Bob's Home Business Blog

If you’ve decided to become an affiliate marketer to create a home based business online your next step is to find some credible and well respected affiliate programs to join to start generating your income. Here are 8 suggestions for finding affiliate programs you’ll be proud to belong to and you’ll be excited to promote:

1. Have you ever heard the saying: “You’re sometimes judged by the company you keep?” Well, the same can be said for affiliate programs. If the company you’re investigating hangs out with or are associated with some of the higher profile names on the Internet marketing scene you can rest assured the program you’re thinking about joining is one of the most reputable online. If the program is linked to some of the experts in their particular field you can feel comfortable becoming a part of the organization.

2. Search out some of the most popular forums online related to affiliate marketing and join in the discussion to discover which programs, in your niche, are the most popular and most highly regarded among its members. This is a good way to get sound and reliable advice from experienced Internet marketers on the web.

3. Be careful to stay away from programs that don’t reward their members significantly for their efforts. Some of these companies pay commission of 60% or more for each sale and also include residual rewards. So be selective when it comes to deciding on a program based on how they’ll pay you and how much they pay.

4. Most of the top rated affiliate programs provide its members with all of the marketing tools and resources necessary to start promoting their products immediately. Before you decide to join any program make sure they have the necessary support and marketing resources in place to help their members make sales and profits almost immediately.

5. Ask current and former members of any affiliate program you’re considering joining what they liked about the service and what they didn’t like about the company. Who better to give you the inside scoop than someone who has been there and has promoted the company’s products? You can then make an informed decision based on what you believe to be true and what you believe to be hearsay.

6. Find programs that don’t have a huge turn over of members from one promotion to another. Companies who make an effort to retain their subscribers usually do so by rewarding them for their efforts and by trying to correct any problems they may be having with their membership or with their marketing strategy.

7. Seek out programs that have a tracking system in place so you can check out your sales and profits in real time as they happen. Also make sure they pay their members on time and that they always receive the amount they’re due for that particular time period.

8. Finally, use your favorite search engine to search for any complaints or compliments online about the affiliate program you’re researching. If you find any red flags such as web pages constructed solely to complain about a particular program be sure to investigate these allegations carefully before joining.

Always do your research and keep the points we discussed in mind when you’re looking for an affiliate program you can build your online home business around and you won’t be disappointed with your final selection.

Bob Withers

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There are many home business opportunities available online today and in most cases, for a minimal investment, you can get started down the road to success by Internet marketing. One of the most popular forms of Internet marketing is affiliate marketing and perhaps one of the easiest ways for someone new to the world of e-business to begin to make a living online is by using the affiliate model.

The major difference between the two online selling techniques is that Internet marketing involves any undertaking whereby you earn money online while affiliate marketing is a type of Internet marketing and falls under this umbrella. To make an income from affiliate marketing you must find a program or an Internet marketer who hires affiliates to promote their products for a commission on each sale. New business people on the Internet, or newbies, begin their online careers with this model because of the ease with which you can get started.

Another advantage of beginning your home based business career with this type of advertising is the variety of ways you can make money as an affiliate marketer. Here are four different techniques you can choose from to begin making money online almost immediately:

1. The first tactic involves selling affiliate merchant’s products. Information products have been and continue to be one of the most in demand types of merchandise on the web today and clickbank is the largest provider of these types of goods. By creating an account with clickbank you can determine which product is converting or selling best and begin promoting it from their website.

Most of these programs even supply you with the marketing tools necessary to advertise their merchandise and in some cases you will be rewarded with anywhere from 50% and in some cases up to 100% of the purchase price as your commission for each sale. Amazon offers another tremendous affiliate opportunity however they mostly deal with physical merchandise as opposed to clickbank’s digital offerings but they still provide excellent rates of remuneration for your efforts.

2. Another business model you may be interested in is the cost per action affiliate program whereby the company pays you for a specific action performed by your customer such as completing a form or an application requesting more information about their company and their merchandise. This technique proves to be an easier way to create an income stream because you don’t have to sell your potential clients a product or request money from them.

