1. Davinci Institute
Jeannine Crooks
February 20, 2010

2.  Learn basic terms
 Review the requirements for an acceptable
site
 How to find merchants
 Choosing the right merchants
 How to use PopShops
 Working with Affiliate Networks
 Broad Networks
 Specialty Networks

3.  Working with Affiliate Managers
 Learning More
 Q&A

5.  A website owner who sends traffic from their
website to another website in order to
generate a desired action. Upon completion
of this desired action, the website owner will
receive compensation.
 AKA – Publisher, Media Partner

6.  Affiliates do:
◦ Attract traffic originating around the globe
◦ Actively promote their websites
◦ Encourage site visitors to take action – buy
something, fill out a form, etc.
 Affiliates do not:
◦ Know the person who has come to their site
◦ Know what product the person buys
◦ Process any financial transaction for the customer
◦ Assist in the delivery process of the product

7.  A website owner who facilitates a specific
action on their website such as:
◦ Purchase a product
◦ Completing a lead form
 If the site visitor originated via a link from an
Affiliate site, the merchant is obligated to pay
a fee or commission to the affiliate for
successful completion of the action.

8.  Acts as liaison between merchants & affiliates
 Investigates both merchants and affiliates
before allowing them into the network.
 No cost to join.
 Hidden Affiliate Information
 All traffic flows through the affiliate network
◦ Affiliate > Affiliate Network > Merchant
◦ Merchant > Affiliate Network > Affiliate
 Responsible for ensuring Affiliates are paid
for successful actions.

9.  Usually has 100’s of merchants and 1000’s of
affiliates
 Source of merchant banners and links
 Best known:
◦ Commission Junction
◦ LinkShare
◦ Google Affiliate Network
◦ ShareASale
◦ Buy.at

10.  Usually works for Merchant
 Works with Affiliate Networks and/or
managing In-House Affiliate Program
 Recruits affiliates
 Affiliate Retention, such as day-to-day
affiliate activities

11.  OPM for short
 Manages affiliate program for merchant who
has chosen to outsource this function.
 Usually manages multiple programs
 Charges a monthly fee and a portion of
commissions.
 Recruits affiliates and handles day-to-day
affiliate activities.

12.  Cost Per Action, CPA for short
◦ Broad term, could mean:
 Sale
 Registration
 Inquiry
◦ Commission can be percentage of sale or flat amount
 Cost Per Lead, CPL for short
◦ Completes lead form
◦ Usually fixed payout
 Cost Per Click, CPC for short
◦ Clicks on ad
◦ Google AdSense
◦ Usually fixed payout

14.  SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Sites
◦ MailOrderShoppe.com
 PPC (Pay Per Click) Sites
 Coupon Sites
◦ Shopping-Bargains.com
 Lead Generation Sites
◦ InsureMe.com
 Incentive Sites
◦ Hard Incentive – Memolink.com
◦ Soft Incentive – FatWallet.com

15.  Network/Affiliate Manager Review
 Requirements
◦ Active URL
◦ Site Description
◦ Category
 Children, Home & Garden, Gifts
◦ Unique Visitors/month
 Quantcast.com
◦ Business Tax ID number or SSN

16.  Site topic
 Promotion method
BrightestCandles.com is a one-stop online
candle store, offering a wide selection of
products including scented candles,
decorative candles, soy candles, and candle
holders. Site promotion is primarily SEO
though PPC may be used in the future.

17.  About Us
 Contact Us
 Privacy Policy
 Footer
 Overall design
 No typo’s

19.  Niche Merchant – only offers one product line
or category of products.
 Broad merchant – Amazon, eBay, Wal-mart,
Target – can find various types of products
 Trial & Error – part of the process.

20.  Search by Keyword
 Use PPC results
 Google search “___ affiliate programs”
 Check footer of favorite merchants for
affiliate program link
 Study competitor’s sites
 Search affiliate networks
 Use PopShops.com

21.  Easy way to find merchants with your desired
products.
 Fast way to build a datafeed for your site,
without technical knowledge.
 Free to join – 4 free “shops”
 Find the design that best fits your site.
 Review the copy
 Not “set it and forget it”

22.  Guaranteed payment
 Merchants have been vetted
 Merchants know affiliates have been vetted
 Apply to Merchant’s program through
network; Merchant has right to accept or
reject your application.
 Standard banner selection process

23.  Run by Affiliate Manager or OPM
 Payment direct from Merchant
 Affiliate Forums may have info about
programs
 Ease of application process
 Interface
 Creative selection

24.  Products
 Site design – would you shop there?
 Quantcast.com – evaluate traffic
 Shopping process – easy or hard
 Creative available

26.  www.cj.com
 Known as CJ for short
 Largest network
 Merchant list hidden
 Commission minimum requirement
 No affiliate support
 Keyword search tool
 Charges for datafeed
 Uses EPC ranking

27.  www.LinkShare.com
 2nd of Big 3 Affiliate Networks
 Requires Merchant exclusivity
 Hidden merchant list
 Low acceptance rates
 No affiliate support

28.  www.google.com/ads/affiliatenetwork
 Formerly Performics
 3rd of Big 3 Affiliate Networks
 Merchants hidden
 No affiliate support
 High acceptance rate
 Only shows merchant one URL
 Hard to search for merchants

29.  www.ShareASale.com
 Largest of smaller networks
 Some affiliate support
 Smaller, specialized merchants
 Decent interface
 Keyword search tools

30.  www.Buy.at
 Newer Network, growing fast
 Some good exclusives; Ticketmaster,
Discount Tire
 Quirky interface – requires practice
 Good affiliate support

31.  Digital Downloads
◦ Digital River
 Name Brand Software products – Norton, Hallmark
Cards
◦ Clickbank
 Lesser known software products, ebooks
 Primarily promoted through PPC

32.  Primarily promote health & beauty products,
insurance leads, Dish Network, etc.
 Smaller, newer networks
 Dozens of them!

33.  Good for blogs with many entries on variety
of topics.
 Searches site copy to turn into links to
merchants.
 Matches can be questionable.
 Epicenter.net

35. 1. Identify the merchant programs appropriate
for your site.
1. Use PopShops OR
2. Visit merchant sites and determine the network
they use.
2. Visit the network’s website and go through
the application process.

36.  Related site, well designed
 Promotion description
 Reputation within network
 Good EPC
 Traffic sources
 Incentive vs. non-incentive
 No Typo’s

37.  Consider them a resource
◦ Recommend keywords
◦ Restricted keyword list
◦ Best selling items, seasonal sellers
◦ Special links
◦ Customized banner ads
 Okay to call, but don’t be a pain
 Super Affiliate – when ready, special deals.

38.  Websites & Blogs
◦ AffiliateTip.com
◦ AffiliateMarketingAnswerBook.com
◦ Problogger.net
 Forums
◦ Affiliate-Marketing-
Forums.5staraffiliateprograms.com
◦ ABestWeb.com

39.  Events
 Affiliate Summit
◦ Affiliate Summit.com
◦ Twice each year, 4000 attendees
◦ Follow @AffiliateTip, can win free Gold pass
 Commission Junction University
◦ CJU
◦ Open Attendance

40.  LinkShare Symposium
◦ Open to all LS affiliates
 ShareASale Think Tank
◦ By invitation only
 Affiliate Convention
◦ AffiliateConvention.com
◦ In Denver

41. Jeannine Crooks
jcrooksdenver@gmail.com
AIM: jeanninecrooks
Yahoo: JeannineCrooks
Twitter: @Jeannine_Crooks
303-841-0987