By Cynthia Arko
After you've joined a multitude of affiliate programs and the payment checks start trickling in, you can decide to take your success even further. Here are a few tips to help boost your affiliate sales and achieve super affiliate status.
The easiest way to achieve super affiliate status is to run your site as a business. Develop a business plan and carefully review it. Define goals and set milestones to reach these goals.
Have you told the world about your site? One easy way to do this is to issue a press release detailing the unique benefits of your site. Seek the help of a freelance writer to assist you in creating a winning press release.
Work smarter not harder
Set aside a few quiet hours a day to work on the development of your Web site. After the kids have been fed and settled into bed, grab a cup of coffee and get to work. Use e-mail filters to help sort through affiliate newsletters, spam and other informational e-mails. Create an auto responder with some basic information about your site. Get help if you are falling behind and your site is getting out of control.
Stay focused
Promote a select group of quality merchants that pay well. Don't plaster hundreds of affiliate banners and links all over your site. Stay focused on your visitor's main interests. Create stickiness and frequently update your content.
For more information about affiliate programs, check out these other articles from Cynthia Arko's ongoing weekly series:
Getting Started in Affiliate Marketing
Revenue Sharing 101
In this first in a series of weekly articles, Cynthia Arko, Product Director for internet.com's Refer-it.com affiliate directory, presents a no-nonsense approach to generating revenue from your Web site.
How to Indentify Quality Affiliate Programs
With literally thousands of affiliate programs available on the Internet, it could be difficult to determine which ones are high quality. However, the process could be made easier when using some basic criteria.
Understanding Affiliate Commission Structures
If you want to get paid, you need to understand affiliate commission payments and the many different commission structures that exist.
Content Sells
Making money with affiliate programs requires much hard work and continued attention to developing and retaining visitor traffic.
Search Engine Tips, Part I
For affiliates, it is important to be listed with the major search engines because they can potentially generate much needed traffic.
Search Engine Tips, Part II
Cynthia Arko explores the impact search engines have on affiliate programs in this second article of a two-part series.
Develop an Opt-in E-mail List
Mailing lists are a very popular way to create traffic and generate repeat visitors to a Web site, often leading to additional affiliate sales and referrals.
How to Achieve Super Affiliate Status
How to take your affiliate program from "ordinary" to "extraordinary."
|
Test, Test, Test!
Analyze which programs are performing and concentrate on marketing them efficiently.
The best vehicle to ascertain how smoothly a merchant affiliate program runs is to shop through your affiliate links. You would be surprised at how many merchants allow you to do this. To maximize sales, eliminate unnecessary steps from the shopping experience. Evaluate the shopping experience and provide tips to visitors that will guide them through the buying process. Does your test sale appear on your affiliate sales report? Be aware that a link clicked today may not earn you a commission tomorrow. Each merchant has set specific cookie time periods and many times you will lose affiliate revenue if your visitor gets distracted and returns to your affiliate site at a later date or time.
Don't neglect the search engines
Remember - it is important to be listed with the major search engines because they can potentially generate much needed traffic. A top 10 ranking in a major search engine will often generate more targeted traffic than an expensive banner ad. The more visitors your niche site attracts, the bigger your affiliate checks become. Spend a few hours a week monitoring your search engine positioning.
Last week I wrote about the importance of developing an opt-in e-mail list to create traffic and generate repeat visitors to a Web site, often leading to additional affiliate sales and referrals.
According to Shawn Collins, affiliate manager for ClubMom, "The key to success for super affiliates in the ClubMom program has been the use of opt-in e-mail lists. Our top ten performers are routinely affiliates that have decent sites, and great mailing lists. In fact, about 80 percent of our leads come from e-mail, rather than Web sites."
Be seen and be heard
Become active in discussion groups, targeted forums and chat rooms. Provide links in your e-mail signature and promote your site whenever possible.
Collaborate
Form a network of affiliate sites to exchange ideas and tips. These niche groups provide support for many other Webmasters who are trying hard to make it as an affiliate. For example, 4 Parents Network.com is a dedicated group of Web mommy entrepreneurs working together to bring parents much needed resources.
Persistence and patience pay off
I've spent the last several weekends sowing the dirt in my backyard, planting grass seed and fertilizer and watering my soon-to-be new backyard. Unfortunately the momentum and persistence in my affiliate marketing efforts has deteriorated.
Just as your grass will not grow without the steady exposure to the sun, your affiliate commissions will not flourish without persistence and hard work. Generating revenue from affiliate programs is serious business and requires much hard work and dedication. Success does not happen overnight. As the saying goes, patience remains a virtue.
Have fun
Many successful affiliate sites start out as side hobbies that can quickly become fairly lucrative side businesses. You'll spend much of your free time working on the site, so if you are not enjoying your Web marketing experience - get out now! Take a break and try to identify your ideal niche site sometime in the future.
Next week we'll discuss some common affiliate mistakes.
Cynthia A. Arko is the Product Director for internet.com's Refer-it.com (Refer-it.com) affiliate directory. She coordinates advertising, site development, and conference planning. Cynthia helped grow Refer-it.com from a small directory of Affiliate Programs to the Web's leading resource for information about affiliate programs. She also currently maintains KidsTown Direct, a shopping portal for parents and young families. Cynthia can be reached at carko@internet.com.
IE 7
Firefox 2.0
