How to establish affiliate relationships

As an Affiliate Marketer, you may wish to develop relationships with vendors (e.g. find, analyze and join vendor Affiliate programs). You may do this directly, or through an affiliate network.

What is an Affiliate Network?
An affiliate network is a third-party organization that introduces affiliates to merchants and vice versa. They maintain thousands of merchant programs and assist affiliates in applying for them. They also manage the commissions that flow between the two.

There are benefits to avoiding affiliate networks and building a vendor relationship directly.  For one, since there is no middle-man, you might have more room to negociate higher commissions. For another, you may be more likely to acquire a customized deal (e.g. an offer created just for you).  Finally, you can build a more personalized relationship with the vendor and really get to know each other’s businesses.  Better communication is often another plus.

Still, affiliate networks offer substantial perks and services. With a network, you can manage hundreds of vendor relationships and affiliate programs through a single online interface. Everything is standardized, kept in one place and easy to maintain. You can run reports, compare data and keep track of income through an affiliate network interface. Affiliate networks also receive the commissions from the vendors for you, and then pay you your share in a lump sum. This is wonderful when you have ongoing relationships with hundreds of vendors. Image receiving hundreds of checks each month! An affiliate network helps you avoid that bookkeeping nightmare. Finally, using an affiliate network allows you to build a reputation. As an affiliate in their database, your growth and success rate is tracked and rated, allowing vendors a chance to review your history. At first, this is not helpful, but over time as your reputation grows, you may find vendors soliciting you instead of the other way around. This is great for business! Keep in mind this type of data-sharing goes both ways. You will be able to see details regarding each program and store (i.e. how much they pay out, how successful their program has been, etc).  This is a win-win.

To join an affiliate program directly through a vendor, visit the vendor’s web site and look for their Affiliate link.  There is usually a brief registration form, then some follow-up from the vendor. To join an affiliate network, visit any of their sites and follow the registration instructions. Affiliate networks can be large or small, well known or just starting out. You can stick with one, or use a combination of several.

There is one other marketing venue which remains fairly untapped; the local market. In this technique, you contact business owners in your local community and offer to use your internet marketing skills to bring them business for a commission. Try it!  You may be pleasantly surprised how eager small shops are to set up an affiliate marketing program with the right help.