3. Two-tier affiliate programs are also proving to be very popular home business opportunities online. This program rewards you when you recruit other affiliates to sell a company’s products after your recruits make a sale. By using this strategy you not only get rewarded for your sales but also for the efforts of your new subscribers’ thereby creating two income streams for your Internet venture.

4. Pay per click affiliate programs offers another method for you to generate revenue from someone else’s product. This method involves placing banner ads or advertisements on your website and whenever one of your visitor’s clicks on one of your ads you’re rewarded by being paid for every click. Google’s adsense program is an excellent example of this technique and it’s very easy to implement on your website.

So as you can see affiliate marketing offers something for everyone especially the new entrepreneur online who is looking for a fast way to generate an income from home whether it’s on a part-time basis or as a way to replace their full-time job.

Bob Withers

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When you think about digital products to promote online you naturally think of Clickbank, however, when you think about promoting physical goods on the Internet as an affiliate marketer Amazon should be the first place that comes to mind. People who are thinking about starting a home based business online usually follow everyone’s lead, experienced Internet marketers included, and begin by advertising digital merchandise from Clickbank as an affiliate marketer.

This is fine as long as you don’t mind massive competition from people who have been working on the web a lot longer than you have and who know the tricks of the trade which allows them to gain the inside track and make a very lucrative income based on their affiliate marketing experience. It will take you longer, as a Clickbank affiliate, to begin making the money you need to give up your day job because your learning curve is a lot longer and you will have to put in the time necessary to gain the experience to be able to compete with the super affiliates who are making a killing every day online.

However, if you want to start making money now, as most people do, you should consider promoting Amazon’s physical products as an affiliate as opposed to Clickbank’s digital merchandise for a number of reasons:

1. First of all, hundreds of people are joining Clickbank as affiliates each and every day so the competition among fellow marketers is much more intense for Clickbank merchandise as opposed to affiliates marketing Amazon’s physical goods. Less competition, of course, means a much smoother path to closing a sale and depending on your level of effort and your marketing experience it should mean more sales and profits in a shorter time period than when competing for a Clickbank sale.

2. There are literally tens of thousands of products on Amazon which means no matter what hungry niche you uncover you shouldn’t have any problem finding the product you want to satisfy your potential customer’s needs on their website. If you’re looking for something different to promote then their wide ranging selection should provide just the right good you need to advertise to your new market.

3. Because of the lack of competition among Amazon affiliates you will find that the market is virtually unsaturated. In other words, marketers aren’t stepping over one another trying to reach their chosen niche before someone else gets there with their product.

4. Physical goods seem to be a much easier sale to close than selling digital merchandise. People aren’t as suspicious of material products as is the case with digital goods. Because your potential buyers can actually see what they’re getting they seem to be much more comfortable ordering these products online than purchasing the unknown digital variety of product. This of course makes your pre-selling process much shorter thus saving time and allowing you to move on to the next prospect.

5. The beauty of promoting Amazon merchandise is all you have to do is drive traffic to their website via your affiliate link and they take care of the rest including paying your commission. Sometimes a potential customer will just browse through their inventory of products and purchase something totally unrelated to their original intended search thus making additional sales for you without any additional effort on your behalf.

Promoting Amazon products is virtually unchartered territory when it comes to affiliate marketing which translates into virtually no competition in most niches making this home business opportunity a no-brainer for people just beginning their affiliate marketing career on the web.            

Bob Withers

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The mobile communication industry and mobile telephones or cell phones in particular, is booming right now and is providing an excellent home based business opportunity for anyone to get in on the ground floor of what will be a huge money maker for many years to come. There are 270 million cell phone users in the United States alone and over 5.2 billion owners’ world wide. These statistics alone demonstrate the huge market potential for advertising and sales opportunities through these mobile devices.

Mobile phone users come from all ages and walks of life and this mode of communication is taking over from the more traditional landline home phone which people are replacing with the more convenient and portable cell phone. By getting in on the ground floor of this communication revolution you can set yourself up for a tremendous home income opportunity for years to come.

