How to Run a Flexible, Successful Affiliate Program

June 2nd, 2009 | 24 comments

affiliate program tips If you offer a product or service it’s almost a given these days that you need an affiliate program. If you have a product and don’t have an affiliate program, you’re simply leaving money on the table. But if you offer an affiliate program that isn’t flexible and can’t be tailored to your affiliate’s needs, you’re also leaving alot of money on the table both directly and indirectly!

An affiliate is someone who promotes your product and earns you money with little to no effort on your part. With that being said it’s simply irresponsible (or arrogant depending on who you are) NOT to help each and every affiliate and potential affiliate with anything and everything you can possibly help them with!

Unless of course you just don’t need the money and believe it or not, some people don’t seem to need a few thousand extra dollars because I’ve actually had a product owner deny a very simple affiliate request… they turned down:

1. Thousands of dollars directly from the promo and tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars indirectly.
2. A strong future partner in their network.
3. Potentially thousands of new leads to their list, as strong partners always send people their way.

and more.

And what did I do when they turned me down? I said “OK, no problem, have a good one, bye.” then I went and found another good product created by someone who was willing to accept my small request… someone who takes care of their affiliates.

And that’s what this blog post is about. How to run a flexible affiliate program. But it could have easily been titled “How to Take Care of your Affiliates”

So a Potential Affiliate Contacts you…

(I should start off by saying the options I use are certainly not the ONLY options! They are simply what I’ve used effectively. I’m sure there are many more options that work just as well and I’m sure some that work even better)

If you have a product you WILL have potential affiliates contact you. Many times the first thing they will ask for is a review copy… fine, nothing wrong with that. BUT SOME people are just looking for a freebie! So how do you know if it’s a legitimate affiliate or a freebie seeker? Easy, do a Google search!

If Jeremiah Josanovic (made up name) asks for a review copy I do a Google search for Jeremiah Josanovic. I’m looking for anything and everything about this guy. If I don’t find much, and/or what I do find is extremely low quality I’ll reply VERY RESPECTFULLY and let Jeremiah know that I appreciate his interest in my product and I appreciate any and all promotions he can do for it, but at this time I am not providing review copies.

If what I find on Jeremiah is quality stuff and it seems like he may have a reach in my niche I’ll gladly send over a review copy. It usually takes me about 5 minutes to do this research, if that!

From that point on, once I determine that it is indeed a legitimate affiliate I do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING (within reason) I can possibly do for that affiliate because I know he is going to make me money!

Common Affiliate Requests and how to Deal with them

The following are requests that I have frequently received from affiliates and/or frequently asked as an affiliate for one reason or another. Unless it’s a very odd request or requires a great deal of time on my part I’m not concerned why they ask. My only concern is to make them happy!

1. A special page – Many affiliates like to have their own special page for their promotion. There could be many reasons for this. Whatever the reason, there is NO reason why you shouldn’t go ahead and set one up for them. Simply create a new directory for them and copy and paste the sales page code, done… that easy!

2. A discount – I’m one of the many affiliates who likes to help out my list by working out a special discount for them. It increases conversions, which in many cases will actually make the affiliate AND VENDOR more money than if there wasn’t a discount. This is another no-brainer. If a legitimate affiliate asks for a discount GIVE THEM ONE! How? There are several ways to do this, but I use one of the following options, depending on which one is preferred by the affiliate:

a) If you use Clickbank you can easily set up another product in your account. This does not cost you anything! Just set up another product, which is actually the same product but at a discounted price, then restrict it from appearing in the marketplace (in the settings when you set it up.) All done!

b) If you TRUST the affiliate or the affiliate trusts you, you can set up a PayPal buy now button and either the vendor or the affiliate can accept all payments. Once the promotion is complete (I like to give it at least 7 days) you can generate a PDF report from within PayPal, which will serve as proof of sales numbers. This is the easiest option and I’ve done it several times, but there obviously needs to be trust between the two of you!

c) If you like the PayPal option, but the trust isn’t quite there, you can use software like JV Rotator. JV Rotator is a very simple tool. It rotates the buy now button after each purchase to the next partner. So if I’m the vendor and your the affiliate and we’re doing 50/50 we’ll insert your PayPal email and my PayPal email into the script and it will show your buy now button first, then after a sale is made it will show mine until another is made and so on.

