AFFILIATE PROGRAM MANAGEMENT - PART 2

How to Choose the Most Profitable Affiliate Program to Promote

As an affiliate, there are two ways of working: 1) you can take
everything you can get your hands on and work really hard, or 2) you
can choose the best products that bring in the big profits.
Of course it’s always great to be a prolific affiliate with achievements
and work rate that trumps others. But, do all products really
worth your
time and effort?
A novice affiliate would always participate in every affiliate program they
can. This is because a novice is always hungry. However, how long can
you work that way? One day, you’ll be exhausted and your subscribers,
too, will be exhausted.

So, the best way to overcome this exhaustion while still earning high
commissions is by choosing the best products. In this context, the best
products are the ones that can ensure you, as an affiliate, high
earnings.
There are a few aspects to look at before deciding on a product to
promote. A product has to fulfill some criteria for it to be considered a
good product for you. It’s not going to be difficult, though, to determine
how good the product is.
Now, you might think that by doing this, you’ll be limiting your choices
therefore limiting your earnings as an affiliate because of cherry picking.
In actuality, you don’t really lose much but have a lot more to gain.
This is because every day, there is a new product being launched. You
will never run out of products topromote so you don’t have to worry
about losing anything if you cherry-pick. If an opportunity (i.e. bestselling
product) is missed, you can always move on and find the next
one.
However, commissions and earnings shouldn’t be taken lightly. You
have to make sure that you get the best product for you to promote. So,
what are the criteria for a good product to promote?
Criteria To Choose A Product
Commission Must Be High
When choosing a product, make sure that the commission rate provided
is not lower than 50% if it were not a high-ticket sale.
The usual commission rate for a low-ticket product is 50% or above. It
can even go up to 100%. Yes, the affiliate can keep all of the money
made from the sale of the product.
However, when it comes to high-ticket products, the commission can be
less than 50%. For example, the commission for a $997 product would
give $197 commission. But since it is high-priced, despite having a
lower percentage for commission, it is still high in value.
Selling high-ticket products is a bit more challenging than low-ticket.
The conversion rate is much lower. To take on the high-ticket
challenges, you must first build your list and credentials.
Here’s a comparison of selling high ticket and low ticket product:
Low ticket product – your sales can easily go up to 500 or more
with $37 product, you’ve made $18,500 or more with this.
High ticket product – it is harder to sell high priced product, if you
can only make 10 copies of sales, you earn only $9,970.
This is the difference between choosing a low tick or high ticket product.
Digital Products
There are many affiliate programs you can choose to do. You can sell
and promote appliances, books, clothes, and many other things online.
However, the best products, the ones that sell really well, are digital
products.
Physical products not only don’t sell as well as digital products, but they
also provide low commission rates. To generate enough money from
selling physical products commissions would require massive
conversion rates.
Digital products include:
Software
E-Books
Webinars
Video Tutorials
New digital products are launched every day so and their sales could go
up to thousands after launched. There’s no need to worry about running
out of products to promote.
Physical products also would make delivery more difficult. If you were
an affiliate who connected a buyer to a vendor and they’re both from
different countries, they might encounter problems with the shipment.
And if the customer requests for a refund, there goes your commission.
Selling digital products will have instances where the customer requests
for a refund, too, but it’s a very rare occurrence.
In addition, digital products require only few simple steps to download
the file in PDF file, almost in no timeyou can start enjoying the product;
in contrast, a physical book requires shipment that could take up to
months.
Also, with digital products, you will not encounter problems with
shipment. One less thing to worry about!
Quality Of The Product
First of all, you would need to know about the quality of the product.
You have to make sure that it is a product, to you, worth buying, and
then will you be able to know that is a product worth selling.
You do not want to sell shoddy products as it will not only flop, but also
affect your credibility as an affiliate. You might lose the confidence of
your subscribers. That is not something desirable as your email list and
subscribers are a vital part of your business.
Avoid upsetting them at all costs as they can unsubscribe you easier
than subscribing you.
Tip: If you are not so keen on buying the product, you need to do some
research on the reviews articles from other users on the product you’ve
chosen.
Or you can look at the rating and comments from the other users on the
product. It is very common for users to provide feedbacks after the
application of the product. Look at those with at least 4 or 5 stars rating.
If it is within your niche, you are good to go.
Market Demand
Of course, the product should also have demand. A product wouldn’t
even exist if without demand but here, you must know how strong is the
demand. If it were not really popular then it would be a bit challenging to
sell.
To know the market demand, you’d need a bit of research. You can ask
fellow affiliates whom you have acquainted with or you can go to group
discussions.
This is why as an affiliate, it is important to network. When you know
and interact with more people, you’ll have a deeper understanding on
the market and how it functions.

