There are many ways to recruit affiliates for your program. You can purchase advertising space, you can list your program on affiliate directory sites, you can dedicate an area of your own site to recruiting affiliates, you can purchase mailing lists, you can surf targeted categories, use an email campaign and you can implement a 2-tier referral program. Affiliate directory sites offer a very targeted audience to promote your affiliate program. These sites act as guides to affiliates that are looking for quality programs to apply to. You should submit your affiliate program to every directory site. There are about 40 top directory sites and most of them do not charge to list your program. You can also use these sites as a reference for yourself, because you can find a break down of your competition by category. So if you're selling books, you can see exactly who else is selling books using an affiliate program and exactly what they pay affiliates.
Advertising on directory sites offers increased exposure as well. Find some quality sites that will really work with you to promote your program. They're out there and they know the industry. They can provide you not only with ad space, but offer a wealth of information and support to you. Try to secure ad space through a combination of a flat rate/revenue share or cpm/revenue share. Advertise on the sites and in their newsletters. Remember in a revenue sharing relationship, your success is also their success!
A company that has an affiliate program should have a separate area of their site specifically dedicated to this subject with a link that is accessible from their main page. This page should include information on your program, an application form, service agreement, an FAQ's page, A sample of links you provide, an example of one of your best affiliate sites and some merchandising tips. Any advertising you do, whether paid or through revenue sharing should be linked directly to this page. If you're not willing to host an affiliate sign up page from your site, you shouldn't even consider having an affiliate program.
Purchasing an opt-in email list is also a great way to recruit affiliates. There are companies who provide a database of affiliates who are looking to join new programs like yours and this is a great way to capture their attention, because the focus is totally on you and your program. Many directory sites have a mailing list available as well.
You can also recruit affiliates yourself by doing some online surfing. You can find potential affiliate partners by surfing categories of items that you sell. You can also take a look at who is linked to your competition using a neat little trick at Alta Vista. Go to the Alta Vista site at http://www.altavista.com and use their search key. Type in link:www.mycompetition.com. Make sure you type in the word link: and then just add your competition. The results will show you exactly who is linked to your competition. Many of these could be potential affiliates for your program. After you've found some potential partners, send them a personalized email telling them why you chose them and what you have to offer or pick up the phone and chat with them Many companies use this approach very successfully. Be careful when using email marketing not to cross the SPAM border.
A 2-tier program can be the most productive and cost-effective way to increase your affiliate sales base. A 2-tier program offers a second commission schedule for your current affiliates to recruit other sales partners for you.
Let's look at an example. ABC.com offers a 20% commission on all sales and pays a 2% commission for recruiting affiliates. The 2% is based on sales of the affiliates recruited. For example, say an affiliate refers 10 other affiliates to your program, and each makes a $100 a month in sales. You've just increased your sales revenue by $1000. Now come the payouts. 20% of the $1000, equaling $200 goes to the 2nd level affiliates who actually made the sales. $20 goes to the 1st level affiliate who referred these sales producers to you. So you've increased your sales revenue by $1000 and paid out $220 in total commissions, and you've done it all without any up front costs.
Up to 50% of your affiliates can come through a 2-tier program. Think about it, if you have good salespeople and they know other good salespeople they can recommend, your program has a better chance of being successful. You can find a variety of 2-tier programs at http://www.2-tier.com. Again, take a look at what your competition is doing.
Whatever avenue you use in promoting your affiliate program make sure you track it so you see the results and try to revenue share as much as possible!
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