There are many affiliate programs available from cell phone companies offering the potential for you to make hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars per month in residual income. There are many advantages for the opportunity seeker to setting up a home based business built around the cell phone industry including these 6 benefits:

First of all, many of these affiliate opportunities offer perks to anyone who becomes a member and promotes their products and services for a percentage of each sale. For example, these programs often provide members with no roaming charges, no hidden charges, free cell phone service with some programs, no long distance charges and the ability to keep your own cell phone number or bring it with you from another plan, the advantage of keeping your own cell phone, no credit checks, no contracts and no early termination fees.

Secondly, each affiliate opportunity provides each member with the chance to create a very lucrative full-time income from the comfort of their own home. The financial reward can be as high as tens of thousands of dollars per month depending, of course, on each individual’s effort and time spent advertising their business. Some companies offer monthly recurring commissions as high as 10% of the total monthly bill for each customer you’ve signed up.

Thirdly, the market nationally and globally is huge and continuing to grow as we speak. Every niche or target can be accessed through their mobile device because people take them where ever they go. Your audience includes all ages and income brackets because of the affordability and the range of plans available to every consumer world wide.

Fourth, most of these affiliate programs offer extensive training and support through weekly teleconference calls and or webinars. They also provide each participant, in most cases, with their own website to promote online so you can approach cell phone users directly from the Internet.  

Fifth, there is very little start-up cost for affiliates who join one of these programs, and in most cases the perks provided far outweigh any costs involved for the new member.  The only out-of-pocket expenses would involve advertising your home business on the web and marketing through more traditional offline techniques.

Finally, many of the companies offering affiliate programs who provide free websites to their members also make available, free of charge, many of the Internet marketing tools required to promote your business online. There are numerous free advertising sources and tactics available on the web for the owner to use which are also very effective at driving targeted traffic to your website.

The mobile phone or cell phone has evolved from the craze stage to the necessity of life phase as it has become a must for people who want to stay connected and not miss the next important call or text message. This technology helps keep them in touch with what’s happening in their lives and in the lives of their friends and loved ones. By getting in on the ground floor of this global home business opportunity you have the potential to set yourself up for life as an entrepreneur on the cutting edge of the technology revolution.        

Bob Withers

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If you’re thinking about starting a home based business online and you have no experience what so ever as an Internet marketer then you may want to consider promoting clickbank’s affiliate digital products. Affiliate marketing is one of the easiest and fastest ways to make money on the web and if you start out by advertising clickbank’s merchandise this will make your task that much easier.

Clickbank is one of the most trusted and recognized affiliate marketing companies in the world. Since their debut in 1998, Clickbank has become the online retail outlet for digital products online with over 10,000 vendors and an affiliate network boasting over 100,000 active members.

Starting your online career by promoting clickbank merchandise will help you learn how affiliate and Internet marketing works and help prepare you for the day when you’re ready to start creating and advertising your own digital merchandise. You will also profit from your experience financially as well as by reaping many other benefits including the following:

1. Clickbank has a history of paying affiliates on time and at regular intervals. These payments can also be rather lucrative for their members because commission payments per sale can range anywhere from $20.00 to $100.00.

2. Clickbank offers the latest in high quality digital merchandise which provides a huge market of hungry buyers waiting for your offer. As a result, with an effective affiliate marketing campaign, you can reap the rewards of this huge online market waiting for these products.

3. You don’t need your own website to promote clickbank products. They have this covered for you as well. All you need to do is direct your potential customers to click bank’s website and if they purchase you will be reimbursed through your affiliate ID.

4. Because most of their products are digital in nature this makes delivery to your customers immediate after purchase through download from their server. This is a very attractive selling point for you as a marketer because your customers don’t have to wait for delivery and can begin enjoying their purchase immediately.

5. As a home business owner online you have no inventory to worry about because the merchandise is digital in nature and stored on clickbank’s server. Also because the products aren’t yours you have no worries about customer service or follow up. Your only job is to promote your affiliate products online and collect your pay check.

Promoting clickbank’s affiliate merchandise is one of the most economical and one of the fastest ways to make money on the web for any new home based business owner online.    

