Why the big secret?

Competition. In a word. The Big Boys are afraid of the competition. If they tell you their secrets, you become a real player in the game, and they want the game to themselves.

What IS an affiliate program?

Simply put, an affiliate program is a program that PAYS you to put a banner or text link on your Web site. The merchant (the man who PAYS you) has a product for sale, or a freebie he is giving away, or information he wants to share. You put his banner or text link on your Web site.

Some programs pay you for "clicks" or "hits". All the person has to do is click on the link and go to the merchant's web site. Some pay you for "leads", the person fills out a form at the merchant's site, maybe he signs up for a newsletter, and you get paid. Some pay you for "sales", the person has to buy something and you will get a percentage of, or bonus from that sale.

Not all affiliate programs are created equal, and not all of them work for every affiliate.

The Big Boys love this. They know that newbies to the affiliate game are going to make mistakes, get frustrated, and drop out. So they play it up, how much money you are going to make, then when a couple of months goes by and you still haven't gotten a check, one more potential competitor bites the dust. And the Big Boys are happy.

Let me tell you a story. When we started the All Free Spot freebies site at http://www.allfreespot.com, the first thing we did was to go check out the Web site of our biggest and most successful competitor. And we discovered which affiliate program they used. And we signed up for that one. And it flopped. One of the biggest and best-known affiliate programs on the net, and for us, it flopped. For the first six months of our affiliation, we did not make enough money to even get a check sent, and we knew the traffic was there, and the clicks were there, and the money should have been. And their tech support would not assist.

Did we give up?? It was tempting. Six months, no money. From the one program that everybody gave super high marks to. But we decided to try a couple of others, and the very first week with the new programs we accumulated enough dollars for them to send us a check.

The lesson here is not to lose faith if one program isn't working for you, go ahead and try others. In fact, from the very beginning, try more than one. Sure would have saved us six months worth of time wasted if we'd known this. Which brings us to the next point.

How many affiliate programs should you promote?

That depends on the type of web site you have. If your site is theme specific, if it concentrates on one thing, then you should be very selective and only promote programs that go with the theme of your site.

For example, a site that offers fonts is a theme specific site. Fonts. Your visitors are looking to spruce up their Web pages or documents. So anything that promotes graphics, Web site layout, Web site promotion, etc. would be good candidates for affiliate programs. Other theme-specific sites would include pet care (the theme is PETS), appliance repair (APPLIANCES), or contests (CONTESTS and SWEEPSTAKES).

For a theme-specific site, sell one thing and sell it well. Don't just offer your product, include articles (you can get free articles written by others to add to your Web site, you can find a listing of places for free articles (also known as free content) at: http://www.allfreespot.com/websitepromo.html Focus on your theme, and offer as much useful information to your visitors as you can.

Other sites have several themes. Freebie sites fall into this category. Freebie sites may offer free fonts, free Web help, free sweepstakes, free email, free software, free magazines... So this type of site can offer a myriad of affiliate programs successfully.

There are dozens of affiliate programs that list offers from multiple vendors, so that you can sign up for several programs all in one place, and get paid all in one check. And there are literally thousands of individual affiliate programs, where you deal specifically with the merchant one-on-one.

Of the ones we've tried, our favorites so far are:

Commission Junction

Websponsers

Websponsers may not have the volume of offers that other affiliate programs do, but our click thrus show up, our leads show up, our hits show up, and the money comes in.

Commission Junction has hundreds of different merchants that you can search by category, and affiliate with as many as you like. They even have a forum where you can TALK to other affiliates, and find out what programs they like the best, and get tips and tricks. Very useful!

And unlike some of the programs that are very strict, not allowing you to alter the link to match your site, as long as the pertinent information is there, you can blend the links into your site and the click thrus still show up. Our site has a very specific layout, and we don't put in links willy nilly. All of our link code is written the same, to integrate visually with the rest of the site. Some affiliate programs don't let you do this. Change one word of their pre-written code, and they won't pay you.

Becoming an affiliate for several programs brings numerous benefits. If one dries up, you still have multiple streams of income and you're not suddenly scrambling for bread. Plus the more programs (presuming your site will accomodate several), the more money for you. And most important for your visitors, the more programs you are affiliated with, the more choices you have to pick and choose what to offer your visitors.

