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Article -
by Rosalind Gardner
As an affiliate marketer of Internet dating
services, I'm always on the lookout for good quality
dating sites and products to offer my single
visitors. Merchants help me out when they let me
know about their new products and affiliate
programs.
I was therefore thrilled when one of my friendly
affiliate competitors got in touch to tell me that
he'd started his own Internet dating service and
affiliate program.
Having launched a community membership site myself
last year, I could fully appreciate the huge amount
of time and money my friend had invested to develop
this new site. He was justifiably proud of his
accomplishment and I was excited by the prospect of
having a product to promote that would benefit
everyone - my customers, my friend and myself.
Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way.
The first stumbling block was the low commission he
offered. His
top rate was 30%, with no commissions on recurring
sales. This puzzled me. As an affiliate marketer of
dating programs, he
should have been aware that new sites offer at least
50% on new and recurring sales to entice good
affiliates to sign up. If
commissions on recurring sales are not offered, then
the rates on new sales should be increased to
between 70 and 100 percent.
In most cases, his affiliate program would have
struck out for me at that point. However, as this
was my friend's site, it occurred to me that perhaps
his product was so unique that the potential for
high volume sales might offset the lower commission.
Hoping for the best, I continued my review.
When I got to the site, the first thing I noticed
was '6 registered members' prominently displayed at
the top of the homepage.
That normally wouldn't be a problem, except for the
fact that my customers are looking for friends and
soul mates. If I send them to a site where there are
only six people to meet, they'll likely be
disappointed. Worse, by wasting their time, they
lose trust in my judgement and then I will lose them
as customers.
That's not good. My customers are literally my bread
and butter. Giving them what they want and expect is
how I stay in business. Paying for traffic that I
send to a merchant site where there is nothing to
buy, will put me out of business.
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(This is how a
membership site should
be structured. When
starting a dating
service, the merchant
pays for advertising to
bring people to their
site. To entice visitors
to sign up as members,
he will initially offer
his services for free.
When the database is
large enough to attract
paying customers, the
affiliate program
manager then invites
potential affiliates to
join their program.)
Although my friend's
program had already
struck out for my
customers and me, I was
still curious, so I kept
on looking.
Next I clicked on a link
labeled 'Dating
Resources'. Expecting to
find Internet dating
tips and advice, I found
links and banners
pointing to Lavalife,
FriendFinder and other
affiliated dating sites
instead. When I asked
him about placing
affiliate programs on
his site, my friend said
he simply wanted to
supplement his income
until the dating service
got *rolling*. I can
understand his
motivation. However,
what he doesn't
understand is the
concept of customer
'hijacking'.
---- article continues
below ---
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In her down-to-earth, sincere and often humorous style, Rosalind Gardner guides
you through the entire process of building an affiliate marketing business on
the 'Net. In 236 pages, and more than 68,000 words, you'll learn
how to pick the best programs, negotiate a commission raise and save time,
money and effort on everything from affiliate software to web hosting. To
learn
exactly how she does it,
Click Here .
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As an affiliate, you pay good money to get visitors to
your site. You presell your merchants' products and
expect the merchant to honor their end of the bargain by
making the sale and sending your commission check. You
don't pay for the merchant to send YOUR customers to
THEIR affiliated merchants.
I didn't need to look any further. I told my friend that
I would hold off on signing up and why. Fortunately, he
understood and has already alleviated some of the
problems I mentioned.
Knowing when NOT to sign up for an affiliate program can
sometimes be a tough call. However, you can simplify the
process considerably. Put yourself inside your
customer's head. If the product won't work for them, the
program strikes out. Simple as that.
Author's Resource: Article by Rosalind
Gardner, author of the best-selling
"Super Affiliate Handbook: How
I Made $436,797 in One Year Selling Other People's
Stuff Online".
To learn how you too can succeed in Internet and
affiliate marketing, please visit
http://NetProfitsToday.com
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