If you’re considering starting your own affiliate program, the first thing you want to think about is start up funding. Just like any other business venture, this will take funds to begin. Assuming that you’ve already determined and secured a source for this funding, here are the essentials that you will need in order to start the program and promote it.

Website - Most people who look into starting their own affiliate programs obviously already have a website and services or products they want affiliates to promote.

Affiliate Management Software - This software handles many different things, like the tracking of sales by different affiliates, products, and other things. This is another essential when starting an affiliate program. What this does is track the visitors, sales, and/or subscriptions (depending on what action you want visitors to your site to take) that come from each of your different affiliates. This is so that you are able to pay your affiliates the correct percentage of the sale, see who is referring the most visitors and generating the most revenue, and so on. These two things are the very basics for starting your own affiliate program. Next comes the promoting and marketing.

Promoting Your Affiliate Program:

Affiliate Networks - This is the most common way to promote your affiliate program, as many webmasters go through these networks to find new affiliate programs to join. Affiliate networks do charge you (as a merchant) various fees, such as one-time setup fees or periodic maintenance fees; however, they are an easy way to get your affiliate program known. Networks also provide you with reporting and tracking tools. Examples of affiliate networks are Commission Junction and Linkshare .

Newsletters - If you have a newsletter, you should definitely include this information. Existing customers would be great affiliates, as they use your product or service and can sell it to others better than someone who doesn’t use the product or service. By including this information in your newsletter, you can inform your existing customers of your new affiliate program.

Forums - Affiliate forums are a great resource for marketing your new affiliate program. The people on forums like this are either already affiliates for other
products, or are interested in becoming affiliates. This is great, as you don’t have to hunt them down – they are already there. By posting often in forums like this, you are sure to inform a lot of interested and experienced individuals about your new program.

Article Marketing - This is a great way to inform potential affiliates about your new program. By simply submitting some great articles to article marketing databases, you are able to get the word out. These are a bit tricky, as the articles can’t be full of hype and overselling, but if you hire an experienced writer, they should know how to get them done.

By following the tips and ideas above, you can successfully start your own affiliate program, and be on your way to making more money and getting more exposure for your product. Good luck!

Credibility

Just by offering your honest ideas and knowledge to other members on the online forum, you are able to build up your credibility. This is very important. People want to purchase things from people and companies that they trust. When someone knows you to be an expert in your niche, they will be more likely to trust you. When you’re on the forum, be sure to offer helpful, polite, and good advice to those who are looking for it. Use strategic questions to help sell your products and your company. For example, if you’re in the running shoe business, you could really be interested in the “favorite” running shoe of the other members. Then offer some information here and there. This gets people interested in what you have, and they are being sold without even realizing it.

Proper Netiquette

When you are using the forums, you want to make sure that you observe the proper netiquette with the other members. For example, with an online forum, people naturally offer advice, give constructive criticism and ideas. If someone criticizes you or your product, don’t get defensive. Thank them for their ideas, and then explain in a nice way why they’re wrong. Provide facts and statistics if possible. You never want to argue with a member. It’s bad for business. Think of standing outside of your storefront and having a yelling match with a customer. What are other customers going to think? Always be on your “best behavior.”

Choosing the Forums

It’s obviously important that you choose a forum that’s related to your needs. Forums for business men and women, entrepreneurs or businesses that sell certain types of products are good ones to look at. One to try is The goWholesale Forums (www.gowholesale.com/forums ). There are some other really great ones too. If you’re starting a business, try Startup Nation (www.startupnation.com ). You can look up other forums related to your business in any major search engine. The right kind of forum can be one of your most useful marketing tools.

Do Not Sell

Yes, of course you’re trying to sell things. However, you don’t want it to look like you are. That’s why you should never pitch things on the forum. Let people find it their own way through your offered knowledge, help and ideas to other members. A lot of forums have marketplaces too where you can actually list your business as if it were an advertisement. If you are pitchy, or write a lot of hype about your products, the other members will see right through you and won’t even bother to check you out.

One thing to try is simply putting your company name and link in your forum signature. It’s a way of marketing your business that isn’t to much for other forum members to take.

If you’re marketing on a shoestring budget, online forums can be a great way to promote your business for free to a targeted audience. For it to work well, however, it’s important to observe proper netiquette and participate in a constructive way.