MARKETING IDEAS and TOOLS
Business Card Design Ideas
Brochure Design Ideas
Die Cut Business Cards
Scented Business Cards
Cheap Business Card Ideas
Unique Business Cards
Unique Brochure Ideas
Cheap Advertising Ideas
Business Card Layout
Promoting a Home Based Biz
Competitive Advantage
Email Marketing Tips
3 Ways To Spend Less
Selling With Color
Promotional Magnets
MARKETING STRATEGIES
Differentiate Yourself
Information Marketing
Building Customer Loyalty
Getting Customer Feedback
Testimonials
How to Define a Niche
Discovering Niches
Finding New Customers
Indirect Benefits
The Consumer's Perspective
Promotional Marketing
Pricing Products and Services
Viral Marketing Magic
Marketing Mix
STARTUP IDEAS and STRATEGIES
Home-Based Startup Ideas
Business Idea Brainstorming
Virtual Assistant
Internet Researcher
Event Planner
Wedding Consultant
Telecommuting Strategies
Freelance Job Strategies
WEBSITE MARKETING
Build Traffic to Your Website
Domain Name Ideas
5 Ways to Increase Traffic
Scavenger Hunts
Talking Avatars
Promote Your Web Page
Autoresponders
Internal Links
Link Exchange Tips
Viral Marketing and Email
Attract Your Target Market
Market Your Website Offline
KEYWORD TIPS
Keyword Competition
Keywords and Meta Tags
Prime Spots for Keywords
Keyword Phrases
AFFILIATE MARKETING
How To Get Started
Residual Income
Affiliate Agreements
ONLINE BASICS
Choosing Domain Names
Domain Name Extensions
Website Design Strategies
Learning HTML
Understanding HTML Colors
Are Your Colors Web-Safe?
How to Accept Payments
Bandwidth: Doing The Math
Find The Right Web Host
Publish Your Website
MARKETING YOURSELF
Resume Tips
Affiliate Marketing:
How to Maximize Residual Income
Residual income is income you continue to make for work you've previously done. Here's a look at how you can maximize your residual income from affiliate marketing.
How to Maximize Residual Income
Two-tier marketing and residual income
With two-tier affiliate programs, you earn income both when you refer customers and when you refer other affiliates.So, let's say someone clicks an affiliate link on your website and makes a purchase at that site. Then, they also sign up to become an affiliate.
If the affiliate merchant has a two-tier affiliate program, the customer you referred becomes your sub-affiliate. That entitles you to receive a commission on the sales they refer to the merchant.
So, what can you expect from these sub-affiliates? Probably not much.
The majority of affiliates who sign up never even place a link on their site, much less actively market an affiliate business.
Motivation and support are crucial to success. Unless the merchant under whom you are both an affiliate does a superb job of providing that motivation and support, it's up to you.
You can provide tools, resources, and useful information on your website and through regular newsletters.
Include real-life examples of affiliate marketers who have succeeded. That can include the major players as well as anyone who is making a full-time, or even part-time, living through affiliate marketing.
Affiliate Program Agreements and Residual Income
Thousands of affiliate programs exist. Most, however, are not worth your time and effort.Many reward your marketing efforts only if your visitors make a purchase when they click through from your site to the merchant's.
So, why is that a problem? Because that scenario only happens a fraction of the time.
In many cases, the visitor will bookmark, or just mentally make note of the site and return later.
The affiliate agreement should state specifically under what circumstance(s) you are credited, and paid commissions, for any sale.
If the agreement doesn't state that you receive commissions for subsequent visits by those you refer, assume that you do not.
The agreement should also state what time frame is involved. Will you be paid commissions for any purchases within 24 hours, one week, one month, or longer?
Don't forget that many potential customers visit a site several times before making a purchase. This can take place over days, weeks, or even months.
Don't rely on any claims, especially promotional statements, made about the affiliate program. The affiliate agreement is your only legal protection for any residual income to which you're entitled.
Beware of any statements to the effect that the agreement can be terminated or changed for any reason. That means that your residual income could disappear at the whim of the affiliate merchant.
Without effective tracking methods, the income you make can be drastically reduced
Some affiliate merchants track their affiliates using only cookies. So, if the visitor that you brought them deletes their cookies, your residual income from that customer comes to an end.Before you sign up with a merchant, see if they use multiple methods for affiliate sales tracking.
The best tracking method is to have your affiliate ID embedded in the data from that customer. That's the only way to ensure you receive the residual income to which you're entitled. Regardless of how, when or where the customer makes a purchase, you are credited. This includes phone orders, and other offline purchases.
There's no shortage of affiliate programs from which to choose. Make sure you choose one, or several, that reward you for your efforts.
Nancy Richardson
CreateYourMarket.com publisher
Need a writer?
Quick Tips:
Enclose a business card promoting your website with each piece of outgoing mail.
Ask customers who frequently do business with you for a testimonial.
Promote your website URL offline on everything from bumper stickers to your answering machine message.
Want to reach the highest percentage of your target market?
Advertise in specialty publications including newspaper supplements devoted to a specific topic.
Marketing is crucial, but it doesn't always have to be serious.
Some of the most effective advertising campaigns rely on humor. Don't be afraid to make your customers laugh!