Finding the right affiliate program

Amongst all the affiliate packages made available on the internet, which one would be the best?

Ask questions first before you join an affiliate program. Do a little research about the choices of program that you intend to join into. Don't underestimate the screening process as it can give you answers you'll be glad to have once you're in.

Does the affiliate program charge you to join in? Most affiliate programs being offered today are absolutely free of charge. Then why would you want to pay for a program when 90% of them are free?

At what dates do they send out the commissions earned? Every program is different. Some issue their checks once a month, every quarter, etc. Go for the one that is suited to your payment time choice. Many affiliate programs won't issue a check until you've earned a certain amount of commissions on your account.

What kind of hit per sale ratio are we looking at? This ratio is based on all the affiliate statistics gathered over time by the program and shows how many clicks on a link or banner are necessary on average to generate a sale. This factor is extremely important because this will tell you how much traffic you must generate before you can earn a commission from the sale.

How are referrals from an affiliate's site tracked and for how long do they remain in the system? You need to be confident on the program enough to track those people you refer from your site. Only them will be able to tell you whether the visitor made a purchase or not. Obviously you also have to find out the length of time the visitors you're refering are staying in the system. This is because some visitors do not buy initially but may want to return later to make the purchase.What if some visitors decide to buy the product weeks or even months after they first clicked on your banner or text link? Would they still be considered as your affiliates? You need an answer to that.

What sorts of statistics do you have at your disposal? Whatever program you may choose, getting access to detailed stats on your account is an absolute must. They should be available online anytime you decide to check them out. Constantly checking your individual stats is important to know how many impressions, hits and sales are already generated from your site. The number of times a banner or text link was viewed by the visitors on your website is actually what we mean by \"impressions\". A hit is the visitor clicking on the banner or text link.

Does the affiliate program only pay commissions on sales or does it have a payment plan for hits and impressions as well ? It is important that impressions and hits are also paid, as this will add to the earnings you get from the sales commission. This is especially important if the program you are in offers a low sales to hit ratio.

Who are the guys behing this program?It is important for you to figure out who you are dealing with to ensure that they have a solid background. Try to do soe research on the products they are offering and the amount of money they're generating.If you want to avoid costly mistakes, the first rule is to get as much information as you can on who's actually running the affiliate program you plan to use.

Is the program two tier or only one tier ? What a single-tiers program means is that you'll earn a revenue only for the sales that have been generated by you. A two tier program pays you for the business, plus it also pays you a commission on the on the sales generated by any affiliate you sponsor in your program. A few of these two tier programs will even reward you with a small fee every time you ring a new affiliate in, pretty much like a recruitment fee.

Finally, How much do they actually pay in commissions? 5% - 20% is the commission paid by most programs. .01% - .05% is the amount paid for each hit. If you can digg a program that also pays for impressions, the amount paid is usually pretty low. These figures show you very clearly why considering the hit/sale ratio and average sales amount is a very important step to overcome in order to find the perfect affiliate program for you.

As you've probably figured out by now, finding the right affiliate program is key to your success. If you need more information on the affiliate business, two video packages specialized in making money through affiliate marketing can help you get as sharp as possible to make it big . The packages i'm talking about are Tycoon Cashflow made by 2 young & successful e-marketers and The Affiliate Code by Michael Jones, the already famous creator of The Clickbank Code.