Bob Withers

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You’ve joined an affiliate program and affiliate marketing will be the theme for your home based online business. During your research you’ve spoken to many experienced webmasters online and the consensus of opinion among all of them is to never openly use the URL that an affiliate program provides to link directly to your affiliate website.

Instead you should bypass this address and connect to a page on your website which then links to your program site. There are 5 very important reasons for this and here they are:

1. If your visitor goes directly to the affiliate site and it turns out they aren’t interested in that particular product then you may have lost them forever because they left your home page to check out the affiliate page. On the other hand if they stay on your home business site they will be able to check out the links you have to your other merchandise which could lead to a sale. 

2. If your affiliate identification number is visible in the affiliate URL there is always the possibility an unscrupulous visitor will delete your code, join the affiliate program, and replace the ID with their own and take credit for the sale and claim your commission. Or, they may just remove the code so you don’t get credit for the transaction and go directly to the affiliate site thereby cutting you out of the deal.

3. If you bypass the affiliate website and go to your own page via the affiliate link you will get a second opinion on your advertisement because your own site statistics will give you an indication of the response to your ad as well as the numbers provided for you by your affiliate website. This is a great way to gauge your traffic and decide whether or not any changes should be made with regard to your advertising campaign.

4. If for some reason the affiliate program shuts down or goes out of business you can let your customers know while they are still on your home business site and redirect them from there. This way your potential customers aren’t visiting a non-existent or blank page and you can still try to entice them with another offer.

5. And finally, by redirecting your visitors to another page on your home business site they can read your own personally constructed advertisement which outlines the benefits of the product, how it will help make your visitors lives a little easier and, while there, they can also learn about you which helps build trust and helps establish relationships with your guests. People are more likely to do business with someone they feel they know and trust rather than with a perfect stranger.

These 5 benefits should convince you that not linking directly to your affiliate website, and instead, redirecting people to a page within your home business site will increase your odds of closing the deal and of getting credit for your commissions which is why you’re in business online in the first place.

Bob Withers

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Once you’ve decided to get into affiliate marketing as the theme of your home based business you then have to choose which type of affiliate website you want to establish. You have 5 different topics you can choose from beginning with recreational websites.

1. You create a recreational site when you decide to concentrate on a particular personal pastime such as a hobby or other recreational activity as the subject of your affiliate home page. However, before you establish this website, you must make sure there’s a large enough market available who is interested in your genre in order to make it a profitable venture.

If someone who is interested and participates in your activity finds your affiliate site they are likely to keep coming back because they can relate to your topic. They will also want to keep up with any changes which may occur in this area and also because of a sense of belonging they will feel as they establish relationships with some of your other visitors they will feel the need to return time and time again. For this reason it’s a good idea to establish a forum or chat room on your site to encourage socializing among other members.

2. The second type of affiliate website you may select to create is an organizational page. This kind of web page often represents a certain business or a professional institution. These organizational sites are often used as a way for executive management to communicate with their members and to announce their organization’s mission and goals.

These sites are more of a public service and are information driven. They also provide a way for their members to contact them directly. Setting up your organizational site may give you a better point of view of your enterprise and allow you to determine how to better serve your members.

3. Blogs are another alternative for your home business. When you’re creating your affiliate marketing blog your theme must be related in some way to the products you’re selling. However, your blog must provide some type of service to your visitors whether it’s from a purely entertainment point of view or it provides information on your related topic or theme.

The most important point with regard to running a blog is consistency. The search engines love consistent updates and your visitors or members depend on that as well. People aren’t going to frequent your web page on a regular basis if the content isn’t updated on a timely basis. You should try to make it a point to change or add to your information at the same time every week or every day. This will keep you in touch with the major search engines and with your potential customers as well.

Of course the main objective of your affiliate home business is to make money and for this reason you will advertise your products from strategic locations around your site hoping your avid readers will click through to your partner’s website.

4. Information dedicated websites are the most in demand pages on the Internet today because anyone and everyone are looking, and willing to pay, for the information they need. The information you provide however should solve your visitor’s problem or make their lives easier in some way. If you don’t have the time to compile the information on your chosen topic for your members and visitors then you can construct a list of links to other information based sites related to your topic for your visitor’s to click through.

