The Links to Sales Internet Journal
Links To Sales Journal:

Return to Links to Sales Journal


Return to Archives

If you would like to print and read this entire issue on one Web Page, click here.

line

How To Set Up An Associate Program

by Allan Gardyne, AssociatePrograms.com: http://www.associateprograms.com

We want to thank Allan for sharing this important article that shows the options you have when setting up an affiliate program. Be sure to visit Allan's site for more information. This article is Copyright 1998 Allan Gardyne.

If you want to set up a network of affiliates, you have several options to choose from. You can hire a service such as Safe-Audit or ClickTrade which handle the money - and charge you a healthy percentage (ClickTrade charges 30%) - or LinkShare, which doesn't, but it charges you a few thousand dollars to get established. You can hire Craig Belcher or Paul Galloway to put their software on your server. You can use a shopping cart - or you can write your own script.

Confused already? OK, I'll narrow it down to three good options:

  • Budget-priced: Affiliate Link
  • Just a little more expensive: Paul Galloway
  • Be Free: the "best on the Internet"
I recommend all of them. Choose the one that suits your budget.

1. Budget-priced: AffiliateZone.com

Affiliate Link software from AffiliateZone.com is a budget-priced series of CGI scripts which allows a webmaster to start and maintain his own affiliate program for goods or services. AffiliateZone.com will install these scripts on your server and give you some simple directions on how to use the software. You don't have to be a programmer.

The merchant can choose to pay a fixed amount for click-throughs or set the program to pay a percentage of the goods sold, or a mixture of the two.

Real-time statistics are provided so the merchant always knows who is selling what and how much, and the affiliates have peace of mind that they are not being cheated. The Affiliate Link software can be installed on your server within three business days, says Craig.

"For a limited time we are installing the Affiliate Link Software on our clients' servers for $US250," he says.

He will also customize the software for an extra fee. If you're too busy to start and run an associate program you can choose a Pay Affiliate option and AffiliateZone.com will mail the commissions for you.

I've read strong recommendations for Craig's software. For example, Tim Walker of SoftwareSolutions has developed two scripts to run associate programs.

However, in October, 1998, when he set up an associate program to sell his own software, what did he do? He decided the best answer for him was simply to buy the budget-priced Affiliate Link software.

After a detailed description of what he was looking for in an associate program system - and how he had found it at AffiliateZone - Tim reported in the VirtualPROMOTE Gazette #65: "All in all, I could not be happier with this system."

In The E-Marketing Digest Volume #2, Issue #248 the moderator, George Matyjewicz (the "Rainmaker") of GAP Enterprises describes how he chose Craig's AffiliateZone to set up his new associate program. He ends by saying: " . . . we tested it thoroughly, and can safely say it works and it works well! We recommend them highly.

I'm very impressed with Craig's determination to ensure that every customer is a satisfied one. I haven't received a single complaint. Craig told me about one disgruntled customer who had not read the instructions and used FrontPage to edit after being told specifically not to do so. Budget-priced AffiliateZone.com is highly recommended.

3. Just a little more expensive: Paul Galloway

Paul Galloway can supply you with everything you need to start your own associate or affiliate program - a complete software package which includes a new associate "Sign-Up" and automatic web site replication program, an "Order Processing" program (with credit card syntax checking), and administrative functions, including monthly/yearly commission reports, instant associate web site updating, associate record maintenance, and more.

Paul's site is nothing fancy and may give you a misleading impression. Instead have a look at his clients' sites.

Paul's clients include Jonathan Mizel of http://www.cyberwave.com and John Ferguson of Million Dollar Sales!

John Ferguson comments: "As a webmaster and small business owner, I've spent many hours searching the WWW for an affordable solution to offering an associate program without relinquishing control. Paul Galloway's software made it possible to achieve my goals. The technical support I received was beyond compare."

Jonathan Mizel comments: "Paul is great. His products are well priced and well designed. He's willing to listen when you have a suggestion, and for a modest fee, modify his program to suit your needs. I'm going to be working with him and selling his product for substantially more than he sells it for. He receives my highest recommendation."

Paul's system costs $US199 if you do the installation and file preparation yourself or $US549 if Paul installs the software and prepares your files for you. He charges $US50 an hour to customize the software if necessary.

For more details about Paul's software see Your Own Associate Program Highly recommended.

3. "Best on the Internet": Be Free

The Be Free tracking system is used by Barnes & Noble, Electronic Newsstand, FogDog Sports, Art.com (formerly ArtUFrame), and other large companies. Barnes & Noble says the Be Free system is the "best on the Internet".

If that's what you want, go straight to Be Free now.

Various other options I've found

4. Just pay people for clicks - or leads, or sales

You can simply use a service already set up to handle revenue sharing arrangements. Examples include:

  • LinkShare Corporation has created a software solution to track leads that result in immediate or long-term sales. As well, it has established a network to help publishers of sites and online retailers. The software enables merchants and sites to share feedback information and customer analysis. Examples of companies using LinkShare are MyPoints and Cyberian Outpost. Costs several thousand dollars to set up. LinkShare organizes things and does the tracking - it does not handle the money.

