Finding the Right Affiliate Program

Affiliate programs are by far the hottest money-making opportunity on the Internet. There are little or no startup costs, no inventory, no shipping, no overhead, and there’s no customer service to provide after the sale.

You simply find someone else’s product or service, direct people to it, and get paid every time a sale is made. Successful marketers are making a fortune by promoting affiliate programs.

But what product or service should you promote? What’s the difference between an affiliate program and an affiliate program that’s a good opportunity? How do you find products and services that people want, and how do you find people who want those products and services?

Conventional wisdom says you need to find a niche, a highly specialized product or service that meets a very specific need that isn’t yet adequately met. But how do you know what obscure product is going to be the next big thing? That’s about as easy as picking the next stock that’s about to go through the roof, or which slot machine is going to pay out the next jackpot. Good luck in finding a profitable niche without the benefit of a crystal ball.

Instead, get behind a product or service that has wide appeal, and a well-developed demand… the kind of product or service that everybody needs, and that you can find a buyer for anywhere. Web hosting would be a great example of that. Sure, the market is well developed and there’s lots of competition in the marketplace, but there are about 7,000,000 searches for “web hosting” on Google every single month.

People are still actively looking for web hosting services, in part because there are millions of new websites being launched every month and in part because there is a lot of churn in the market (people who are dissatisfied with their current service provider who are looking for better service). If you’re promoting a web hosting affiliate program, you’re going to find it very easy to find prospective buyers.

What should you look for in an affiliate program?

A generous payout is important, but don’t get too caught up on percentages… web hosting isn’t all that expensive so even if you’re paid 90% for a signup, a one-time payment of 90% of the first month’s fees isn’t going to compensate you particularly well for your effort.

You want to go with a program that pays you residuals, so the effect of your effort on your income is cumulative.  It’s far better to be paid 10% of every invoice for as long as the customers you refer stay with the provider you’re promoting.

You also want to be able to multiply your efforts by looking for a program that pays out on multiple tiers. For example, if you refer 10 customers who also join the affiliate program, then you want to be paid a percentage of their sales as well.

TheWebHostCompany.com, for example has an affiliate program that pays out 25% on hosting fees for every invoice your referred customers pay, for as long as they host with them. All affiliates in their program who are also customers on an annually billed plan are eligible to receive a residual 15% commission on tier 2, and 10% on tier 3.

This does two very important things.

First, it ensures that there is the potential for significant profit. Referring 10 people, who each refer 10 more, who in turn refer another 10 people each, would pay out $249.88/year on an annually billed plan on tier 1 + $1,499.25/year on tier 2 + $9,995.00/year on tier 3 for a total annual income of $11,744.13… and why stop at just 10 referrals on each level? Compare that to the earnings one would generate in a program that only paid out a one-time commission for signups at 90%, which would only work out to $899.55 for signing up 10 people. Participating in a multi-tier residual program makes a huge difference.

The second thing this structure does, is by making the much more profitable tier 2 and tier 3 commissions available only to customers it creates a very powerful incentive to actually become a customer. People won’t just sign up for the affiliate program or the service… they’ll sign up for both because the affiliate program is an integral part of the service, and vice versa. In short, that means a great conversion rate and more money in your pocket.

You probably have a website already, or are planning to set one up soon. You probably know others who are in need of hosting services, so use a service that will reward you well for the business you refer and suggest to others that they do the same. 

You too can be a successful affiliate marketer.

Author Resource:
By Derek Price
For more information on the affiliate program mentioned in
this article, visit TheWebHostCompany.com