The important point to remember is the information you provide your members must be related to the affiliate products you’re advertising on your website. If you provide quality content or access to this superior information your visitors will come back time and time again and, as we know, the more often they visit your home business the more likely they will become paying customers. 

5. E-commerce websites are web pages that are online stores. If you already have one in place then this would be an excellent way to promote your affiliate products because you already have your steady stream of targeted traffic visiting your site if your online store products complement your affiliate merchandise. One important point to remember is there should be no duplication of products; this could complicate your affiliate relationship and jeopardize your home business.

These are some of the affiliate web pages you can choose from to help jump start your affiliate marketing home business career, but be sure to select one you think you’ll enjoy and also has the market demand you need to insure your success online.

Bob Withers

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You’ve decided to create your own home based business online and your focus will be on affiliate marketing as a way to create an eventual full time income from home. However, you’re having a problem trying to choose which of the three affiliate models would be best for your enterprise. The three available programs are: pay per sale, pay per click and pay per lead. Pay per sale, which is probably the most popular of the three is, as the name suggests, where the affiliate is paid a commission on each sale generated for the company.

With the pay per sale model the affiliate is only paid when they make money for the company and it’s the most popular because with this program the company is guaranteed a profit. With the pay per click model the member gets paid each time one of their website visitors clicks through from their home business site to the company’s website. The company assumes a certain degree of risk because they’re paying when there’s no guarantee the click through will result in a sale.

Also with the pay per click model it’s very easy, at times, for unscrupulous people to fraudulently represent themselves by using false email addresses and bogus contact information. Some even go so far as to use software which imitates an actual visitor and clicks through to the company’s website without anyone actually having visited.

With the pay per lead plan the member is rewarded for each and every lead they refer to the company. The visitor may have to perform some act such as filling out a survey or an information form or an application in order for the affiliate to be reimbursed.

This model also leaves itself open to devious individuals who may attempt to defraud the company through misrepresentation and pay per lead pays commission without any guarantee of a sale from the referral. There are several things anyone considering joining an affiliate program should investigate before signing up with perhaps the most important consideration being commission rates.

Most respectable programs pay commission rates of 60% and higher with some even rewarding the member with 100% of the sale. The reason the company is able to pay out 100% is they then up sell their client to more expensive high end products once they have them onboard. Some companies also pay a lifetime rate for each customer you refer while others only pay a commission on their first purchase; so this would be something else to look into.

You also need to find out when the sponsor pays their members? Do they reimburse on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis and also discover if they’re always on time with their checks. Also beware of affiliate programs who try to charge you a fee to join. As an affiliate you’re the one who should be paid, you shouldn’t have to pay the company for the pleasure of selling their products. Stay away from such programs.

Discover whether or not the company supplies you with the necessary marketing materials you will need such as banner ads, sales letters and email. Most of the top notch plans do provide this material for your affiliate marketing campaign. You should also investigate the company itself to find out about its track record relating
to sales and customer service. You wouldn’t want to affiliate your home business with an operation which has a poor reputation on the Internet. You also need to know if they handle customer service issues themselves or if they expect you to handle it.

These are some of the issues you need to research and consider before joining any affiliate program and when you do then you can decide which program model would provide the greatest opportunity for success for both you and your online home based business. 

Bob Withers

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You’ve decided to start a home based business online and now you’re trying to decide which type of affiliate marketing program to join. There are three different types of affiliate marketing plans available on the web today: pay per click, pay per lead and pay per sale.

Pay per click programs pay off each time a potential customer clicks on an ad an affiliate has posted on their website. Pay per lead plans compensate members each time an affiliate website visitor performs a particular task such as filling out a registration form or by providing their name and email address.

The affiliate program we’ll be examining in this editorial is the most common of the three, the pay per sale plan. According to webopedia this is “a type of affiliate marketing program where the advertiser pays the affiliate based on conversion of sales. If a customer follows an affiliate link to the advertiser’s site and makes a purchase in accordance with the affiliate agreement, the affiliate is paid. Affiliates can earn a higher commission through pay-per-sale affiliate programs; however these types of programs usually have the lowest conversion rate.”