What if you are a newbie with fewer networks in this business yet? No
worries, you can always check on the bestsellers in the marketplace.
Without doubt it would be the product with high demand from users.
Credibility Of Sales Letter
Another aspect that you should evaluate on the product is the credibility
of the sales letter. If the sales letter is not appealing to you, then you
should not participate in the product’s promotion.
As an affiliate, you know the importance of a well-crafted sales letter.
The product vendors should know that this is where they win or lose
you. If they did not prepare a good sales letter, it would be hard for their
product to make conversions.
You should know the vital elements of a good sales letter, for example,
what does a good headline look like? How well does a good copy read?
And, most importantly, does it provide sufficient information on the
product?
What you should look for here is whether the sales letter can sell or not.
An appealing sales letter should not need further analysis. You would
know and be confident of the product straight away.
Provision Of Promotional Tools
You must also know whether the product vendor provide promotional
tools or not. If they do not, then there’d be extra work for you. What you
should look for in promotional tools are banners and swipe emails,
usually.
Most product vendors have these prepared for affiliates. These tools will
make your work a lot easier. Usually, for swipe emails, the pertinent
information has all been written. All you need to do is to fill in your
affiliate links (a space is provided) and upload it to your AutoResponder.
The AutoResponder is another tool you must have in the affiliate
business, the software that would do wonders. The main function of
AutoResponder is to manage all your subscribers and differentiate them
according to different niches.
Upsell
To have an extra commission, it’s best tosell a product that has an
upsell. When there is an upsell, an affiliate usually gets 100%
commission for the frontend product and a certain percentage for the
backend product. The backend product, or the upsell, is usually priced
high.
Instead of selling high-ticket products straight away, you can commit to
selling the frontend product.
In case you are not familiar with the terms ‘frontend’ and ‘backend’, I
will explain to you briefly. When a customer lands on a sales page
where a product is sold, they are at the frontend product’s page. Once
they’ve made purchase, they will be directed to another page where
another product is sold that is called the backend product.
The backend product is usually priced higher than the frontend
product, which is why it’s also referred to as an upsell. These sales
pages that the customers are being directed through are called a sales
funnel.
Having a backend product is a great way to maximize profit from a sales
funnel. If you sell a product with an upsell, you will garner higher
amount of commission as well.
For instance, a frontend or low ticket product with the price of $37, and
then they’ll be directed to the backend or upsell page with the price of
$77 for example – this is the basic sales funnel for a product launch.
The sales funnel can be continued with another down-sell and then one
more upsell. This is a whole other scope. So, I will not continue to
explain about this to keep your focus on Affiliate Marketing.
Recurring Element
It’s very rare to receive recurring payment for commission but it’s also a
great advantage for the affiliate if they were to find a program that
This is usually for membership sites where each member has to pay
each month. You, as an affiliate will receive commission for each month
they’re still subscribed to the site.
Even though the commission is not as high as any high-ticket sale, it
still provides a steady income.
Instant Payment
Instant payment was not a common thing not long ago. Instead,
affiliates will be paid 30 days after a purchase is made. This is because
within 30 days, the customers might ask for refunds. So, the affiliates
will only be paid when the item sold is non-refundable.
Now, there are marketplaces on the Internet that has a system called
‘tentative payment’ where the affiliates will get instant payment.80% of
the commission will be given to the affiliate within 5-7 days. However, if
a customer asks for a refund, the system will make the refund from the
other 20% of the commission, and the rest will be pay off after 30 days.
All is automated.
As an affiliate, you must always stick to the 80/20 rule to avoid any
conflict.
EPC
EPC stands for “Earnings Per Click” and it’s very important for all
affiliates to pay close attention to this.
EPC is the average earnings for each click that an affiliate send to the
vendor website. It is the conversion rate for an affiliate. It calculates for
each click. Calculating EPC gives an accurate and precise result for
average sales.
EPC Formula
To calculate EPC, one does not have to be a mathematician. It is
actually very simple and everyone can do it.
The formula for EPC is as follows:
Sales / No. of clicks = EPC
Example: Let’s say if an affiliate is selling a 100-dollar product. And one
product is sold from 100 clicks that they directed to the link. This is how
the formula is used:
Sales / No. of clicks = EPC
$100 / 100 clicks = $1.00
The EPC is $1.00
The higher the EPC is, the more likely that an affiliate get a higher
commission for the product.
Above is an example of a high-ticket product’s EPC because the
product was priced at $100. Usually, these products have high EPC
value. Selling high-ticket products can be a bit challenging, though, and
it is recommended that you do it only occasionally.

not many are interested in them. When you promote these products in
your emails to your subscribers, you are exhausting your list. Thanks for reading, we’ll continue tomorrow, don’t miss it…