Webmaster Affiliate Program Marketing
LifetimeCommissions.com
What are webmaster affiliate programs?
Webmaster affiliate programs are arrangements between webmasters (affiliates or sometimes called associates) and online businesses (merchants). When the affiliate sends the merchant a visitor who buys something, the affiliate makes some money.
Webmaster affiliate programs are a great way to earn a bit of extra cash, or, if you try hard enough, earn a living.
Now is the time to start making money on the Internet, while the search engines are still free, and before the big directories (Yahoo, Lycos, LookSmart) raise their prices again!
This form of Internet marketing requires little money from you to set up, because you don't have to develop your own products or organize a merchant account and secure server. Webmaster affiliate programs are the best way for beginners to start making money on the Internet.
Best ways to make money with webmaster affiliate programs
The best methods often change, the whole industry can change dramatically over the course of a year, so what works today, might not work in a month, and what worked two years ago, likely won't work today.
That's why it's crucial to subscribe to affiliate marketing newsletters, so you don't get left behind.
Most merchants provide banners to go on your web site.
Now, stop and think.
Do you ever click on banners? Do you even look at them? My eyes just slide right over them! Yours probably do too.
Don't rely on banners, they barely work.
However, if made properly, banners can work. I've made one that gets a
click through rate of 4.35%. Most banners get a CTR of less than 1%.
Click here to discover how I make banners that work.
The best way to promote your webmaster affiliate program on your web site is with a text link/recommendation. For example:
|
Real Internet Marketing Success Stories Revealed There's nothing more inspiring and useful than an example of someone who has made it in the field in which you wish to be successful yourself. As usual, marketing guru Corey Rudl is a step ahead, and his latest project, a private web site updated monthly, is full of examples of real people making real money. They reveal step-by-step the techniques they use to achieve their success. They also admit the mistakes they've made and talk about the things they've learned that they wish they'd known when they began. I've been subscribed right since the first issue. It's great stuff, and superb value with only a very small monthly fee. I highly recommend it. Check it out here. |
That would work much better than a simple flashing banner that the eye would slip right over.
Note the use of bold to highlight important words, and the personal recommendation at the end.
Mini sites or theme-based content sites?
The best way for a beginner to make money with webmaster affiliate programs is with a theme based content site, but there are other options, like mini-sites.
A theme based content site is focused on a niche topic, and tries to build a sense of community. It provides useful information, and attempts to get people returning many times for that information.
Mini-sites are small, one to four page sites, that focus solely on convincing a person to buy something. They don't try to get repeat visitors, just the sale.
Mini-sites are tools best left to the masters, because they're hard to get ranked well in the free search engines.
If your copy (sales text) is good, you can list them in the pay per click search engines, but it must be really good, because top rankings are becoming more expensive every day.
For more info on making money with mini-sites, see Phil Whiley's Mini-Site Profits
You should design and build your web site yourself. It will give you a greater understanding of how the Internet works, and costs much less than getting a professional designer to do it.
You'll learn a lot about how to edit your web pages too, so you can tweak them or change promotions later on, which is very important.
Web pages are coded in a text formatting language called HTML. If you don't want to learn HTML, you should consider starting out making your site with MSFrontpage.
MSFrontPage is bundled with modern versions of MSOffice, and you can download it free with Internet Explorer and Internet Tools from Microsoft.com.
It's a simple editor, and what I started with (mainly because it's free).
I now do everything by hand with TextPad, because you have much finer control, but if you're not technically literate, MSFrontPage is a good starting point.
You may consider moving up to Adobe GoLive when you become a bit more technically literate, but you'll probably need a book to learn how to use that properly.
It's a very good editor, and it's what I'd use if I did use web design software, or was doing something really artistic. Though it's not free, you can download a fully functional 30 day trial version.
If you're looking for a web host, I recommend WebWizards and Hosting.com.
WebWizards is cheaper but still good, with great, friendly support.
Hosting.com is more expensive, but has faster tech support (average of seven minutes to answer an e-mail query), and has slightly faster Internet servers.
I use WebWizards, but both are good.
You'll need your own domain name for your web site. It looks so much more professional when you have your own domain. I buy all my domains from 000Domains.
Worst ways to promote webmaster affiliate programs
It's easy to get things wrong when promoting webmaster affiliate programs.
Please don't spam. Do you ever click on a link in spam, let alone read them?
Don't bother with free for all (FFA) link sites, no one looks at them, and you usually have to give your e-mail address. which will be harvested and spammed like crazy.
