Copyright 2006 Christopher RobinsonOne of the first business opportunities you may join is an
affiliate program. They are easy to maintain and are a good
way to start your business. However as with all business
ventures they are not without pitfalls. Every year
affiliates lose 100s of dollars of their hard earned
commissions. You can avoid this by taking a few simple
steps.
How does this happen? Here are some common ways that
affiliates are literally robbed of their commissions:
Clickbank fraud Affiliate link hijacking Unscrupulous
sponsors
Clickbank fraud: Owners of affiliate programs use
Clickbank quite widely and affiliates need to be aware of a
common type of fraud, which robs them of their commissions.
Here is what happens:
A visitor uses your link to go to a product that sounds
interesting and he wants to buy. He is all set to buy when
he notices that there is a little ad below the sales page
saying if he joins the affiliate program he can get 50%
commission. He understands that if he joins up and buys the
product through his link he will get 50% commission and in
effect get the product at ½ price. Needless to say that is
just what he does and you do not get any commission for
this sale.
This is not really the customer's fault and certainly not
Clickbank. This is thoughtlessness on behalf of the owner
of the program. Before you join be careful that the sponsor
is not doing this. If he is, either avoid the program or if
it is a really good program then write to the owner and let
him be aware of this problem. More than likely he has not
really thought about this and will be happy to take it off.
However if he does not do so then just move on to another
program.
Affiliate link hijacking: This is very common but is simple
to fix.
A website visitor comes to your website and is curious to
buy one of your sponsors products He sees your affiliate
link with its ID displayed People are a little strange at
times. He thinks that if he cuts off your ID and just goes
forward with the main URL he might get a better deal. Or he
is an affiliate of the same program and realizes he can get
commission when he buys the product by replacing your ID
with his own. In this way he will get the product cheaper
To avoid this blatant stealing just disguise your link. You
can do this with tiny URL or software like affiliate
defender. You can also just hide your affiliate link when
you write your web pages.
Unscrupulous sponsors: Many program owners are good to
their affiliates and realize that your success is their
success. However you do get some who play shady games with
affiliate commissions.
Payout is set at an unrealistic level- this means that you
have to earn a lot of commissions and make many sales
before you see a dime of your hard earned money. $25 is a
reasonable cap unless you are selling a high priced item
and expect some hefty commissions. Tracking is poor and
unreliable- you will not know if you have made any sales
this way and can miss out on commissions. Your sponsor
should have a good system that tracks each and every sale
real time. Cookies should have a long life- many times a
customer does not buy 1st time and may come back through
another affiliates link. That affiliate gets the commission
and you miss out. If your sponsors cookies have a long life
then even if your customer returns on another link you will
get the commission. Commission amount- always be sure you
are being paid a good commission for your sales. 30%-50% is
a fair commission. You do not want to be working hard to
sell and not get your just reward.
The solution to this is to choose your programs wisely. Do
your research before you join and if you have any questions
write to the support. A good program will be happy to
answer any questions.
Affiliate marketing is a fun and rewarding business and
does not require a lot of complicated payment systems.
There are many who make a good living from these programs.
You can also jumpstart your business with a few of these
affiliate programs and use the commission money to develop
your own business. With these few points you will be able
to avoid affiliate fraud and really make money with these
programs.
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Christopher Robinson is a renowned veteran in online and
offline marketing, advertising in the Washington D.C.
metropolitan area. He is currently part owner of Robinson &
Associates Advertising Inc. Mr. Robinson's internet
marketing tools and ebooks website,
http://www.hype-factor.com , and is the author of his free
ebook "Effective Internet Marketing 2006",
http://www.forlifeincome.com
