Affiliate Marketing - Part 1

What is Affiliate Marketing?

There are tons of companies online that have out-lined detailed programs (a.k.a. “Affiliate Programs”) to pay performance-based incentives/commissions for those who can promote their products and services that eventually results into conversions/sales. Affiliate programs are also known as “associate programs”. Below are the key components of this framework:
  1. Customer
  2. Affiliate or Publisher website
  3. Affiliate Network
  4. Merchant(s)


Typically, we have 2 types of affiliate programs:
  1. Offered by individual merchants like Amazon.com or BHPhotovideo.com
  2. Other programs are offered by the “Affiliate Network”


In order to participate with individual affiliate programs:
  1. You need to visit the merchant website
  2. Look for the link “affiliate programs” or “join our affiliate program”
  3. You will be presented with easy-to-fill forms with some personal/company and website details where you want to sell/promote their products
  4. Complete the sign-up application
  5. You should hear back from the merchant about their decision and further steps in next day or 2
What is an Affiliate Network?

Affiliate networks acts as “mediators” between the affiliates and the merchant websites. They have a complete system/framework:
  1. Allow new affiliates to search & join affiliate programs with one or more merchants
  2. Provide banners, text links, flex links, product links
  3. Data feeds for qualified or participating affiliates
  4. Track all user activities (in terms of clicks/sales)
  5. Keep you up-to-date about new merchants joining the network
  6. Any contracts which are expiring
  7. Track how affiliates are consuming the resources like impressions of ads/product links
  8. Arrange payments
  9. Provide necessary support for affiliates
  10. Help center
  11. Reporting features

One of the most useful sites for getting more details and comparing different affiliate programs is http://www.affiliatetips.com/all-affiliate-programs.html.


(to be continued...)

Additional Reference(s):
  1. The Complete Guide to Affiliate Marketing on the Web: How to Use and Profit from Affiliate Marketing Programs
  2. Web Marketing All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies
  3. Affiliate Program Management: An Hour a Day
  4. The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Blogs, News Releases, Online Video, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly, 2nd Edition


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