Joining an affiliate network is not as easy as it sounds, because when you sign up they all ask the same question.
- What’s the name of your website and how many visitors do you get.
Now when you are new its impossible to give this information and usually your application gets rejected. So the best thing to do is once you have submitted your application is to send in a motivational email explaining you are new to the game and need to see what offers they have available before you can build a website. Be persistent and email them everyday if you have to. Eventually they will approve you and open your account.
Terms and Conditions
The next thing you need to take a careful look at is their terms and conditions and their payment cycle.
The payment cycle is very important because if they state payment is made in 30 days it means you get paid in 60 days. If it states 60 days you get paid in 90 days. So just be aware of this because it can affect your cash flow if you are using paid advertising.
Also another thing to check for is how are they going to pay you. Is it by EFT or Cheque. Here in SA its pretty straight forward, but overseas some sites pay via Ebookers or Paypal so just make sure because currently you can not transfer money into South Africa with paypal.
The second thing to look at is who carries the risk if a merchant doesn’t pay them. Some networks do not carry this risk and should a merchant default on their payment you have no claim and it can cost you a lot of money especially if you use paid advertising. Trust me I have been caught like this a few times, so careful consideration should be taken in to account if you decide to promote a product on a network and they exclude themselves from the risk.
Once your application is approved and your account is open the next thing to do is search for offers and products you would like to promote.
I will go into detail on this in the next post, but if you having any questions please feel free to post them below in the comments section.
Great Article and good points on the Cash flow issue that so many affiliates find themselves in. Generally speaking you should always market with a 3 month budget, and structure your cash flow accordingly.
As for the Networks not carrying the merchant risk in terms of them paying their account and passing this responsibility over to the affiliates, I remain of the opinion that is TOTAL BULLSHIT!
The bottom line is that they have the credit record and relationship with the merchant, and besides carrying the back office costs, the credit risk should be theirs, thats why they earn 30% plus of what we as affiliates make for the merchant.
To the best of my knowledge locally Offer Forge will carry this risk, Traffic Synergy does not.
So Affiliates think twice about who you decide to promote!
Nice post Dale. I think in South Africa you don’t have a problem getting approved as they basically approve anyone that applies – or at least that was the case with me when I started out.
But yes – with some of the US networks it’s definitely like that. Specially CJ!! So good advice about emailing them every day. I’ve been waiting for about 2 weeks now to get approved at my one merchant… Think I’ll try your advice in this case
Thanks to your advice, I was finally approved, it took a while with many motivational emails sent on almost a daily basis!!
Hi guys – thanks for the great post and comments – quick question – what international affiliate program is good – there seems to be such a limited market that we as Saffers buy from – i can think of Amazon and Ebay – but what other sites should we target.
thanks
Hi
The only ones I use are Commission Junction, Click Bank and for the UK I use Tradedoubler
Another great post, thanks.
I started out and got accepted by CJ-USA without a problem and then did not have a site, did not how to start up, so off to tutorials. One year later and I am now at a stage where I am starting to feel more settled and able to start selling.
PayPal was the biggest pain in my life! New to Blogging… avoid them and don’t waste time. Click Bank I have used, yet to sell.
What I would like to know is if you set up a .co.za domain to sell here in SA – is there any bank that offers a “button” installation for your site such as PP and CB offer?
Which bank locally and “shopping cart” for digital and or physical products would you advise?
By what I have seen a shopping cart is for physical purchases – a button system is used for digital.
Joan, you could try PayFast.co.za – developed by the guys from BidOrBuy. They accept EFTs and CC payments, and transfer direct to your bank account.
They give you the code for a button like Paypal, and also support a number of shopping carts.
Setcom offers similar features, but I found their process much more difficult to understand. It’s probably just me.
Hi Dale,
Of the three SA Aff networks, one has accepted my application. Still waiting for the second one application. The third just completed and sent now @ 10:41
Give it time and if they don't just email them. Just remember there are humans behind these websites
Oh yes, all applications been approved just few days after this post. Busy creating campaigns.
Hi Dale I forgot to report back, both my aff applications were approved couple days after the above post. So far the communication is two way and quick.
Hi Dale.
I like the article on Affiliate Networks. You are right about getting accepted, it does take a lot of communicating, begging etc to get them to say "yes".
I would recommend having a site going before contacting them, but obviously if you don't know what they have you cannot do that.
Is there maybe a way you can check all the programs and products before actually trying to join them – that way when you apply you may sound more convincing – and maybe you can already have built the site.