How A Beginner Could Choose A Suitable Affiliate Program To
Kick Start Online Home Business
by: Sung-Liang Woon
If you are new to online business, like I used to be, the fastest way to
start your Internet online business is by becoming an affiliate to sell some one
else's products because it allows you to make money from your website visitors
without having to worry about shipping and payment processing.
The products from the affiliate owners are usually information products such
as electronic books (eBook) and software that can be delivered as a file that is
then downloaded directly to your customers' computers. They could be repeatedly
reproduced and downloaded and sold at no cost. There’s no packing, shipping and
delivery cost.
The question you've to ask yourself is how can you determine which of the
thousands of affiliate programs available in the Internet is suitable?
Many beginners encountered disappointment and frustration after signing up
with some affiliate programs only to find out later that they eventually end up
having brought in very little money if any, after wasting a lot of time and
effort.
Hence the choice of affiliate programs is of utmost importance.
The most important criteria you should look for are:
1) They must offer products that the market is asking for or that are already
in demand i.e. the low hanging fruit type of products, rather than creating new
ideas hoping that the consumers would be convinced to buy.
2) The affiliate program must offer good commission to their affiliates.
Although different people define “good” differently, generally if it could bring
in about $500/month as a start, it would be something worth looking into. As
mentioned, affiliate programs offer high commission for their information
products such as e-books and software. The owners of these affiliate programs
can afford to give large commissions (50% or more) because of low cost of
“production”.
3) It must be easy to set up with step by step easy to follow instruction.
And the website should be simple and yet attractive.
4) They should provide you with banners, images, links, sample ads and
articles and emails to help you promote their products. Besides, they should
also have a good support system for helping you with any problems you might
have.
Do not be satisfied only by the above mentioned points. You should conduct
further research to check on the background of the organisations behind the
products, their quality, reliability and reputation. Wherever applicable,
testimonials must be obtained and verified.
Study the affiliate agreement and assess the organisations you’re dealing
with. Check their quality of service by sending them an email or calling them to
see how quickly and how effectively they respond - or if they ever respond at
all. Assess their affiliate products. If you yourself are not convinced by the
quality and effectiveness of the products, drop it and move on to another
program.
There are sites which review, compare and recommend some great affiliate
programs. You should be able to find some programs with the right categories of
products to sell.
Like most search engines, visitors love content of our websites. Content is
one of the most important aspects of attracting potential prospects to your web
sites and prompting them to become customers based on the “AIDA” logic i.e.
Attention, Intention, Desire and Action.
As far as possible, choose affiliate programs which relate to what you are
already doing, and then promote those products.
Join relevant online discussion forums and seek information and advice from
those who are already successful being an affiliate.
Once you’ve decided, draft a simple business plan, set target of your goals,
budget your expenditure, follow the instructions given, be fully committed and
go for it!
See you in the Web. Start taking your first step tonight in your pyjamas!
Good luck!
