Affiliate Programs and the
Benefits for
Your Web Site
By: Reginald Ready (r_ready@hotmail.com)
D. C. Entrepreneurs
Regardless of whether or not you have a web site, you've seen
evidence of the concept of affiliate programs every day, while
surfing the Web. Most web sites you surf the Web for these
days, have these features: animated banners or logos, pop-up ads,
text links with uniquely coded web site addresses, etc. Such
features on a web site might be annoying to a Web surfer, but
generally would be beneficial to the web site owner. Why?
Because the web site owner understands that posting such banners,
text links, etc. his/her web site, will eventually bring revenue to
the web site owner. As the web site owner promotes his or her own
web site, he or she is ALSO indirectly promoting the banners and
text links that are on his or her web site. That arrangement is an
Internet marketing relationship between the web site owner and the
merchant (the one that provides the animated banner ads, specially
coded hyperlinks, buttons, pop-up windows, etc.), known as
"affiliate marketing." The term "affiliate" refers to the web site
owner.
The concept of an "affiliate program" is something that is
offered by the merchant (advertiser). The three benefits of an
affiliate program to the MERCHANT are:
* Cheaper to advertise online vs. advertising by traditional media,
billboards, etc.
* Able to make more sales to more people, due to the nature of
the Internet
* Paying ONLY for desired results (sales, clicks, registrations)
The three benefits of an affiliate program to the web site OWNER
(AFFILIATE) are:
* Receives compensation from the merchant for referring or
recommending its products/services to his/her own customers or
subscribers
* Enhances his/her own web site by choosing merchants that can add
greater value to it (i.e. a beauty care web site owner would seek
online merchants that would meet the owner's web site needs) for the
sake of his or her customers or subscribers.
* They're FREE to join! An affiliate is treated as an "independent
contractor" in the eyes of the merchant. The web site owner is free
to choose WHEN and HOW to responsibly promote the merchant's
products or services. The affiliate would also be free to quit
promoting a merchant's services at any time for whatever reason.
In other words, you'd be the boss in this type of arrangement!
In closing, understand that there are three types of affiliate
programs, offered by online merchants to encourage web site owners
to promote their items: 1) pay-per-click, 2) pay-per-lead, AND 3)
pay-per-sale. The next article will focus on the "pay-per-click"
affiliate programs.
Questions?
Contact Reginald Ready at
r_ready@hotmail.com.