Should You Join an 'Affiliate' Program? And what to look for
by: Anne Ahira

There sure are a lot of Affiliate Programs out there for you to choose from, aren't there?! If you have a busy site or a large newsletter, you can start earning money right away! Sounds good! But....you're going to need lots of traffic to do the 'earning right away' thing.

So, if you have a new site, a low traffic site, or are starting from scratch, you've got a long way to go! Be aware of that and don't get discouraged right off.

If you are brand new to Internet marketing you might be better off if you develop your own product. That takes time and energy but when you sell your own product you get to keep ALL the profit!....sell someone else's product and you only keep a portion of those profits.

Don't get me wrong! I'm not saying that someone just starting off should not join an Affiliate Program. When you don't have a good product or service to sell online, being an affiliate can be a great option!

Just keep in mind that it may take awhile to see a profit since you have to promote the program and build traffic to it just as you would if you had your own website. Just be sure you find an Affiliate Program that offers something you love and would feel good about marketing.

The great thing about Affiliate Programs is that they are "no-brainers"! What do I mean by that?

Well, if you already have the aforementioned 'lot's of traffic to your site', all you have to do is post a text link to another site, the affiliate program site, and earn a percentage for every sale which you generate.

And...best of all, the company takes care of all the administrative problems, the credit card charges, the shipping, the inventory....you get the idea. You just refer people to them, they take care of all the rest and cut you a nice hearty check every month. Sounds pretty great, doesn't it?!

Yes, it can be! But be careful! Getting involved with the "right" affiliate program is your key to making money. (More about that later.)

Making money with an affiliate program is playing the old-fashioned numbers game! Meaning, that out of the people who visit your site you may get a 1% to 20% click-through ratio (this range is so wide because it depends on the product interest, your link to them and the power of their slogans or banners). ...that's the number of people who click through the text link you have provided and actually visit the site you are recommending.

And of those people, only 1% to 2% will really buy. So... "numbers game"! Generating a good income from affiliates programs, requires a large number of visitors to your site or subscribers to your newsletter.
Example. Say you're getting 1,000 visitors to your site a month and you post your affiliate text link. Just for fun, lets say you get a click through of 5%, which is WAY high.

That means out of your 1,000 visitors, 50 of them go to the affiliate site by clicking through and out of these 50 people probably only ONE will buy...IF THAT! Just because you get 1,000 visitors to your site (that's YOUR site not the affiliate site you are promoting) that doesn't mean you will get $500 a month from your affiliate program.

Here's some more numbers for you. A company with a good affiliate program will have about a 0.5% to 1% visitor to sale ratio. It can sometimes be better than that (and often many time worse, especially if you hook up with the wrong company!), but that is the average. So for every 100 to 200 visitors you send them, only one will purchase.
Whoa! Doesn't look quite so great now!

That's okay, this is the reality and you have to be realistic about your online endeavors. If you think everything is just going to fall into your lap, you'll be easily disappointed and end up quitting before you even get close to succeeding.

You'll want to look for these things in any Affiliate Program you join:

An Affiliate Program that is successful at what they do.

An Affiliate Program which offers great value, a great product or service, and more importantly, GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE!

Make sure the Affiliate Program has a great tracking mechanism so that you get credit for every sale.

Look for a Program, which tracks every sale in real time so you can see your results instantly.

Make sure the Affiliate Program has a good-looking website, which pleases customers, is easy to navigate, and offers great information to the visitor.

The Affiliate Site must be able to turn visitors into sales. You can send them all the visitors in the world, but if they don't convert visitors into sales, you don't make any money!

Before you decide to join any affiliate program, get the answers to the following questions:

1. How long has this Affiliate Program been in place?

2. What form of compensation is offered? In other words, are you getting actual cash , are you getting credits for your product, are you getting free AirMiles -- what are you actually getting?

3. Is there a set up fee? If so, how much?

4. What kind of associate tracking software is being used?

5. How are referrals tracked? Do you get credit for EVERY single sale you refer to them?

6. Do associates get credit for the sale after a visitor comes to the site and doesn't buy, then leaves and comes back to buy at a later date. How long is this in effect for?

7. Do you have to take special steps to get out of the agreement?

8. Does the legal agreement bind you to any other responsibilities?

9. Under what circumstances can the Program remove you as an associate?

If you take the time to gather all this information BEFORE you jump into an affiliate program, you'll find that GOOD Affiliate Programs are actually hard to find. Lucky for you! You don't have to go freaky every time a "new" affiliate comes online!

Chances are, once you look more deeply into the company, you'll find they can't pass your "test" and are not a company you would want to be "affiliated" with anyway.

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How to Get Started On Your Business Website
by: Jeremy Maddock

So you’re about to embark on the creation of a major website for your business? Having a presence on the internet can be a big help to many enterprises, but that you consider a few simple points before hiring a web developer.

First of all, it’s a good idea to talk to your customers, the people who will actually be using the website, and determine what features they would find helpful. Circulate a survey among frequent users of your product or service, and try to collect insights into what should and shouldn’t be a part of your new site. After all, it doesn’t make sense to spend thousands of dollars on a flashy new website that nobody will be able to use or benefit from.

Another step that you might want to take before hiring a design professional is to take a couple of hours to look at the websites of your competitors. Find out what features they are offering, and try navigating through their product information and sales pages. Try to find ways that you can incorporate (and improve upon) the features in their sites that you find useful and informative.

After you have a good idea of what you want, you should sit down with a local web developer and discuss your situation. Treat this process just like any job interview, asking questions whenever they come up, and getting a clear and realistic price quote.

Once you have settled on the best person for the job, it’s important to keep up with the project as it progresses, keeping your designer up to date on exactly what you want, and keeping track of the tab so as to avoid any nasty surprises.

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The Secret Truth About How Anyone Can Earn More Money
by: Grey McKenzie

If you are not happy with your position in life, and want to know the secret for success in any field, no matter what you are doing now... the answer is easier than you would dare to believe.

Would you agree with me that there are hundreds of thousands of people throughout history who have had unbelievable success in their chosen profession?

Would you agree that whatever they have done to achieve success, you could do if they would only show you the steps they followed, to get where they are now?

Well it's absolutely true, and I would venture to say that these successful people all have at least one thing in common...

They love what they do.

So the first thing you need to do is to decide what it is that absolutely excites you. Something you would love to spend your life doing and then work backwards from the end result, to where you are now.

This is a explosive secret that I guarantee you if you apply this you WILL get the job of your dreams.

Let me explain...

If you want to travel somewhere you've never been before, what do you do? Why you find a map and follow it, right?

Well getting success isn't any different.

Decide where you want to be in life and then backtrack... Every step by step you would take. Write this down and follow it...

Sounds simple? it is...

But don't underestimate the POWER behind this principle.

Let me give you an example.

Let's say your dream would be to own your own carpet cleaning business. Here's how your map would appear.

1) Own my own carpet cleaning business.

2) Find a step by step business plan from someone who is successful in this type of business

3) Get hold of their information at all cost

4) Follow the roadmap to success

This system is GUARANTEED to work... Why? Because by finding a mentor or information regarding a system that someone has already used to get where you want to be, saves you years of trial and error and can turn your dreams into reality almost overnight.

Ok... so you say "how do I find a Mentor or information that will help me with start the business of my dreams?

I highly recommend you go to http://www.goldmaker.com This is a search engine for "How To" information products in just about any field you can imagine.

I use this website all the time to help me grow my business.

Don't wait or put off your dreams, start right now...

Some people dream all their lives, while others live all their dreams. I hope you become a person that lives all your dreams

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