Affiliate marketing programs have sky-rocketed in popularity in the past few years. As one of the fastest and easiest ways to start an online home business people are jumping on this wave by the millions. Affiliate programs offer merchants the opportunity to employ vast armies of sales people who get paid for the results they achieve.

1. How To Choose Your Affiliate
Program Wisely
Affiliate marketing programs have sky-rocketed in popularity in the past few years. As
one of the fastest and easiest ways to start an online home business people are jumping
on this wave by the millions. Affiliate programs offer merchants the opportunity to
employ vast armies of sales people who get paid for the results they achieve.
The rewards for affiliates can be very good, and the skilled affiliate marketer can earn
many thousands of dollars per month. This win-win situation has led to an explosion in
the number of affiliate programs that are available to affiliate marketers.
With this growth of affiliate opportunities have come many questions, such as: how do
you go about choosing the right affiliate program for you? What qualities should you look
for in a program and which gives you a good chance of making a sustainable income?
Below are some tips that will help you to evaluate affiliate programs, and help you to
avoid wasting time and money.
Tube Mastery and Monetization di Matt Par
What Commissions Does the Program Pay?

2. It is very important that you know how much you can expect to earn from a sale. There
is no point in spending time and money promoting a product that pays very small
commissions. You could end up spending more on marketing than you make on sales. It
is probably best to stick with marketing products with a high commission value, unless
you have found a niche market where you can sell vast quantities of product, and make
substantial commissions on your volume of sales.
How Much Traffic is their Website Getting?
Try to discover the amount of traffic the affiliate owner’s website is already receiving.
Alexa.com is a very useful tool for doing this research. If the website is ranked in the top
100,000, the merchant is getting a good volume of traffic, so it’s possible that there may
already be too many affiliates. If it is ranked below 500,000 it may be no good, or it
could be a golden opportunity to make some real money by becoming one of the first
affiliates!
Always research a merchant’s product if their website has a low traffic ranking. It may
be a good idea to buy the product yourself if you can afford it. Otherwise you could do a
search to find out if there are any negative reviews about it on the internet. Be careful
who you listen to though because many people are in the habit of bashing affiliate
programs with nothing to really support their comments. If you find a large amount of
negative reviews with little positive ones then it would probably be a good idea to stay
away from that affiliate program.
Tube Mastery and Monetization di Matt Par
How Often Are Affiliate Commissions Paid?
Some affiliate programs pay commissions every week; some once a month, others only
pay every quarter. It is important that you know how often you can expect a pay check
if you are going to have financial control over your business. Do you have the financial
resources to continue to market a product if you have to wait a long time before you get
paid? It would also be wise to find out the minimum commission that you have to earn
before you get paid.
Does The Affiliate Program Use Tracking Cookies?

3. Many customers do not buy on their first visit to a merchant’s website. It is important
therefore that the merchant uses cookies for their affiliate program, so that you get
credit if the customer returns and buys at a later date. Check out how long the cookies
last. The longer the cookies lasts; the better the chances of you getting paid!
Does the Affiliate Program Pay on Subsequent Sales?
Some programs will only pay commission on sales that come through customers visiting
their site via a direct link from your site. They pay you nothing for any subsequent
purchases that the customer makes if they visit the merchants site directly. It is
important that you get paid no matter what route the customer returns by if you are to
build a sustainable affiliate business.
Tube Mastery and Monetization di Matt Par
What Marketing Resources Does the Affiliate Program Offer?
Look at the type and quality of the marketing resources that they provide. Do they
provide articles, advertisements, or other content that you can use to put on your site?
Do they provide free guides, special offers, free viral e-books, or product samples that
you can send to your list? If the marketing material they provide is good then it is likely
that the business will provide good support for their affiliates.
Finding the right affiliate program for you can be tough to do. The best advice is to do
your own research, follow the advice above, and listen to your instincts. Use the above
questions as an aid to finding an affiliate program that enables you to reach your
financial goals. You never know… You might just strike affiliate marketing gold!