Thousands of Affiliate Programs! Which One Is For ME?

Before you join an affiliate program, you need to ask a few questions. Be sure to do some research on the program that you intend to join into. GET SOME ANSWERS, because the first few programs that you join will be the judging point of whether or not you continue on to success.

Will it cost you anything to join? Nearly all good affiliate programs being offered today will NOT cost you a cent to join. So why go with those that charge you an arm and a leg before you can sign up?

How much will they pay me? Find out when they issue the commission checks, ClickBank or PayPal payments, because every program is different. Some merchants will issue commissions every two weeks, some monthly, and some every quarter. So make sure you select the program that is best suited to your preferred payment intervals. Many affiliate programs will set a minimum earned commission amount that an affiliate must meet or exceed before their payment is sent - so be careful of this. There's nothing worse than having money stuck with a merchant because your commission amount hasn't quite reached the threshold! I learned this the hard way!

What is the average hit-to-sale ratio? This is the average number of visitor hits/clicks on a banner or text link that is needed for someone to finally make a purchase. This particular statistic is very important because it will let you know the truth about how much traffic you need to generate before you can earn a commission from a sale. REMEMBER: Traffic costs you time and/or money!

How does the merchant track referrals? And for how long does the visitors info remain in their system? You'll need to be confident that the program can keep accurate records of all the visitors that arrive through your link. The time-length that your visitors information stays in the program's database is also very important. This is because some visitors do not buy straight away. Many will return later to make the purchase. So unless your visitors IP address is tracked, you won't get the credit when they finally decide to return and buy the product!

So what kinds of affiliate stats are available? The affiliate program that you decide on should be capable of offering detailed stats. The tracking system should be available online at anytime you wish to view your stats. A regular check of your performance stats is important to measure the number of impressions, hits and sales that are being generated from your site or affiliate link. FYI: Impressions are the number of times the affiliate banner or text link was viewed by a user on the Internet. A hit is a click on the affiliate banner or link.

Does the affiliate program pay for hits and impressions or just the commissions on sales? It's great if impressions and hits are also paid, as they will add to your earnings. But if the affiliate program is effective, a sales commission alone can still make a lot of money.

Who is the merchant? Be sure to know exactly who you're doing business with. Are they a reputable company? Are the products good quality and converting into sales well? The more you know about the merchant who is offering the affiliate program, the more confident you can be about earning some dollars!

Is the affiliate program one-tier or two-tier? A one-tier program pays you only for the sales that you yourself have generated. A two-tier program will pay you for your sales, plus it will also pay you a commission of the sales that are generated by any affiliate that you refer to the program (through a separate link). Some two-tier programs even pay small instant bonus on each new affiliate that you get to sign up!

And, last but not least...

What is the percentage of commission that is paid to you? 5 percent? 20% and over is the commission paid by most programs. If you find an affiliate program that also pays you for impressions, the amount paid is usually not that much at all. So you can see why the average sales amount and hit-to-sale ratio is so important.

I have only just scratched the surface on some of the things that you should consider before you join your first few affiliate programs. Once you have this sorted, it's usually quite easy to determine which programs appear successful and which don't. But to begin, there's no harm in asking about anything you don't understand. Questioning can help you select the right affiliate program that will begin your road to Internet Marketing success. All the best!

NOTE: If you would like to kick start your Affiliate Marketing, I highly recommend this very useful resource: The Super Affiliate Handbook