Marketing Information

Niche Marketing: The Affiliate Angle


If you're just dipping your toes into the waters of Niche Marketing for the first time then Affiliate marketing is the ultimate low risk choice to get you started.

Affiliate programmes cost nothing to join and present an almost infinite choice of products and services from which to build a niche business.

If you're not familiar with Affiliate marketing, let me quickly explain.

An Affiliate acts as an independent "middle man" between a Merchant and consumer by introducing new prospects and customers to the Merchant. In return the Merchant pays a commission to the Affiliate on all sales that result from his or her introductions.

OK. So now you know what Affiliate Marketing is, how do you find suitable affiliate programmes for you niche?

Here are a couple of options to get you started - Search Engines and Affiliate Networks.

Search Engines

Go to www.Google.com and type in your Niche description e.g. "low carb diet" followed by a plus sign (+) and the word "affiliate" - the search query should look like this :

low carb diet+affiliate.

In the results you will get all the pages with the term "low carb diet" and the term "affiliate".

Go through the first and second pages and list all of the sites that show relevant products with affiliate programmes. Hopefully this will give you 10 or more affiliate programmes to choose from.

You could also repeat this exercise on www.Yahoo.com to give your self more options.

Affiliate Networks

An Affiliate Network acts as "middleman" between Merchants and Affiliates, providing a centralised service where Merchants can list details of their products and Affiliate programmes, providing Affiliates with a broad and varied selection of products and services to promote.

Here are some highly reputable networks you should visit to find suitable niche products and services to add to your list of prospective Affiliate programmes :

? ClickBank - http://www.clickbank.com - specialises in downloadable digital products.

? Commission Junction - http://www.cj.com - probably the most popular affiliate network has a broad range of mainly physical products. CJ has a gate way to the "Be Free" another huge network.

? LinkShare - http://www.linkshare.com - runs the largest pay for performance affiliate marketing network on the Internet.

? clixGalore - http://www.clixgalore.com - one of the larger affiliate networks with over 4500 Affiliate programmes to choose from.

? Digital River - https://www.regnow.com - specialises in software products including games, anti-virus and anti-spam titles.

Add all the relevant programmes to list of those you gleaned from the Search Engine(s).

Selecting Niche Affiliate Programmes

Be selective in your choice of affiliate programme. Don't just signup for all of the programmes you have listed, visit each site and check each one out and make sure you "read each Merchant's terms carefully".

Here are some points for you to consider when deciding which programmes to promote:

? Commission rates - rates vary considerably, check them out to make sure get the best deal possible.

? Commission type - does the Merchant pay on a pay per lead, pay per click or pay per sale?

? Frequency of payment - most important. Payment frequency can be weekly, two weekly, monthly, quarterly - I've even seen six monthly.

? Minimum payout - what is the minimum commission amount the merchant is prepared to pay out on. You don't get paid until the amount reaches that minimum.

? Cookie duration - cookies are set to capture your referral code and expire after a specific amount of time. Make sure you get the longest time possible. Very few of your referrals will buy on the first visit, you want enough time for your referral to visit again so that you get the commission.

? Minimum traffic requirement - you don't want to find out that your account has been terminated because you aren't sending enough traffic to the Merchant's site.

? Are sales tools available - it's in the Merchant's interest to help you as much as possible. If they provide sales and marketing tools it makes getting started a lot quicker and shows that the Merchant values their Affiliates.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. As I said earlier, check all the terms carefully, then select and sign up for the programmes which best suit your niche theme and you're ready to start promoting.

Copyright © 2005, André Anthony Niche Market Know-How

André Anthony owns and operates Niche Market Know-How a resource for beginning Niche Marketers. Visit http://www.nichemarketknowhow.com today to find strategies, tips, tools, products and resources for effective niche marketing. Get his Niche Market Know-how Mini Course here: http://www.nichemarketknowhow.com/course.htm


MORE RESOURCES:

Social networks aid college marketing
Bizjournals.com, NC - 51 minutes ago
As the use of online social networking continues to soar among students and young adults, Western New York colleges and universities are crafting Web-based ...


SpectrumDNA, Inc. Taps Seth Levenson to Lead Product Marketing
MarketWatch - 19 hours ago
Mr. Levenson will lead the strategic sales and product marketing activities for the company's properties and strengthen the strategic leadership team ...


KENIC embarks on aggressive .ke marketing campaign
NetworkWorld.com, MA - Aug 29, 2008
KENIC has formed a joint marketing team comprised of registrars and other technical experts that are interested in the growth of .ke, said Vincent Ngundi, ...


Media Learner Inc. and Professional Marketing International ...
PR Web (press release), WA - 10 hours ago
Media Learner, Inc. and Professional Marketing International (PMI) announced an agreement to form a strategic partnership, which will enable both companies ...


Washington Post

Souvenir Sales as Obama Campaign Marketing Tactic?
FOXNews - Aug 28, 2008
by Cristina Corbin Those looking to purchase souvenirs from the Democratic National Convention in Denver Thursday night may have needed to offer up more ...
Video: Obama's White House vision - 29 Aug 08 AlJazeeraEnglish
all 1,180 news articles


Dr. Erekat: Final Status issues are not for marketing, they are ...
Palestine News Network, Palestinian Territories - 5 hours ago
This is not an issue to be used for marketing. This is a human issue and we must ensure that our rights are protected in any agreement reached. ...


Search Marketing & The US Presidental Race: Case Study: Sarah Palin
Search Engine Land, CT - 23 hours ago
After reading yesterday how savvy both US presidential campaigns seem to think they are about search marketing, I decided I'm going to take a closer look at ...
Video: McCain's Running Mate Is Historic, Hardly Known AssociatedPress
'Paparazzi-Proof' Condo: Pure Privacy or Marketing Ploy? ABC News
Palin – An Excellent Pick Canada Free Press
Alaskajournal.com - The Public Record
all 6,467 news articles


Homestead Hills Welcomes New Healthcare Marketing Director
PR.com (press release), NY - 10 hours ago
... South Carolina developed by Senior Living Communities, is pleased to introduce Julie Senn as the new Director of Healthcare Marketing. ...


Voice of America

Politics mirroring business strategic internet marketing
Business Feet, UK - Aug 29, 2008
Internet marketing strategies that have been used in business for some time are now being played out in the political arena, as the American presidential ...
Video: Clinton exposes doubts over Obama RussiaToday
all 1,448 news articles


Chamber members learn about marketing strategies
South Carolina Now, South Carolina - 20 hours ago
Woods said bartering or trading services is good for networking, but added that the best marketing tip “is to put your business out there. ...

Marketing - Google News

home | site map
© 2006