Remember the
good old days? You'd purchase a domain name, set up
your site (with a few swear words here and there), and
place some banner ads (while crossing your fingers for
the best banner ad click-through results). This all
worked great--for a while; until people managed to avoid
our banner ads like the plague. Life got more complex.
What were us internet marketers to do? We had to become
more savvy. Fortunately for us, the affiliate model
was introduced.
Ah, the affiliate marketing model. It never hurts to
get a little help from your friends, right? Affiliate
marketing networks offer a wide range of advantages
to businesses. In short: it's a booming business with
dollar signs all around it. Sure, affiliate marketing
can be a profitable business, but it can also be very
aggravating, time consuming, and antisocial. So here
s the big question: Why the heck do we keep putting
ourselves through all of this pain? The answer, although
seemingly complex, is quite simple: easy money.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The average person thinks of affiliate marketing as
a get rich quick scheme for geeks and nerds.
Actually, it s the farthest thing from the truth. Nowadays,
you re just as likely to find a High School dropout
behind an affiliate marketing operation; as you are
to find a computer science major.
Despite the revenue advantages, many successful affiliate
managers are weary of transparent affiliates. After
all, there's a lot of trickery out there. You have to
be on the lookout for the Good, the Bad, and the
Ugly. That s right folk, if you're the good guy,
beware of the bad and the ugly affiliates. They're out
there right now placing infectious adware on an unsuspecting
consumer s computer.
As a marketer, it's your responsibility to investigate
your affiliates use of adware. Don't turn your head
and look the other way. It's OUR consumers that may
receive unwanted and/or destructive ads. Can you blame
them for becoming angry at the marketer who (perhaps
inadvertently) funds adware infections? Of course not.
Destructive ads shouldn t even be considered a marketing
strategy. It s completely unethical.
The New Guy
In a nutshell, affiliate marketing is a great starting
point. If you experience success--run with the ball.
Explore additional performance compensation structures.
But before you even consider jumping into the game,
you should ask yourself the following questions (to
avoid business pitfalls):
1). Will affiliate marketing assist you in reaching
all of your business targets?
2). Will affiliate marketing have advantages over other
types of online marketing?
3). Do you have the time and commitment to run a developing
affiliate operation (which will require time to flourish
and succeed?
4). How flexible is your budget for affiliate marketing?
Here's some background information for the 'new guy':
Time and commitment are essential to your success.
While running a network of affiliates doesn't require
a college degree, it does require your attention for
details. Perhaps this is why merchants find outsourced
providers offer a very appealing solution. In addition,
the new guy should realize:
Not everyone will make five figures a month with
affiliate marketing. There's a lot of marketers out
there. You're the new guy, remember? Find some successful
companies that use affiliate marketing. Research them.
What did they do to become such a success? Can you duplicate
that plan?
You're not going to make any money eating potato
chips in front of the television. If it were that easy--I'd
be doing that instead of writing this article on affiliate
marketing. Be prepared to devote a lot of time to your
business and your affiliate relations.
Don't take blind referrals from anyone! You'll
discover the best affiliate opportunities through your
own research.
The Future
In just the last few years, affiliate marketing has
become a very powerful force on ecommerce. Every day
thousands, if not millions, of merchants rely on affiliate
marketing to drive their businesses. But is affiliate
marketing all just a big hype? What ever happened to
customer service? What strange times we live in; as
the value of business is no longer placed on the customer--but
on the relationship with whoever facilitated the connection.
This just goes to prove that affiliate marketing is
only as good as the people who run it. Remember, there
are ways to get your affiliate program noticed; just
make sure that you get it noticed for the right reasons.
If you value internet based businesses and you'd like
more job leads, educational information, and tools to
aid your internet entrepreunership, than visit: http://www.ebyro.com/ (a Vertical Portal
for Internet Entrepreneurs).
About
the Writer:
Marissa Ranello is an independent marketing consultant
with clients in the United States and Canada. As an
employee of eByro, a Vertical Portal for Internet Entrepreneurs,
Marissa devotes her time to internet business, performance-based
marketing, and affilate programs. Visit: http://www.ebyro.com/ |
