Part 1: Make your program and your affiliates a success!

Hi Neil. Can you tell us how your site, AffiliateToolKit, started?
Hi! AffiliateToolkit itself is a fairly new site designed to bring together my growing range of services and resources dedicated to helping anyone looking to create or manage an Affiliate Program.

The concept of Affiliate Marketing caught my attention in 1998. At the time I was involved with marketing and direct response in the offline world and I quickly identified its potential. I started as an affiliate, and, noticing a lack of resources helping merchants interested in starting their own program, I launched AffiliateMarketing.co.uk.

Soon after, I launched the Affiliate Announce service, a very simple but effective idea to save program managers time by submitting their new program to all the leading affiliate directories.

Are there sites where an affiliate program would not work?
If you haven't yet created a successful sales formula for your site then an affiliate program isn't going to start generating sales. Ensure your sales process and conversion rates are acceptable before looking to increase traffic with an affiliate program.

Say for example you're planning to offer a CPA (cost per action) deal on a freebie or giveaway banking on the profit from the back-end sale. Then of course you need even more meticulous planning to ensure your conversion rates are as expected before you start 'paying' for your free trial giveaway.

I would also suggest that before you start planning your program you take some time out to look for sites who may be appropriate partners for your program. Try to identify the key communities or sites that your potential customers visit regularly. Get a feel for exactly who and where your customers are and what they are doing online and then examine these sites closely to see if they might be likely to join a partner program with you.

Let's say you have created a successful sales formula, how is affiliate marketing important to a site's success?
Especially in the current climate, performance marketing is crucially important. The dot com hype has come to an end, companies now need to demonstrate they can generate revenue and profits. Affiliate Marketing provides a tool to do just that, enabling you to 'buy' paying customers at a profit.

What must you know at the very beginning of an affiliate program to ensure success?
The most important point in planning your program is to examine your offering from the affiliates point of view.

There are thousands of affiliate programs currently available, each one vying for the support and loyalty of affiliate sites. If an affiliate is unhappy with your program they will quite simply walk away. Affiliate Marketing is about performance. If your affiliates are successful, then so are you.

I believe your program's success should be measured by the success of your affiliates and by planning your program's strategy with this in mind you will set the foundation of success for your program.

Do you still believe in the economic benefits of e-commerce?
I still believe in the economic benefits of e-commerce, however, I think it could be a few years before companies are willing to look at e-commerce in a rational way (instead of swinging from fear of losing out to dot-coms to fear of running out of cash as we are now). When executives look at e-commerce as a way to enhance the value created between a firm and its stakeholders (e.g. customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders) then the benefits of e-commerce can be realized.

And why is establishing credibility so important and how do you do it?
You're entering into a business agreement; potential partners need to feel assured that you can deliver on your offer and most importantly will pay their commissions.

You don't have to be a multi-million IPO but you need to be credible. Don't make outrageous claims for earnings potential and make it easy for affiliates to contact you with you questions.

Spend some time paying attention to the detail of your program's information pages, provide help, detailed explanations, FAQ's etc. This all goes a long way to demonstrating that you're serious about your program.

What are some common questions you get in regard to affiliate marketing on a website?
One of the most common questions I receive from new program managers usually relates to recruiting affiliates. Of course to start with you need a great product and an attractive affiliate proposition, but with that alone you can't expect to sit back and wait for affiliate partners to come to you.

Considering that a high percentage of affiliates in any program are inactive, I try to take the view that an affiliate program is simply a tool to create performance-based partnerships. The software allows both parties to track the results and it's the program managers responsibility to publicize the offer. But most importantly, make one-to-one contact with key sites to develop profitable affiliate relationships.

What are the signs of a good affiliate program?
The common cause between the merchant and participating affiliates is increased sales and commissions. Allowing a merchant to tap into an established group of potential customers and affiliates to monetize their sites audience. Your affiliate program needs to work in partnership with your affiliates towards this goal. To attract and retain affiliate partners you will need to offer a generous and fair commission and ensure these payments are paid on time.

As a merchant your site needs to be an effective sales generator, if you're not yet converting visitors to sales, an affiliate program won't help. It will simply generate more visitors that look but don't buy.

A good affiliate program strikes that delicate balance between a merchant's and affiliate's needs: providing fair commissions, quality banners and link creatives to help the affiliate generate the click thru, and a site or landing page that does a great job of converting sales so everyone involved generates revenue.

Finally, but just as importantly, you need to be able to help and support your affiliates. Regular communication and education, sharing ideas as to what works to motivate and help your new found sales force.

What about people who think of affiliate programs as a "cash cow" or automatic sales generator?
I'm afraid those that consider their program as an automated sales generator will be in for disappointment once they launch their program!

A good program requires attention to detail. You can't just join one of the affiliate networks, throw up a quick link to your sign-up page and expect your program to look after itself.

Research has shown Affiliate Marketing to be one of the most effective online marketing methods but the results you achieve will be in direct proportion to the effort you put in.

Continued...