Forum Moderators: phranque
lets say you sell shoes but you actually would like to list the products rather then list banners
Many affiliate programmes (both network and independant) are now providing data feeds for you to do just that.
do you have to join one of those groups similar to commission junction etc.... or can you go through the actual websites in order to affiliate with them.
If a merchant is running their affiliate programme through a network then yes - you do have to join the network because there is simply no mechanism to be their affiliate by going "direct".
They have outsourced the entire affiliate marketing process of tracking, serving creatives (banners), reporting and commission processing to the network because they can't / don't want to do it themselves.
Some merchants do run their own programmes (Amazon.com, eBay for example) - you just have to look out for links at the bottom of home pages, or look at the "Independant Programmes" section of the various affiliate directories and forums.
Ben
1) If I am going through a third party like comission junction, can I use other sites to affiliate as well or do I strictly have to use that one.
Depends on the network/merchant. There is no hard/fast rule about it - you need to read terms and conditions and see what you are allowed to do. Some merchants couldn't care less where / how you link to them; where as other merchants care a lot - normally big names that are protective of their brand and how it is represented.
There is also the tracking issue. Most networks will track and credit sales however the affiliate link was invoked (regardless of terms and conditions); however there is one network I know of that explicitly states that commissions will not be tracked or honoured if a link does not come from a site that you have registered with them / been accepted to a particular merchant from.
2) Lets just say I made a really nice website, selling something that I really have a passion about; not a typical affiliation site; any suggestions for this or should I strictly go through these third party affiliation networks even if my site can generate a good amount of sales?
Not quite sure what you're getting at here - it sounds like you are thinking of setting up your own ecommerce store which is a whole different ball game to affiliate marketting. If you are still thinking of the affiliate route then the above still applies - find a suitable merchant that offers an affiliate programme and join it.
However, if you really think you have created a mega-site with thousands of well qualified visitors every day for "blue widgets", then you could approach blue widget merchants directly (regardless of whether they have an affiliate programme or not) and see if they would be interested in working with you some how.
3) Also, if my site one day is getting a lot of hits; what is the best way to approach companies as far as having them advertise on your site. how does something like this work, would you have to show them your statistics. and how do you know if you are getting enough hits to have somebody advertise on your site anyways?
See above - if you have the site and the well qualified visitors then you have a strong negotiating position to talk to merchants directly. Otherwise you could look into the various advertising networks who will bring advertisers to your site based on content - without you having to build relationships with the advertisers themselves. This would be the way to go in the first instance.
Statistics don't really mean anything because what counts is how well qualified your visitors are in terms of being in the market for blue widgets. You could go out and purchase "20 billion hits for $20" and show a merchant an impressive access log but it won't wash.
Anyways, if your site becomes a smash hit authority for "blue widgets" you will have the merchants knocking on your door asking to advertise.
