by Azam Corry
Before joining any affiliate program you should consider the price of the product and the commissions you'll get on each action or sale. To sell anything effectively you'll need to put in some effort. It's OK getting paid peanuts for click throughs on links if you have redundant space and your only effort is actually putting them up. After all it's tough out there and every little helps, right?
Maybe ... it depends ... are you just adding clutter to your site? Or needlessly directing visitors to the exit?
... it's your call!
To generate a realistic income though you need to sell in quantity. Actively marketing something is an entirely different proposition to adding a simple link or banner on your page. Think about the time and energy you plan to devote and the realistic returns you can expect to get. Then ask yourself this question "Would I take a job that paid this much per hour?" If the answer is no ...
... why bother?
Choose another program that fully meets with your requirements (at least as close as possible). There are so many programs out there and the number grows every day. You can afford to pick and choose ...
... in the not too distant future vendors will be competing with each other to gain your allegiance.
Joining affiliate programs, marketing their products and checking your stats does take time, no matter what vendors imply.
Invest your time wisely from the start and you'll reduce the potential for lost income later on.
Time is money.
Cheap and Easy Affiliate Programs?
Remember ... no product sells itself! Depending on factors already mentioned, some products may be easier to sell than others but ultimately ...
YOU MUST SELL THE PRODUCT!
It is also almost always true that if you can sell one thing well, you can sell something entirely different equally well.
Sales professionals that remain in one field throughout their entire career do so not because they cant sell anything else, but because of the knowledge acquired about their industry over the years that helps them to close deals, or simply because they enjoy what they do.
Don't fall into the trap of believing that just because something's cheap it's easy to sell - that's simply not true. Undoubtedly, the prospect's perceived risk is reduced with a lower price tag, but that's only one of many components in a buying decision.
That this component will gain greater importance as the asking price increases is no doubt true. However, nobody likes to loose any money, no matter how little! It all comes back to the trust factor again. As any sales representative or marketing professional will tell you, it takes almost as much work and effort to sell something that costs just $50 as it does to sell something that costs $250. The thing is ...
... do you believe in it?
I've got to have that!
The important point about any sale is the product's perceived value to the prospective buyer. It's an amazing fact that as someone's desire for something increases, they miraculously find it easier and easier to afford! Put simply:
If someone wants something badly enough, they'll find a way to pay for it!
It's your job to create this desire by selling the benefits, not the product's features. The better the affiliate program, the more it will help you in this area. (I have to add here that in this respect. I've seen nothing that comes even close to the high quality free book and general affiliate support to be found in the '5 Pillar Program' at http://www.sitesell.com/info.html )
Avoid wasting your time selling something for which you're getting pocket money, when by simply changing the product and your mind set, you could be earning a comfortable income!
Having said that, don't go to the other extreme of deciding which affiliate programs to join based solely on the size of the commissions offered. The program still needs to meet your other criteria for you to benefit from being a member.
You'll find a lot more information about the many aspects of affiliate programs at http://www.NowSell.com
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