  • ClickTrade - ClickTrade allows you to easily reward other Web site owners for linking to your site by setting up your own link partner program. You reward link partners on a pay-per-click, pay-per-lead or pay-per-sale basis. You set the amount you are willing to pay them, and ClickTrade handles all the tracking, reporting, and payments. ClickTrade charges 30%.

    Associates using ClickTrade need to monitor the results closely. Some people using the system may try a scam that costs you money. One disadvantage of ClickTrade is the company you keep. ClickTrade allows disreputable companies to offer high payouts and then without warning switch to a low payout - or even have no funds available.

  • SafeAudit gives you the options of paying by clicks, leads or sales. It's a huge operation with about 40,000 members, a small number of whom complained recently that they were unpaid and that e-mails went unanswered. It charges you a percentage.

5. DoubleClick Direct

DoubleClick Direct works with direct marketers on per-lead and per-sale advertising solutions. It's also a useful resource for online advertising information.

6. Jim says Shopcart is simple

Jim Daniels, author of the Internet marketing manual, Insider Internet Marketing, has set up a fairly simple way of keeping track of all the people who sell his books on commission. Jim gives each new associate a unique URL, for example, http://www.bizweb2000.com/d2080.htm. The associate uses that URL when promoting Jim's book.

Provide lots of valuable content to attract people, and get your own domain name to give yourself a professional image, Jim advises. You also need to be able to offer secure transactions and accept credit cards.

Once you have a merchant account, you can hook up with a shopcart system. Jim uses http://www.shopcart.com. "This is a simple way to implement secure online shopping at your site," he says. You can use the shopping cart system to track where the customers are coming from.

7. Site Sponsor

I have also seen recommended a software program called Site Sponsor by WebGenie to track sales by associates.

8. ViaMall/Yahoo Stores

ViaMall/Yahoo Stores tracking system is said to assure accuracy and honesty in reporting. Examples of stores using it are T-Shirt King and Cloud-9 Hawaii
I've read that it tracks only the referring URL and doesn't have any way to reward an associate for repeat visits. Prices start at $US100 a month.

9. ShopSite

linkstosales.com and http://www.herbalmall.com use ShopSite web catalog software, which gives you an ugly long URL but appears to work well. I receive an automatic e-mail whenever a sale is made, telling me the name and e-mail address of the purchaser.

10. TeknoSurf's Net-Tracker 2000

NT2000 software from Scott Ferber's TeknoSurf tracks affiliate programs. Net-Tracker has been successfully deployed by "countless" customers and has generated over $15 million in Internet sales for our clients in 1998 alone, the TeknoSurf site says. (October, 1998.) NT2000 tracks program sales, sign-ups, raw clicks, and unique clicks.

11. EComWorks

EComWorks sets up and operates affiliate programs for major retailers, in partnership with BeFree.com, using BFast software, and LinkShare. "We will have several exciting programs to announce within the next few weeks," CEO Maurice Bretzfield told me in late August, 1998.

12. MerchandiZer

In July, 1998, HipHip Software announced that it had added associate program tracking to its MerchandiZer e-commerce Suite. "Have others sell your products, and MerchandiZer will tally the sales for how much they sold." At the same time the price for MerchandiZer was dropped to as low as $US79 a month.

13. RevShare software

RevShare from http://nationsweb.com/affiliates/index.htm is another one you could investigate. It costs $US789.

14. justClick! Target Network's CommunityBuilder98

You can set up an affiliate program using justClick! Target Network, which offers a CommunityBuilder98 server tool for building interactive communities. There is a wide range of choices for e-marketers wanting to create revenue sharing arrangements. For example, an advertiser can choose to pay by visitor, by lead, or by sales. justClick! is an interesting company, with its head office in Germany, sales office in Taiwan, help desk in Sweden and web servers in the United States.

16. Using cookies, Javascript and Perl to track referrals

Cookies and JavaScript can be combined with a unique identifier given to each associate - but unfortunately cookies won't work when the visitor has them switched off in his browser, and not all browsers accept Javascript. Adam Halsey, technical director of the marketing store! examines using cookies in VirtualPROMOTE Gazette, March 20, 1998.

In the March 27 issue he starts solving those problems by using a Perl server side program, and promises more articles eventually combining the best answers.

You can get a zip file of all back issues of the excellent newsletter VirtualPROMOTE Gazette from http://www.virtualpromote.com/gazarch.zip

17. Do it yourself articles

A Tour OF HTML Forms And CGI Scripts
- Introductory Tutorial On CGI Programming In Perl
By Sanford Morton
http://www.halcyon.com/sanford/cgi/cgi-tour.html

Starting A Reseller Program
By Jess O'Leary of Link-O-Matic
http://www.linkomatic.com See the Ezine section.

CGI For The Total Non-Programmer
- Basics Of Creating CGIs With Perl On A Unix Platform
By Rob Young
http://www.webteacher.com/perltour/

Go to the Top of the Page

Web Success offers consultations, seminars, and training to Web businesses, developers, ISP's, and consultants.
6960 Ridgeway
Magalia, CA. 95954
Phone:
(800) 280-9807
(530) 873-3637
Fax: (530) 873-0192

This site invented and explored since 1994. (Email dunn@webletter.net with questions.). All materials in this Web Site are Copyright 1994-1998 Michael Declan Dunn and the Write Thing. All rights reserved. Do not use, reprint, or distribute any of the content in this section without expressed, written permission.