…

A. It takes 7-12 visits to a website before customers typically decide to

buy. Short-term cookies may inadvertently cause an affiliate to feel

“cheated”; whereas a lifetime cookie will reward the affiliate for getting

the customer to your site in the first place

B. One big advantage of short term cookies: They give an incentive for

your affiliates to compete with each other, in offering their own

bonuses or coupons (with your permission)

C. Be aware that some Affiliate Manager scripts and systems have pre-set

cookie options, so you may be stuck with following a lifetime cookie

system after you invest in the script, when you really prefer short-

term cookies




D. Lifetime cookies inspire affiliate loyalty (and you can provide further

incentive to keep performing by letting it be known they will be

discarded if an affiliate stops producing)

E. Short term cookies with high commissions inspire activity and energy

F. It’s better to raise an affiliate’s commission, if you find you set it too

low, than it is to cut it, if they’ve been enjoying great commissions

What it all boils down to… No one can definitively show you the “perfect”

system. The final decision is going to have to be yours in the end, based on

your particular variables: Your niche, your affiliates, your sales, your

competition; how much you can afford for Affiliate Manager services; and

how long you’ve been in the market (not to mention the strength of your

web visibility and reputation.)

However, I hope the information and tips in this report will help you step

forward with more certainty and less room for confusion.

Payment Frequency

But we’re not done with the whole commission/payment issue yet – not by a

long shot! Next on our list: How often should you pay out?

Some people set a minimum amount of commission that has to be earned,

before they pay out. This is good for you inasmuch as it weeds out those




affiliates who might make one sale, then lose interest in promoting you,

when the next best marketing offer comes along (another argument against

lifetime cookies.)

The drawback with this is, it will almost certainly drive away the more

experienced affiliates.

Methods

You can pay your affiliates by monthly or bi-monthly cheque, or by PayPal.

With PayPal, if you want to pay your affiliates at the same time every

month, you can do a “Mass Pay”. The advantage of a “Mass Pay”: your

affiliates do not have PayPal fees deducted from their payment, and

the fees for you are cheaper than if you pay different groups or individuals

separately.

The drawback with PayPal: Some countries that are major players in

internet marketing – like Australia – do not have it.

The drawback with cheques: Mailing costs, loss of time with the physical

handling, problems that some affiliates will have with currency conversion.

You may also want to pay your affiliates per sale. Most top affiliate

marketers agree that the more often you pay your affiliates, the more

motivated they seem to be to keep those commissions pouring into their

PayPal accounts. If you think back yourself, how excited did you get, the

first time you got an affiliate commission… for all of $14.97?




And seeing multiples of those small numbers (and watching them grow)

can be totally addictive to affiliates, spurring them on to constant efforts to

promote.

In contrast, consider the affiliate you pay once a month… she waits, and

waits, and ends up sure the amount is going to be over $100… maybe as

high as $300… She’s hoping that affiliate cheque will cover her telephone

bill, or buy her business that Software package she’s been trying to save up

for, for the last three months.

When she sees her $77.96, she feels let down and disappointed… The

amount doesn’t feel high at all.

Of course, not all affiliates are like that. Many are experienced enough to be

running several campaigns at once and small amounts don’t phase them.

But people always like to be recognized and rewarded: Remember that, and

you’ll be as motivated to keep your affiliates as they are to promote you.

Refunds

There will always be a (hopefully small) percentage of refunds, so do

yourself a favor and get used to the idea in advance.

Some refunds are generated by unscrupulous people who buy your

product, then ask for a refund, having gotten the information they

wanted. Realistically, there is not much you can do about this.




Some are people who don’t put the time into your product, then blame

you because it “didn’t work” (yes, they were looking for “instant

riches”.)

Certain affiliates may be to blame for other refunds, if they’ve over

hyped your product; or misrepresented it.

And others… well, who knows.

The point is, don’t lose any sleep over it. And people ask for refunds less

often than you might think. But you do need to be prepared for the odd one

– and how it’s going to be handled.

There are two essentials, when it comes to refunds:

A. Pay them promptly and cheerfully (as your legally-required,

minimum-30-day Guarantee has no doubt claimed you will do.)

B. Make sure your affiliate script or service has a tracking system for

refunds, so you can deduct them from the appropriate affiliate’s

account




The Clickbank Option

If you’ve been having a nervous breakdown just reading about payments

and commissions –relax! You can always sign up with an Affiliate

Marketplace network like Clickbank. You pay a first-time fee, when you

upload your product (under $50) – and Clickbank takes care of the rest!

It handles your commissions, gives your affiliates their codes and sets their

cookies, processes payments to your affiliates and refunds to your

customers – basically, does everything. It’s a great option for someone who

is just getting their feet wet in the world of being an affiliate marketer.

The drawbacks?

