Hello @joanmuschampfagnani   

No, I’ve not had success in that arena – I don’t do affiliate sales, in the traditional sense. I’ve been invited to head up projects that concern affiliate memberships but even at that, I never wanted to get into that area as even the most above board affiliate programs seem to smack of MLM to a certain degree.  I’d not like to be associated with MLM in any form.  Some people have success with that but they usually have big money up front to sell and promote those programs.  

I did some copy-writing for a very big MLM campaign some years ago and because of the outcome, I’ve steered clear of involvement because I don’t want to have my name associated with that, in any form.  I’m sure you are not talking about MLM though, right?

For a true affiliate program there are any number of articles online that give that advice —-

How to Create a Successful Affiliate Marketing Program

6 Steps To Develop A Successful Affiliate Marketing Program

How to Develop an Affiliate Program For Your Website

You were probably not looking for articles, per se and the ones above have slightly different views so might be worth a look.

Good Luck 

Eileen

I’ve had success marketing my affiliate memberships (amazon & best buy) & have done pretty well managing an affiliate network for a previous employer (I can’t speak to the marketing strategies of those affiliates, but there were a handful that had some success in that arena)… guess it really depends on what you quantify as success in terms of $$$ earned? I always looked at as a “did the effort (time) in, match the $$$ out”… and so far it has, some months better than others but overall I’m fairly happy with it.

Well… one of the companies that we used to get the word out about our program was Share-a-sale & the affiliates who generated traffic through that site did ok, but again, there were only a few who actively pursued any marketing efforts but those that did made a few hundred a month (commission paid 17% on the order $$)

@joanmuschampfagnani, I’m an affiliate with ZNZ, or Zip Nada Zilch.  I’m not sure if you would be interested in this approach to increasing monthly income, but it is something I do ‘on the side, per-se’ and am able to generate $500-$800/month putting in 5-10 hours a week, some weeks less. 

My social media business has me on facebook all the time anyway, so I advertise through that channel and do a lot of responding and follow up in between other tasks when people message me for info. There are some ups and downs, as in anything, and I have experienced some hiccups along the way with technical tweaks here and there, but overall have been pretty happy with the program.  I’m happy to give more specifics if you are interested in hearing more, and I’m also interested to hear others’ experiences in this world too.

@matfitzgerald

@matfitzgerald The type I am talking about generates revenue on both sides – I get revenue if my list buys from someone I affiliate with (and I am to be familiar with their products and programs, for my own standards) and those who join my affiliate program promote my products, services, and programs, and make a percentage of what I take in.

@supereb   Ellen-  Thanks for listing the articles on Affiliate Marketing.

Steve

@atlantarobinAgree that YouTube is the place to be but you make it sound like producing SM videos is easier than writing? Or are you talking more about return on effort?My worry is producing low quality videos and actually doing damage to brand rather than boosting it.

@matfitzgerald

Ahhhhh, yes Matt, I understand where you’re coming from. Personally, I’ve seen million dollar companies put out crapola while one-man video machines put out excellent viewer experiences.
It’s not how much you spend or even if you make a one slide 20 second video. It’s your pre-production planning… your complete sales funnel… how you set up your viewers’ experience… your call to action… how well you lead a horse to the water they seek.
And every  case is specific unto itself. There’s no magic bullet that works for everything. It’s more about staying open to what works, seeking out case studies that would fit what you want to accomplish, viewing a lot, learning from peers and experts and those who have actually made money in a manner you can emulate.
In my younger days, I was an expert on financing cable video show production on The Travel Channel and Learning Channel… bartering with 5-Star Hotels, Resorts and high-dollar businesses to underwrite and house my crews, then selling feature/interview time on the show to 2-5 other local businesses, then flying my crews in for a few days, field producing all the shoots for the hotels and businesses, and moving on to the next show. 
I say this to show you that there’s always a way to produce great results with zero to little money… and I’m talking FIRST CLASS broadcast quality results that impresses five-star businesses.
But you don’t have to create an extravagant all-out production to get clients what they want… or to get a BUYER to click through to a sales page for exactly what you KNOW they need and want to buy. You just need to find the right fishing hole full of the right biting fish and plant yourself right in front of them when you know they’ll be biting.
That’s why I say it’s important to find a mentor, a teacher, a seminar or webinar leader who can help you learn the ropes for YOUR business goals.
But the biggest thing, Mat, is really something most of us don’t want to hear. It’s not about what WE want. It’s ALL about what the customer wants. And the way I’ve observed things usually work out in affiliate marketing is that the simplest method usually works the best. You’ll spend a year and lots of money making things look pretty and meaningful and impressive… then discover in the long run that what really works, what really drives customers to buy, what really makes them click on an affiliate link… uhhhhh…. is NOT the pretty or impressive or expensive methods at all. Nope… it’s usually the cheap, short, static, boring, straightforward method… the kind everyone loves to hate… that actually gets buyers to click through and buy. Boggles the mind, but true.
I would worry less about producing “quality” and study more about curating available video content. Many video affiliate marketers know nothing about producing videos but are making a fortune anyway, never once producing or paying for it themselves. Like I said, it’s good to study successful people already doing this.
Sarah Staar is a good video marketer to follow. She teaches many methods, all of which she uses in her business. She’s a no-nonsense kind of lady and is known for writing scathing reviews of those marketers who lead newbies astray. She also dares to take the “guru make money” crowd on for misleading buyers in their marketing campaigns. I’ve got an excerpt of one of her vids on one of my YouTube Channels. I highly recommend following her and learning all you can from her. I can recommend others, too, but her high ethics are widely known and she’s very active in networking and leading seminars and training groups in England. She’s not a fast-talking smiley salesperson. She’s a seriously serious video professional whose teaching style makes it easy to focus on what’s important in generating online revenue, without all the hype and pitch.
Please excuse the violins in the background, lol, as I was playing with YT’s editing tools that day, lol…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBzWxWC9MkQ
This was a much longer video for a specific workshop, but her intro her provided a great warning to marketers about what to avoid out there right now, so I edited it to just the part where she talks about this… up to the part where she talks about video marketing and why it’s working so well. Click on the link below the video afterwords as that thread is a good read to give you a feel for what she’s doing, as well as what others think of her and her methods. That product is closed now, so though that is an affiliate link, it leads to a closed thread.
A couple weeks ago, I joined her $1 trial Sarah Staar Membership Club and went through ALL her free video training… made up of past courses, live trainings and seminars, etc. Her video training is well done, very relevant, and easily learned. I highly recommend her. For myself, I canceled my membership after the trial week, and will rejoin again in January when I had time planned to take full advantage of that. I just wanted to devote my Thanksgiving holidays getting a headstart taking all her former trainings… time well spent.
Granted, I do have extensive video training… both from the Air Force as a RTV journalist/public affairs specialist and later from a Communications major in corporate video production, educational media, and adult education. But as a teacher myself, I can vouch for her video knowledge and experience, as well as her teaching abilities. The fact that she’s known for teaching the best affiliate marketing methods online to some of the best online marketers online speaks volumes to me.
Just my thoughts….:)

