How to Find an Affiliate Marketing Program to Promote

If you plan on marketing a product or service through affiliate marketing, you'll need to choose one that meets the market’s demand. Profitability is another factor to take into consideration. Chances are you’re doing this to make some money, right? Follow these steps to pick the right product and service.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Choose a product or service that is in demand. See Resource (below) for a link on how to choose a profitable niche.
2. Search for affiliate marketing programs. You can do a search for programs and services that cater to what your market wants at specific websites that cater to affiliate marketers looking for programs to promote (see Resources below).
3. Do an independent search. Many great affiliate programs aren’t partnered with the big affiliate marketing companies. If you're looking for a specific product to promote, simply type that product into your Internet browser along with the words affiliate program.
4. Browse through the programs. Whether you found the program through an independent search or at an affiliate marketing website you will want to take note of some important details and compare programs.
5. Determine if the product is valuable. Through research you should have found a niche market and determined what your target market wants. Does this product fit the bill? Would you buy it if you were in the market for that type of product? Ask yourself these questions and be honest. It does you know good to promote a product that your target market isn’t really looking for.
6. Look at the commission. The commission percentage is the amount of money you will make from each sale that is generated through your affiliate links. Percentages can range from as low as 2 percent up to 75 percent. Do the math to find out just how much you will make per sale. It's possible to make good money selling many small ticket items; but you need to know your figures to make an informed decision.
7. What is the “cookie” period? A cookie is a small parcel of text left on your potential customer’s computer when they click through on of your affiliate links. Say a program offers a cookie that lasts for one month. During that one month period, this cookie will identify a person as having found the merchant’s website through your link as therefore is your customer. For the entire duration of the cookie’s lifespan you will get commission for sales from that customer, even if they only clicked on your link once. It's not a “make or break” feature, but the longer the cookie lasts the better your chances of making a sale.
8. Look at tracking and reporting. Tracking and reporting are very important with affiliate marketing in order for you to keep track of how many of your website or blog visitors are clicking through to your links. This allows you to gauge the effectiveness of your website or blog and make changes should you find very few visitors clicking your affiliate links.
9. Check for marketing materials and support. A good affiliate marketing program should help you sell products. This could come in the form of pre-written text links and web banners that have been proven effective or tips and tricks to selling the company’s products. A monthly newsletter aimed at helping affiliates is always a good thing as it keeps you up to date with new products, upcoming sales and new techniques to help you make more money online.
10. Look at your data. By now, you should have at least two or three products or services to offer your hungry market. Compare them and determine which is best for both your potential customers and you.

Tips & Warnings

• Choose a product that will be useful for your customers. You may be tempted to grab the product with the highest commission but you never want to risk your reputation as a marketer by selling substandard products to your customers. They'll remember whether you recommended good or bad products. Keep this in mind when making your decision.