Clickbank’s refund rates are higher




It has a history of problems with link theft, which tends to deter

affiliates

A number of top affiliates will not deal with services like Clickbank (for

the above and other reasons)

You have no control over payment options

On the other hand, it is up to each of your affiliates to learn how to properly

cloak their Clickbank links.

And you can – and should – provide an affiliate welcome letter, a great sales

pages, promo tools for them to use (banners, sales pages, text ads, tips) –

in short, everything you can, to help them feel you are a team.

What System Should You Use?

Last but not least, you need to be aware that the script or Affiliate

Management service or Network you’ve chosen may not be able to perform

some of the functions and parameters you’re planning. For example, not all

systems allow you to have “tiered” commissions, where you pay your

affiliates for not only garnering sales, but recruiting more affiliates. (That’s

straying into the arena of Multi-Level Marketing.) Also, you might want to be


TIP: Provide a tutorial on creating redirects to dummy folders uploaded via FTP to their servers. Have this tutorial available as a resource in your Affiliate Center.



able to offer your Olympic and Marathon Affiliates more, in order to keep

them active.

You also need to consider if you want an all-in-one solution, and how much

you can budget.

Other things you might want to check for:

Tracking options – for you and for your affiliates

Flexibility in page linking, so your affiliates can choose which

specific page to send their subscribers to

Let’s look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of the three

methods…

Affiliate Manager Methods

Method Pro Con

Script, my

favorite is

Amember

No recurring fees - hosted on your server – if it

causes problems, it can crash all

your sites and cause problems with

your host

- susceptible to hackers

- if you are not experienced, expect

to hire a tech to manage it on a

semi-regular basis

- any changes have to be hand-


http://angelalikes.com/amember



coded

Services you

manage

(e.g.

1Shopping

Cart)

Fully automated but

you are able to

make minor changes

and manage it

yourself

Monthly fees (but relatively low)

You may still need to hire a tech, if

you are really uncomfortable with

this sort of system

Full Affiliate

Marketing

Networks

(e.g.

Clickbank,

Commission

Junction)

They run it

completely for you

Fees can be incredibly high (Check

individual services) with the lowest

being Clickbank

No ability to customize options such

as payout times, commission

If you run a script, do remember you will have to have a good programmer

“on tap.” In fact, you can visit guru.com and hire the programmer to write

the script for you… or you can buy a commercial one.

Most people tend to opt for services you can manage yourself, such as

1ShoppingCart.com or Quicksales. With new marketers who are still

experiencing a high learning curve, however, starting off Clickbank may be a

safer option.

Fully supporting your Clickbank affiliates and not falling back 100% on its

automatic Affiliate management is the key to solid success. Note that many

people who slap a product up on Clickbank let Clickbank manage their




affiliate program, 100%: That is, they do not provide resources, tools,

training or support for their affiliates – which is a mistake.

Now, granted… Clickbank doesn’t provide any way for you to contact

your affiliates directly, however – so be creative about finding ways to let

them know you want them to contact you, so you can provide support.

Have an “Affiliate Tools” tab they can access, talk about your affiliate tools in

posts or interviews, when you’re in the recruiting stage.

(Note: An experienced affiliate marketer will not need prompting to write to

you, anyway. It will be part of her “pre-screening” process, when selecting

products from Clickbank to promote – to see if YOU measure up! If you can

direct her straight away to your Affiliate Center with all your promotional

supports for that product, she is more likely to sign up with you – and that’s

the sort of affiliate you need!)

Keep the personal touch, be there for your affiliates, and this will set you

above a huge percentage of all other Clickbank marketers!

Section IV: Your Affiliate Center

You’ve got your payment structure and commissions set up. You’re signing

up affiliates – but wait! Now you have to provide them with as much help

as possible in selling your product to happy, targeted customers.




This is where having an Affiliate Center for them to go, every time they

want to grab a new banner, or read some tips on promotion, really comes

into its own. To put it plainly, all the best affiliate marketers provide great

Affiliate Centers: all the worst ones don’t.

Tools

The first thing you need to offer your affiliates is a good set of tools, so they

can do your dirty work, and enjoy every minute of it. Your motto should be:

“Make it easy for them!”

What sort of tools should you have?

The following page offers you a handy Checklist…Your Affiliate Toolkit

You Yes, I’m serious. Be available for your affiliates. Be available

to write guest posts, answer questions, appear in

interviews and webinars. And if you can’t do it, hire a VA or

actual Manager who will provide “your” personal touch.

Banner,

Text and

Button Ads

Create professionally designed banner ads in a variety of

standard sizes, so your affiliates can do the best job possible of

making your ads work on their sites. And stay away from

overpowering or bright colors: You’re only shooting

yourself in the foot, if your ad overpowers their glowing

personal recommendation. Don’t forget text ads and smaller

ads too.

