What are some key things to look for in a good affiliate program?

There are certainly some key things I look for in a good affiliate program. I'll list them below, and then go through each in more detail.

- Good Product in high demand or niche market
- Long-term tracking with cookies and/or IP addresses
- High commissions
- Good product marketing materials
- Good Affiliate Program support
- 2 tier systems (preferred)

-=Good Product in high demand or niche market=-

You always want to make sure you're marketing a high quality product that is useful to people. This is the number one thing, because if you market bad products, it may ruin your reputation, and you won't make money in the long term. So make sure you're marketing a good product. Also make sure it's something that is in high demand that people want. If it's a niche market, then make sure that it's something unique that the market will want to buy.

-=Long-term tracking with cookies and/or IP addresses=-

This is an important one. They often use cookies that may expire after a certain time, or they track IP addresses, or both. Tracking with both is most accurate. Some affiliate programs make everything look so tempting for the affiliate, but only track for 30 days. I for one, don't like programs unless they track for at least a year. The best programs will track forever. If the affiliate program has a product that your customer is only going to ever purchase once, then long term tracking doesn't matter as much. If the product is something that the customer will buy repeatedly to refill their supply, then make sure you get the recurring commissions for your long term tracked sales.

-=High Commissions=-

Of course we want affiliate programs with high commissions. High commissions can vary. Often 50% is a good high commission for digital products. 30% is a high commission for products that need to be shipped. I think 20% is reasonable too, but lower than that is often not what I'm looking for. There are some exceptions though. If a programs average sale is $150,000, then a commission of just 1% is still $1,500. Sounds pretty good doesn't it. So make sure you compare what the product is before passing off a very low comission.

-=Good Product Marketing Materials=-

If an affiliate program is offering you marketing materials, that's usually a sign of a good program. I don't just mean links and banners, but real marketing materials. These can include free viral ebooks that are branded with your links, articles, promotional deals, or anything that's a bonus to helping you sell their products.

-=Good Affiliate Program Support=-

It's always good to have support. Any top rate affiliate program will have their own affiliate program support team that is there to help the affiliates every step of the way. They should be able to promptly answer questions for you, and give you tips and advice on how to market their products. Even better is when they hold teleseminars, and online support meetings with their affiliates to help brainstorm, teach, and mastermind with the group for everyones success.

-=2 tier systems (preferred)=-

Yes, I prefer a 2-tier system. Why? For 2 reasons. 1) I can refer the program to other marketers directly and then make extra commissions off of their marketing efforts. 2) While I'm marketing the affiliate programs products, I'm sending them many new customers. Affiliate programs generally get most of their affiliates by having their own customers become affiliates. With a good tracking system, all the customers that I send them who then become affiliates, earn me extra commissions. Just think, if I get 5-20% on the 2nd tier, and I'm receiving that from 10-20 affiliates I've referred, that can really add up to a lot of extra commissions.

So there you have it. Those are the key things I look for in an affiliate program.

Peace & Prosperity

Jambhala