Internet Marketing Strategies, Resources, Tips & Advice

One of my subscribers, Sonia Henley just recently asked me this question:

“I want to get into affiliate marketing but I've heard that some affiliate programs are better than others, so how do I know which ones are the best to promote?”

Great question Sonia and a popular one, but unfortunately it depends. Sorry for the vague answer but as with anything there are good programs and bad programs and to help you make the right choice you're going to have to do a little digging first. 

Start out by finding which products or services to promote based in your specific niche and what your target audience would be interested in.

I generally start with affiliate directories like Commission Junction or Linkshare, they are helpful because they have search directories that list out products and services by categories, they are also a great way to get topic and niche topic ideas. Of course you can also find lots of affiliate programs that don't go through directories, but however you find affiliate programs here are a few strategies I use…    

Start by seeing how many other affiliates the program has.  If they have only one or two affiliates, that may be an indication that the product doesn't sell well.  It could also mean that affiliates don't like the program due to payment issues for lack of response, things of that nature.  I also like to send an email to the affiliate manager, get to know him or her and ask a few questions. The timeliness of their response, or lack of it, is often a good indication of how good a program it is. 

I always start with looking at the product as your customer would.  Would you buy it?  Look at their product website. How professional does the site look and how well does the site sell the product?  What's your overall general feel?  Your first instincts are generally good ones, so listen to them.

Also check to see if they offer you affiliate links to specific product pages on their site.  Typically merchants have several products they sell, if you're interested in only promoting only one or two products, then you don't want to send your visitors to their main home page, you want to send them to the specific product page.

A good affiliate program also gives you lots of sales tools and I always look for these.  I like lots of tools that will help me promote, for example, not just banners and links but articles that I can add my affiliate link to, e-books or training guides that I can brand with my affiliate links, ads that I can use for Pay-per-clicks or classifieds.  Basically any affiliate program that offers you affiliate training, tips or suggestions is indicative of a good program.

Of course always keep your products in line with your site's topic, don't promote loans on your candle site, promote candle supplies instead. Keep your products relevant. 

A lot of your success with choosing the best affiliate programs will be your testing.  You'll do better with some programs than with others, however careful research and following the guidelines above is what can put you into the ranks of super affiliate.  

Hope that helps,

Tags:   Affiliate Marketing1 Comment