If we want to do another percentage, say 75% we insert your email 3 times and mine once. After 3 sales are completed to you my buy now button will appear until another is made, then back to you and so on.

d) Another option is to set up a separate page and put the product up on PayDotCom and just like the special on ClickBank, set it to not appear in the marketplace.

These are all very quick and easy ways to set up a discount. It may take a little longer the first time you do each, but once you learn the process you’ll be able to replicate them in minutes and it’s well worth it to take care of your affiliates who are going to make you lots of money!

3. A different Payment Processor/Affiliate Network – If an affiliate wants to bypass your payment processor and/or affiliate network, of course you don’t have to redo your entire system. Leave it in place and think outside the box. Many people, including myself, will not promote clickbank products in the Internet Marketing niche (for example) due to affiliate commission theft. Some people would say “something is better than nothing” and I suppose that would be true if there was only one good product out there, but the fact is there isn’t. If an affiliate requests an alternative to ClickBank and you don’t provide one they’ll just move on and promote a different product, so “Something is better than nothing” certainly doesn’t apply here!

So if your product is sold via ClickBank and a legitimate affiliate requests an alternative option, what do you do? It’s very simple and takes about 10 minutes on your part. Only 10 minutes to take care of an affiliate and insure he or she gets the commissions they deserve!

You simply create a separate, special page for them, then you do exactly the same thing as I explained in 2b, 2c and 2d (above.) Very simple! Of course you pick one of the 3.

Those are the 3 most common affiliate requests I receive and request myself as an affiliate. Hopefully this post will help you understand affiliate requests a big more.

Before I close out this post I want to go over the differences between Clickbank and PayDotCom, as I’ve received alot of requests to do so. I am both a vendor and affiliate for products on Clickbank and PayDotCom. Here is a quick run down.

Pros and Cons of ClickBank – Explained in my previous blog post. Just click the link.

Pros and Cons of PayDotCom – PayDotCom is much like Clickbank. It’s strictly electronic products and it takes care of almost everything for you. However, Clickbank processes payments themselves whereas PayDotCom goes through PayPal, which isn’t necessary a bad thing.

Let’s say Jon is the vendor and Joe is the affiliate. Joe does a promo. Each full sale goes straight to Jon’s PayPal account (the vendor.) At the beginning of the month Jon sends Joe’s (the affiliate) cut to his PayPal account. This works out perfectly when the vendor and affiliate keep in touch and trust one another. BUT some people don’t get their affiliate commissions because there are some dishonest vendors out there. There are also some honest vendors who just don’t know how it’s supposed to work and/or just simply forget to pay their affiliates.

In other words, with Clickbank the affiliate get paid directly from Clickbank and it’s always on time. With PayDotCom it’s up the vendor as to when you get paid.

But with ClickBank affiliates can order through their own link. Whereas PayDotCom affiliates cannot order through their own link! Also with ClickBank refunds are processed automatically to everyone who requests them. With PayDotCom the vendor has to approve them, which reduces the amount of freebie seekers who game the system. As for affiliates, you’ll get MANY more low to moderate exposure affiliates with ClickBank’s Marketplace, whereas you will get very few affiliates through PayDotCom’s marketplace. BUT many super affiliates will no longer promote Clickbank products and they WILL promote PayDotCom products.

So as you can see, there are several pros and cons to both.

If you sell products as a vendor or affiliate, I hope this post has been helpful. I know I had to learn the hard way how to do all of this stuff, so I hope this post prevents at least one person from having to spend all of that time and effort learning the hard way how to do these things.

img credit: Shirley Two Feathers

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24 comments

Sandra
2nd June, 2009 at 4:34 pm

Thanks Josh, such a lot of really important info.
Sandra
Luca (4 comments.)
2nd June, 2009 at 4:44 pm

Thanks for the info Josh. I’m don’t have my own product yet but plan to in the future. I was always wondering how the payout to affiliates was done. I was thinking of starting with Clickbank because as you say they take care of paying the affiliates directly.
Thanks again
Courtney
2nd June, 2009 at 4:47 pm

Another very timely post! I’m going to be using any and all of these options to encourage affiliates for The Content Chef.
Nancy Boyd (2 comments.)
2nd June, 2009 at 5:09 pm

This was another great article, Josh. Just what I needed today, as I’m contemplating how to set up a new project with its own affiliate program.

