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Published by Peggy Champlin, Success with Ease is devoted to helping professionals and small businesses build their businesses, particularly in the area of passive income.

Message from Peggy
More Questions About How Affiliate Programs Work
Resources - AssociatePrograms.com
Final Note
Contact Information

Hello <$firstname$>!

I was reminded again over the last week that I shouldn't believe everything I read. The story by Srully Blotnick in last week's issue is apparently not true. I had several perceptive readers who recognized his name email me to point this out. I had found the story in a book of quotes and stories for speakers and had no idea it wasn't true. Apologies to all!

We're continuing the series on affiliate programs this week with more questions and answers. The more questions I answer, the more I think of to ask! If you have any questions about running an affiliate program that you don't see in this series, please email me and I'll include them.

I'm taking off Thursday for a 2-day Infopreneuring conference by Jay Abraham that I'm very excited about. When I get back, I'll share with you some of the tips I'm sure I'll pick up.

I've mentioned Alan Gardyne's AssociatePrograms.com site in the Resources section this week. It's a wonderful resource for affiliate programs and I recommend you explore it if you're at all intersted in these programs as a member or a merchant.

Enjoy the rest of this issue and make it a great week!

Peggy

Continuing our discussion about affiliate programs from last week, here's a recap of our example:

Bob thinks you've got great products and services his clients might like to buy. He becomes your affiliate and you give him a referral URL to put on his website, in his ezine, or in a special mailing to his clients.

When a reader, Sally, clicks the link, she is sent to your site where she then decides to buy one of your products. The link she clicked on to get to your site indicated to your e-commerce system that this customer originated with Bob. So, you have now made a sale from someone sent by Bob and you owe him a commission.

What if Sally doesn't buy anything on her first visit to my site, but comes back later and buys something?

Most affiliate tracking systems allow you to decide how long any visits from Sally to your site will indicate Bob as the referrer. This can range from not at all after the first visit, to forever.

How do I know that I owe money to Bob?

Your affiliate tracking system will be allow you to generate a report telling you how much you owe each affiliate.

When do I pay him?

Depending on what your affiliate tracking solution supports, you can decide how often to pay affiliates. Affiliate programs usually expect you to pay affiliates monthly or quarterly.

How do I pay him?

In some cases, you will need to write a check and mail it to Bob. Some affiliate tracking systems will actually cut the checks and mail them for you, usually for an extra monthly fee and per check fee. Many systems will let you export your commission data in a format that can be imported into Quickbooks. Quickbooks can then print the checks for you.

How does Bob know he's earned a commission?

The affiliate tracking systems all have a mechanism for affiliates to login and see what commission they've earned.

Can I pay different commissions to different affiliates?

This depends on the features of your affiliate tracking solution. Many allow this, some don't.

You may want to offer a higher commission to an affiliate who has a very large network and/or has a great deal of credibility. Some affiliates are known for attracting a great deal of business for their merchants. Known as super-affiliates, these marketers often command higher commissions than average. If they really do generate lots of sales, you'd probably be more than happy to give them higher
commissions!

What about different commissions for different products?

Again, this depends on the features of your affiliate tracking system.

Digital products cost very little to sell and deliver and often have a higher commission rate than physical products or services. You may wish to take into consideration the cost of delivering the product or service when determining the commissions you offer. On the other hand, many affiliate programs offer the same commission on their full portfolio.

What's a 2-tier affiliate program?

If Joe clicks through Bob's affiliate link, arrives at your site, and decides to become your affiliate, he is known as a 2nd tier affiliate (assuming your affiliate program is setup to have 2 tiers).

So, if Betty clicks through Joe's affiliate link and buys something from you, you owe Joe a commission - and you also owe Bob some commission for attracting Joe as an affiliate.

The idea is that you now have the opportunity to sell to Joe's network, which wouldn't have happened if Bob hadn't attracted him in the first place.

This can be attractive to affiliates since they can make money through attracting new affiliates who make sales as well as by attracting customers.

Some affiliate tracking systems support 2 - or more - levels and some don't. If you think you might want to setup your program like this, even if it's in the future, make sure you pick a solution that supports it.

If you do configure a multi-level affiliate program, keep in mind the total commission you may pay out for a sale. For example, if you offer 30% first tier commission and 10% second tier commission, you would owe Joe 30% of the sale and Bob 10% for a total of 40% commission on this one sale.

It's perfectly acceptable and very common to have an affiliate program with just one level. That's what I have!

Next week, we talk about finding affiliates and helping them make sales. After that, we'll dive into picking an affiliate tracking solution.

Alan Gardyne runs an excellent site called AssociatePrograms.com. It's primarily oriented toward people wanting be affiliates. There's a terrific directory of affiliate programs on the site to help you choose which ones you might want to join. I've been a subscriber of his ezine for several years and you may want to be as well.

There's also a bit of information on the site for affiliate program managers. I thought you might find the article on Silly Mistakes Affiliate Program Merchants Make helpful if you are considering running, or already run, an affiliate program. His tips can help you avoid shooting yourself in the foot!

A newspaper reporter once asked Sam Rayburn, "Mr. Speaker, you see probably a hundred people a day. You tell each one, 'Yes' or 'No' or 'Maybe'. You are never seen taking notes on what you told them, but I have never heard of you forgetting anything you have promised them. What is your secret?"

Rayburn carefully eyed his questioner and replied, "If you tell the truth the first time," he replied, "you don't have to remember."

This ezine is published by Peggy Champlin, a small business coach who specializes in helping you convert 'what you know' into passive income.

To send me email, mailto:Peggy@SuccessWithEase.com.

To learn more about my coaching and program offerings, go to http://www.SuccessWithEase.com.

You are free to use the material from my articles in whole or in part on your web site or ezine (email newsletter) as long as you include the attribution below and also let me know where the article will appear.

"This article is by Peggy Champlin of Success with Ease. Peggy's web site is a comprehensive resource devoted to helping professionals and small businesses build their businesses, particularly in the area of passive income. For free marketing resources and valuable marketing tools visit http://www.SuccessWithEase.com."

Copyright Peggy Champlin, 2003. All rights reserved.