CAN YOU RISK SUPPORTING AN AFFILIATE PROGRAM?
by Bob McElwain

There is an over-abundance of affiliate programs available.
All eagerly invite you to participate. If you like, visit
http://www.AssociatePrograms.com. Allan Gardyne has the most
comprehensive list of programs I have seen. Almost 3000 of them
at the last count I noted. And he reports thoroughly on each,
as information becomes available. (Allan does a super top job
in this.)

But before jumping on this idea, pause and think for a
moment. If getting rich on the Web means only slapping a site
together with some banners linked to affiliate products, then
why are so many people failing? Why do they cave in and quit
after a few months?

Many, if not most, come charging onto the Web with some
vague notion of getting rich quick. When it doesn't happen
overnight, they're gone.

Short of winning a lottery, I don't know of an easy way to
get rich. In fact I've never met anyone doing well who had not
achieved their position through hard work. Sure, luck helps.
And skills and talents. But it's work that makes it happen.

The Truth About InfoProducts

Long before the Web came into being, there was mail order.
It seems there are many millions of people in the US who spend
considerable dollars each year on schemes that will make them
rich, and do so easily. One of the best items to sell was books.
And a book in this sense was maybe 80 pages, cost a buck to
produce and sold for $20. Plus shipping and handling, of course.
A great markup. And if done properly, great profits.

Now comes the Web and ebooks. Heck, it now costs zero
to make an electronic copy. Even greater profits. If you want
to get rich, write a book that promises easy riches and sell it
to those foolish enough to believe there is an easy way, that
they just haven't found it. Better yet, start your own affiliate
program and get others to sell for you.

Remember, though, exactly what you are doing, exactly who
your target is. You want people who believe there is an easy
way. (There isn't.) You convince them you have found it. (A
lie.) And you rip them for maximum profit. (Theft, but legal.)

I have known people successful at this. But they were not
people I wanted to get to know well. And while I doubt they
dwelt on it, I don't think they liked themselves very much.

An Honest Product

The flip side lies in producing an honest product that sells
at a reasonable price. To paraphrase what a bright fellow once
said (his name escapes me), the best price is one at which the
seller is content with the profit and the buyer receives more
than expected.

If you sell products that deliver on this simple formula,
your customers will continue to think well of you. And they'll
be back for more. So when considering an affiliate program, be
sure it delivers the real goods.

Affiliate Kickback

When you sign up with an affiliate program and begin selling
their product from your site, you are "recommending" this product
to every single visitor. If it is anything less than a good
product, one that over-delivers at a fair price, your
recommendation will backfire. Your credibility will be
diminished. As will that of your site. And it will become
correspondingly more difficult to achieve the goals for which
the site was built.

Does Your Site Have A Viable Purpose?

If you built your site to achieve a specific set of goals,
chances are you are on your way to success already. For example,
your goal may be to generate leads followed up with personal
contact by your sales staff. You may be selling information
difficult to obtain elsewhere. Or you may be selling good
products and/or services.

If you have or are close to having a site that works, think
twice before adding a button to Amazon.Com, or to any other
program. Unless that product is certain to be of value to your
visitors, certain to over-deliver, and increase loyalty to you,
don't do it. To put this another way, you can not afford to
suggest any product that does not fit in with your site purpose,
or that in any way diminishes your credibility.

You Can Live Without It

If your site has a concrete purpose for being, if it is
working effectively, you may be unable to find an affiliate
product you can risk representing.
_________________________________________________________

Bob McElwain
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