If after looking at each of these programs you decide to base your home business on a pay per sale affiliate plan here are some of the characteristics you should look for in each merchant’s pay per sale program before you decide to join.

1. Can you join the pay per sale program for free? Some of these affiliate plans require you to buy the product or service before becoming a member. Try to find a way you can join free of charge or find a plan that allows you to sign up at no cost.

2. What payment method does the program offer? Do they offer a variety of reimbursement plans such as paypal, clickbank and personal check or is there just one payment method? Also how often are you paid? Are you compensated on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis?

3. Make sure the program’s product or service is related to the overall theme of your website. For example if your premise is Internet marketing, you wouldn’t want to join a program whose product is jewelry. You need to find merchandise that reflects your Internet marketing topic such as a software package which drives targeted traffic to your website.

4. Be sure to contact other members of the affiliate program to see how things are going? Have they had any problems with the administrators of the plan? For example, are payments always for the correct amount and always on time? Have there been any disputes over who gets credit for a sale? These questions and any others that come to mind should be answered before signing on the dotted line.

5. A very important aspect of any affiliate program or online business for that matter is the possibility of repeat sales and up selling your current customers. Insure that the pay per sale plan offers backend products so the opportunity exists for these types of follow ups.

6. Many of the most successful and well established affiliate programs provide their members with the marketing materials necessary to attract new customers. Most merchants give their members access to banner ads, text advertisements, sales letters, links and so on. Find out before you join if these materials are provided.

7. Finally and perhaps most importantly what is their commission rate on sales and do they provide a full proof method for tracking your sales? Most of the higher rated programs offer payment rates of 50% and up on each sale. As far as tracking sales is concerned cookie tracking is the most popular method of tracking affiliate sales.

Cookies are small text files that are written to a user’s browser whenever an affiliate’s link is clicked. The referral gets stored in the cookie and is recognized on the order page and the affiliate is credited for the sale. Using this method affiliates are reimbursed for the immediate purchase as well as the purchase made later but within a specific time period. Direct url tracking may be the riskiest method for tracking affiliate sales because the member’s identification number is always visible in the website address thus leaving it open for fraud.

These are seven very important points to consider as an online home based business owner before registering for any pay per sale affiliate program, and as you can see research is essential before committing to any merchant’s plan.
 

Bob Withers

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As a home business owner online who’s decided to take the affiliate program route to making a living there’s one important lesson you should learn early. That lesson is you should never openly use your affiliate url when promoting your products. Instead you should create a link to your blog or your home business website which leads to the affiliate sales page.

There are several reasons why you shouldn’t link directly to the affiliate program with the most important motivation being with the original url visible there always exists the possibility that someone could remove the affiliate identification suffix and add their own to receive credit for the sale and therefore collect your commission. Even if they didn’t add their own affiliate ID they could simply remove yours so you don’t receive recognition for the transaction.

Secondly, by using a link page whether it’s your blog or home business website you can add further information about the product. For example you can place satisfied customer testimonials on the page, you can add a summary of the benefits offered by the item including any problems it can solve for your potential customers, or perhaps include a special limited time discount or free offer to entice your visitor to purchase immediately.

Third, you can place other links to some of your other offers on this page just in case your guest isn’t interested in the primary product being offered. This way you may turn what would be a refusal into a completed transaction and a new paying customer.

Also by directing people to your blog or home business site first you can try to capture their information by adding a squeeze page offering a freebie in return for their contact information. If they were directed to the affiliate page first you would never be able to follow up with them because you would never know who they are unless they buy. Even when they make a purchase you don’t always find out who they are because the affiliate program doesn’t always release this information.

Finally, you can further increase your search engine rankings by submitting your blog or home business site to the major search engines online. This will also increase traffic and help increase the potential for more sales.

As you can see there are many compelling arguments for not linking directly to an affiliate program’s website and many reasons why you should first link to your blog or home business website. The final decision is yours to make. 

Bob Withers