Looking into affiliate marketing for my sites

[Martinscholes]

After debating it, and saying no, I am now thinking that I should investigate affiliate marketing for my websites.

My sites deal with general news, entertainment, books, health, construction, business, food and drink, ecology/green issues, gardening, household, beauty/fashion, Technical matters, education, parenting, Christmas, Real estate and public relations.

Are there any affiliate programmes with something for all or any of the above?

Thanks for your help!

[MattE]

yes there will be affiliate programs for most, if not all of your site topics.
An important aspect is to test some, and refine - thereby focussing on thoise that convert best.

Do not make the mistake of using the banners - they just don't work - use text and do some presell - this helps with SEO also.

Maybe even write a topic page related to the product and have one or more products as suggested solutions

[jawn_tech]

LinkShare comes to mind. I hate to recommend a program I've tried without success, but I only gave it a haphazard approach and I know others who have done much better.

[SemAdvance]

Yes there are programs for all your site Marty......

Send me an e-mail and I will help you get set up with a few of the best and introduce you to a few affiliate managers who are the best people to work with in matching offers to sites and how to market them.

Clint

[Martinscholes]

Originally Posted by jawn_tech

LinkShare comes to mind. I hate to recommend a program I've tried without success, but I only gave it a haphazard approach and I know others who have done much better.

Thanks. I'll check that out.

I have firmed up my ideas. Probably looking for UK-based concerns, mainly food and drink, organic foods, etc.

I have signed up to Linkshare UK to see what they can offer.

[Ric Willmot]

I don't really understand what affiliate marketing is ... but maybe I should.
Is it where I pay a commission to others fro selling my products on their websites?
If so; does this type of approach work for websites based on business services such as mine?
Thank you.
Ric Willmot

[jawn_tech]

Originally Posted by Ric Willmot

I don't really understand what affiliate marketing is ... but maybe I should.
Is it where I pay a commission to others fro selling my products on their websites?
If so; does this type of approach work for websites based on business services such as mine?
Thank you.
Ric Willmot

Welcome to WPW. Affiliate marketing is actually what you described, it works both ways. People involved in affiliate marketing fall mainly into two groups -- advertisers, and publishers (similar to PPC campaigns). A "publisher" is simply someone who has a website and earns commissions by having an advertiser's link on their site, and that link is clicked and the visitor follows through and makes a purchase (usually when taken to the advertiser's site). No sale, no commission. The advertiser is the other party, whose products are being sold. The links are set up as either text links or banners.

When the publisher and advertiser go through an affiliate program such as Linkshare, Commission Junction, etc., the advertiser can also be charged other fees, on top of a getting a percentage cut of the commission. Some advertisers eliminate the 'middle man' by setting up their own affiliate marketing program, working directly with publishers. This usually yeilds lower payouts for the advertiser, and higher earnings for the publisher. The drawback to the go-it-alone approach is less visibility to an already built-in large community of publishers and advertisers to choose from, and that the program does most of the tracking, billing, and payout work for you.

[MattE]

Ric - Yes there are networks and going alone. Many 'good' publishers will not even look at a self run affiliate program due to payout issues.

Martin - also think about adsense
Here are some posts on affiliate marketing that may be of interest

How to choose an affiliate program that will make you money

So you want to start your own internet business….

An affiliates guide as to why not to use banner ads

AdSense as a Business Model

An affiliate program for your website? - Some important considerations.

[Ric Willmot]

Thank you, Jawn.
Can anyone provide me with advice as to which program to implement to have others become affiliates and sell my books, study courses, DVDs and CDs?
Thank you very much.
Rgds,
Ric

[MattE]

Try Commission Monster - AU based but now also with a presence in the USA as well.

Let me know if you want an introduction.

[Martinscholes]

Originally Posted by MattE

Ric - Yes there are networks and going alone. Many 'good' publishers will not even look at a self run affiliate program due to payout issues.

Martin - also think about adsense
Here are some posts on affiliate marketing that may be of interest

How to choose an affiliate program that will make you money

So you want to start your own internet business….

An affiliates guide as to why not to use banner ads

AdSense as a Business Model

An affiliate program for your website? - Some important considerations.

Yes, I use Adsense at the moment, but was looking at perhaps one affiliate link on some of my sites. Though I'll check if this is OK with adsense T&C, of course!

[jawn_tech]

Always good to check Adsense's terms... Based on what I know however, they don't have any problems with other ads on the page as long as they're not content-generated, such as their own ads are.

But don't let that hinder you with checking up with any new changes to their terms. Better to be safe than permanently lose an account.