What You Need to Know About Affiliate Marketing

Well you have finally done it. You have
packed in the rubbish job and told your boss
exactly what you think. You have taken the
plunge and made the decision to begin your
own affiliate marketing business. Affiliate
marketing can be very lucrative. It provides people with the opportunity to work for
themselves with very little risk to them.
Those that are sales savvy, good at
marketing and are not afraid of a little hard
work can often do incredibly well with an
affiliate marketing program. Affiliate marketing sounds easy but you do
need to exercise some caution. You want to
avoid the affiliate marketing pitfalls that can
ruin your business and worse, have you
crawling on your hands and knees back to
that boss that now knows how you truly feel. People tend to get excited when they start a
new venture. Unfortunately this excitement
and eagerness can cause them to miss key
things in their agreement. Whenever you
sign up for an affiliate marketing program,
you will be expected to sign an agreement. The terms and conditions of the agreement
for both sides should be outlined. However, if
they want to hide something this is where
they will put it. It will either be in the small
print, so get your magnifying glass out, or
they will baffle you with legal language. Either way, you need to read and understand
your agreement thoroughly to avoid
disappointment and lost earnings. If you are signing up for a commission based
affiliate marketing program then you need to
understand how the term revenue is defined.
This is one of the biggest pitfalls of the
contracts. They may advertise 5-10%
commissions but it all fall on how they define revenue. Most affiliate marketing programs
will calculate commission on the gross value
of the sale. In other words, the amount of
money the site will get at the completion of
the sale. You may think that this sounds
great. However, you need to read this part of the agreement very carfully. The amount of
the sale almost always excludes credit card
or debit card payment surcharges. They also
are likely to exclude payment and delivery
charges as well as any gift wrapping or
other surcharges. What sounded like a nice commission is soon shrinking before your
eyes. Ask these questions specifically before
you sign an agreement. Some affiliate programs are even stricter in
their definition of revenue. Your commission
may be based on the profit margin of the sold
product. For example, if you help sell a book
for 20 dollars but the company only makes
10 dollars profit, you’ll receive a percentage of 10 dollars not 20. This can
make a substantial difference in your
earnings. Again, make sure you understand
these things and ask specifically what your
commission will be based upon. Read your
agreement and look out for odd sounding clauses. These could come back to haunt you
later. Something else to beware of when you work
on commission is returns. Many affiliate
marketing companies only pay commission
out on completed sales and then only if the
customer keeps the item. If they return the
items your commission could be cancelled. To really rub salt in the wounds, you could be
billed for the outstanding commission if you
do not have sufficient commission credit built
up. Make sure you understand this before
signing on. You cannot expect a company to
pay you a commission on an item that is returned but make sure you understand their
return policy. Find out your rights in this
situation. Affiliate marketing can be a great way to
earn money. If you have good sales and
marketing skills then it can give you the
opportunity to out them to good use. You’ll
be able to work for yourself and not
someone who undervalues and does not appreciate them. One needs to consider
affiliate marketing carefully. Make sure you
understand your agreement and exactly
what you will be paid for. You don’t want
to have to go crawling back to your boss
begging for your old job back.