Pay Per Sale vs. Pay Per Click

[Paper_Chase]

I am new to Webmasterworld and new to marketing on the internet. I have spent hours reading about affiliate marketing but most information seems far too advanced for me. My concept is simple. I would like to start websites about certain topics and give away free information. Within the free information, I would like to recommend certain brand products and review them. I would then like to be able to link to the suppliers and sellers of these products if the reader is interested in purchasing the product. Pay per click seems to be more suited for mass direction of internet surfers. The concept I have seems to be more suited to a specific niche consumer that is more likely to purchase and therefore Pay per sale may be the better way to go. Does anyone have any further insight into the pros and cons of these methods? Two spceific questions I also have not been able to find is how do I make sure I get credit and get paid for the pay per sale referral and what are normal ranges of commission percentages for the sale? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[fclark]

hi paper_chase,

pay-per-sale could be achieved though an affiliate relationship with the vendors, where you earn a commission on each sale (3% to 50%), or you could earn a flat fee on each sale (cpa, cost-per-acquisition). there are affiliate networks that track sales and ensure payment (commissoin juncion is the major player).

pay-per-click is very easily implemented by joining google adsense. you place their ad unit and they pay you per click. check out the adsense forum here.

welcome to webmasterworld, by the way.

[lawman]

Yeah, welcome to WW baby brother. Y'all take it easy on him - he's a lawyer and thinks weird thoughts. :)

Oh, BTW Paper Chase, remember what I told you about short paragraphs for online posting.

[Paper_Chase]

Thanks for the info. That is very helpful. Also, sorry, I forgot about the style lesson. I will remember in the future. Thanks Again.

[createErrorMsg]

how do I make sure I get credit and get paid for the pay per sale referral

Affiliate programs will assign you a unique ID that is passed to the affiliate site through the URL of the clicked link. The affiliate site then takes the ID and logs the referral as having come from your site.

For instance, say you wrote a review on your site for Acme Jet-Propelled Roller Skates. Somewhere on that page would be a link or two directing your users to the Acme website where they can buy the Roller Skates (I always assumed this was how Wile E Coyote got his goods). The html code for the link would look something like this...

<a href="http://www.example.com/product.php?item=jetskates&pub=paper_chase_reviews">Buy Jet Propelled Roller Skates NOW!</a>

This would point to a page on the Acme website that processes the incoming request. It takes the red part of the above code, which tells it which product the user wants, and displays the order page for that product. It takes the blue part of the above code, which tells it from whose site the request is coming, and uses it to log the referral on your account. The specific details will vary from aff program to aff program, but I believe the general idea persists.

The question always remains whether the affiliate is being honest with you about logging all referals. There are programming things that can be done on your end to keep track of users clicking on those links. In addition, there's the assumption that a large and widespread affilate program can't afford to risk it's reputation on ripping off a site owner for a few referrals. This may or may not be simple naivete, of course, but I like to think it's true.

If your relationship with the product vendor is not part of an established affiliate program and/or network, you would have to arrange your own programmatic method of tracking referrals, tracking sales, and arranging payment.

cEM

Sorry. My daughter is watching Road Runner cartoons in the background.

[fclark]

hi again paper_chase,

what kind of law do you practice? (i'm married to an attorney!). potentially, you have lots of good, high-value content for a site of your own.... On a law site, however, you always struggle with the balance between professionalism and commercialism -- can't have too many aff links up.

[Paper_Chase]

Thanks for the responses in my absence. Sorry for the delay in response.

I took the liberty of going on an extended weekend vacation. It was not long enough, but much needed.

The answer as to what type of law is simple and complex. You name it, I have done it. At this point in life, I am a bankruptcy and business lawyer.

I hold a master of laws in Taxation and I served as a chapter 7 trustee for about 4 years until I realized it was half of my work and one-forth of my income. Now I do 100% bankruptcy and business trouble shooting.