Affiliate This goes without saying. You’ll need to supply the code for




Code their banner ad

Instructions Give them crystal clear instruction on how to use everything

in your tool kit. For example, don’t assume they know how to

insert their own unique affiliate ID into their generated code.

S-p-e-l-l it out.

“Bonuses” Provide them with sales material that feels like delectable little

insider bonuses in themselves! This would include free

products meant strictly for their education, as well as bonuses

such as coupons for their subscribers.

Pre-written

Sales

Material

This one is a double-edged sword, and some marketers

deliberately don’t provide it. If you provide posts and pre-

written ads, call it “PLR” and urge them to rewrite and

customize these.

Brandable

Reports

Do give them a selection of reports written by you they can

offer as part of their promotions. (You can outsource and have

a ghostwriter produce these.) Allowing them to brand these

reports with their own name and logo provides extra “perq”.

Training

Materials

These can include:

- Welcome page (as well as their welcome email)

- FAQ sheets

- .MP3 or VIDEO files (interviews you’ve done with top affiliate

marketers giving them tips, or just straight instruction from

you)

- .PDF Manuals




- Tip Sheets specific to that product

- Teleseminar, Skype, Audio Recording and Video making

tutorials

Setting up a complete Affiliate Center for each product is a smart, “win-

win”, way to go.




Section V: Customer Service

Help Desk

Absolutely essential is strong, prompt customer support for customers – but

even more so for your affiliates. Whether you want to do this with an

automated “help desk”, a VA manning “help desk”, or handle it personally, it

doesn’t matter.

Just make sure that whoever takes care of problems, does so promptly and

professionally. And that any automated programs run smoothly.

Remember… a frustrated affiliate is an angry, discouraged affiliate.

And the last thing you ever want to have happen is “bad press”, where your

angry affiliate feels ignored or taken advantage of, and vents on a Social

Networking site or blog.

Contests and Prizes

Properly speaking, this really shouldn’t be in your Affiliate Center as such…

it’s just that it seems a good place to mention this little “trick”…

Do send your Affiliates emails now and again, offering prizes – especially

ones they can choose themselves (especially if you offer cash substitutes, if

they don’t want the prize.)




In fact, if you ever did want to generate leads rather than sales, this is the

way to do it!

Keeping Your Affiliates Happy

Allow for affiliates asking for benefits and special deals for their

customers. This can be a good thing – but make sure you both profit

by this, if you give a coupon exclusively allowing their customers only

to get a discount. Consider the long-term value of your affiliate,

as well as their commission rate

Take a tip from Real Estate salesmen – it isn’t always about “the

cash”. If you can’t afford to pay high commissions right off the bat,

see what else you can negotiate with: Superior support? Better

conversion rates? Great tools? Monthly prizes?

If you can handle the extra work, create a blog especially for your

affiliates. Make it an exclusive membership site, so only they can

access it. You can provide training articles, and answer questions right

there on the blog. (The beauty of that, rather than sending an

individual email – you’ve answered the question for all affiliates, not

just one!) Having an affiliates-only blog sounds like a lot of work, but

can save you time, in the end.

Create a newsletter specially for your affiliates. You can announce

contests, give coupons, praise high achievers by name and prepare

them for upcoming promotions. Mentioning names of affiliates creates

a greater sense of exclusivity – a big human motivator – and

community. They are literally your Team – treat them as such!

Remember that the relationship is a big deal to newer marketers, not




so much to seasoned ones – but there are all round benefits on many

levels in staying connected with your affiliates. A happy and valued

affiliate is a loyal, active affiliate.

Do remember that you really can hire an Affiliate Manager – a real

person – when you get too busy (and wealthy) for the personal touch

to be a practical reality. A good Affiliate Manager is worth every penny,

and will make it seem like your personal touch is still there. There are

companies who do this, and there are individual people available.

(You can also hire them to train your VA in Affiliate Management.)

Before dashing off to hire a manager, evaluate all the tasks you

perform. You may be better off to outsource other tasks to a VA,

rather than hiring an Affiliate Management company or person; and

focus solely on managing your affiliates and creating products yourself,

instead.

Provide statistics to help your affiliates track (it’s essential for you as

well!)

In fact, if at all possible, avoid Affiliate Management services or scripts that

don’t allow you to track sales.

And there’s one more thing you must do, absolutely: In fact, this should be

the most sacred task in your schedule:




Pay your affiliates on time.

Section V: Making The Most Of YourAffiliate Marketing Skills

We’ve talked about your affiliates: What sort of people they may be, how

you can motivate them and help them grow in their affiliate marketing skills.

Now, what about you?

You’re just starting out your Affiliate Management career. If you look at it

from the other side, you’re as inexperienced as any “Newbie”. You’ll need to

hone your skills as an Affiliate marketer too.

