![]() |
Marketing Information |
|
|
Niche Marketing: The Affiliate Angle
If you're just dipping your toes into the waters of Niche Marketing for the first time then Affiliate marketing is the ultimate low risk choice to get you started. Affiliate programmes cost nothing to join and present an almost infinite choice of products and services from which to build a niche business. If you're not familiar with Affiliate marketing, let me quickly explain. An Affiliate acts as an independent "middle man" between a Merchant and consumer by introducing new prospects and customers to the Merchant. In return the Merchant pays a commission to the Affiliate on all sales that result from his or her introductions. OK. So now you know what Affiliate Marketing is, how do you find suitable affiliate programmes for you niche? Here are a couple of options to get you started - Search Engines and Affiliate Networks. Search Engines Go to www.Google.com and type in your Niche description e.g. "low carb diet" followed by a plus sign (+) and the word "affiliate" - the search query should look like this : low carb diet+affiliate. In the results you will get all the pages with the term "low carb diet" and the term "affiliate". Go through the first and second pages and list all of the sites that show relevant products with affiliate programmes. Hopefully this will give you 10 or more affiliate programmes to choose from. You could also repeat this exercise on www.Yahoo.com to give your self more options. Affiliate Networks An Affiliate Network acts as "middleman" between Merchants and Affiliates, providing a centralised service where Merchants can list details of their products and Affiliate programmes, providing Affiliates with a broad and varied selection of products and services to promote. Here are some highly reputable networks you should visit to find suitable niche products and services to add to your list of prospective Affiliate programmes : ? ClickBank - http://www.clickbank.com - specialises in downloadable digital products. ? Commission Junction - http://www.cj.com - probably the most popular affiliate network has a broad range of mainly physical products. CJ has a gate way to the "Be Free" another huge network. ? LinkShare - http://www.linkshare.com - runs the largest pay for performance affiliate marketing network on the Internet. ? clixGalore - http://www.clixgalore.com - one of the larger affiliate networks with over 4500 Affiliate programmes to choose from. ? Digital River - https://www.regnow.com - specialises in software products including games, anti-virus and anti-spam titles. Add all the relevant programmes to list of those you gleaned from the Search Engine(s). Selecting Niche Affiliate Programmes Be selective in your choice of affiliate programme. Don't just signup for all of the programmes you have listed, visit each site and check each one out and make sure you "read each Merchant's terms carefully". Here are some points for you to consider when deciding which programmes to promote: ? Commission rates - rates vary considerably, check them out to make sure get the best deal possible. ? Commission type - does the Merchant pay on a pay per lead, pay per click or pay per sale? ? Frequency of payment - most important. Payment frequency can be weekly, two weekly, monthly, quarterly - I've even seen six monthly. ? Minimum payout - what is the minimum commission amount the merchant is prepared to pay out on. You don't get paid until the amount reaches that minimum. ? Cookie duration - cookies are set to capture your referral code and expire after a specific amount of time. Make sure you get the longest time possible. Very few of your referrals will buy on the first visit, you want enough time for your referral to visit again so that you get the commission. ? Minimum traffic requirement - you don't want to find out that your account has been terminated because you aren't sending enough traffic to the Merchant's site. ? Are sales tools available - it's in the Merchant's interest to help you as much as possible. If they provide sales and marketing tools it makes getting started a lot quicker and shows that the Merchant values their Affiliates. This is by no means an exhaustive list. As I said earlier, check all the terms carefully, then select and sign up for the programmes which best suit your niche theme and you're ready to start promoting. Copyright © 2005, André Anthony Niche Market Know-How André Anthony owns and operates Niche Market Know-How a resource for beginning Niche Marketers. Visit http://www.nichemarketknowhow.com today to find strategies, tips, tools, products and resources for effective niche marketing. Get his Niche Market Know-how Mini Course here: http://www.nichemarketknowhow.com/course.htm
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
RELATED ARTICLES
Sales Resistance on the Rise Have you noticed it? More and more marketing campaigns are going over the top. They're trying bolder, more in-your-face tactics. Creative Marketing: Just Your Style You've enlisted some of the traditional marketing methods to sell your services: you received some publicity in your local paper; your website is up and running; and you're listed in the Yellow Pages. So why isn't the phone ringing off the hook? Maybe you're marketing strategies need to get more creative!Creative marketing will allow you to attract new clients, as well as remind past clients that you're still around. 