Shareasale or homegrown?

Should I launch my aff. program on Share-A-Sale or on my own software?

[pdivi]

I need some advice. After researching aff. networks, including reading the posts on this board, I've decided that Shareasale is the network that makes the most sense for my business. My remaining question is, should I bother with a network or should I just be an independent?

I already own affiliate software that performs the basic functions such as tracking sales and calculating payouts. I am considering a network for the 1) immediate access to a pool of affiliates, 2) credibility with prospects.

Will using Shareasale really bring immediate affiliate interest, and will it give me more credibility with affiliates over an independant program?

The website is specialty e-commerce, focusing on a broad appeal niche with women 20-30 y/o. There are many publishers out there with sites devoted to related content, so I estimate the affiliate opportunities are vast.

[markwelch]

Unless your company is extremely well-known and trusted, you will probably find that using a network like ShareASale will be more effective.

Affiliates (web publishers) are constantly worried about getting paid, because many merchants have defaulted on their payment promises over the past few years. To address this issue, ShareASale requires merchants to have funds on deposit with them -- if these funds are depleted, affiliate links simply stop working, so the merchant doesn't get traffic that isn't going to be paid for.

There are many reasons to consider offering an independent/in-house affiliate program, but the trust factor is generally going to push you toward the network option.

Many merchants offer multiple affiliate-program opportunities. For example, you might run a ShareASale program paying 15% (which means you'd also need to pay ShareASale another 3%), and a direct program paying 18%. (Note that if you have multiple tracking systems, you must create a system to insure that you don't pay multiple commissions on the same transaction.)

[Chuck Hamrick]

Either way you need something to attract affiliates to your program. Shareasale has tons of great affiliate but if your program is not heads above others in its category you will have trouble attracting affiliates.

First do an analysis by joining the top networks as an affiliate. Research what other programs are offering for commissions, minimum threshold for payment, EPC, performance intecentives, sales bonues, etc. Then compare what you can offer and how it sizes up against your competition.

While you are gathering data keep track of terms and conditions as you will need to write those yourself. Also see if you can contact the affiliate managers, you would be surprised at how much insight you can get that way!