It is certainly reasonable to believe that you can create a large group of internet marketers who sell your products online. Many people are doing it successfully. Like anything else, you have to crawl before you can walk and walk before you can run. Starting with baby steps.

Many people try to jump into a project before laying the groundwork. If you implement the right software and support services, things will run smoothly and your Affiliates will be in their comfort zone. Companies come and go. You have probably seen MLM companies start up, recruit hundreds and thousands of distributors only to fail, take the money and run.

Affiliates are aware of this scam and cannot afford to have a major meltdown in its early stages of setting up formidable. Ruin your reputation and you could ruin your business. It’s not that difficult to set up an affiliate program, but there are laws in place that you must follow. Believe it or not, the infrastructure, software, or service provider support is the easy part.

Once you set up your software or online service, the system pretty much runs on autopilot. In fact! And you don’t need to be a Mensa or Einstein member to set it up. If you think you need help with setup, there are consultants who can help you with that and help you keep your program legally compliant.

How do you structure your program? The easy answer is to join some of the most popular programs to review how they are set up and structured. Test and learn how your competitors’ systems work and build a program that is equal to or even better.

By joining together and comparing multiple programs, you can use the best concepts and procedures from each to create a new and exciting program. The scope of this article is a brief overview. The reader should become familiar with various features of the software by comparing different packages. If you have a large profit margin, you may want to create a two-tier program. If the commissions available are minimal, then one level may be appropriate.

The main benefits of an affiliate program:

o Recruit a great group of energetic and highly motivated Affiliates!
You have your own network selling your products at your expense. They pay for your website, lead generation program, operating cost, etc. You pay them a commission ONLY after they have made the sale and paid you. There is no risk and you control the delivery of the product.

o Your product will be advertised worldwide on the web for FREE!
Target people who already have a large mailing list of newsletter subscribers. As your affiliate, they can advertise your products to many thousands of subscribers; make sales, at no cost to you. The more websites your product appears on, the more your product will appear on Google, Yahoo and other search engines. You will benefit greatly when you are on websites that have high search engines. Not only will you make more sales, but you’ll create your own newsletter customers when they visit your website and gain additional affiliates from this FREE exposure.

o Greater credibility!
Having so many people recommending your product greatly reduces buyer suspicion and resistance. You become very believable in their eyes. They feel safe buying your product because they see it advertised all over the internet. This is product branding at its finest. Deal with companies that give a strong satisfaction guarantee, offering a full refund if the buyer is not satisfied with their purchase. This removes resistance from most buyers.

o Operate more efficiently with very little overhead!
Since your affiliates take care of all your business and marketing expenses, you only have to pay the initial setup costs, product cost and sales commissions. Even the sales commission costs you nothing because it is integrated into the sales price and is only paid after receiving payment for the product. And, since the program is largely automated, it saves a tremendous amount of time, allowing you to focus on selling, not managing.

There are software and services online that can fully automate your Affiliate Program and won’t break the bank. Our personal choice is an online service.

There are very low cost software programs that make big claims about software that doesn’t live up to the bragging rights. There are very expensive software and services that can be very complicated and terribly expensive. Then there are software and service providers in the reasonable range that provide adequate features and services.

You will need to use a shopping cart in conjunction with your affiliate program. They are usually very inexpensive and can be a software package or even a hosted shopping cart. In fact, one of the most used is the PayPal shopping cart, which is free. Email us if you need details.

software vs. service provider

We usually prefer the service provider approach, although there are some good software programs available. We will list some low-end software packages for beginners, but most very active businesses tend to use service providers. We’ll list a few, including our personal pick.

SOFTWARE

o With software, you pay a price up front and then upgrade it over time if you want, usually for a fee.

o It must be stored on your computer and your computer must be connected to a broadband connection at all times. This can drain your computer’s resources during active times.

o There is installation and a learning curve.

o When the industry changes or new methods become popular, you will need to purchase upgrades if they become available.

o New computer technology, industry or law changes may make your software obsolete.

o You are pretty much on your own for technical support after the warranty period ends.

o You must ensure that the software you purchased lives up to its claims and has been around long enough to resolve any bugs.

o Does the software provide additional training and related bonuses?

o Computer efficiency and bandwidth can be significant issues when hundreds or thousands of people are trying to access your system, many at the same time.

SERVICE PROVIDER

o You have an initial setup cost with a service provider just like you do with software.

o Actually, it does not host the Affiliate’s activity on your computer, but on the service providers’ system. This allows for higher bandwidth and 24/7 technical support. No load on your personal system.

o In general, there is not much of a learning curve requirement. Their control panels feature tends to be very user friendly.

o They usually have excellent online training and live technical support when needed for as long as you use their service.

o Updates are automatic and you stay up-to-date with the latest features. There is no additional software to purchase.

o If there is a major computer problem or failure, you have their support to quickly remedy the situation.

o Reputable companies offer you a trial period or money-back guarantee so you can cancel if it doesn’t live up to your expectations. This is probably the number one important issue.

o Installation or configuration is minimal and intuitive, especially for beginners. Some are turnkey.

o Your computer does not have to be connected to the network at all times. For some, this is a benefit.

o Your computer’s memory and resources are kept free from the load of a large amount of activity from hundreds or thousands of affiliates.

We learned that the most desirable thing was a high-quality software or service provider that actually used the same system for their affiliate program. The problem with the quality software package that we liked was its cost. They were very expensive or seemed cheap from the start with low monthly and setup fees, but then charged a percentage of sales. At first, the percentages seemed small, but after looking at the numbers, we realized that they could be very expensive on a yearly basis. Some should have a Mickey Mouse image on their website, which has questionable benefits.

Our personal choice…