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Top 10 Tips for Choosing the Affiliate Program that is Right for You

The easiest and cheapest ways of becoming a Home Based Business Entrepreneur is to become an affiliate and promote a product.

Kanaga Sivaraj

November 15, 2007

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The cherished dream of a lot of people is to own a Home Based Business one day and be their own Boss. Becoming an Affiliate and promoting the product is no doubt one of the easiest and cheapest ways of becoming a Home Based Business Entrepreneur. Choosing an Affiliate Program has never been an easy task for most people. The Internet abounds with all kinds of Scams and the hype is so powerful and tempting that the gullible often fall prey for it.

The question is how do you identify the genuine Program and which one should you choose? Here are top ten tips you may want to look over before choosing an affiliate program that is best for you.

1. You have to identify a product or service for which there is a need. The product should be such that you would love and enjoy promoting it. You could start by searching for “Affiliate Programs” in the Search Engines.

2. The product or service should be relevant to your website. It will be unwise promoting a product that has no relevancy. Your website visitors will click off the moment they enter your site since they have no interest at all in these products.

3. It is always wise to join an affiliate program that is long standing, safe and secure and has a good reputation in the Internet world. This can be easily verified from the Better Business Bureau or other similar organizations. Visits to Forums and Discussion Groups will also provide you with a lot of useful information.

4. Most affiliate program providers provide a commission of 5% to 50%.  The commission you earn for the sale of a product is your main income. So while choosing an affiliate program you should study the commission paid out and decide on a program that pays at least 35% for you to run your business successfully.

5. There should be a proper tracking system in place to record all the clicks and sales made through the text links and banners placed on your website, e-mails and other advertisements.

6. One important factor that is often overlooked is the “hits per sale ratio”. This indicates the number of hits that have to be made to a Text Link or Banner to generate a sale. This will give you an idea as to how much traffic is needed before a sale is made. You should be satisfied if the product converts at 2% or more.

7. How often are commissions paid? This is another important matter that should be considered. Most reputed organizations pay their affiliates monthly or when they accumulate a minimum commission of $50 to $ 100 or as indicated by you.  You should avoid any program that requires too many sales to reach the minimum amount.

8. Affiliate Programs are generally single tier or two tier. A single tier program pays you for whatever business you have generated. On the other hand a two tier program pays you for the business you have generated and also a commission for the sales generated by a sub- affiliate, you have sponsored. A two tier program is always advantageous.

9. Long standing reputed organizations provide a whole range of tools and resources such as Banners, Text Links, Brochures, Websites and training for their affiliates. When choosing look out for such organizations because they certainly make life much easier and helps you grow your home based business.

10. Finally, you must read and understand the agreement before you join as an affiliate even if it happens to be the best organization in the world.

Choosing an Affiliate Program that is right for you might be time consuming but a worth while process. Going through the above process will also be a learning curve for new entrepreneurs who are serious about starting a successful Home Based Business.

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