Archive for the ‘Partnerships-Affiliate Programs’ Category

What Are Affiliate Programs?

Affiliate programs are the Internet’s version of a retail company’s commission-based sales program.  Simply put, you refer a customer through your affiliate link and get a check.

The beauty is that as an affiliate you won’t physically handle products, create marketing tools, set up the sales process or collect the money. It is all handled by the affiliate manager.  You just refer a potential customer (via email, social media, website or blog promotion). Nice and simple.  It is a perfect way to start developing multiple streams of income which is essential in these economic times.

Some Points to Remember

• Promote products you truly believe in and that are relevant to your target market. Ask yourself: What other products and services do my customers need?

• Pre-sell prospects with your own testimonial. It is important that you use or a very familiar with this product and truly believe in it (For example I resell my shopping cart because I use it daily and know others need this e-commerce solution too).

• Be transparent and tell prospects you are an affiliate (The FTC mandates this)

Read the rest of this entry »

As you  surely know the downturn in the economy has made times more challenging for the entrepreneur.

However, any savvy marketer knows that developing powerful partnerships can be the key to surviving any economic storm.  So in this post lets look at how you can successfully connect with influential marketing partners in your industry.

Before choosing a JV partner make sure that you:

•  Know exactly what they want most from the venture… It may not be what you assume.

•  Are fully aware of your own goals… and that you’ve communicated them to your would-be partner.

•  Both feel that you can better achieve your objectives working with each other

The Platinum Rule

We’ve all heard of “The Golden Rule” – Treat people the way you would like to be treated.  And while the concept is sound, it becomes problematic because it assumes that everyone has identical desires and perceptions. Read the rest of this entry »

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By Amy J. Belanger, Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach

The Internet entrepreneur is pioneering brave new worlds of partnership. Among the most powerful forms of Internet partnerships is the creation of virtual sales teams. Gone are the days when the entrepreneur had to interview, hire and manage a sales force or hire sales managers to cover territories. E-commerce technologies let you activate a winning sales team that operates entirely in cyberspace.

What Are Affiliate Sales Programs?

Most simply, an affiliate sales program is the Internet version of a retail company’s commission-based sales program. Think of it as the shop on the corner that sells a local craftsperson’s widgets and keeps a percentage.

The difference is, your affiliates won’t physically handle your products, and you aren’t going to show up at their shop each week so you can split the profits. Your affiliates will be scattered all over the world and best of all, they will be too numerous to track by hand. That means you need an automated system to manage them.

How Do They Work?

Every aspect of managing the affiliate sales force is automated: recruitment, hiring, training, resource provision, paying commissions, and even attrition. All you have to do is set up the system and let it work.

When people join your affiliate sales program, you provide marketing tools, they promote your product and services, and the resulting sales are tracked in your affiliate software using a unique code the system provides to them.

Since the computer software automates the entire sales process, affiliate signups and payouts, all you need to do after the initial setup is promote your affiliate program sufficiently to keep great salespeople on your team.

What Do I Need? Read the rest of this entry »