Affiliate marketing programs have sky-rocketed in popularity in the past few years. As one of the fastest and easiest ways to start an online home business people are jumping on this wave by the millions. Affiliate programs offer merchants the opportunity to employ vast armies of sales people who get paid for the results they achieve.

The rewards for affiliates can be very good, and the skilled affiliate marketer can earn many thousands of dollars per month. This win-win situation has led to an explosion in the number of affiliate programs that are available to affiliate marketers.

With this growth of affiliate opportunities have come many questions, such as: how do you go about choosing the right affiliate program for you? What qualities should you look for in a program and which gives you a good chance of making a sustainable income? Below are some tips that will help you to evaluate affiliate programs, and help you to avoid wasting time and money.

What Commissions Does the Program Pay?

It is very important that you know how much you can expect to earn from a sale. There is no point in spending time and money promoting a product that pays very small commissions. You could end up spending more on marketing than you make on sales. It is probably best to stick with marketing products with a high commission value, unless you have found a niche market where you can sell vast quantities of product, and make substantial commissions on your volume of sales.

How Much Traffic is their Website Getting?

Try to discover the amount of traffic the affiliate owner’s website is already receiving. Alexa.com is a very useful tool for doing this research. If the website is ranked in the top 100,000, the merchant is getting a good volume of traffic, so it’s possible that there may already be too many affiliates. If it is ranked below 500,000 it may be no good, or it could be a golden opportunity to make some real money by becoming one of the first affiliates!

Always research a merchant’s product if their website has a low traffic ranking. It may be a good idea to buy the product yourself if you can afford it. Otherwise you could do a search to find out if there are any negative reviews about it on the internet. Be careful who you listen to though because many people are in the habit of bashing affiliate programs with nothing to really support their comments. If you find a large amount of negative reviews with little positive ones then it would probably be a good idea to stay away from that affiliate program.

How Often Are Affiliate Commissions Paid?

Some affiliate programs pay commissions every week; some once a month, others only pay every quarter. It is important that you know how often you can expect a pay check if you are going to have financial control over your business. Do you have the financial resources to continue to market a product if you have to wait a long time before you get paid? It would also be wise to find out the minimum commission that you have to earn before you get paid.

Does The Affiliate Program Use Tracking Cookies?

Many customers do not buy on their first visit to a merchant’s website. It is important therefore that the merchant uses cookies for their affiliate program, so that you get credit if the customer returns and buys at a later date. Check out how long the cookies last. The longer the cookies lasts; the better the chances of you getting paid!

Does the Affiliate Program Pay on Subsequent Sales?

Some programs will only pay commission on sales that come through customers visiting their site via a direct link from your site. They pay you nothing for any subsequent purchases that the customer makes if they visit the merchants site directly. It is important that you get paid no matter what route the customer returns by if you are to build a sustainable affiliate business.

What Marketing Resources Does the Affiliate Program Offer?

Look at the type and quality of the marketing resources that they provide. Do they provide articles, advertisements, or other content that you can use to put on your site? Do they provide free guides, special offers, free viral e-books, or product samples that you can send to your list? If the marketing material they provide is good then it is likely that the business will provide good support for their affiliates.

Finding the right affiliate program for you can be tough to do. The best advice is to do your own research, follow the advice above, and listen to your instincts. Use the above questions as an aid to finding an affiliate program that enables you to reach your financial goals. You never know… You might just strike affiliate marketing gold!

Trent Brownrigg is a successful affiliate marketer. You can find the best affiliate programs at www.work-at-home-jobs-iowa.com/top_10.html

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Wherever you turn these days you’ll find articles covering every business strategy and tactic available to man, from how to make a great presentation to strategies for success all the way to negotiations and prospecting and getting a client to commit. But hardly anyone touches on the subject of breaking the ice with a new client and winning them over.