Robin Carlisle

 I know I am a little late to this discussion. I have looked at many affiliate programs in order to enhance my product offerings- I have not really done the Amazon or larger company affiliate programs , cause I have found that a lot of them are a ton of work to promote and you only get a very small % of each and every sale you make. It is obvious to me and others that the larger your database the better you would do with programs like that, but I personally like working – hand to hand with others. I believe in helping where-ever I can.

By a blessing, I was able to get involved in a company that also recognizes this and wanted to give every business owner, whether home based or not a lot of online tools that could help them with productivity, lead-generation, social media ideas as well as a unlimited CRM system. As the owner and personal friend of mine has stated,  he had this idea 2 years ago to make his life a lot simpler and spend more time with his family then in front of a computer.

He has along with many other investors ( 100 ) to invest in his idea. Surfice to say he had no problem in getting this done in a matter of weeks. He is a master at creating teams that help each other. He also has noted that many people when you grow your affiliate business does not have the time to train each person so he is automating many of these tasks the do take time but are necessary in order to make a 2nd income that is regular.

There is a ton of guru’s out there, including in some Marketing forums that promote they can help with any affiilate program but when you get their program they upsell you a ton of things so by the time you have learned all of this, you have to make enough sales to cover it just to break even.

I like my friends approach he is offering over 20+ online tools for everyone – no need to buy a thing. However he will have other options to enhance your marketing even more and he will charge for that but it is minimum pricing cause he knows the world economy is hurting.

I can share with each one of you what this is all about. I started a few months back talking to my friends/ former customers and some of you on this forum and I have over 90 people that have pre-registered so far.. I think it was a success and I almost at my goal before launch. Let me know by connecting then PM me so I can give you the link. Don’t want to give a link unless It gets approved to do so. Thanks for your time- I do appreciate it – I am available most days even weekends to answer your questions! I will read over most of your posts but will be busy for the next hour.

@joanmuschampfagnani @supereb @chrisloeser @kathybernard @leila @stevecurran @warrenveach @matfitzgerald @atlantarobin

Hi @leila ,

Thanks for the follow up reply.
As soon as I work out how to PM on this forum I’ll shoot you through a follow up.

@atlantarobinThanks so much for the video link! I love her warning that most marketers that are using old techniques are making money off workshops, etc rather than actually using the techniques themselves. It’s an extended version of “those who can, do, those who can’t teach’.

I definitely will move onto video marketing. I prefer the idea of integrating it with other methods. I’m loading up on content, both created and curated. Didn’t realise you could do that with video content though. How are you able to use that video on your YouTube channel instead of directing across to Sarah Starr’s? I thought that was a no-no?

Really loving the help and generosity on this site. You people are truly awesome!

Also, it might help to understand that product owners that use affiliates (commissioned sales and marketing people) to market their products usually GIVE their affiliates the rights to copy and use their likenesses and their products’ likenesses in their own marketing materials.

When I first saw this Sarah Staar video, I was promoting a different product of hers and used this vid to promote THAT product, specifically to reiterate that she has high ethical standards and really WILL tell you the truth about what is working NOW in her business… not trying to sell something she does NOT use and does NOT work NOW.

In my marketing video for her product then, I put “More info at RobinCarlisle.Info” in that promotional video, along with a link to Sarah’s product sales page in my video “description” area on YouTube. That way, you hear her speak on my YouTube channel page and if you “click the link below,” you will go directly to her sales page.

To me her talk is so relevant that I can use MY edited version over and over for whatever product of hers I promote.

After a promotion is finished, I try to change the links to just direct people back to MY site, IF the video is still relevant. If not, then I just leave it on YouTube with a link directing back to my site. Eventually, thousands of those will be pointing back to my site like little billboards and there they most certainly will find something to interest them. LOL… at least that’s what people tell me. But as a site that’s basically only a few weeks old, I’m astounded by how video has made things go soooooo fast!

Robin Carlisle