Provide an Affiliate Support Site
The net is an almost infinite storehouse of information. So why not provide links to this information for your affiliates to use to improve their site design and content, help position and market their sites, build a newsletter mailing list, and well-position their sites in search engine results? Using the resources of the Net is a great way to offer marketing and promotional help to your affiliates. This is especially important if you have limited time and resources.
Provide Access to Internet Resources
Your first step is to create a place on your Web site for your affiliates that provides a list of Net resources to help them make their sites (and selling your program) a success (see Figure 13.1). The very first thing you need to have on your affiliate support pages is an extensive FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). Because affiliate programs generate so much interest and countless questions, it is important to create and continually update your FAQ section. Take some time to think through all the common questions that your affiliates have or may ask. Post them with your answers on your affiliate support pages. This will save you countless time answering the same questions via e-mails and phone calls that you have answered time and time again.
Figure 13.1. Amazon has a place on their site called “Associates Central”—a helpful resource for its affiliates.
Provide Information About Free Advertising
On your affiliate support pages, be sure to list sites where affiliates can get free advertising, create free polls, add free discussion boards and chats, offer free e-mail, obtain free content, and join programs that will help them become better marketers. You can provide links to sites offering free search engine submission services, banner exchanges, e-mail list builders, and many other free services on the Net. For more affiliate support resources, visit www.affiliatemanager.net/support.htm.
Do
| DO offer your affiliates, both on your site and in your newsletters, links to resources on the Web that will help them improve the use of their site, bring repeat visitors back to their site, and show them how to promote their site. |
Here are just a few examples of the resources you can provide on your affiliate support pages (see Table 13.1). These are courtesy of Cashpile.com.
| Web Site | Description |
|---|---|
| Search Engine Directories http://www.cashpile.com/mission.merchants/CP/tools/search_engines.cfmsub | List of search engines for Web sites. |
| Search Engine Positioning http://www.cashpile.com/merchants/cp/tools/positioning.cfm | Tools to help a site achieve higher rankings. |
| Managing Web Presence http://www.cashpile.com/merchants/cp/tools/presence.cfm | Optimize a site’s design and performance. |
| Banner Ads http://www.cashpile.com/merchants/cp/tools/banner.cfm | Create and exchange banner ads to generate traffic to a site. |
| Opt-in E-mail http://www.cashpile.com/merchants/cp/tools/email.cfm | Deliver specialized messages to a target audience—opt-in subscribers only. |
| Auto-responders http://www.cashpile.com/merchants/cp/tools/responders.cfm | Save time by automatically sending a reply to the e-mail address that sent an the original message. |
| Newsletters http://www.cashpile.com/merchants/cp/tools/newsletter.cfm | Keep in touch with customers on a regular basis. |
| Online Classifieds http://www.cashpile.com/merchants/cp/tools/classified.cfm | Post an ad for a minimal fee or submit a small ad at no cost. |
| Web Stats http://www.cashpile.com/affiliates/CP/tools/Webstats.cfm | Tools to help gauge the effectiveness of advertising and marketing efforts. |
| Free E-Mail http://www.cashpile.com/affiliates/CP/tools/free_email.cfm | Free Web based e-mail sources. |
Learning how to submit your Web site and get good placement in the search engines is important for your affiliate sites in generating traffic—traffic you need to see your offers. Keywords Wizard (www.keywordwizard.com/word.html) is a free search engine keyword tool that lets Web sites analyze the best keywords to use when listing their sites in the search engines. AffiliateToolKit (www.affiliatetoolkit.com) is a free meta-page creation tool, whereas search engine optimization services and tools can be found at Top Web Promo (www.prosperity-now4u.com/).
Do
| DO encourage affiliates to buy the marketing and sales books offered on the Net to help them improve their marketing and sales skills and learn how to make affiliate selling a success for them. A good source of such books for affiliates is at www.usamc.org/bookstore.htm. |
A good source for free advertising is reciprocal linking or trading links with other sites. You can link to a good list of such Web sites at AdAbility (www.adbility.com/show.asp?). In fact AdAbility (see Figure 13.2) is one of many Web sites that provide marketing sources and site tools—many of them free—to affiliate sites to help boost traffic and promote their sites. Another such site is CashPile.com (www.cashpile.com). CashPile provides both you and your affiliates with free marketing tips, tools, and original content.
Figure 13.2. AdAbility is one of many Web sites that provide site tools—many of them free—to help affiliate sites.
Another helpful resource for your affiliate support pages is to list a handful of good e-mail newsletters that let your affiliates place an ad for $15 to $40. Point them to E-zineZ.com (www.E-zineZ.com), BestEzines.com (www.BestEzines.com), and LifeStylesPub.com (www.LifeStylesPub.com). Then write several ads your affiliates can use. Put them on your Web site and have them available via autoresponder.
Online resources like these will help your affiliates improve their sites and their marketing knowledge, at the same time showing your affiliates that you really see them as business partners. It sends the message loud and clear that your success depends on their success.
Better yet, why not make a little money joining their affiliate programs while helping your affiliates?
Books and Other Training Systems
When setting up your affiliate support area, include links to affiliate programs that you’ve joined that feature books and training systems geared toward helping affiliates succeed. Remember, just because you’re a merchant doesn’t mean you can’t be an affiliate. By offering these affiliate training materials, you’ll be helping your affiliates succeed and also adding an additional revenue stream to your company.
Here are three affiliate training programs that you as a company can join and offer to your affiliates while earning a commission at the same time. Declan Dunn sells a very good training system for affiliates called Winning the Affiliate Game (www.activemarketplace.com). Two other books and programs that can assist your affiliates are Make Your Site Sell (affiliate.sitesell.com) by Ken Evoy and Nothing But ‘Net (www.1-internet-marketing.com/nbn/) by Michael Campbell. Both can help your affiliates optimize their sites and help convert shoppers into buyers. Visit www.affiliatemanager.net/reading.htm for a list of recommended reading for affiliate managers and affiliates.
Some other helpful programs for your affiliates are those that help them track each of the programs they have joined. Affiliate Manager (www.Webbizbrokers.com/free/pam.htm) is a free database program designed specifically for tracking affiliate information. Data stored includes company, category, payment schedule, payee information, contact information, and Web site details. An affiliate can store the required HTML code needed for his or her affiliate programs, track payments, and keep notes.
Do
| DO consider joining affiliate programs that help train your affiliates to be more successful as an affiliate—while making a commission at the same time. |
Another tracking program for affiliates is Affiliate Assistant (www.affiliateassistant.com) (see Figure 13.3). It offers you an opportunity to not only help your affiliates improve their efficiency, but also to make money by signing up as an affiliate. When they buy the program, you get a commission.
Figure 13.3. Affiliate Assistant helps those Web sites participating in an affiliate program to increase their commissions using the Affiliate Assistant software. In addition, you can make money as an affiliate selling the program to your affiliate partners.
The newest entry in the arena of tracking programs for affiliates is AffTrack Affiliate Tracking Systems (www.afftrack.com). AffTrack has developed a proprietary technology that allows the super affiliate to automatically track participation in multiple affiliate programs for accounting and analysis purposes. This includes Be Free, CJ, LinkShare, and programs outside of these networks. In addition to that, AffTrack has the ability to gather and aggregate any transaction data that merchants provide and integrate that with Web-based reporting systems, e-mails, and FTP files.