Experts say it takes only three seconds to make a first impression. That doesn’t give you much time to dazzle someone with your professionalism and polish, especially since it’s so difficult to change a first impression. Naturally that leaves most of us a bit concerned when meeting someone for the very first time, especially if a lot is riding on your presentation.

Since your success is based heavily on your approach along
with your understanding of the potential client’s goals and
purpose, it is up to you to plan for that first moment of
breaking the ice. If you investigate the approach and attitude of top producers you’ll discover that they all use some similar strategies for meeting and greeting a new client. Because they know just how important it is to prepare for the first meeting and how crucial it is to break the ice correctly, they come well prepared.

Consequently, whether your communication begins with a simple e-mail message, telephone call or person to person visit, the first contact is the most important. How you present yourself along with the questions you ask determines your success. And while there are no guarantees that any one strategy will work every time, applying the following few techniques will help make an impression that will certainly impact your very next presentation.

Make Your First Meeting Count!

1) The first and most important strategy for breaking ice is being fully prepared. And the best way to prepare is by knowing all you can about the company or individual you are planning to address. Prior to making an appointment, conduct some preliminary research about the company and individual so that you feel confident when making the first contact. Bios or articles about the person are often posted on the Internet so it’s usually easy to find information. By
knowing the company’s history or something about the individual, you’ll be in a better position to know what the prospect needs. Familiarizing yourself with the prospect opens the way to conversation.

2) To gain the respect of a potential client, there’s a lot more to communicating than just words. Your body language and your tone speak as loudly as the words you say, therefore each presentation must be offered with cheerfulness and confidence. Needless to say, your overall appearance is critically important to the way you present yourself. Feeling good about your appearance is critically important to the way you present yourself. In fact the confidence you feel both about yourself and your product might well be the primary ingredient for winning over a prospective client. When it comes to speaking about your product and your service, it is your confidence and belief in your product that does most of the selling. So during the first moment of meeting, greet the person with a firm handshake along with good eye contact. Stand and walk tall, keeping your shoulders back and your head erect. And don’t forget to smile.

3) We hear a lot today about the value of connecting with a person, yet what does That really mean? A connection comes when two people meet on common ground. One way you can connect with a potential prospect is by being your authentic self. Allow your personality, integrity and sense of humor to shine through. If the person you’re meeting is aloof or hard to connect with, they might just need a bit more convincing. So rather than leaping right into the sales presentation the minute you start talking,
speak first about some mutually interesting topics of conversation. If you did your homework you already know something about the company or the person, therefore you might try opening on a light note. After a few minutes, when you’ve had some time to relax and establish rapport, you can launch into your presentation.

4) There may be times when you meet with a client and you don’t feel an immediate connection. Although your first instinct is to run and find someone who’s a bit more compatible, perhaps you might consider viewing the situation from a new perspective. Consider it a challenge. Trying to find ways to connect with the person and then achieving it can be very rewarding. After all, your mission is to be the most important resource to your client therefore your goal is to impress the potential client with your ability to solve their problems. Pay careful attention to what the client really needs by actively listening. Don’t oversell or try to convince the client that what you have is absolutely perfect for them. State clearly and plainly how you’ll be able to help the client. Basically, before quitting on a potential client do your best to gain insight into the client’s needs. If it doesn’t work, you’ll know you gave it your best shot.

5) Listening to what your client has to say is extremely important. It may be basic Knowledge that one should listen and not talk too much, but in our exuberance to sell we often forget to listen. When paying attention to conversation, you learn a lot about the potential client. Therefore, a good rule of thumb is to listen more, talk less and glean the knowledge that will help you understand the prospect’s goals, concerns and overall needs. Ask questions, but be sure to pay attention to the answers. Additionally, use common courtesy by letting the prospect know that you understand how precious time is to him. If you requested 30 minutes and the potential client agreed, respect that time frame.

Breaking the ice can at times seem like a difficult task, but if you’re genuinely committed to helping your potential client, it won’t be difficult. Be sincere, respectful and open-minded. Take the time to understand the client’s needs and they’ll take the time to understand yours. If you plan, prepare and manage the initial breaking of the ice effectively, the potential prospect will soon be considered a well-established business associate.

