It’s best to ask questions before you settle for promoting an affiliate program. Do some research about the choices of the program you intend joining and get the positive answers you are looking for because none of us want unpleasant surprises along the way.

What is the cost to join?

Most affiliate programs are free of charge. You will probably be spending your hard earned money on the promotion of this program so why pay up front money to join.

When do they Pay us Affiliates?

This depends on the program you are promoting. If you choose a program from Clickbank, you would be paid twice a month by Clickbank however, some other programs issue checks monthly or quarterly so you can see the importance of understanding this aspect from the get go. Some affiliate programs also have set a minimum earned commission amount prior to issuing a check.

What is the hit per sale ratio?

This statistic is very important. It is the number of hits on average it takes to generate a sale. From this the affiliate can approximately figure out the amount of traffic needed before a commission is realized.

How are referrals from an affiliates site tracked and for how long do they remain in the system?

When the affiliate marketer joins an affiliate program, he is issued an i.d. number. This number is added to the programs URL so purchases that are generated using your i.d. will be credited to you. When your prospect visits the programs website, a cookie is generated and credited to you so if no initial purchase is made but they return sometime later to make a purchase, you would still get credit. You need to know the term of the cookie. They do vary from program to program but aproximately a 3 month duration.

What are the kinds of affiliate stats available?

The affiliate program that you are researching should be able and willing to supply these stats. They are generally available to the affiliate after logging into the members area. These stats should be constantly checked by the affiliate to know the amount of impressions, hits and sales generated from your site. Impressions show the number of times a banner or text link was viewed whereas a hit is clicking the banner or text.

Does the affiliate program also pay for the hits and impressions besides the commissions on sales?

This depends on what goods the program sells. If it is an e-book for example where the commission is generally 50 to 60%, then do not expect to get paid for your hits and impressions generated from your site. If the program sells tangible goods generally they offer much lower percentage commissions and hits and impressions could also be paid.

Who is the online retailer?

It is very important to know who you, the affiliate, are representing in business. You should know the products you are representing, you should also be aware of how good the retailers customer relations is and also check out the endorsements that generally appear on the sales page. Your name and reputation could be blemished if the program and the principal of that program do not meet the advertised jargon.

Is the affiliate a one tier or two tier program?

A single tier program pays only for the business you yourself have generated whereas a two tier program pays you for your business plus it pays you a commission on the sales generated by any affiliate you sponsor into the program. There is another important aspect that many programs are now implementing, namely One Time Offers. This is a page that is displayed after the initial transaction is complete and generally offers an upgrade for X amount of $s. This is a bonus for the affiliate marketer because it could be 2 commissions earnt from one client. Sometimes the commissions vary from the initial sale to the O.T.O., for example, 60% for the initial sale and 50% for the O.T.O.

Lastly, what is the amount of commission paid?

Depending on the program the range can be anywhere from 5% - 70%. If you are an affiliate who represents a program who only sell digital products your commissions are generally in the 50 to 60% range. The reason for this is because product cost is very minimal due to instant downloads. For tangible items, the wholesale cost of the product plus the shipping and handling costs involved must be deducted from the
retail price so the affiliate marketers commission would only be based on the retailers mark-up.

These are some of the questions affiliate marketers should get answers to prior to getting involved with any affiliate program. There are many, many programs for you to choose to represent, but look at individual programs the same way as you would any conventional business that would require a front end investment. Remember, representing any affiliate program will certainly cost you time and generally promotional money so be sure to do your due diligence at the outset.

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Ask questions first before you join an affiliate program. Do a little research about the choices of program that you intend to join into. Get some answers because they will be the deciding point of what you will be achieving later on.

Will it cost you anything to join? Most affiliate programs being offered today are absolutely free of charge. So why settle for those that charge you some dollars before joining.

When do they issue the commission checks? Every program is different. Some issue their checks once a month, every quarter, etc. Select the one that is suited to your payment time choice. Many affiliate programs are setting a minimum earned commission amount that an affiliate must meet or exceed in order for their checks to be issued.

What is the hit per sale ratio? This is the average number of hits to a banner or text link it takes to generate a sale based on all affiliate statistics. This factor is extremely important because this will tell you how much traffic you must generate before you can earn a commission from the sale.

How are referrals from an affiliates site tracked and for how long do they remain in the system? You need to be confident on the program enough to track those people you refer from your site. This is the only way that you can credit for a sale. The period of time that those people stay in the system is also important. This is because some visitors do not buy initially but may want to return later to make the purchase. Know if you will still get credit for the sale if it is done some months from a certain day.

What are the kinds of affiliate stats available? Your choice of affiliate program should be capable of offering detailed stats. They should be available online anytime you decide to check them out. Constantly checking your individual stats is important to know how many impressions, hits and sales are already generated from your site. Impressions are the number of times the banner or text link was viewed by a visitor of your site. A hit is the one clicking on the banner or text links.

Does the affiliate program also pay for the hits and impressions besides the commissions on sales? It is important that impressions and hits are also paid, as this will add to the earnings you get from the sales commission. This is especially important if the program you are in offers low sales to be able to hit ratio.

Who is the online retailer? Find out whom you are doing business with to know if it is really a solid company. Know the products they are selling and the average amount they are achieving. The more you know about the retailer offering you the affiliate program, the easier it will be for you to know if that program is really for you and your site.

Is the affiliate a one tier or two tier program? A single tier program pays you only for the business you yourself have generated. A two tier program pays you for the business, plus it also pays you a commission on the on the sales generated by any affiliate you sponsor in your program. Some two-tier programs are even paying small fees on each new affiliate you sponsor. More like a recruitment fee.

Lastly, what is the amount of commission paid? 5% - 20% is the commission paid by most programs. .01% - .05% is the amount paid for each hit. If you find a program that also pays for impressions, the amount paid is not much at all. As you can see from the figures, you will now understand why the average sales amount and hit to sale ratio is important.

These are just some of the questions that needed answering first before you enter into an affiliate program. You should be familiar with the many important aspects that your chosen program should have before incorporating them into your website. Try to ask your affiliate program choices these questions. These can help you select the right program for you site from among the many available.

Pat Blanks An experienced and successful Trainer, Manager Tech Support and Coach who owns a range of successful websites. Discover How To Easily Generate Thousands of Dollars Every Month With This Secret Affiliate Marketing System…On Complete Autopilot! http://acss.thisebiz4u.com/