Is It Worth Buying Affiliate Software? | Pitfalls To Avoid When Starting Your Affiliate Marketing Business | So Many Affiliate Programs! Which One Do I Choose? | Affiliate Marketing
Is It Worth Buying Affiliate Software?
Many of us dream of giving up our jobs and working for ourselves. Being your own boss can provide the responsibility level you want as well as the incentive to perform well. Running your own business usually mean lots of hard work but the rewards can be quite tremendous.
When it comes to starting a business, many people get scared. They worry about loosing that security that their job has provided. They also worry about the risk involved in starting your own business. The risk is worth considering being that anywhere from 70-90 % of all small businesses fail in the first year.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to work for yourself with minimal risk. When you work as an affiliate you usually sell a range of goods or services for profit. You will still have to work very hard to promote your business; however the financial risk to you is extremely low.
Many who have started their affiliate marketing businesses wonder about affiliate Software. They wonder if it is worth purchasing and what it can do for their particular business. The answer to theses questions lies entirely in the individual affiliate and the type of business that they have. However, there are some general things to try and consider before you shell out hundreds of dollars on affiliate software.
Before buying any software program, you need to apply some perspective. Software will not take a floundering company and get it into fortune 500. It is simply a tool to help you in various aspects of running a business. You will still have to do all of the hard work. The software will only help.
Once you have some perspective, then you need to list your companies needs. How are you at keeping accounts? Could you do better with software? Many people do purchase software to manage accounts for them. Especially when their businesses start to take off. Chances are you can do just as good of a job on your own but software will make it go much faster. You must keep in mind however, that software does take time to learn. However, once you have mastered it accounting software can help you keep track of your incoming money and outgoing at a much faster rate than if you were to do it yourself.
If you have a home based affiliate marketing business that is entirely internet based, you may want to consider website building software. Again, you may be able to do just as good of a job on your own. However, if you can’t this software can help. It will offer suggestions on how to make your pages more attractive and how to attract more internet traffic to your site. This can all translate into more sales or Ad revenue for you.
You should never purchase any software without previewing it first. This way you can tell if this particular style of software is what you need. Most places will give you a free trail, if not find someone who will. You could also find free software that you can download from the internet. It takes little time to put this onto your computer. It is certainly worth at least trying the free software. It doesn’t cost anything and could save you money if it does what you need it to do. If it doesn’t then you can always have it removed and purchase what you need.
If you have a knack for sales or marketing then perhaps you should consider the world of home based affiliate marketing programs. You can put your creativity, skills and expertise to work for you rather than someone who doesn’t appreciate them. When your business starts to pick up, you may want to consider the purchase of some affiliate software. It can help you manage your accounts and increase your website traffic. You could find it for free online or get a free trail from a software company. What ever you decide, remember keep some perspective of what it can do. Software is only a tool it won’t work miracles.
Pitfalls To Avoid When Starting Your Affiliate Marketing Business
Well, you have left that awful job and now are working for yourself. You have jumped on board your new venture which is affiliate marketing. You’re incredibly excited and are working all the hours God sends to make this venture a success. You checking up and monitoring your site and you see that sales are going quite well. Many of the strategies and things that you put in place have helped your affiliate company sell quite a bit. The end of the month finally arrives and you’re waiting for that first large payment. When you check your account you are slightly disappointed. You did make some money but according to your calculations you should have had more. You check your sales figures again and decide to contact the company. They inform you that some of the items sold were returned so those had to be deducted from your commission.
This is disappointing but it does happen. Companies do not pay out commission on returned goods. You need to be aware of this to avoid fall into further pitfalls. No one would expect to be paid a commission on a returned item however; some less than honest affiliate marketing companies can use this to scam some of your profits. You need to make sure you understand their return policy and how it will affect the amount that you are paid.
A return occurs of course when a customer brings an item back. Charge backs can also happen when they dispute an amount on a credit card. Be sure you keep a close watch on which items are being chargeback or returned. See if there are any patterns that are obvious. If you notice that the orders that are charged back are always very high ticket orders then they could be giving you false information. They are doing this to keep you commission down and keep some for themselves. Keep a close eye on returns especially if you think it is happening a little too often.
