Internet Marketing Tycoon

**GonnaLuvIt** · 12-16-2005, 07:27 AM

Hello Guys,
First off, I'm a complete webmaster noob! I am considering joining Affiliate Programs as an advertiser/merchant. My basic question is do you guys think these would work for me?

I believe that I have great items that easily sell through my website, GonnaLuvIt.com. This website started off, by me selling on ebay for the past 4 years. I sell between 1000-1800 items a month, currently from auctions and repeat customers to my website.

I am now looking into finding others to sell my items for me (affiliates). Are these high cost of joining companies like cj.com or clixgalore.com really worth it? Once joined, how hard is it to be picked up by others to sell my stuff? My main fear is that I spend $1,000's to join these affiliate programs and nobody opt's to try to sell my stuff.

Also, are there programs that don't cost so much to set up, but still have plenty of willing publishers?

Thank you guys for any advice you can give!

**Cagedweb** · 12-16-2005, 08:52 AM

you tried getting people to join as an affiliate through ebay, charge them $10 to become an affiliate

**csmith** · 12-16-2005, 01:49 PM

Check my sig file for paydotcom with it's built-in affiliate program with paypal/stormpay. There's a free level and a paid level...

Charles

**GonnaLuvIt** · 12-16-2005, 04:23 PM

I'm really trying to break away from being so dependant on eBay. Their fees are out of hand. I call them FeeBay.

Any other info as to what I was asking about?
Thanks.

**Cagedweb** · 12-16-2005, 04:41 PM

set up an offer on your website, where by they get a website populated with your items for them to sell, they pay a price for the site and maybe a monthly fee for you on top

**etech-martin** · 12-17-2005, 09:29 AM

I think you can go with commission junction. It is reliable and reputed affiliate program. I think you should also visit linkshare.com. It is also preety nice affiliate program.

**GonnaLuvIt** · 12-18-2005, 05:41 AM

Well, I was turned down for CJ's services. They told me they are looking for companies who's sales are $250,000+ monthly. Wish they mentioned that before I bothered.

Do you guys know of great affiliate programs that might be a little easier to join, and without the huge fees to set-up?

**someguy** · 12-18-2005, 08:37 AM

One of the sites that I look after is a Jewellery site that runs an affiliate program (different Geo market to yours - don't worry, we're not competitors). If you have specific questions, I'd be happy to answer by PM.

Couple of general pointers though...

1. Go with a network. Many affiliates will only promote programs on a network as it means that they get paid more frequently.

2. Don't expect the network to do any work! They'll charge you the earth and deliver little - so you'll still be doing all the footwork yourself (if you start earning them HUGE money this will no doubt change)

3. Make sure that your network offers product feeds - and don't charge their affiliates to use them! This rules out CJ BTW. Many of the top affiliates use product feeds to generate their site data and without one you will be missing out on the leads that they can provide.

4. Finally, and most importantly, Have your site running at 100% before starting the program. If you sales are low, your conversions poor or your reversals high you risk losing affiliates for life.

I really wouldn't agree with the $10 to join our scheme thing posted above. It might work for some, but most serious affiliates (those that will send you thousands in sales each month) will just turn off when they see this.

**GonnaLuvIt** · 12-20-2005, 07:25 AM

Thanks for the offer to help out, SomeGuy. I will PM you with some other questions.

**GonnaLuvIt** · 12-20-2005, 07:40 AM

Well, I guess I am too new to PM you right now, so if you don't mind, I will ask here.

Since you have experience with using affiliates to sell jewelry, can you tell me what kind of experiences you had? Did a lot of publishers offer to sell your items? Were they successful? What % of business do the affiliates represent? Can you recommend any low or no cost set-up programs?

Sorry if these questions are too nosey. It's just that I am brand new to the affiliates world and how they work. My fear is that I will spend all this time and possible set-up money and get no results.

On a side note, I don't currently have any ad banners designed. What size ads should I look to get developed first (or which are the populars ones for the publishers to use)? Also, do you know of a good company to design these?

Thank you for any help you can provide!

**someguy** · 12-20-2005, 09:51 AM

No problem, I'll try to answer what I can:

can you tell me what kind of experiences you had?
Pretty good over all. It's slow, hard work, but the results are great if you are prepared to graft. Affiliate marketing seems to appeal to start ups, but my experience is that it is better left for when a company is more established.

Did a lot of publishers offer to sell your items
Some. Most of the best ones did not come to us though, we approached them. There is a lot of competition between programs. You will be competing not just against your direct competition, but against all programs that are trying to attract the attention of affiliates, so don't wait for them to come to you.

Were they successful?
Yes - and getting more successful month on month.

Can you recommend any low or no cost set-up programs?
I am not in the US, so my experience of US networks is very limited. However AffiliateFuture.com now operate from the US and they do a good job elsewhere so may be worth a look. I would strongly recommend against basing your decision too heavily on price. Choosing the wrong network/tracking solution could scupper your program from the outset and cost you hundreds of thousands in lost sales in the long run - hardly worth saving a few hundred bucks on.

My fear is that I will spend all this time and possible set-up money and get no results.

It's a good fear to have. An awful lot of programs are underinvested and understaffed and go this way. Personally I would say that anyone new to affiliate marketing should not start as a merchant unless they can afford a dedicated affiliate manager. If you can't afford one work days off as an affiliate for 6 months - earn yourself a few grand and learn the business.

On a side note, I don't currently have any ad banners designed. What size ads should I look to get developed first
OK - you really need to get some affiliate experience. Few successful affiliates generate any significant part of their income from banners. Banners have poor CTR and poor conversion. Successful affiliates rely on pre-selling so you need to be giving them useful content, information and lots of product data.

Hope I am not sounding too negative - maybe some of that is useful.