Affiliate programs - effective? which are recommended?

From: Andrew Turner <unioncentral_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Wed 05 Dec 2001 08:46:33 -0500

Fist of all let me say that after using this forum
for about a week I've been very impressed with the
quality of the posting! And THANKS to those of
you who responded to my previous question.

What are your thoughts on affiliate programs - not
in terms of revenue generation for the site owner,
but in terms of using it as a marketing strategy for
selling.

Let me give you some background.

1. I have an online software product, directed
towards a market of site owners and advertisers.

2. The product is relatively unique and within a
week or two of being ready to sell.

3. I have no funding whatsoever.

4. I'd prefer to do it on my own, if possible.

My thought has been that affiliate programs would
allow me to pay for my marketing on a performance
bases (pay per sale), thus leverage my 'no
funding' status into actual sales. In other words,
if I'm paying per sale, I'll pay $1 million if I
can product $2mil in sales, even if I've got lint
in my pocket right now.

I've thought about going the route of seeking
funding, and while that's still an available option,
I'd prefer to keep this all in house.

Costs are low, product is good - think of it as an
eBook. That's not what it is, but the sales
model/costs/marketing would be similar.

Does affiliate selling sound to you like a good
option? If so, what are your recommendations?

I've heard horror stories about Commission Junction,
and since I'm a smaller seller, they might not be the
right place to go. I've looked briefly at various
others.

Thoughts?

Andrew Turner
TOBAS Systems
www.tobas-tools.com






Received on Wed Dec 05 2001 - 07:46:33 CST