To find individual affiliate programs, try this site. They list hundreds of individual affiliate programs you can join.

http://www.associateprograms.com/

http://refer-it.com/main.cfm

Not all affiliate programs will honor their agreements with you.

Here's another one the Big Boys are counting on to kick you out of the game. Bad affiliate programs. You work to promote them, you watch your stats grow, you watch the dollars signs clicking right along, but when it comes time for the check......

We've heard horror stories of affiliate programs that change their payout rate without telling you. You sign up thinking you'll get $1 per lead, and they change it to a nickel without warning. So instead of making $25 on 25 leads as you expected, you've only make a buck and a quarter ($1.25).

We've also heard of programs that simply don't pay you. All you get for your efforts is a small pointed metal object with threads on one end and a slot on the other.

Look for recommendations from others who are using this program. Outside recommendations, rather than recommendations on the merchant site itself (obviously they aren't going to list their unhappy affiliates!) If you haven't seen a recommendation for this program, try a net search with their name. See if they pop up on any of the Web pages, and then ask that Web site owner about his experiences with them.

This is another reason why multiple streams of income are so important. And why you'd do well to associate with more than one. If you work your patootie off for months and get the shaft, the odds are you will give up. We all need feedback in the form of dollars to keep us going as affiliates. So do whatever it takes, sign up for as many as it takes, to ensure those motivational dollars.

Do's and don'ts in choosing a program.

Make sure they've been around awhile, and have a good track record. Make sure they are paying you MONEY and not credits (unless you want credits you can trade in for things). There should never be a set up fee. Find out if you get credit for a sale if the visitor you've sent them buys a week later, or a month. How long is this in effect for? Are you bound to any other responsibilities, besides placing their link on your site? And what grounds can they use to remove you as an affiliate without paying you what they owe you? (Yes, there are agreements that can cancel you, and you forfeit all monies you've earned.) How successful are they in closing a sale, if you are being paid only for sales? How good is their tracking system, to make sure you get credit for your leads? How professional does their website look? They aren't hosted on a free server with pop-up windows, are they? That'll make a WONDERFUL impression on their sales prospects. Would you spend money at a site with annoying pop-up windows? These are important factors in choosing programs.

The key to being a successful affiliate is TRAFFIC to your site.

The Big Boys know it's a numbers game. The more visitors you get, the more affiliate links they will click on. Notice I said VISITORS. A visitor is not the same as a hit. If I come to your Web site 10 times today, you will log 10 hits, but only ONE visitor. Affiliate programs aren't going to pay you over and over for the same person clicking on their links. They want DIFFERENT people, NEW people, from you. So you want traffic, and lots of it. Those who have the traffic, WIN. The number we've heard the most often in this game is that you need 500 visitors a day to your site, to make any real money. But none of us start out with 500, make that your first goal.

The question then becomes, "How do I get traffic to my site?"

Send Me Hits For Dollars! We've put together a *FREE* report to answer this question, called Hits for Dollars, and we're more than happy to send it to you via email. Just send an email to: hitsfordollars@getresponse.com

Consider getting your own domain name.

A strong, memorable domain name is a must for any 'net business. Easy to remember, easy to spell, short and to the point. Think about it next time you go surfing... will you type in fontspot.com to find the latest fonts, or will you type in somefreewebsite/~username/somefolder/fonts.index.html?

Domain names are the real estate boon of the new millenium, with the recent sale of business.com for a cool $7.5 mil (yes that's MILLION) and autos.com for $2 mil. And it's getting harder and harder to get your piece of the pie. Think of a name you'd like to own for your website, and try to register it. The odds are it's already taken, especially if it's a .com name.

The hottest sellers are names that people remember without the need of bookmarks. People will remember a name like business.com or games.com. And that's just what you need if you're doing business on the web. The bottom line is, if you want traffic to your website, you've got to have a domain name that pulls.

Keep your affiliate programs fresh and up-to-date. Remove links to dead programs. Add links to new programs.

Here's another mistake the Big Boys want you to make. Anything to get rid of the competition.

And it sounds so obvious, doesn't it? You'd be amazed at how many sites we visit, and click on links that go nowhere. It gives a bad impression of the site, when the links don't work. Load your site with bad links and just watch your visitors surf right on out. Besides, nobody wants to waste their time clicking on link after link hoping for a "live" one.

And if you're serious about making money, you'll get serious about making sure ALL of your links are working links, and adding links to new affiliate programs regularly. Keep your content fresh and new, and people will come back. You do want repeat visitors, don't you??