You deliver such great value with your articles. Thanks. I’ll be tweeting about this one
Jennifer (9 comments.)
2nd June, 2009 at 7:24 pm

Hiya Josh =)

Great post (as usual). In my opinion, any time a vendor is not willing to be flexible with an affiliate, it is the vendor that loses out (NOT the affiliate).

As you said, affiliates have thousands of products to choose from. If it’s not your product, they can easily go to another vendor.

That “something is better than nothing” mentality from a vendor is not one that I would considering adopting. I’d rather try to find a mutually beneficial promo strategy that works for both of us – or else it’s me (the vendor) that gets the “nothing”.

However, I imagine it could be easy for some really successful vendors to view affiliates as disposable? I dunno….

I DO know that if a high-quality affiliate with a proven track record (say, oh, I dunno… someone like you.. lol) approached me about something for his/her list – you bet I’d be happy to see what we could work out together.

However, I see good business as something deeper than stopping at the immediate bottom line. I view business as relationship building – and that will always help your bottom line if done properly. Just my two cents on all that.

As for asking the vendor for a review copy…

I KNOW that in every and ANY internet marketing forum you read in, fellow marketers will say, “Just ask for a review copy then you can get stuff for FREE!”

Usually, these are very inexperienced marketers that offer this kind of advice.

As a vendor, it is my job to protect my affiliates. They work their tail off to promote my stuff so I feel I owe that to them.

What kind of vendor would I be if I handed out free review copies to everyone and anyone who simply emailed and asked? Would YOU want to promote a product when the vendor was handing out free copies like crazy?

I sure wouldn’t….

So my advice is this… If you’re interested in promoting a product, email the vendor and introduce yourself. Tell them about your past promotions, a little about yourself, and how you’d like to promote their product.

In short, take a few minutes to let the vendor know that you are serious about reviewing the product AND promoting it.

Vendors usually get many, MANY emails a day asking for free copies of their stuff. Be a little different and initiate the contact with the vendor by trying to build a relationship…not by trying to get something for free.

Josh, sorry for the long-winded comment. Brevity is NOT my specialty…lol!

I hope everyone really takes the info and points made in your post to heart.

All the best!

Jennifer
~PotPieGirl
Angie Berg (45 comments.)
2nd June, 2009 at 11:20 pm

Very informative article, Josh. I have to agree with your mentality. I’m sorry to say, though, that my ‘skill’ level isn’t quite up to the task yet.

I’ve just ‘launched’ my first devotional book on my site, but launch is a very generous term. Basically, I’ve just set it up for sale in e-junkie and I still have to make it available for affiliates to sell. I hope to accomplish that task by the end of the week.

Whipping up new pages for affiliates and some of the other techniques you mentioned still seem a little ‘scary’ to me. I’m sure I’ll get there one baby step at a time, but your article still has meaning to me and I feel it has benefited me by reading it.

Thanks,
Angie
Davion | Secrets Of Affiliate Marketing (1 comments.)
3rd June, 2009 at 2:24 am

Hi Josh,

That is a ton of cool and useful information for anyone intending to run an affiliate program.

It would be helpful to your readers if you could cover more on how to get more affiliates as a product owner.

I own several Clickbank products in different niches and IM products are almost the easiest to find affiliates.

Just 1 tip to share here for product owners in non-IM niches. Think of the ways that your affiliates would promote your product and start looking for them there. You know, top affiliates probably would be list owners, article marketers, etc. So list directories and article directories are great places to find them.
Ray (3 comments.)
3rd June, 2009 at 2:31 am

Hi Josh

This is a great post for me as I have just got my first product in Clickbank. I am going to print and keep it in front of me for reference.

Do you have any recommended ways of approaching successful affiliate marketers to market a new Clickbank product that is not in the IM niche?

