A lot of large and small online businesses have an affiliate program, and are continually working with their affiliates helping them to succeed. Think of your affiliates as salespeople you hired to go around selling your product or service. Too often I see a lack of emphasis on the affiliate program. I am convinced that there has never been a better way to make money. 

If you are able to set up a good profitable affiliate program, it is so easy for everyone involved to benefit. All you do is help the affiliate, and all the affiliates do in essence, is link to you. It's so simple and easy for everyone involved but it works extremely well with a minimal investment of time, energy and money. 

If you hired 50 of these salespeople, would you train them and provide them with tools? Yes. Would you stay in contact with them? Yes. Would you keep your sales force happy and motivated? Yes. A secret of the majority of wealthy people is that they spend time and money on the things that matter. Determine what matters to your business and then spend a proportionate amount of your time on that task. 

I have determined that our affiliate programs, when given a modest investment of time and energy matters most to our business. You may find the same thing if you incorporate my suggestions into your own affiliate management strategy. Why wait until now? Now is the time, after testing your copy, perfecting your sales process and gaining accurate statistics to launch your affiliate program. 

Trying to launch your affiliate program before this point may not be wise. You don't want to have affiliates sign up with you too early and then be disappointed by conversions and drop your program. Be sure to have your site converting at least 1.25% of visitors to customers before you consider actively promoting your affiliate program. Don't be afraid to market your affiliate program just as you would your product. 

What is your affiliate program’s Unique Selling Proposition? What makes your affiliate program better than all the others in your niche? Do you provide more promotional tools? Are your conversions better? Do you offer bigger commissions? Are your products higher quality than competitors? You have to sell affiliates on your site. You have to convince them that you can bring them in more money than your competitors. You should have a separate sales letter to “sell” affiliates on your site. 

Be careful that your affiliates won’t be insulted. Don’t present them with hype, simply be honest about the benefits of doing business with you. Too often I come to sales pages for affiliate programs and they assume that only webmasters who are looking for is a little side money from their site are reading it. Certainly, webmasters may prove to be the most profitable share of your affiliate sales force, but your affiliate program should be a business opportunity in itself. 

Besides, your sales letter alone should have a separate site for your affiliates that has a pretty intensive affiliate training and incentive program. 

Educate your affiliates on: 

a) How a personal testimonial will out perform any other type of link. Make sure they know that and give examples. 

b) Wise ways to spend their money that have worked for you in the past and gotten you a good return. Quote real numbers. Be sure to calculate it based on their commission per sale and not what you make. 

c) Recommended strategies and good angles for effective copy. How to place banner ads and where, etc,.

d) What software programs and online services you use and recommend to others. Why they are good and how using that product will boost their sales.

e) Give a basic summary of Internet marketing and what prospects will be looking for in your product. Explain why such knowledge is important for making a sale and maximizing their profits. 

Nothing is more motivating than having a personal relationship with you. You should try to establish a one-on-one relationship with your affiliates. Soon after sign up, send each affiliate a welcome email wishing them success and offering them your help whenever they need it. Let them know that you always have time for their questions or concerns. 

Some of your affiliates may have difficulty, so choose which ones who are earning in the bottom third. Contact them via-email asking if there is anything you can do to assist them. Usually they desperately want your help and are eager to hear what you have to say. Take a look at their web site. Offer them suggestions on how to improve their conversions, criticize flaws, and offer suggestions about how to build more traffic. When I help my affiliates I am helping myself. This one-on-one interaction keeps your affiliates highly motivated and promotes a long-term, profitable relationship. I highly recommend that you devote at least 30% of your workday to improving your affiliate program, helping your current affiliates, and recruiting new affiliates. This will pay off for you ten fold in the long run.

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