Charge backs are also indicative of another more serious problem. If you notice that many of these charge backs are happening during an initial trial period, or the money back guarantee time, then there could be further problems. This is a sign that the product or service that you are promoting isn’t up to customer satisfaction. It could be misleading or just poor quality. However, it will effect your commission and your future as an affiliate marketer. If this seems like it is happening a little too often then again, there are problems somewhere in the company. Look to get out and make alternative arrangements.
You also need to be aware of which items are actually commissionable. Make sure you understand which products you will be earning money from to avoid disappointment later. Sometimes the company will offer a selection of products to put on your site, however only certain items may be commissionable. Before agreeing to anything like this checks your terms and conditions carefully.
Finally, you also need to make sure that items that are sold don’t have any other conditions attached. Some will only pay a commission if the customer fills in the payment details immediately. If they select an item and continue to shop, you may not receive any commission on that item. You can also loose commission if the customer clicks on any other links before completing the order. If they order 30 of an item you promoting but click on something else then you have lost out on quite a large amount of commission.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to earn money. However, before jumping in head first you need to read your terms and conditions carefully. It may be worth having an attorney look them over for you. You need to be aware of the many pitfall people fall into when they go into affiliate marketing. Read and understand your terms to avoid disappointment later.
So Many Affiliate Programs! Which One Do I Choose?
Ask questions first before you join an affiliate program. Do a little research about the choices of program that you intend to join into. Get some answers because they will be the deciding point of what you will be achieving later on.
Will it cost you anything to join? Most affiliate programs being offered today are absolutely free of charge. So why settle for those that charge you some dollars before joining.
When do they issue the commission checks? Every program is different. Some issue their checks once a month, every quarter, etc. Select the one that is suited to your payment time choice. Many affiliate programs are setting a minimum earned commission amount that an affiliate must meet or exceed in order for their checks to be issued.
What is the hit per sale ratio? This is the average number of hits to a banner or text link it takes to generate a sale based on all affiliate statistics. This factor is extremely important because this will tell you how much traffic you must generate before you can earn a commission from the sale.
How are referrals from an affiliate’s site tracked and for how long do they remain in the system? You need to be confident on the program enough to track those people you refer from your site. This is the only way that you can credit for a sale. The period of time that those people stay in the system is also important. This is because some visitors do not buy initially but may want to return later to make the purchase. Know if you will still get credit for the sale if it is done some months from a certain day.
What are the kinds of affiliate stats available? Your choice of affiliate program should be capable of offering detailed stats. They should be available online anytime you decide to check them out. Constantly checking your individual stats is important to know how many impressions, hits and sales are already generated from your site. Impressions are the number of times the banner or text link was viewed by a visitor of your site. A hit is the one clicking on the banner or text links.
Does the affiliate program also pay for the hits and impressions besides the commissions on sales? It is important that impressions and hits are also paid, as this will add to the earnings you get from the sales commission. This is especially important if the program you are in offers low sales to be able to hit ratio.
Who is the online retailer? Find out whom you are doing business with to know if it is really a solid company. Know the products they are selling and the average amount they are achieving. The more you know about the retailer offering you the affiliate program, the easier it will be for you to know if that program is really for you and your site.
Is the affiliate a one tier or two tier program? A single tier program pays you only for the business you yourself have generated. A two tier program pays you for the business, plus it also pays you a commission on the on the sales generated by any affiliate you sponsor in your program. Some two-tier programs are even paying small fees on each new affiliate you sponsor. More like a recruitment fee.
Lastly, what is the amount of commission paid? 5% - 20% is the commission paid by most programs. .01% - .05% is the amount paid for each hit. If you find a program that also pays for impressions, the amount paid is not much at all. As you can see from the figures, you will now understand why the average sales amount and hit to sale ratio is important.
These are just some of the questions that needed answering first before you enter into an affiliate program. You should be familiar with the many important aspects that your chosen program should have before incorporating them into your website. Try to ask your affiliate program choices these questions. These can help you select the right program for you site from among the many available.