Finding good affiliates.

...question from a merchant...

[SoleDrag]

How do you find decent affiliates? We have a good product and are honest, but can't seem to land good affiliates!

Where do they pick merchants to sell for?

[DeepInTheCode]

When you say "good" affiliates I'm assuming you have some affiliates now but the traffic & conversion is low. You could proactively find websites that represent your niche and email the webmaster about your program.

Many merchants have nice features to their affiliate programs that act as incentives for affiliates to choose them over other similar merchants.

As an affiliate here are some things that attract me to a merchant's product(s):

1) The product's relevance to my websites
2) How high the commission percentage is and is it competitive with similar merchants?
(10% commission is better than 5%)
3) How much competition the product has (i.e.: is everybody marketing something similar?)
4) The ability to choose the landing page on the merchant's site. Because on some sites the main page is not as targeted as I'd like.
5) A turnkey website or "store" that I can install with a JavaScript snippet or PHP/ASP page.
6) A product data feed
7) The ability to track the source of a lead/sale like Commission Junction does thru its SID url parameter.
8) Performance incentives. (i.e.: A bonus or higher commission for higher volume)

[malachite]

I agree with the comments made by DeepInTheCode, and would add a couple more:

1) Prompt, efficient support
2) For a standalone merchant, a relatively low payment threshold - eg payment is made to the affiliate once commissions reach $25/£25 rather than having to accumulate $100/£100 or more

[CatLady]

Recurring commissions on renewals (revenue sharing) is a major thing I look for when promoting a service for a merchant.