- Servicing Your Affiliates
- Categorize and Customize Your Support
- Books and Other Training Systems
Books and Other Training Systems
When setting up your affiliate support area, include links to affiliate programs that you've joined that feature books and training systems geared toward helping affiliates succeed. Remember, just because you're a merchant doesn't mean you can't be an affiliate. By offering these affiliate training materials, you'll be helping your affiliates succeed and also adding a new revenue stream to your company.
Here are three affiliate training programs that you as a company can join and offer to your affiliates while earning a commission at the same time. Declan Dunn sells a very good training system for affiliates called Winning the Affiliate Game. Two other books and programs that can assist your affiliates are Make Your Site Sell by Ken Evoy and Nothing But 'Net by Michael Campbell. Both can help your affiliates optimize their sites and help convert shoppers into buyers. Also visit http://www.affiliatemanager.net/reading.htm for a list of recommended reading for affiliate managers and affiliates.
Some other helpful programs for your affiliates are those that help them track each of the programs they have joined. Affiliate Manager is a free database program designed specifically for tracking affiliate information. Data stored includes company, category, payment schedule, payee information, contact information, and web site details. An affiliate can store the required HTML code needed for his or her affiliate programs, track payments, and keep notes. Another tracking program for affiliates is Affiliate Assistant. It offers you an opportunity to not only help your affiliates improve their efficiency, but also to make money by signing up as an affiliate. When they buy the program, you get a commission.
The newest entry in the arena of tracking programs for affiliates is AffTrack Affiliate Tracking Systems. AffTrack has developed a proprietary technology that allows the super affiliate to automatically track participation in multiple affiliate programs for accounting and analysis purposes. This includes Be Free, Commission Junction, LinkShare, and programs outside of these networks. In addition, AffTrack has the ability to gather and aggregate any transaction data that merchants provide and integrate that with web-based reporting systems, emails, and FTP files.
Using the resources of the Net is a great way to offer marketing and promotional help to your affiliates. Finally, encourage affiliates to build an opt-in email list that they can use to periodically stay in contact with their site visitors who subscribe and to constantly promote your product or service offer.