How To Apply Affiliate Marketing To Expand An Online Business

November 6, 2009

Affiliate marketing can be a very attractive part of your online business. When all is said and done, you don’t have to think about hiring extra staff, increasing your investments in advertising or becoming involved with complex marketing systems. If you attract some outside individuals or organisations to promote and sell your products and services for you, you simply need to allocate a portion of the revenues to pay them.

It’s absolutely essential to spend advertising money prudently, especially during an economic downturn. In most situations, it’s tough to analyse the actual effects of a marketing investment and it’s difficult to justify too, therefore when it comes to marketing, you should only invest after careful consideration.

By acquiring an array of affiliates, you can leverage a great deal of power. Performance-based marketing of this type is highly attractive, as you only pay when a sale is made. The affiliate assumes the responsibility of paying for advertising and marketing to initiate the interest, and this “cost per action” approach is becoming increasingly relevant today.

As a general rule, organisations which have some kind of intangible products or services to offer should actively look for affiliate networks. These networks have already attracted interested affiliates who are looking for product or service providers to partner up with. The affiliate network company will likely need some persuading that your organisation is a good fit, and this may require some negotiation, but it is worth the setup process as you will effectively have an army of external sales consultants, ready to be paid based entirely on their performance.

Inside this market there are an incredible number of top notch affiliate networks. A small percentage only deal with specific kinds of business, and you’ll need to find out what you can about them before you initiate contact. It’s in the network’s interest to make sure that everyone wins, as their income is based on a cut of the commissions paid.

Remember that the affiliate assumes the risk of marketing to the consumer through their chosen channels, and you should make sure that you adequately incentivise them. Have realistic commissions in mind, be aware of who is signing up for your program and ensure that they always follow the rules and parameters you have established at the beginning. Just be aware that the affiliates represent your organisation in many respects, so be sure that they do not act or promote in a counter-productive fashion.

Try and attract affiliates with a good reach, through comprehensive e-mail lists, well-recognised blogs or highly trafficked websites. Create a good relationship with these key sellers and your business could grow in leaps and bounds.

If you find some affiliates to be particularly productive, set aside something additional to use to further incentivise them. Your goal must always be to fertilise any relationships that you start to build with key affiliates, to build an even more fruitful arrangement.

During your website development, don’t forget to include graphics advertising your affiliate program and links to the sign-up page hosted by your affiliate network. Remember that you have to keep an eye on your affiliate program once it’s up and running, and if you want to be spending your time relaxing on a tropical island somewhere, this would be an ideal task for your virtual assistant.

Michelle Dale is The Managing Director of Virtual Miss Friday, a state-of-the-art Executive Virtual Assistant Service which assists businesses and individuals with every aspect of their enterprising requirements. Do you want to explore these inspiring online business building success strategies? Contact VMF Now!

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Posted by Virtual Miss Friday | Filed Under **Internet**, **Marketing**, **VMF**, **eBusiness**, Advertising, Development, Promotion