Don't rely solely on banners either, they can work if made properly, but there are better ways to make money with webmaster affiliate programs. Click here for info on how to make banners that work.
Don't start out promoting Internet marketing products, you'll be competing with the experts, and there are many, many marketing sites out there already.
Stick to a topic you know and love, like fly fishing, or growing sandersonia tubers. One that you're an expert on already, so you can build up your credibility honestly and ethically.
What to look for in a webmaster affiliate program
When you come across a webmaster affiliate program, you need to be thinking about how your referrals are going to react. If you refer someone to a cheesy merchant, who is pushing an overpriced, low quality product, people won't buy, and you won't get a commission.
If the merchant site is confusing, or if referrals are blasted with pop-ups or otherwise distracted from ordering, you won't get as many sales as you could.
Look at everything from your referrals' perspective.
Look for quality products, quality merchants, and quality webmaster affiliate programs.
You will get the highest commission if you can link directly to a specific product, and promote that.
Recently, a new trend is emerging with the top quality webmaster affiliate programs – lifetime commissions.
That's when the merchant pays commissions on every single purchase a referral makes during their life as a customer, not just the first purchase like most do.
These webmaster affiliate programs are highly lucrative, because when the merchants release a new product, they'll send out a mailing to their existing customers, and many of them will buy again, earning you a commission.
This means that customers you refer can earn you commissions years after you refer them.
The best place to find lifetime commissions webmaster affiliate programs is at LifetimeCommissions.com the first directory solely devoted to listing only lifetime commissions webmaster affiliate programs.
Refer once, earn forever. I like the sound of that!
Where to find webmaster affiliate programs
The best way to find affiliate programs is to use one of the affiliate directories.
The best webmaster affiliate program directories are:
AssociatePrograms.com
LifetimeCommissions.com
2–Tier.com
ReferIt.com
Associate–It.com
Most have categories and a search function.
How to promote webmaster affiliate programs
Promotion actually falls into two sections: writing a killer web site, and driving traffic to it.
The best thing you can do is make a content-packed web site about a niche topic that you're passionately interested in, a topic that has top quality webmaster affiliate programs related to it.
Promote the affiliate program on the content site until it doesn't sell anymore, and then find another one.
If your site's good, people will link to it, and you'll get free traffic, and better link popularity in the search engines.
You'll need to write several articles, and make sure they are search engine optimized. Click here for more info on search engine optimization.
You'll probably want to run a newsletter too. They're great ways to get repeat visitors and customers.
Driving traffic to your site is an important thing too. The best way to learn this sort of thing is to learn from the experts.
A great free source of info is Ken Evoy's Affiliate Masters E-mail course. It covers everything you need to know about how to set up a web site that makes money with webmaster affiliate programs.
The five part course is delivered by e-mail, one part every two days. To receive it, send a blank e-mail to makemytams@sitesell.net.
It's where I started out. I highly recommend it: makemytams@sitesell.net.
Trafficology is another great source of ideas for how to drive targeted traffic to your web site. I suggest you subscribe to their free newsletter. Every month people send in their best traffic driving tips, and the twelve best get published.
Pay per click search engines are also a great source of traffic, but can be expensive if you're not careful.
What to do now
To make money with webmaster affiliate programs, you should now:
- Learn about HTML or web page editing software
- Get Ken Evoy's free five day e-mail Affiliate Master's E-mail course by sending a blank e-mail to: makemytams@sitesell.net.
- Make your web site
- Buy web hosting, a domain name, and set up your web site online
- Submit your web site to search engines and directories
- Promote your web site
- Improve your web site to increase your sales and search engine ranking.
Useful resources / Links
makemytams@sitesell.net – Ken Evoy's free five day e-mail Affiliate Master's E-mail course (send blank e-mail to subscribe).
Phil Whiley's Mini-Site Profits
Trafficology – Great traffic drawing info
WebWizards – My web host
Hosting.com – An excellent web host, but more expensive
LifetimeCommissions.com Beginner's Guide
How to create effective banner ads
AssociatePrograms.com – Webmaster affiliate program resources and directory. Good newsletter
Adobe GoLive – Great web design software
TextPad – The best text editor ever built
000Domains – Where to buy domain names
RankWrite – Search engine optimization info
Online directories you should submit your web site to:
PS: If you're looking for info on how to make a web site that will be found in the search engines, and that will make money with webmaster affiliate programs, I suggest you start with Ken Evoy's free five-day Affiliate Master e-mail course by sending a blank e-mail to: makemytams@sitesell.net.