Keep your site fresh and changing.

Update your site frequently. Add new information, new articles. Your site should not be just an advertisement, it should bring information to the visitor. They should feel that they GOT something, even if they don't click on any links. They should feel their visit was not wasted.

Think about this. I mean seriously. You surf the net. What sites impress you the most? Have you ever surfed into a site that was just an advertisement, with no other information? Didn't you feel cheated?

While sites that offer something of value to you, even if you don't DO anything at the site but gather information, you leave happy that you visited there.

It never hurts to ASK.

This one surprised us! In our endeavors to find out what others were doing to become successful, we often went to Web sites and wondered, "How did they do that?" And we assumed that nobody would tell us. But one day we thought, "What the heck?" and started asking the Web site owners questions. Usually we contacted them for another reason first, like swapping links, or to tell them we added their site link to our own. So the dialog was already open and they knew they were getting something from us.

Then came the big question. And our big question regarded our competitors. Every place we surfed, we found their buttons. How? How did they get so many sites to link to them? To display their button on their MAIN PAGE??

And one day we asked one of the Web sites that had our competitor's button displayed. He didn't answer us, or rather, he did, but he didn't TELL us anything. The next one we asked, told us. I mean, he just told us! Wow! Just like that!

Don't just display a banner and hope for the best.

One of the biggest mistakes new affiliates make is to put up a banner and forget about it. Often a text link, with a *recommendation* from you specifically, will get better results. Some affiliate programs offer sales material that you can use on your site to promote their products such as testimonials, letters, interviews. Rather than just putting up a link, your site would offer an interview with the link embedded in the interview.

Track your stats.

You need to know how many visitors you are getting, and where they are coming from. That's the best way to track how well your marketing strategies are working. If you're getting visitors, you need to know that, if you AREN'T, you definitely need to know that so that you can change your marketing strategy. For a listing of free tracking services, go to: http://www.allfreespot.com/counters.html

Keep records.

They don't have to be fancy. A simple spreadsheet with the months listed down the left side, and the programs you are in across the top. Every month put in how much you've earned with each program. And when the checks come, deduct that money, so you will always know who owes you what.

Also, keep a folder of contact information. Login names and passwords for each of your programs, your affiliate ID numbers, and any other important info they've sent you. We can't tell you how many times we went looking for a piece of information, through hundreds of saved emails, when it could have easily been kept in one easy-to-find folder.

Sign up affiliates under you.

Multiple streams of income. Remember?

Why rely solely on your own Web site and marketing to keep the cash flowing, when you can have dozens or even hundreds of web sites under you, reaping the benefits of all their marketing too?

So how does it work??

I'm sure you're familiar with the pay-to-surf programs, where you recruit other people to sign up, and you get paid when they surf too. Many affiliate programs offer similar incentives. You receive a percentage of their commissions, while they still receive their full commission. So you receive commissions from those you recruit, in addition to your own.

Multiple streams of income. Remember that phrase, and remember it well. You will hear it a lot, echoed across the net by every marketing expert.

Bonuses.

We've discovered a few bonuses from our affiliation with Commission Junction. Their stats are so detailed, that even though we don't have stat tracking on every page of our website (we only track the main page), the click throughs that show up in our Activity Summary actually tells us what people are clicking on, which also tells us what the most popular pages of our 50-page website are. Most affiliate programs only tell you if you've made money, but Commission Junction actually tells you what people clicked on, whether you get paid for it or not (sometimes you only get paid if they DO something there.)

If you want it, the money is there.

In closing, if you want it, the money is there. Some sites are pulling in obscene amounts of money from nothing but affiliate programs. Hundreds of thousands of dollars piling up in their bank accounts just for having a web site. Wouldn't you like to be part of that? Wouldn't you like to join the ranks of the successful affiliates??

We can vouch for the following two programs. And we are currently testing out several others, and will share that information with you as soon as we can determine if they are indeed a thumbs up. If you want to get on our mailing list, just go to http://www.allfreespot.com/art/hitsnews.html and click on the button.

Yes, I want this free report! We send out a monthly newsletter with our picks and pans in the affiliate business, plus tips for marketing your site. And whatever you do, don't miss out on our free report, Hits for Dollars! Just send us an email. hitsfordollars@getresponse.com

Commission Junction Affiliate Program

Websponsers Affiliate Program