How do I start an affiliate program?
| Category: Affiliate Marketing - Setting Up | Date: 2003-04-28 |
If you want to have thousands of affiliates promoting your products for you, you have many options. You can hire networks such as Safe-Audit, ClickTrade or Commission Junction which handle the money - and charge you a healthy percentage (ClickTrade charges 30%) - or LinkShare, which doesnt handle the money but charges you a few thousand dollars to get established.
You can hire someone to put their affiliate tracking software on your server. You can use a shopping cart, you can buy a CGI script - or you start an affiliate program by writing your own script.
If youre thinking of using any of the networks as a merchant, why not sign up as an affiliate first and test the service your affiliates will be receiving?
Confused already? OK, Ill narrow it down to one:
Corey Rudls Internet Marketing Center has the biggest-selling marketing course on the Internet. His sites attract 6 million visitors a year. His two-tier associate program works perfectly. Associates like Coreys tracking system because they can find the information they need quickly and easily. To them, it appears very simple.
I recommend Corey Rudls AssocTRAC software. You dont just get the software installed. The package also includes a heap of advice from Corey, whose company achieves sales of $5.2 million a year. Thats a huge bonus.
Corey knows his stuff. You wont make a dreadful, costly mistake if you read Coreys advice.
Want to do more research on how to start an affiliate program? There are lots of other options:
Ultimate Automation
Ultimate Automation, an affordable shopping cart system does ALL these things for you:
Takes orders for you.
Sends a series of follow-up emails to customers.
Signs up resellers.
Has built-in associate program software.
Gives you unlimited autoresponder sequences.
Has built-in ad tracking software.
Processes credit card orders in real time.
Manages your mailing list for you.
Sends out surveys and puts answers in a database.
Allows you to merge database fields with your autoresponders.
Allows you to move your whole business to a new ISP in a flash.
Click here for a FREE TRIAL...
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 dont 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.
Craig will install the Affiliate Link software on our your server for $US350.
He will also customize the software for an extra fee. If youre 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.
Ive read strong recommendations for Craigs 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 Craigs
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."
Craig can set up a one-tier or two-tier program for you.
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.
Pauls site is nothing fancy and may give you a misleading impression. The guy is a software programmer - not a designer. Instead have a look at his clients sites.
Pauls 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, Ive spent many hours searching the WWW for an affordable solution to offering an associate program without relinquishing control. Paul Galloways 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. Hes willing to listen when you have a suggestion, and for a modest fee, modify his program to suit your needs. Im going to be working with him and selling his product for substantially more than he sells it for. He receives my highest recommendation."
Pauls system costs $US199. You now have to do the installation and file preparation yourself. Unfortunately, Paul no longer installs the software for you, so youll need to know what youre doing.
When affiliate programs consultant Declan Dunn wanted an expert, this is the guy he chose.
For more details about Pauls software see Your Own Associate Program Recommended.
Commission Junction will handle the details
Commission Junction, launched in November, 1998, is building a rapidly growing, large network of merchants. You can quickly establish a pay-per-lead or pay-per-sale program, and benefit from publicity generated by this prominent affiliate network. Heres the description from the site:
"With a pay-per-lead program, you pay a commission when an authorized affiliate refers a customer to your site and that customer fills out a form or performs another action that allows you to follow up on the sales process.
"With a pay-per-sale program, you pay a commission when an authorized affiliate refers a customer to your site and that customer buys a product or service. The purchase may occur when the visitor is at your site or it may occur at a later time.
"Whether you want to start a new program or upgrade your existing program, we can get you started in a matter of days at a price that any organization can afford. We professionally manage all the details of your revenue sharing operations including affiliate sign-ups, approvals, tracking, reporting, and commission payments."
Commission Junction has a do-it-yourself set-up option and a "we do it" option for under $1000, plus an annual fee. Depending on volume, transaction fees range from 15% to 25% of whatever commission you pay.
