How to start an affiliate program is what every business should plan.
If you have loyal, happy clients and you haven’t done this yet, then this is another profit leak you can easily plug.
Affiliates build your reputation.
It spread the word about live events such as conferences and webinars.
And can direct people to your packages and products, and make you more money.
All this while you’re busy making money directly with clients and customers.
Once you start an affiliate program, there is comparatively little work you need to do.
Your affiliates are busy selling your products and spreading your fame.
You have to interact with them via email, social networking, your membership site and blog, but much of these could be seen as “automated” too.
For example, if you write a post for your blog that shares a clever tip and send them busily taking action and sharing your post to please their own subscribers.
You invested perhaps a day, a morning, or even just ten minutes writing that tip or blog post that’s published.
It can be read by countless people, by new affiliates, time and time again.
It’s making money for you, as the saying goes, while you sleep, particularly if you start an affiliate program that includes a call-to-action at the end of the post.
The blog post is also something that keeps your affiliates feeling you are their perfect resource person for your field or niche.
You give those tips and secrets to share, via blog posts and privately, via email, that no one else gives.
Having these tips is how to start an affiliate program.
Done correctly, running an affiliate program management creates win-win situations and increases profits and visibility all round.
But you need to be aware, there are potential leaks there, too.
Here’s how to prevent leaks-by-omission:
- Provide your affiliate program management with training. Don’t assume everyone knows how to be a super-affiliate. This training can include resources or sections telling affiliates what to do and what to avoid. Or give them tips on how to increase their affiliate commissions.
- Provide your affiliates with resources. For example, professionally designed graphics and banners, or special deals they can offer their own subscribers exclusively.
- Provide your affiliates with incentives. Make it worth their while to promote you but more than that, make it enjoyable. Make it fun, depending on the type of affiliates you attract. Use your incentives to keep them both engaged and enthusiastic.
- Outsource content or resources you want to create for your affiliates if creating what they need doesn’t come easily to you or isn’t in your particular skill set.
- Outsource your affiliate program management. If you build this into your business model planning, you can hire a VA who does have affiliate management in her skill set, or even hire an Affiliate Manager, if you have high-level programs you want to promote.
- Automate affiliate management. You can choose to keep affiliate management simple, if you prefer, by automating it. You can do this through plugins on your website or in your membership site, or through scripts, you can install on your server, or by taking advantage of systems you already use that allow affiliate management.
Note that even if you automate your affiliate program management process, you should still create unique and valuable affiliate resources and incentives and provide a way they can contact you or your affiliate manager.
One last important point about getting other people to sell for you.
Even if you choose not to create affiliate program, at least ask people to share your articles, tips, news, and social posts.
If you are interested in using Affiliate Marketing for making more profits, we want to introduce you to the latest MyNAMS Profit Planner called “Plug Your Profit Leaks“.
It’s a complete program that delivers step-by-step implementation plans to help you start fixing profit leaks in your business.
This value-packed information will give you everything you need to identify and fix the profit leaks in your business fast.
What’s covered in this training?
- Identify Common Leaks and Boost Your Profits
- 3 Basic Skills for Getting More Sales
- 5 Ways to Increase Profits Now
And what do you get?
- Textbook
- Workbook
- Checklist
- Tools and Resources Guide
- Idea Generator
- Infographic with key points
This is a complete, concise implementation plan that gets to the key information and walks you through fixing the common profit leaks.
So, don’t miss this.
P.S.
If you want access to additional topics for improving your business, then check this out.