|
OK, so what's all this business about 'resellers', 'referral programs', 'affiliates',
and 'affiliate schemes' we keep hearing about plastered all over the Internet?
Well, here's a quick FACT BLAST to get you up
to speed!
Affiliate, reseller or referral schemes/programs are very simple really: they're
all about forming profitable and long lasting partnerships...
There are so many people using the Internet now, that it's
impossible for any one web site or web vendor to offer their products/services
etc. to all of them. So, 'affiliate' partnerships are used to help spread the
word far and wide.
Basically, there are two ways to participate in affiliate schemes:
- By getting people to promote your products/services - other people advertise
or sell your wares for a paid commission from you!
- By promoting other people's products/services - you either advertise or sell
other people's goods for a paid commission from them!
The second option is the one that you will find most often advertised online
- many e-businesses now offer affiliate schemes to increase their Internet profile
and sales.
Often anybody at all can join and start to earn commissions almost immediately.
Affiliate schemes are very popular because they work well for both parties...
the vendors get customers that they wouldn't have found otherwise; the affiliate
(or reseller etc.) gets a commission for promoting (e.g. pre-selling or selling)
the vendor's products; the vendor handles the sales and all of the customer service;
and everybody gets paid! It's very simple and very cool!
There are many different ways of running affiliate schemes/programs and, if
you surf around, you will also find companies offering services and software to
run schemes for vendors.
For a good example, used by many Internet experts, take a look at AssocTRAC.
It can do just about everything for you (track your ads, sign up affiliates, track
their referrals etc.) except write out the commission cheques to your affiliates
at the end of the month!
If you want some ideas about how to go about earning those potentially fat
commission cheques, try this link to the Internet
Marketing Center (IMC) which can also be found on our connections
page... they have a wealth of useful information, products, services and advice
on offer to help get you started!
We also have our own affiliate scheme, which is
built-in to our chosen payment gateway (credit card clearing service), ClickBank...
This is a very robust service and above all it's free too, with no monthly
fees! Once you're signed up you can promote any of the thousands of products they
serve, for a commission, or sell your own products and get thousands of people
to promote them for you!
It's a classic 'win win' situation for everybody!
|
