When a company has a product or a service that they wish to sell they will often enlist ‘affiliates’ to do the job of finding customers for them.

You may know an affiliate by another name, for example: agent, reseller, associate, communicator.

Once the affiliate has managed to get the customer to make an order his job ends. The whole process of handling the order, the collection of payment, the shipping of goods, is done by the company (or distributor).

Who benefits?

This is a tremendous arrangement for both sides.

The distributor simply waits for orders to arrive and has no involvement in the marketing phase. The affiliate simply gets a customer, for example, to visit a web site and takes no further part.

Commission is paid to the affiliate on the value of orders made.

It is the power of the Internet with the possibility of cheap or free advertising for a vast audience which makes reselling such an outstanding business opportunity.

And if you have your own website, where you have the luxury of posting your own ads for free, then you have an effortless income-producing system.

Two things which make reselling even more exciting

If the product can earn you residual income, for example a monthly commission all the while that the customer continues to renew it. If you can recruit your own affiliates and collect commission either for each affiliate or for the products that they sell.

What should you look out for?

Here are some rules for checking out affiliate opportunities:

#1 The company

First, there would be no point in generating massive commission on ‘paper’ only to find that the company are unreliable, don’t pay up on time, or eventually fold.

Test out the company first.

Make an inquiry as if you were a potential customer. Study the quality of their reply and of their literature or website.

How quickly do they respond? If their customer service is poor this does not give much hope for the way they will handle their affiliates.

Are they an ethical company, what guarantees do they provide for refunds ?

#2 The product

Is the product an item which is in good demand?

What is the rate of commission?

These two factors will determine your potential earnings.

As a guide commission should range from 25 to 50%.

#3 Assistance with promotion

Does the company provide advertising material for their affiliates?

In particular do they provide a personalised web site?

#4 The cost

What is the cost of becoming an affiliate ?

This can vary from completely free paying an initial one off payment paying a monthly subscription.

You don’t have to be deterred by affiliate opportunities where payment is involved. These may offer greater benefits such as advanced promotion techniques and commission which will quickly outweigh the payments.

For example $30 per month may seem a high figure but if you regard it as one dollar a day to have the company’s products displayed 24 hours a day to the whole world on your own personalised web site it could be viewed as the bargain of the century.

web sites: and the different rules and methods used for each one such as frequency of posting and size of ads.

How to post information to a mailing list or newsgroup for free but using a signature file to promote your products.

How to code your adverts so that you can identify where the response originates.

How to organise your mail files to handle responses.

How to simplify your own systems so that you have standard replies to common questions.

How to set up autoresponders if necessary to take away the chore of responding manually.

How to deal with the unexpected (for example, even though you may clearly spell out in your ad that a reply should be made to an autoresponder many people will still reply directly to you).

By taking on an affiliate operation you have an ideal opportunity to practise these methods. This will provide the experience for whatever online venture you plan as well as an excellent source of additional income.

Choosing an Affiliate Program

What should you consider when choosing an affiliate program? You need to think about two key things: what business are you in and what can the affiliate program provide to your customers.

No matter what business you are in, the largest investment you make will be customer acquisition. If you have your own product, and have acquired a base of satisfied customers, then single product affiliate programs could work very well for you.

However, if your business is acquiring customers for other businesses, that is, purely affiliate programs, then a better choice for you could be affiliate programs with multiple products or services. This will help you to capitalise on your investment in customer acquisition.

The key to choosing successfully is to ensure that the affiliate program offers products that meet the needs of your potential customers. Coupled with this is the need for the products to be high quality and for the supplier to provide excellent customer service. Remember, your credibility is on the line every time you refer someone to buy through your affiliate relationship.

Affiliates are provided with regular newsletters outlining what is working for successful affiliates and providing updates and details on new products.

Is the commission reasonable? Commission rates on commodity products such as books and CDs are low. This is because there is very little margin in the products due to competition. Look for products that have a commission rate of 15% or more that are not commodities – that way you will be better able to recoup your customer acquisition investment.

Are statistics provided? The higher the level of statistics provided, the better off you are. This will enable you to measure the success of your marketing efforts and to determine the best places to invest your marketing dollars. Insufficient statistics is a sign that the affiliate program is not sufficiently interested in your success.

Are new products being developed regularly? To get the full value from lifetime commissions, new products need to be introduced on a regular basis. Without this, lifetime commissions can be worthless. Also, look for consistent high quality in new products introduced.

How frequently are commissions paid? The more frequently commissions are paid, the better off you are. Good quality affiliate programs will pay you monthly. In some situations, commissions are not paid until a certain level is reached. If the program you are considering has this requirement, check how many sales need to be made before the level is reached.

Have you read the affiliate agreement? This is a key area that you should look at. Some affiliate agreements are totally in favour of the supplier. Others are more balanced. Some agreements restrict your ability to promote similar products from other suppliers. Most agreements have anti-spam provisions. Look for agreements that are fair and that do not stack everything against you as the affiliate.

While there are other factors that can be considered when choosing an affiliate program, following the suggestions above will help you to make superior business choices that will lead to long-term success