More than a few affiliates have complained about lack of results from various affiliate merchants. It's difficult to know whether this is because these affiliates have unrealistic expectations or if there's a more serious reason.
The most common reason for lack of sales seems to be sites which lack credibility.
It takes a lot of traffic for an affiliate program to work well. Perhaps 0.5% of your visitors will click on a banner - and when they get to the merchant's site, perhaps 1% or 2% of them will actually buy something.
For that reason, unless you're willing to put in quite a lot of time and effort, don't look at affiliate programs as your major revenue earner.
You can view them as a way of adding income streams to an existing business.
If you want to boost your sales beyond the dismal example I've given above, think of ways to help you visitor make a buying decision. To do that, you need to be a trusted source of information.
If you learn how to help your visitors make a buying decision, perhaps you can earn a good full-time living from affiliate programs. It's possible. I've been doing it since 1998.
Writing personal endorsements in your newsletter instead of using banners can boost your sales dramatically. In the Associate Programs Newsletter, I've reported a case where personal endorsements achieved truly astounding click-throughs of about 50%.
Huge potential
If you're willing to put in at least 10 to 20 hours of serious research and work (sorry about the four-letter word!) a week, you should be able to learn how to make a good living online.
There's a lot to learn, but if you stick at it and take it one step at a time, the lifestyle rewards can be wonderful.
I love the way my wife Joanna and I are free to travel and work wherever we like. I love the way we're free to spend winters in Australia and summers in New Zealand.
[UPDATE, January 2006: I love the way I now earn five-figure commission checks from one affiliate program - SiteSell.]
Start your own network
If you're really smart, you won't just become an affiliate, you'll start your own network of affiliates.
See How to set up your own affiliate program
List an affiliate program
Affiliates and vendors: Be the first to list an affiliate program in the AssociatePrograms.com affiliate directory and I'll post your referring ID number or your referring URL - FREE.
More information
For more details of how affiliate programs operate, marketing tips and interviews with affiliate program winners, see the Associate Programs Newsletter archives
Good anti-fraud advice
http://antifraud.com
http://www.worldwidescam.com
The National Fraud Information Center
http://www.scambusters.org/
The National Consumers League
http://www.netscams.com
The National Consumer Complaint Center
http://www.mlmlaw.com
Anti-spam advice
Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email
http://www.junkbusters.com
http://www.consumer.net/
Here's what to do now
Have you downloaded Ken Evoy's free "Affiliate Masters" course?
If not, do it now.
For anyone new to affiliate programs, Ken's free course offers you your best chance of success.
Download the 10-day free course here...
http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/free-downloads/free-course.shtml
Now print out the course, find a quiet spot and spend some time reading Ken's excellent advice and planning your successful affiliate site.
Have fun!