Robert Moment is a best-selling author, business coach, strategist and the founder of The Moment Group, a consulting firm dedicated to helping small businesses win federal contracts. He just released his new book, It Only Takes a Moment to Score, and recently unveiled Sell Integrity, a small business tool that helps you successfully sell your business idea. Learn more at: http://www.sellintegrity.com or email: Robert@sellintegrity.com.

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It is often said that it is not who you know that matters, it is who knows you. Well I would like to extend this statement by saying that it is not only who you know and who knows you, but how well do you know them and they you?

In business, networking is the ultimate form of promotion. It can help you to obtain new clients, a new job, or even help you to move up the corporate ladder. It is the process of building relationships. Any time that you attend a meeting, trade show, or a social function, you are networking whether you realize it or not. It is the relationship that you have with people, a prospect or a client that makes the difference between success and failure.

Often we fail to realize the reasons that we have for doing business with an individual or a company. In the case of products that we regularly buy, what helps us to make the buying decision? There are those that will buy a specific brand of product because they trust that brand to be of a high quality or durability. There are others that will make a buying decision based on price, although this is less frequently the case. Often we simply do business because we feel good about it. In fact most purchases or decisions to do business are based on two things. Trust and comfort. Trust is a very intangible emotion or feeling. How do you measure it? How do you develop it?

Trust is measured by the feelings that are generated by a process of letting someone get to know more about you than just product, features and price. I know a gentleman who provides a seminar on selling to C-level executives. He says that to sell to the C-level executive you have to be more than a salesperson selling a product or service. To sell to the executive level, you have to be more of an advisor. You have to find needs other than the ones that you can fulfill and help them to fulfill these needs. In doing this, you become a “trusted advisor”. They feel “comfortable” that you have their interests in mind more than just making a quick sale and a commission.

In our daily process of seeking prospective clients, do we often just look for a person to pitch, or do we spend a bit more time getting to know them before we try to sell?

When we take the time to know a persons desires, dreams, and needs, and make an honest effort to help them realize that these things are important to us, we are really on the fast track to doing business with them. We are building the trust, confidence, comfort level, and most importantly the relationship that is needed to not only make the sale, but to create in them a resource for endless referrals.

As we go into the community meeting people who are prospective clients, we should keep the following in mind. The customer is a person just like me. The customer has needs other than the one that I can fulfill. Until I understand what the ultimate goal or dream of the prospect is, I cannot fulfill it with my product or service.

Selling and networking are about relationships. You sell in everything that you do whether you realize it or not. The time is now for more effective selling. Change the way you think about the prospect and the prospect will change the way that they think about you.

Jeff Glaze is the Editor of http://www.AtlantaEvent.com, founder of http://www.privacy-first.com e-mail certification program and the author of several e-books. His company, Mostcool Media Inc.( mostcoolmedia.com ), specializes in marketing planning, coaching, business networking training, web and media development. His e-book “The Six Xtremes Of Power Business Networking” is available here: http://www.atlantaevent.com/ebook.htm Jeff Glaze is available to speak to your group and can be contacted at 678.508.5975 Copyright © 2006 by MostCool Media Inc.

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If you have a website with some traffic, you can make money by having links to merchants’ online shops on your site.

If someone goes through your links into the shop of the merchant, and buys something, you earn commission from the sale, between 5% and 40% depending on type of merchant.

Some merchants also pay for each click or each lead. A lead is a new visitor to the shop that asks for more information or prize offers.

People or companies having these links on their web-sites, are called affiliates, and the links are called affiliate links. The administrative infrastructure by the merchant that the affiliate register into, in order to get the linking code, is called an affiliate program.

To register into an affiliate program is usually free, and through the program you get freely all you need to make the linking code, to monitor the traffic through your links, and to see what commission you have earned.

