Do You Have An Affiliate Checklist… Why Not?

What if you knew where the land mines were in affiliate marketing?  Would it help?

You see… most newbies enter the war zone without finishing basic training, and as a result, their business explodes in their face; and guess who’s to blame?

That’s right… You Know Who!

But, what if you had an affiliate checklist to guide you every step of the way; pointing out the land mines and providing you with healthy alternatives.

Well — with the recent stampede to the internet — people fresh out of internet marketing bootcamp 101 are finding themselves right smack in the middle of an online war; a war that isn’t as cut & dry as they may have thought.

And they end up making some costly mistakes, due to information overload or lack their of.

For example, when people find out most affiliate programs are free to join, excitement kicks in, and the left side of the brain stops functioning, and before you know it, they’ve signed up for twenty affiliate programs without having a complete understanding of how each program works.

And by the time people realize their cup is over-flowing, they’ve wasted weeks, if not months, searching each affiliate program’s directory to find a good product to sell.

Then after a couple days of no action, they’re back in the trenches with pick and shovel, digging even deeper in the directories for something new.

You see… affiliate marketing is a great way to get started making money online, however — there are certain questions that you should ask to avoid disaster.

Here’s an affiliate checklist to escalate your success:

Does it cost you anything to join?

Most affiliate programs are free, but there are a few good ones that cost.

However, there’s no need to pay to join an affiliate program, unless they have a product you must sell; because most of the best programs are free.

How often do they cut checks?

Every program is different.  Some pay commissions every two weeks, many pay once a month, and others pay out every quarter, etc.

Choose the payment terms that best suit your needs, and keep in mind, many affiliate programs have a minimum earnings requirement, that an affiliate must meet or exceed, before receiving a commission check.

What is the conversion ratio?

Some programs have affiliate managers, that track affiliate sales, and these managers have access to the statistical data that tells you how much traffic you must generate before you can earn a commission from the sale.

Sometimes managers will contact you after joining, but there’s no law stopping you from contacting them.

Remember, there job is to help you succeed; your affiliate manager is there to answer questions and guide you in the right direction.  Ask them anything pertaining to their market, product, keywords, competition, and other hot products.

Unfortunately, not everyone has an affiliate manager, but you can contact the product owner for help.  Most product owners/creators build affiliate promotional pages, that contain ads, banners, email ads, keywords, and text links to help their affiliates promote their products.

How are referrals tracked and for how long?

Many affiliates use cookies to track visitors you send to their sales page or squeeze page.  It’s very important to find out the life of the cookie, and whether or not, cookies are bumped by other affiliates.

You see… most visitors don’t buy initially, but may return later to make the purchase.  Also, many buyer’s often review many sites before making their final purchase; know if you will get credit for the sale if the buyer purchases sometime in the future.

And, be sure to find out if other affiliates bump or erase your cookie, when buyers search there sites.

There is no set standard for a cookie’s life, but to my understanding, the better programs have 90 day, 1 year, and even lifetime cookies.

Is the affiliate program a one tier or two tier program?

A single tier program pays you only for your own efforts, and a two tier program pays you for your business, plus you’ll get paid a commission on the sales generated by any affiliate you sponsor in your program.

It’s like a spin-off of the multi-level marketing pay structure, except money is paid out only when an action is performed… like a sale.

Finally, what is the amount of commission paid?

Affiliate’s normally earn between 20% – 50% from a sell, but these figures aren’t set in stone.  If you find that you are selling a significant number of products every month, then contact the manager or owner and re-negotiate your payout.

Many affiliate’s earn their stripes with Clickbank, because many of their products have a 75% commission payout, checks are cut every two weeks, and Clickbank doesn’t screw around with your money.

These are just some of the questions that need answering before you enter into an affiliate program.

So, don’t be afraid to ask as many questions as needed to make an informed decision.  And feel free to bookmark this page for easy reference.