Imagine for a moment having dozens or hundreds of some of the best marketers in your niche all promoting YOUR offers. When you start an affiliate program, that’s exactly what can happen.
How do you start this type of profitable affiliate program? Follow these steps…
Step 1: Pick Your Platform
Your first step is to determine how you’ll set up your affiliate program. You can use a common platform like ClickBank.com or JVZoo.com if you sell digital products. You can also install your own script or blog plugin, and then use PayPal or similar.
TIP: If you’re just getting started and have little name recognition in your niche, use a platform like ClickBank.com. Affiliates trust this platform because ClickBank cuts the checks, so your partners will know they’ll always get paid.
Next…
Step 2: Decide Commission Rates
If you’re selling digital products, then set your commission rate to at least 50%. You may offer a higher rate for your super affiliates. Be sure to also offer commissions on upsell/cross-sell offers that occur during the ordering process. If you have a recurring offer (such as a membership site), offer recurring commissions.
Step 3: Stock Your Affiliate Center
The next step is to stock your affiliate center with everything your marketing partners need to make sales. This includes:
· A rebrandable report.
· Autoresponder series.
· Solo emails.
· Social media blurbs.
· Banners and other graphics.
It’s also a good idea to include training materials in your affiliate center. For example, you might provide a guide or a video teaching people how to start making money with your offers.
Next…
Step 4: Build Your Team
Once your affiliate program is ready to go, then you can start recruiting affiliates. You do this in two ways:
· Advertise your affiliate program. Blog about it, send emails to your lists, put links all over your site about your program, tell your social media contacts, and get your program listed in affiliate directories.
· Directly recruit top marketers in your niche. It’s best if you build relationships first. Then invite these top marketers into your program, being sure to offer them extra perks such as higher commissions, unique landing pages, and extra bonuses for their customers.
Next…
Step 5: Motivate Your Affiliates
Once your affiliate program is up and rolling, then you need to keep your affiliates motivated and promoted. Here’s how to do that:
· Send out weekly emails to keep affiliates motivated.
· Distribute coupons that affiliates can give to their customers.
· Hold flash sales from time to time.
· Hold affiliate contests.
· Send out new marketing materials.
· Provide extra training.
· Showcase successful affiliates with case studies.
· Give temporary commission bumps to get people selling.
· Create new products for affiliates to promote.
Now a few parting words…
Conclusion
An affiliate program is a really effective way to get traffic, because it tends to generate really warm (pre-sold) leads. Another advantage is that you only pay commissions when someone makes a sale, so this is a method you can get up and running even if you’re working with a shoestring budget. That’s why you’ll want to put this tutorial to work for you to start building your affiliate program!
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