6 MUST Have Strategies To Make Big Bucks with Big Ticket Items Strategy #1: Change Your Mindset That's right, change your mindset! It's probably the number one most important strategy when selling Big Ticket Items. Plenty of people are uncomfortable selling items that are priced above the $500 - $1000 mark. When You Need More Than Magic To Keep Your Marketing Going It is easy to focus on what remains outstanding and not seewhat you have accomplished or how you have grown over thepast year. Even marketing experts have difficulty nailingdown time to market. Youre Halfway There!...Or Not Part 1 The year is almost over and the last half of this year will fly by just as fast as the first half. Are you on target for meeting your business goals for this year?If you answered yes, congratulations! Keep reading for ideas that will help you stay on track. Five Mistakes Absolutely Guaranteed to Drive Away Your Best Clients We all work hard to attract even one paying client. In fact, we work hard to attract serious inquiries. Preventive Marketing Offers Small-Mid Sized Business Owners An Ideal Way To Maximize Their Results As the owner of a creative services boutique - I have realized that at least 9 out of 10 prospects/clients have suffered from one or all of the following (very detrimental) symptoms of trying to grow their businesses:Trouble defining their "BIG PICTURE"Little to no understanding of "evolution focus"Overwhelming feelings of "being stuck", "spinning wheels", "not knowing what to do next"Not enough information about options, alternatives and solutions to common strategiesNot enough knowledge or support to ask the right questions when researching opportunitiesChallenges in differentiating between "good advice" and "bad advice"Difficulty bouncing back from ill advised decisionsExhausting unnecessary dollar amounts for otherwise less expensive projectsNot enough resources to avoid future mistakesUnrealistic expectations about each unique component of the marketing mix and how enlisting one does NOT guarantee another.Somehow along the way the corporate mentality of "delegate everything" has convoluted the fact that small-mid sized businesses don't always have the resources to do this. Network Marketing Is Definitely A Relationship Business Heavily branded websites like amazon.com are household names and carry an implied trust with visitors. Why Great Companies Survey: Martian Logic! If an alien civilization from Mars was planning a friendly takeover of our planet they would seek to make sure they understood our way of life and our way of thought.The only way they could accomplish their objective would be by asking questions which they could genuinely understand and then plan a strategy accordingly. Voice Mail Can Be Your Buddy Voice Mail is a classy name for "answer Machine". Problem is, people at home had answer machines long before most businesses. The Advantage to Buying Promotional Products Online Buying your promotional products and corporate apparel online provides five major advantages: a greater selection, better pricing, convenience, customer service, and faster ordering time.Manufacturers often display their entire line of products on the internet, providing you with a greater selection of products. Promotional Freebies What's a promotional freebie? A promotional freebie is something you can give to your customers, visitors or subscribers. Giving away "freebies" is an excellent marketing tool. Top 5 Kick Butt Marketing Requirements Cinch your success with 8-second leaders! Step into the saddle and ride to the buzzer - but first, get outfitted for success. Some things are necessary to have on hand in order to be prepared for coming out of the chute. How To Turn $100,000 Into $1,191,817 In Just One Year Part II Turning a modest $100,000 annual turnover into $1,191,817 may sound outrageous but if you really understand the fundamentals of marketing this becomes quite achievable.Once you realise that just improving every area of your marketing can create a multiplying effect on your turnover it's time to look in more detail at exactly which areas you should target. Marketing Strategy - Whats Your System? Where Do Most of Your Clients Come From?Is it from your marketing and sales system?When I meet people for the first time and they understand that I'm a marketing consultant, I'm frequently asked, "Where do most of your clients come from?" Many times I believe the question is asked innocently enough. But, quite often I feel like the person asking wants to know if I have a magic answer that might work for them. Mission Position Ahh, the mission statement. For some companies it simply describes their purpose for existing. Hello, My Name Is . . . What Your Name Tag Says About You When you attend networking functions, what kind of name tag do you wear? One of those sticky things you scrawled your name on, or something a bit more sophisticated? For just a few cents to a few dollars, you can have a classy, customized name tag that will draw attention and comments and help you make the most of every networking opportunity.Instead of relying on those disposable sticky tags, you can get your own engraved or imprinted name badge at your local office supply store. The Path To Your Prospects Wallet Begins At His Heart You want your prospect to make the decision to buy your product or service. So you show him what you have to offer in your sales letter, web page, ad or commercial. Marketing Strategy - Getting the Marketing Groove Wouldn't it be great to have a year where your marketing efforts were streamlined and got the results you were after? None of us want to struggle with marketing, and yet this is the one topic that continues to be highest in the minds of small business professionals.Let's really consider some of the reasons that can sabotage our marketing efforts, and how we can turn that around. How To Sell To Howard Stern... Oprah Winfrey... And Paul McCartney! Do you know what Howard Stern.. |
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |