Choosing a Good Affiliate Program

By: James Slader

You want to take the plunge into affiliate marketing and you want to do it right. You know there are many affiliate programs out there, some good, and some not so good. How do you know a program is right for you? What is a good affiliate program and how do they differ from poor affiliate programs?

A good affiliate program begins with a great product of course, but it also needs a supportive and knowledgeable affiliate manager behind it. An affiliate manager who provides you with product knowledge and updates on a regular basis is a great aid to your Internet business. When you have access to information from an informed affiliate manager, you can take that information and use it to market your affiliate product effectively.

Information that an affiliate manager gives you is typically up-to-date and relevant. This makes great fodder for your article-marketing program. Use the information received from an affiliate manager to write quality content for use in article marketing. The best affiliate programs have business-savvy, engaging affiliate managers as part of their team. A poor affiliate program doesn't have an affiliate manager to go to, or if they do, they are poorly trained and of little assistance.

When you look for a good affiliate program, look for one that encourages dialog between affiliate managers and members. You want an open-door policy, so-to-speak, where you can approach your affiliate manager at any reasonable time to ask questions and get advice on how to be a better affiliate marketer. As well, you want access to other affiliate members in the network so you can share ideas and concerns and get help and moral support for your business. When there is dialog between members of an affiliate organization a team concept develops where all work together for the common good. That common good is driving affiliate product sales.

A poor affiliate program does not encourage affiliate member interaction. Moreover, in a program such as this you may even find it difficult to gain access to a human being at the affiliate parent company. A poor affiliate program does not value the human element in the business. They just want sales and are not concerned with the people driving these sales for them.

A good affiliate program provides resources for building your downline. A productive downline is critical to affiliate marketing success. You can only do so much as a lone affiliate marketer. You can write articles and sign up for article marketing programs and get great article distribution so your links get out there to drive your affiliate sales. You can spend the time and money necessary to promote your website and its products in many other ways. However, you only have so many hours in the day and cannot do everything.

This is where a great downline works for you, even when you are not personally working yourself. A good affiliate program provides you with the tools and information needed to train your downline for productivity. They consistently keep you up-to-date on affiliate program happenings so you can keep your downline up-to-date. Again, it's all about the team concept, where all affiliate participants from managers down work together. This is what a good affiliate program provides you. A poor affiliate program offers no support or resources for developing your downline business.

Choose an affiliate program that offers you a knowledgeable and enthusiastic affiliate manager. Choose one that encourages interaction between affiliate members and one that gives you all needed to build your downline effectively. When you choose this type of affiliate program over one that shows little interest in working with you, you are on your way to affiliate marketing success.

Information about the Author:

Jim Slader manages the Article Marketer affiliate program at ArticleMarketer.com. Become part of the winning team; www.articlemarketer.com/affiliateinfo.php