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A website for your business without a marketing program to bring it in front of your prospects is just like printing magnificent brochures for your business and storing it in your back office and would result in no return on your investment.
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The three basic strategies for generating revenue through websites are
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Pay-per-click advertising
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Search engine optimization (SEO)
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Affiliate Program |
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Below is a quick description of the third of three strategies
Affiliate Program -This highly effective program essentially shares visitors to a website with other website; where the sharing partners offer each other a percentage of sales when a visitor comes from the other’s website.
For example, if you sell shoes from your website and another website sells shirts, you advertise your service on his website and he does the same on your website. If your visitor clicks to go to his website and makes a purchase, you will get a predetermined percent of the sales from the other business.
The best part is – it does not cost you anything, and you only pay when a visitor has purchased from your website. Below are some basic requirements for a successful affiliate program:
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a. You should only list products on your website that you would buy. Never list any product if you have the slightest doubt about its quality or its claim.
b.Read the affiliate agreement thoroughly to understand your liability.
c. List products that offer |
 | high commission.What is the point if you sell a product through your website but make very little money?
d. Quick access to stats of sales and visitors from your website to affiliate’s website.
e. Responsive customer service that is easily accessible to answer your questions.
f. Auto-responder to inform you when conversion happens through your website. This feature will help you track effectiveness of your marketing programs.
g. Lower minimum payout – if a program pays only if your commission amount is say $5,000, then it may take forever (or never) before you receive a check; unless commission id such that you will reach that threshold quickly. Calculate commission and make sure that the payout amount is achievable in a reasonable time (maximum one month).
h. Payout schedule – More frequent payout, better for you. Generally it is advisable to not opt for programs with payout period of more than a month.
i. Once you are comfortable with the program, focus on the conversion of your website to ensure that you are getting the most out of visitors to your website.
There are several services that can get you up and running with affiliate program within no time. You can also get this service from most website marketing organization for a fairly moderate cost.
Call gmrwebteam.com at 949-679-3418 to find out if affiliate program would help you generate sales from your website.
About the author
Ajay Prasad manages his 30-employee Website Design Company www.gmrwebteam.com that is focused on increasing sales for his clients. Ajay managed marketing & product development of large corporations for over 20 years before starting gmrwebteam.com.
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