Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Mpartner 150x121 Affiliate Marketingarketing seems to strike fear into even the most sensible of people. Why? Simply because they think an affiliate marketer might make some money selling something! Has the world gone mad? This is the society that we live in, many companies both online and offline are affiliates of another company. Remember, the next time you buy a book from your local store, they probably didn’t write it! They have an affiliation with a publisher to sell their books and in turn make a profit. If you buy a car from a Ford (TM) dealer you are buying from a franchise, they don’t design, build and distribute the vehicle, Ford (TM) does, they are an affiliate of Ford and basically get paid for selling the car from their showroom. All these companies are an affiliate, associate, partner, reseller whichever word you choose!

Now unfortunatley the word affiliate has gained a bad reputation on the internet as there are many unsrupulous people willing to deceive customers and take their hard earned money. Obviously this happens offline as well, however companies like Google (TM) are cutting down on this in a big way for internet related commerce. A lot of people believe that Google (TM) and the big players don’t like affiliates, that just isn’t true, what they don’t like is trashy, cheap, unrelated and zero content sites displaying on their search results. That is the key, their search results, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t other ways to promote a single offer but the large players are simply saying that they are willing for you to advertise your wears, but follow the guidelines.

Most of the time when a website gets a ‘Google’ (TM) slap it’s usually due to the fact that they haven’t actually read the terms and conditions. If you read through them there are certainly some guidelines that are applicable to Google (TM), but importantly these have been formed around the rules that have recently been updated from the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). These apply to everyone, no matter where you are based in the world if the end product or service results in a US citizen buying. They are asking for a site structure that enables the potential customer to find out who you are and what your legal disclaimers are, including things like privacy policies and earning disclaimers and so on. It amazes me how many sites simply don’t have these and then wonder why it’s all gone wrong. I know it’s a bit difficult to keep up with the changes, but at least make sure you have the basics in place.

Now we have got all that out of the way we can get on with our ecommerce business as we are all fundamentally sales people, “Not me” I hear, yes you are, even if you’re an aircraft designer. Guess what, you’re selling your time and skills to your employer in return for a monthly salary, unless you’re one of a very few people who go to work for nothing!

This page will evolve to feature joint venture affiliate programs soon to help you going forward

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