Finding Joint Venture Partners

Finding a Joint Venture partner is something you may have been

considering. Getting one who is more advanced than you on the marketing

ladder is a big advantage, inasmuch as you will benefit from their list more

than they will benefit from yours. Therefore, you need to offer them a good

incentive.

There are two ways to approach potential JV partners:

One is to send an offer to a small selection of marketers. Make a

straightforward, generic offer. Point out all the advantages you can bring to

the table, and offer to give their subscribers a significant discount – perhaps




even offer your product for free (especially if you have a membership site

they can sign up for, and you’ve included the first month free in your offer).

Offer prizes. Always remember… the most successful “prize” is cash. If

you have arranged a contra with someone else, and you actually have a

physical prize to offer (like a major piece of high end software) offer a cash

alternative anyway. They may already have the item you’re offering, or

see no need for it.

Remember, it’s a business offer, so write it as such. Don’t be overly

chummy, and don’t use slang: No matter what your normal style. (It’s

different, of course, if you’re crafting the offer personally, tailored to a

specific marketer. But that might not be an effective use of your time.)

The other way? To hook a bigger (but NEVER a too-much-bigger marketer,

unless you personally know them really, really well) – is to ask them to

review your product.

Give them a good reason why you want them in particular to review your

product. Make sure it’s an honest and sincere reason. Give them a long lead

date for review – don’t spring it on them a week before your launch.

Above all, do not mention anything about them becoming your

affiliate.

One of three things will happen:

1. They’ll review your product and point out the flaws. If they do this,

fantastic! Thank them sincerely, and fix what needs to be fixed. If




you have the nerve, you can ask them if they’ll look at the revised

version. (Don’t be surprised if you don’t hear back, at this point.)

2. You send out your letter and there is a complete vacuum, a resounding

silence. No response. If this happens, whatever you do, don’t “bug”

them – move on!

3. They’ll review your product and really see potential. At this point,

they’ll offer to be your affiliate – you won’t have to ask!

What is the one factor above all others that will lead them to this

decision?

“Is this product going to be easy for me to sell?”

Never Forget Your Competitors

Sometimes your competitors can be your best friends. If you get into the

habit of studying their methods and results, you can learn a lot. They can

be your best teachers.

They will also alert you to trends. It’s up to you, then, to decide whether

you want to jump on the bandwagon (preferably at the leading edge of the

wave, because you’ve been watching your market like a hawk)… or keep

things individual.

Whatever you do, make sure you leverage your decision to your best

advantage.




Tips To Help You Profit

If you use PPC, stick to countries known to generate sales. Actively remove

countries from your PPC list in Adwords, ruthless though that may sound.

Certain countries are notorious for generating clicks but no sales.

Finally – don’t forget to actually put that little tab at the bottom or top of

your navigation bar, saying “Affiliates”. (I know someone who just did that,

recently – set up a dynamite program and forgot that one small but vital

detail!)

Plan your Affiliate Program carefully in advance, make it part of your long-

term marketing strategy, follow the tips in this blueprint (and in your Bonus

Tips, following)– and you’ll have an Affiliate Program that will bring you real

profit.




Bonus: 27 Affiliate Program Energy Booster Tips

1. Email your subscribers about your Affiliate Program

2. Email purchasers that you’re checking to make sure your product is

working well for them. Include a signature about your Affiliate

Program

3. Blog about your new Affiliate Program

4. Talk about it on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and any other relevant

Social Networking site

5. Track your competition

6. Track your conversions and profits

7. Actively find and approach potential Affiliates

8. Write blog posts with these potential new Affiliates in mind

9. Take out an ad in a niche-related eZine

10. Don’t forget the “Affiliates” tabs on your sites

11. Set up an exclusive Affiliate Blog

12. Keep your Affiliate Center up to date

13. Send your Affiliates an email telling them how to use the Affiliate

Center

14. Send your Affiliates an email, every time you update the Affiliate

Center




15. Give your affiliates powerful Checklists and Tip Sheets

16. Occasionally include a personal, positive note, thank your top

affiliates, in your affiliate emails or payment letters

17. Reward top Affiliates, and encourage less experienced ones

18. Give them a “prize” for their subscribers, so they can offer a contest

19. Offer your affiliates a Teleseminar training session

20. Make Camtasia videos to show them how to do “techy” tasks, like

setting up .PHP redirects

21. Hold contests and giveaways (your products) for your affiliates

22. Make it easy for your Affiliates to interview you – let them know

you’re available

23. Give your Affiliates a list of advertising suggestions

24. Give your Affiliates a list of promotion techniques

25. Include your Affiliate Program to your signature

26. Have an Affiliate login area on all your sites

27. Provide an Affiliate Signup page on all your sites



Documents

Affiliate Program Launch - starva.com · Affiliate Program Launch Just for fun, ask that same question of fellow marketers in a simple, one-question Survey on the Mastermind group