If you’re looking to have multiple affiliates all across the internet promoting your product, there are many many options available to you. You’re obviously going to have more options available to you if your product is not XXX in nature. Remember my previous post about using a rear-door method to drive traffic to your site? I use Twitter to promote this blog, but there is the small percentage of additional subscribers to my XXX membership sites that happen as a result of the happenstance of coming across this mostly non-XXX blog.

You too can create a product that can be a rear-door method to drive traffic to a site that might not necessarily be something that mainstream media would put their ads on. Or, if your product is not XXX in nature, you might still want a rear-door method to drive traffic to your site, by finding advertisers for a site that you might have that might not be EXACTLY your main target market, but is one step removed. Think about creating a secondary site or blog that is still something you’re interested in and might attract people to that site, but is also close enough to what your primary site’s product is so that you can direct people to that site as well. Call it affiliating yourself, in a way.

As far as starting your own affiliate program for your site, there are several large affiliate networks that you can look into. These large affiliate networks may sound like the easy way out, since they handle all the tracking and the money for you, but they also charge you a fee to get your program established. It’s also a sizeable initial investment for the small marketer starting out (their initial fees are in the thousands), and they also charge a rather heavy percentage of the sales made from affiliate links. It might work for a larger corporation, or a company whose volume is so large that having a larger company handle their business for them is well worth the financial investment.

Now, you can also hire someone proficient in affiliate marketing to put their tracking software on your server. You can use web-based tracking systems, which charge a monthly fee for their services. Or you can purchase your own tracking script, or write one yourself. It’s all in how proficient you might be and how well-versed you might be in code.

No matter what, you’re going to want to read all the fine print. Each affiliate network has their own “cut”, their own fees, and their own payout calendar. Make sure that what you’re agreeing to is something you’re happy with. A great way to try out different affiliate networks is to become an affiliate of their network for free to test how the networks run.

Allan Gardyne’s article in Associate Programs goes over the affiliate programs and networks that he thinks are great options for each level of internet marketer, complete with links to each company. He also offers his suggestions for companies that provide affiliate script options as well as methods for starting your own affiliate network. Also thrown in is mention of PDG Shopping Cart, which is an SSL-enhanced piece of software that has affiliate link tracking attached to it. It’s a very comprehensive list compiled by someone who makes his income primarily from affiliate programs for himself and his family.

Much like I mentioned in previous posts, here is a great example of allowing those how have done the research and legwork before you to share their experience with you. His article was published in late 2004, but that doesn’t mean that his advice is archaic. Allow his suggestions to be the stepping stone to your decisions as to what direction you want to take for your own affiliate marketing choices.

Popularity: 2% [?]