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So you’re ready to sign up for an affiliate program; you’ve visited all the resource sites, looked at the dozens and dozens of programs, and are eager to complete a signup form.TRAINING CAMP

So you’re ready to sign up for an affiliate program; you’ve visited all the resource sites, looked at the dozens and dozens of programs, and are eager to complete a signup form. One question hovers in your mind –among visions of endless profits and the sound of rustling bills: How do I choose among all the options? Do I go with a per-click program or maybe a per-signup? These are only two of the most common models for affiliate programs, and there are many variations and combinations to select from. So how do you choose?

Assuming that your resources are credible and you were only referred to quality, honest programs, the question you should really be asking yourself is: Which model will work best with my site? Even more so, which model will perform best with my traffic? This article will attempt to shed some light on marketing strategies for the beginning webmaster.

The first thing you should do is identify your traffic. How much traffic do you have? What sites is it coming from? From which countries are your visitors? How is the raw to unique hit ratio? What percentage of your visitors are repeat visitors and what percentage is new to your site? These are the most basic questions every webmaster should be on top of continuously.

The per-click program will pay you for every referred (unique) hit to their site. This model seems pale next to the big money promises of the per-signup programs, however, it has one very big thing going for it: They will pay you even if your referred visitor will not buy anything from them.

You should think very seriously about this model if a substantial amount of your traffic is coming from non-westernized locations such as the Asian and Eastern European countries. These countries do not boast the same credit card culture as the U.S. or in Western Europe. Surfers from these countries are very likely not to have credit cards, therefore, they can’t purchase memberships. This model is also preferable if you have a large repeat-user base, or if you have your own member section to which surfers return repeatedly. Repeat users are savvier with regards to advertising and can usually spot a pay-site tour from the first click. With a per-click program all you need to worry about is getting them to that first page and let the affiliate program worry about converting them.

The disadvantage of this model is that you have to send them a substantial amount of traffic to make any serious money. Do the math; give yourself a dollar amount goal you would like to reach in a day or a week, and assess whether or not your traffic can get you there.

Per signup programs will pay you for every member that was referred to their site by you. Variations on this model include the commission-based programs, where you earn a percentage commission (as opposed to a set dollar amount) of revenue generated by the surfer you refer, and the recurring membership payout where you get paid when your referred members renew their membership. An animal that is all but extinct is the pay-per free trial, in which you would get paid when a surfer you referred signed up for a free trial membership (whether or not that trial rolled over to a paid membership). At this point, market conditions hardly allow for the profitability of this model and it is hardly ever offered by sponsors nowadays.

The advantage of this model is because the program is assuring a profit, it can afford to pay you top dollar. Some programs will pay you more than the price of the membership for the surfer because they are counting on retaining that surfer’s membership for more than one membership period. Once you’ve honed your webmastering skills, this is an opportunity to make very good money with relatively smaller amounts of traffic than the per-click programs.

So if you’re going to get paid only if your surfers buy something, you better make sure they do. Hanging around the boards long enough you’ll probably see these two terms tossed about every so often; they are: “targeted traffic” and “quality traffic.” Quality traffic is produced by surfers who are in a mindset that makes them more prone to get out a credit card and buy a membership. These surfers are usually inexperienced at searching for porn on the web and will generally come into your site through either a search engine listing or by typing in your domain name (if you’re lucky enough to own a strong domain name). Chances are, if you’re only getting into this business now, you probably don’t own a key domain name, such as sex.com or porn.com. Don’t hold it against yourself for being in high school when the adult Internet was blooming, and make do with what you have by targeting your advertising very carefully.

What this means is, if you are using your own banners or text links to refer surfers to a per-signup affiliate program, let them know what they can expect. Don’t mislead your surfers by promising them free stuff they won’t get, but if your sponsor offers it, do let them know that there are features such as live feeds on the site you are advertising. Surfers will click on the banner or text link, and if the affiliate program is any good, they will usually convert a good percentage of them. Make sure to compare conversion ratios between the leading affiliate programs and find out which of their sites your surfers seem to go for.

Finally, some affiliate programs offer the possibility of advertising a product that does not compete with other products you are already advertising. Two good examples of such programs are the email collection programs and the adult stores.

The email collection programs will usually ask you to display a box on your site in which a surfer can enter their email address and subscribe to the program’s mailing list. The program will usually pay you for every email address you harvest for them. This model works for every type of traffic since it is usually a free, no-risk service to the surfer. The adult stores programs will pay you a commission on sales generated by your referred surfers. This model’s advantage is that you only need to place one very targeted link on your site, specifying very clearly that there is a store behind it. The store does not compete with the membership sites you are promoting, and if your surfer is in the mood to purchase an edible thong for his girlfriend so that they might reenact their favorite porn scene, let him do it through your site and earn a commission in the process.

Affiliate programs are plentiful and keep changing as the market turns and winds. By analyzing your traffic and optimizing your marketing strategy you will be able to maximize profits. Part 2 will discuss how you can maximize profits by regulating your incoming traffic.

–Yael Barak is webmaster for ProfitPlantation.com. Yael was interviewed by YNOT News at Internext. Her interview appeared in last week’s edition.

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