Thanks

Ray
Gavin (1 comments.)
3rd June, 2009 at 3:40 am

Gedday Josh,
Yet more good essential information for us newbies to absorb and implement in our own attempts to emulate your success. I always enjoy your great content, keep it coming mate.
Gav.
Anita Just
3rd June, 2009 at 4:41 am

Listen, Josh, I think you’re great. I plan on getting with you for some coaching soon as I have been reading you for some time and have found your stuff the most relevant to me – a beginner.

It would be helpful to talk about outsourcing the technical stuff. Such as when to use static sites and when to use blogs. I know a fair bit about blogging, but putting up a site is stopping me.

Thanks for your accessible style – It’s great.

Regards…………………Anita
Tim Toy (5 comments.)
3rd June, 2009 at 8:13 am

Thanks for sharing this knowledge with us Josh. The procedure for creating discount for affiliate through Clickbank is really new to me. Never read about it anywhere and it will be of great help to me in future.
Deneil Merritt (4 comments.)
3rd June, 2009 at 10:01 am

Very helpful post, I see you talk about clickbank and paydotcom but what about e-junkie? I see more and more people are starting to use e-junkie over clickbank and paydotcom.
Kristy
3rd June, 2009 at 10:24 am

Great post Josh, as always.
So generous of you to share your expertise with all of us. Thanks for the PayDotCom pros & cons, I’m not that familiar with them at the moment, but will certainly be looking at them more closely.

Cheers,
Kristy
Sinead O Donovan
3rd June, 2009 at 6:35 pm

Thanks for this post. A client today asked me to set up affiliate marketing for them and I hadn’t a clue. This really breaks it down to easily digestable information!
Michelle Adams (20 comments.)
4th June, 2009 at 3:06 am

Josh, I never realised how easy it was to set up a discount option for affiliates and that there’s even more than one solution! Really informative post, thank you.
Mikael Rieck (11 comments.)
4th June, 2009 at 7:29 pm

Yet another great post. If you have the time I have two questions that I would like to ask.

First I am curious as to what you asked for when the vendor declined your request?

Secondly I would really like to know what you look for in the products that you want to become an affiliate for? Is it just the commission or are there other things as well?

Thanks,
Mikael
Josh Spaulding
4th June, 2009 at 8:18 pm

@ Jennifer – Thanks for the long comment, wow I think we have very similar feelings about this whole thing. Too bad a couple people out there don’t feel the same way.

Regarding freebie seekers, you’re right. It’s as easy as a Google search in most cases in order to find out if that person is legit or not.

@ Ray – The best way is to develop friendships with those who hold authority in your niche. Don’t just ask them to promote your product right away, get to know hem first.

@ Anita – Thanks for the kind words and support.

@ Deneil – e-junkie is one option I have not tried yet, but will hopefully look into it in the near future.

@ Mikael – Sure 1. I asked to bypass clickbank. 2. I look at one thing – Is it a good product that will help people succeed.
Mikael Rieck
4th June, 2009 at 8:23 pm

Thank you Josh. I appreciate it.
Deneil Merritt (4 comments.)
5th June, 2009 at 3:55 am

Josh, I can’t wait to see your review on it.
DesDrec
8th June, 2009 at 7:37 am

Thanks a lot Josh. As per, a very informative post. I’ve promoted quite a few clickbank products but haven’t promoted many paydotcom one. As you say, it’s extremely easy for people to change the affiliate link with clickbank or by putting in particular keywords into google to get the download pages. Probably best not to make download pages with …..thankyou.html etc
Montana (1 comments.)
10th June, 2009 at 7:07 am

Thanks for the post josh, really breaks down the whole affiliate thingie for me, hope I make some $$$ with it
Dave
17th June, 2009 at 3:20 am

Josh

Is JvRotatr actually available? Do you use it?

The product page is not selling it…
Josh Spaulding
18th June, 2009 at 12:49 pm

@ Dave – Yeah I realized that after I published the blog post. You’re right, it isn’t currently available, but I contacted Sean and he said it will be available once again in the future. It’s being reworked. I do use it regularly, yes.
Montana
23rd July, 2009 at 1:00 pm

Thanks for all the info, Josh. Iâ€™m donâ€™t have my own product yet but plan to in the future. I was thinking of starting with Clickbank because as you say they take care of paying the affiliates directly.