Affiliate Program Best Tips

By Jon Deragon, Visca Consulting
Thursday, September 4, 2003; 12:20pm EST

As with most things in life, not all affiliate programs are created equal. All of them will have their own way of doing business and it is important that you know what you are getting into and what you will get out of an affiliate program when you sign up to one. After investing your time in efforts into an affiliate program it is important that you get the returns you deserve. There can be a very pronounced difference in the money you can generate from one affiliate program versus another based on how it rewards its clients and what its terms and conditions are for payment. Look for affiliate programs that disclose important information, dollar amounts per sale, percentages and conditions up front with easy to understand terminology. Those who hide such information until the last moment or make it difficult understand are usually doing this for a reason - a reason not in your favor. Make sure that you fully understand the money you will generate per new customer created, money earned per additional sale made by that same customer and whether there is a time limit to your entitlement to a percentage of sales on customers you have generated.

Here are some great tips to help new affiliates generate the maximum revenue possible from their partnerships.
 

	Make the affiliate promotion a prominent feature of your web site or email marketing. Also be sure to not place multiple affiliate programs in close proximity to each other, this will cause confusion with potential customers.
	If there are "coupon codes" associated with the promotion make sure you clearly display the code corresponding to your affiliate account and outline the benefits for the user to entice usage.
	If you are not experiencing the revenue generation you were anticipating, try different placement, colors and graphics with your promotions. Sometimes even simple changes can have a big impact on number of people who will use the service.
	Make sure the affiliate program you are part of collects any "coupon codes" or "promotional codes" when signing up new customers over the phone. This will enable them to track where the customer came from and credit your account with the sale.

About The Author
Jon Deragon is president and founder of Visca Consulting, a firm specializing in web site design, development and usability for businesses of all sizes. He welcomes any questions or comments you may have regarding this article or interest in the services available from Visca Consulting.
info@viscaconsulting.com
http://www.viscaconsulting.com/