An affiliate program is not a MLM program, since the affiliates only earn from sales, leads or clicks.

However, in many programs you can recruit other affiliates and earn some commission from the sales made by the recruited affiliates too.

There are also common networks operated by third-part companies where several merchants use a common software and administrative infrastructure to recruit affiliates and monitor the traffic from affiliates. These are called affiliate networks. Both the merchants and potetial affilliates register into the network, and the affiliates can find links to the online shops of hundreds of merchants to use at their web-site. Examples of affiliate networks are Commission Junction and Clixgalore.

From my experience, the best affiliate programs are for merchants selling althernative health items or items for erotic improvements. I also have good experience with programs in the fields skincare, cosmetics and hobby.

What will work best for you, will however depend upon the kind of traffic you have, and the interests of people visiting your site.

Knut Holt

Knut Holt is a freelands IT consultant that also earn from affiliate links at his websites. For more information about affiliate programs, pleace visit this site: http://www.panteraconsulting.com/salg2ka.htm

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2 days after Google ushers in Checkout, PayPal sends an email announcing opening of new regional HQ in Singapore. PayPal Private Limited, as it’ll be called, will cater to PayPal’s non-US, non-EU customers effective 1st August, which is a month from now. In a way, this was destined to happen, and hopefully the new dispensation will offer improved services.

To its credit, opening and using PayPal account is very easy. One only needs a verified email address to get going. When PayPal scented opportunity in online payment business there were only a handful players in the field. Keeping it easy makes PayPal the most accepted face among countless small online business owners. Though PayPal charges good amount for its services, people take that in their stride. For most of them, PayPal remains the only choice, because, among other reasons, setting up one’s own payment gateway is prohibitively costly.

Yet there are grumbles and often, frayed tempers. Getting answers from PayPal is never easy. Sometimes it would seem that all your fervent pleas are falling on deaf ears. For small entities, there is yet another problem. You wouldn’t be able to lay hands on your money unless it reaches a threshold limit - usually $150.

When ebay acquired PayPal, its business soared manifold. Sellers on ebay are urged to use PayPal as preferred payment mode. However, more often than not, sellers outside US, EU and other rich countries receive PayPal payments after a long delay. This is not the case if you prefer direct delivery of selling amount to you, and in so doing you can also avoid hefty PayPal check-making charges. Adding up, one gets the idea that ebay+PayPal combination is not equally helpful for all sellers.

There are other concerns too. PayPal’s resource-rich information attracts hordes of hackers and online-thieves to prey upon. This means that on many occasions, for none of your deliberate wrong-doing, you may have your legitimate account frozen along with whatever money there is in it.

As PayPal spread far and wide, the problems above should have prompted it to diversify and systematically organize its services in time. That was not to be, until Google arrived on the scene. Google’s arrival is rumored from April last. So ultimately PayPal rolled up its sleeve and started serious thinking. Singapore’s proposed set-up is an indication of that. One hopes that PayPal’s Singapore unit will address customers’ problems with alacrity. For one, why not facilitate direct bank-transfer of payments for its customers, say in India, like PayPal does for its customers in US, EU and few other countries?

Checkout is presently only for US buyers and sellers. There is no doubt Google will offer the service elsewhere too in near future. For AdWords users, Checkout is expected to be a boon. Who knows, as time passes, Google may even entice Governments to use its discounted service for different revenue collections. Google is not known to play second fiddle in whatever it does. So Checkout will very shortly become a serious contender to PayPal.

It is unlikely that PayPal users will unceremoniously dump it in favor of Checkout (as and when it becomes available). In any case, Checkout’s features are still in evolving stage. In all probability, it would be that PayPal customer will also become Checkout user and weigh pros and cons before choosing one over another. To that extent, PayPal still has some time. What about new customers? It’s difficult to hazard a guess here. I’ll not put my money on either one’s succeeding, at least till the dust settles or till the fight begins in right earnest. After all, it’s my money, honey!

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