"Avoid Profit Loss by Ensuring Your Affiliates' Success!"

by Mary Murtha

Published on this site: October 15th, 2005 - See more articles from this month

One of the most frequently asked questions from people who have affiliate programs today is, "How do I keep from losing profits with my affiliate program?"

Losing some profits is a given aspect of our time, but there is a way to cut back on the loss.

As the economy continues to slump, website owners, including affiliates, lose interest because monies are tight. We must remember most new affiliates have no "get up and go" knowledge that helps them gain confidence and assurance about marketing and sales.

A percentage of people that come into affiliate programs with their sails filled, find themselves discouraged because the wind has changed direction, and they do not know how to adjust the sails.

By this time, the affiliate's confidence is shaken and they lose interest. The bottom line is they lack proper motivation, skill, and technique while they are getting their feet wet.

The key to making great profits in your affiliate program is to motive your affiliates effectively. This can be done by teaching and inspiring them; "coaching" sums it up in one word. We have to "tend" to their needs instead of our wants.

You would be surprised to know that in some programs, there is no mentoring or "coaching" involved. The green affiliate is sent out on their own like Christopher Columbus to discover the world.

In this case, anything green affiliates learn about websites, marketing, or sales either cost them money, or is very time consuming. Some multi-tier programs for instance, make the new affiliate pay for information to become better affiliates, but disguise this fact by telling them they will make more profits. While it is true that they will make more profits as they move up the pyramid, it is only true because the affiliate acquires more information about what they need to do to be successful.

Not equipping and motivating affiliates effectively are the main reasons affiliate programs fail to bring in substantial profits! When it costs the affiliate for information or time, the bottom line is that it cost both of us our success at making profits.

I know, I have been a part of three or four programs that gave me an affiliate site, some codes, and graphics, then, just turned me lose to do my own thing.

Any CEO whose company is making substantial profits will tell you it takes work to keep their crew motivated. The Internet marketing circle is no different. If we want to make the most profits from our Internet marketing business we need to create a healthy responsive crew. This means we need to keep the affiliate's needs utmost in mind. If we tend to their needs, they can be more effective and we can make more money.

There are many aspects to maintaining a healthy and responsive crew. Here are some tips that can and will highly motivate your affiliates so both of you can profit. They have been proven time and time again by the many marketers that run successful affiliate programs.

1. Make it worth their while! The first thing I do when I want to start an Affiliate program is come up with an irrefutable deal; one they can't refuse. If you truly want to captivate someone's attention, you have to make it worth their while to look at you and your product. You are "selling" them the idea of working to make profits for both parties.
   
   
2. Equip them! Try Giving them free information they can actually apply to their Affiliate business. Give them information about how to make great articles, good sales letters, or how to boost traffic.
   
   Tell them they need their own website. I have a great tool to make mini-sites displayed on my site. I say mini-sites because they are easy and go up quickly. This way the affiliate won't lose a lot of time and waste energy getting frustrated. Once they are motivated they need to get up and running quickly before they lose interest.
   
   Show them how to use the inevitable autoresponder, prepare and post messages, e-courses, and reports. You can sell your e-books to them. I am talking about giving them various ways they can gain information so they can be successful.
   
   Another one that drove me nuts was how to build a subscribers list of potential repeat costumers and actual keep them coming back! Articles you write having great content helps too. They can use them to gain a competitive edge over everyone else.
   
   You will be surprised at the results you get! Experience has taught me when affiliates gain more information, they feel confident and assured about what they are doing. As this happens, they keep focused because he or she is
   getting results. If they get results, you get results!
   
   
3. Show them You care about their success! Nothing motivates affiliates more than having someone care enough to see them succeed other than primary results! You can do this by staying in contact with them. Show interest in them! Encourage them!
   
   
4. Teach them about ethical marketing! They can keep their credibility and remain in business. Remember, if they are successful, you are successful! Take pride in your affiliates because they are a reflection of you and your business.

Please remember these tips are suggestive only. If you want to continue losing profits, by all means, disregard them and continue making less money. But if you seriously want to succeed at making the most out of your affiliate business,try the suggestions. What do you have to lose? My hope is that all marketers are successful in making tons of profits.



Mary Murtha graduated with a BLS and M. Div degree majoring in biblical study, theology, and ethics. She also started her online business 6 years ago and just published a new "mini-site" that helps people start and succeed with their online business by using mini-sites. If you like to learn more, check out this site http://www.profitbyminisites.com