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How to evaluate an affiliate program
There are thousands of affiliate programs that offer a wide range of benefits to their affiliates. However, many of these programs and the claims they make are unreliable.
Products: Organizations that operate affiliate programs generally have some products to sell. These products may be in the form of physical products, electronic products or services. It is important to make sure that the organization has some products to sell and that it recruits affiliates to help them manage their businesses. Care must be taken with any organization that has affiliate recruitment as its main business. It is better to avoid such organizations because their membership structure is like a house of cards that can fall apart at the slightest impact.
Organizations that have products to sell and market through affiliate programs reduce the cost of advertising and distribution. This amounts to considerable savings that they share with their affiliates. If a new affiliate is already familiar with the products, this may be useful, but this is not a necessary prerequisite for joining the affiliate program. New affiliates can learn about products quite quickly.
Organization history: it is not difficult to know the organization before joining the affiliate program. Search engines are one of the sources that can be used for this purpose. Verifying the testimonies presented by the organization is another source of information. The organization should have a proven track record of successful operation of its programs for several years. If the organization is new or just beginning, the person who starts the program must be known with good credibility. This is a precaution against joining organizations that promise to get rich quickly and then disappear.
Support available to affiliates: Most new affiliates that join any affiliate program are new in the field of Internet marketing. They need guidance and support to promote their business and earn money for themselves. The organization is interested in helping its members succeed. These organizations are in your business for much longer than the affiliates, they have more knowledge about their market and ways of promoting their products. They are in the best position to provide their members with adequate guidance. Many organizations have an excellent support system through training, tutorials, articles, books, marketing plans, marketing tools, forums, to name a few. They are generally available on websites accessible to members.
In addition to the promotional material and information available on the website, personal guidance can be vital. A new affiliate may not be familiar with all available resources and will seek tutoring at least in the initial stages. The affiliate must remember that their success will add to the success of the organization, the organization is obliged to help it.
Payment: Another factor to consider is the mode and frequency of payment to affiliates. The affiliate must ensure that this suits him. Just to give an example: many organizations make payments through PayPal, but PayPal does not transmit money to all countries. These details must be verified before devoting time and effort to any affiliate program.
Membership structure: There are many different ways in which organizations build their membership structure. Many organizations have a single-level structure in which affiliates are only paid a commission for the sale. Other affiliate structures are of 2 levels or multiple levels in which the affiliate also benefits from the efforts of personally sponsored members. In turn, the affiliate is expected to help their sponsored members win for themselves. This is a great feature of multilevel marketing that leads to leveraged earnings.
There are still more variations in the structure. Some organizations allow a limited number of affiliates directly below each affiliate. There is no "ideal" membership structure. But it is important to have clarity in the structure and the affiliate must understand the structure.
