Affiliate Marketing Case Study
Introduction
Much of the information at http://www.perfectsystem.co.uk is based around the theory that "the money is in the list". This is certainly true but, in order to realise the potential profit from running an opt-in list, you need to have something to offer your subscribers. You need to be able to monetise your list (or your high traffic website).
It's also worth remembering that, whilst the benefits of a good sized list are indisputable, it can take time and patience to build this. Patience is a virtue which few of us possess - but it's easier to be patient if you have some money coming in.
One of the best ways to generate money while your list is growing, or to monetise your existing list and/or website, is to take advantage of affiliate schemes. A good, well run affiliate scheme can be an extremely effective addition to your income stream - but beware. For every good scheme on the net today there are at least a couple of dozen disasters, pyramid schemes and downright idiotic business ideas waiting to snag your cash and waste your time.
The good news is that, since affiliate schemes are just a specialised form of business opportunity, the normal rules of business apply. You can use the six key criteria to find a good one and avoid getting involved with the also rans.
This case study provides a quick look at one of the better affiliate schemes on the net today - the Implix affiliate scheme. However, you can apply the selection criteria to any scheme that you're interested in.
The Six Key Criteria
As I have detailed on the main site, there are 6 key criteria which I use to assess any potential business opportunity. Certainly, you could use others or go into more detail if you wish, but I genuinely believe that these criteria are enough to give you a good idea of whether or not it's worth your time, effort and sometimes money, to go forward with a particular venture.
Just as a quick recap, I've listed them below. You can read about these in more detail on the main site if you want to refresh your memory.
- Cost
- Commission
- Product
- Company
- Administration Level
- Sales
The Implix (GetResponse) Affiliate Scheme
Cost
The Implix affiliate scheme is free to join. I joined after having purchased the product, but that's not necessary. You can join as an affiliate and then buy the product from yourself if you like (and why not?). Or you can just become an affiliate and not purchase the product at all.
However, although there is no startup cost you may wish to budget for advertising. In the past I have recommended using traffic exchanges. Despite what many people think, these work very well with gateway pages. Affiliate schemes are significantly different - they tend to have information rich websites which won't do well on traffic exchanges. so don't waste your time and effort promoting these using TE's.
If you already have a website which attracts a significant amount of traffic, then you could just put a link, banners, or any other suitable ads, on your site. If you have your own opt-in list of email subscribers or if you publish your own ezine, then you should certainly broadcast details to your list.
If you don't have either of these, or even if you do, then you may find that pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a good method to get started quickly. The key is to make sure that you make more in commission than you spend on advertising. Sorry if that seems a bit obvious - but it's the difference between success and failure and you might be surprised at how many people forget this simple fact.
The two best known PPC advertising options are Google adwords and Overture - now known as Yahoo Search. These are both very good and I use both - although I must say that I find Overture provides the best return. This may not be typical of course.
Be careful that you don't get carried away with these. Don't get involved in a "bidding war". If someone else is prepared to pay $10 a click for a keyword that you're interested in then let them. Be satisfied with 2nd or 3rd position or search for some cheaper keywords. Aim to have a long list of keywords at low CPC's rather than just a few high CPC keywords.
Another way to keep costs down is to use an alternative PPC provider. You can use this strategy in addition to, or instead of, advertising with Google and Yahoo. I've recently been using AdVoyager. They have a maximum cost of $0.05 per click and have a very easy to use interface. It's a good option if you want to keep costs down and are operating on a fixed budget.
Commission
I promote the GetResponse autoresponder - and since this is supplied on a monthly basis I get repeating commission month after month. Residual income is great and it's a huge bonus. Big one-off commissions are nice (and are available if you choose to promote some of the other Implix offerings) but repeat cheques for a single sale are (in my opinion) even better.
There are various payment options for GetResponse subscribers, but the most popular choice nets me a little over $5 per customer per month. Given how little effort is required to get customers, and the fact that the payments repeat monthly, that's pretty good.
Product
Implix market several products - at the moment I only promote the GetResponse autoresponder. I use this myself and find it to be an invaluable tool. I would be absolutely lost without it.
So the product is genuine (in fact there are several very good products) - which means we're not looking at some thinly disguised pyramid scheme here.
Since I'm the type of person who strongly prefers to promote products that I use myself and find useful, it's a good fit for me and I'm happy to recommend it. I also know that an autoresponder would be a tool which many other internet marketers will consider essential - so there's a huge market for it.
Company
Implix have been around for years - since approximately1998, although I haven't used or promoted their products for that length of time (unfortunately). They are a solid, reliable company with quality products. I'm pretty confident that they're going to be around to keep paying me my commission cheques for years to come.
Administration Level
There is no product to ship and no money to handle. Sales are tracked using Implix's software. You will not enter into any correspondence with your customers. In fact, after you have initially set up your account, the level of administration is reduced to virtually zero.
Sales
Implix provide a huge amount of tools for promoting the product. There is an affiliate website (of course) along with follow up autoresponder messages and training courses for your potential customers.
This is genuinely an opportunity where all you have to do is get enough targeted traffic to the site to make money. You will hear this claim made all over the internet - but this is one of the few instances where it is actually true.
Summary
The Implix affiliate scheme is a good example of how easy it can be to make money when everything is set up correctly. The main task that the affiliate is faced with is driving traffic to the affiliate site in a cost effective manner. If you have a high traffic site, an opt-in list or you are confident enough to advertise on PPC networks, then this is a very good option. Find out more....
There is no shortage of affiliate schemes on the internet. Of course, the quality of, and therefore the opportunity to make a profit from, these varies widely and wildly. However, if you apply the suggested criteria then you should quickly be able to separate the wheat from the chaff and begin earning within a very short period of time.
Finally, even if you're not interested in promoting autoresponders yourself, you should really be using them in your own marketing efforts. You can sign up for a free one here. The free version is text based - but that may very well be good enough for your needs.
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