Forum Moderators: skibum
I know a few. How much do I get paid, would be at the top. How often? How do you track? How do I get paid? How do I link?
What are some others?
What affiliates fail to many times realize is you only realize the income from the customer you sent to a site "one time"... The site then has that Customer for "life".....
Verticals like contacts, florists, travel will many times see repeat business from that customer many times (If they are doing their job)..
So, look for affiliate programs that have 30 day cookies, so that if the customer doesn't buy today, and comes back in a week, or 2 weeks, you still get credit for the sale.
It's also important to know if you get credit for repeat business. I suppose the default might be that you are only compensated for a new customer. If you are earning something for a customer that sticks around, though, you definitely want to know about it. (Example: web hosting. Many customers will keep renewing their subscription with a good hosting service. Do you just get paid for the initial purchase, or do you see something for subscription renewals.)
Another good one is the minimum amount that an affiliate must earn before a check is cut. A few sneaky affiliate programs offer a good competitive plan, but have a minimum payout as high as a few hundred dollars. This way they can avoid ever having to pay commission to all the little league affiliates that don't do much as individuals, even though together they can generate a lot of business for the company.
Clay
1. Do you offer a co-branded site or data feed, then 100 questions about how to actually implement that depending upon the merchant.
2. Negotiate the commission.....it is rarely fixed at the published figures. You may have to settle for a performance incentive with a new merchant relationship unless you can prove targeted traffic.
3. Cookies (must have)....duration (20 to 45 days is acceptable for me).
4. Linking, preferably no restrictions (as long as legally allowable) for sale or lead programs. For CPC programs then negotiate the amount of "branding" you have to show and the user friendliness of their suggested text links. Typically most "authorized" text links suck, so you need to suggest better ones and get them approved for CPC programs. Merchants want to double up, they get free advertising for the brand regardless of click through on CPC programs....no, no, no......that is generally not a good deal unless they want to pay more than the advertised fees.
5. Exclusivity.....Not a chance with a new merchant relationship. Keep this one in the bag and revisit it after 3 to 6 months to negotiate a better deal. If you grant exclusivity, in exchange for increased commission, only do it on a short term basis.
6. Tracking.....very important. In the early days you will want to experiment, hourly and daily with what works and what doesn't. Real time is great, daily is okay IMHO, anything longer is a pain the merchant should be paying for. For CPC programs this isn't an issue as you can DIY, for sale/lead programs it is critical.
7. With-holding for refunds.......don't like those. We should all be in it for the long term and refunds shouldn't be an issue.
8. Limiting competition. Not something you can usually do on day one, but something to think about for down the road. Is the merchant open to the concept of limiting the number of affiliates they will accept, and will they close the program once you have proven your worth?
9. Use of propriety material. Can I use some of the merchant's content as and when necessary. Doesn't occur often, but when it does it can be a real time saver on setup.
10. For "In-House" programs........Can you pay by direct deposit?.....not a deal breaker, but a nice to have.
