Global Marketing Resource

How to Evaluate an Affiliate Program
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Copyright 2004 Sanjay Johari

There are thousands of affiliate programs offering wide
range of benefits to their affiliates. However, many of
these programs and the claims they make are not to be
trusted. Good affiliate programs provide tremendous earning
0pportunities, but they need to be evaluated to distinguish
them from doubtful ones. There are several factors to
consider before someone decides to join any affiliate
program.

Products:

Organizations which operate affiliate programs generally
have some products to sell. These products can be
in form of physical products, e-products or services. It is
important to ascertain that the organization has some
products to sell and that it recruits affiliates to help
them in running their business. One should be very careful
with any organization that has recruitment of affiliates as
their main business. It is best to avoid such organizations
because their affiliate structure is like a house of cards
which can crumble at slightest impact.

The organizations which have products to sell and market
them thru affiliate programs cut down on the cost of
advertising and distribution. This amounts to considerable
savings which they share with their affiliates. If a new
affiliate is already familiar with the products, this can
be helpful but this is not a necessary pre-condition to
join affiliate program. New affiliates can learn about the
products quite fast.

Organization's Track Record :

It is not difficult to find out about the organization before

joining it affiliate program. Search engines are one of the

sources which can be used for this purpose. Verifying the

testimonials presented by the organization is another

source of information. The organization should have

proven track record of operating their programs for several

years successfully. If the organization is new or just starting,

the person starting the program should be well known with

good credibility.

This is precaution against joining organizations which
promise get-rich-quick scheme and then disappear.

Support Available to Affiliates :

Most of the new affiliates joining any affiliate program are

new to the field of marketing on the internet. They need

guidance and support for promoting their business and

earning income for themselves. It is in the interest of the

organization to help their affiliates to succeed. These

organizations are in their business for considerable longer

time than the affiliates, are more knowledgeable about their

market and about the ways of promoting their products.

They are in best position to provide their affiliates with proper
guidance. Many organizations have excellent support system
by way of trainings, tutorials, articles, books, marketing
plans, marketing tools, forums just to name a few. These
are generally available from websites accessible to the
affiliates.

Apart form the promotional material and information
available from the website, personal guidance can be vital.
A new affiliate may not be familiar with all the resources
available and will look for mentoring at least in initial
stages. It should be remembered by the affiliate that her
success will add to the success of the organization, the
organization is obliged to help her.

Payment :

Another factor to consider is the mode and frequency of

payment to the affiliates. The affiliate should make sure

that this suits her. Just to give an example - many

organizations make payments thru PayPal, but PayPal

does not transmit m0ney to all the countries. Such details

should be checked before putting time and effort for any

affiliate program.

Affiliate Structure :

There are many different ways in which organizations

build up their affiliate structure. Many organizations have

single tier structure in which affiliate is only paid

commission for sale. Other affiliate structures are 2-level

or multi-level deep in which the affiliate earns also from the

efforts of personally sponsored members. In turn, the

affiliate is expected to help her sponsored members to earn

for themselves. This is one great feature of multi-level

marketing leading to leveraged earning. You can read my

article on leveraged earning at this URL :

http://www.sanjay-j.com/artlever.html

There are still more variations in the structure. Some
organizations allow a limited number of affiliates directly
under each affiliate. There is no "ideal" affiliate
structure. But it is important to have clarity in the
structure and the affiliate should understand the
structure.

Compensation Plan :

There is lot of variation in compensation plans starting

from simple commission to more elaborate plan in which

affiliates additionally earn thru the efforts of their sponsored

downline members and also from a common pool.

I personally favor plans which have provision for leveraged

earnings where teamwork really counts. Residual earning is

another attractive feature of affiliate marketing which can

build into sizeable income over a period of time. I am not

against any compensation plan so long as it is understandable

and appears reasonable. You have perhaps noticed that I have

put this factor as the last consideration. However it is an
important consideration after all other considerations are
found acceptable.

Persistence Pays :

It takes time to build up business with any affiliate program,

no matter how good the program appears. After joining any

affiliate program after thorough evaluation, one needs to stay

with the program giving it time to build the earning. Get-rich-

quick scheme do work some times but they are rare exception

rather than the rule and cannot be depended upon.

This small slogan should be ingrained in the thinking when
someone joins an affiliate program:

PERSISTENCE PAYS.

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Sanjay Johari contributes articles reglarly to several
ezines. His website contains articles, information, ebooks,
tools and more for operating h0me based business.
Visit his website for his choice of top affiliate program
to join:
http://www.sanjay-j.com