The system appears to work very well. A huge advantage of using a network is that it promotes your program for you. Also, Commission Junction consolidates payouts, making it a favourite of affiliates. If you want to pay someone a commission for taking care of all the details, this is a very good option.
Your affiliates will be happy if you choose Commission Junction.
Be Free - expensive but good
The Be Free tracking system is used by Barnes & Noble, enews.com, Fogdog Sports, Art.com, and other large companies. Its expensive but very good. Be Free is a suitable option for sophisticated online retailers with lots of sales - or those aiming to get that way.
Be Frees Affiliate Serving Technology (BFAST) is so technologically advanced "we can monitor millions of accesses and tens of thousands of transactions simultaneously", says Be Free co-founder Tom Gerace.
Be Frees advertising technology, BFIT, targets, places and tracks a retailers advertisements. The retailer can track the success of all advertisements to point of sale and determine that a specific banner in a specific location led to the sale of a certain product - extremely valuable information for boosting sales.
Be Free does not consolidate payments for affiliates.
LinkShare lets you handle the money
LinkShare is another large network which handles revenue sharing arrangements.
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 Outpost.com. It costs several thousand dollars to set up. LinkShare organizes things and does the tracking - it does not handle the money. LinkShare has attracted some big names, including Dell. You benefit from the publicity it generates. Details.
Nexchange affiliates dont lose their visitors
Nexchange allows host web sites, to sell thousands of products from hundreds of top brands. More products and brands are constantly being added. Commissions range from 10% to 25%, depending on the product sold. For example, a sale from the Magazines category pays 25%, a hat sale pays 20%, and a luggage sale pays 10%. A huge advantage for the affiliate sites is that people stay and shop - affiliates dont lose them from their site. Join here.
AffiliateTracking.com
Craig Belchers AffiliateTracking.com charges a flat rate $104.95 the first month and $29.95 a month thereafter. "Its a good choice for small webmasters," Craig says. "If youre planning to have over 50,000 affiliates we can set you up with a dedicated tracking server as well. Pricing starts off at $700 a month for a dedicated tracking server and tops out at around $3000 a month . . . we dont charge 20% of the affiliates commissions either. A flat monthly fee for both pay per sale and pay per click programs."
More networks
PlugInGo is an innovative new affiliate network which still has a fairly small number of companies lined up, but its worth keeping an eye on. It pays 7% on the earnings of people you refer to PlugInGo. It gives away points which you can "spend" and monthly auctions.
ClickBank allows vendors of information products to set up a simple associate program quickly, easily and free. Because it is so easy, you will be sharing space with a fairly mixed crowd. ClickBank accepts payments by credit card for you, and charges a percentage of each sale. It has about 40,000 affiliates.
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-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%.
clickXchange.com - Affiliate Program Software Providers
Build your own pay-per-click, pay-per-lead or pay-per-sale affiliate program. All advertiser accounts include a custom affiliate sign-up process to merge with the advertisers site. ClickXchange.com is a CA Web Designs company based in Huntington Beach, California. CA Web Designs has been in business since January, 1997. If you want an alternative to ClickTrade, this looks worth a cautious trial.
SafeAudit gives you the options of paying by clicks, leads or sales. Its a huge operation with many thousands of members, a small number of whom complained in 1998 that they were unpaid and that e-mails went unanswered. It charges you a percentage. It has had phenomenal growth.
DoubleClick Direct advertising network works with direct marketers on per-lead and per-sale advertising solutions. Its also a useful resource for online advertising information.
Ultimate Affiliate 2000 script from Groundbreak.com
"Simply one of the most fully featured affiliate program scripts on the Internet," says the creator of the CGI script, Steve Miles of Groundbreak.com. However, some customers have reported problems with this product and delays in receiving satisfactory replies.
Steve says the Ultimate Affiliate 2000 is possibly the only affiliate program which reports affiliate statistics graphically. The program has detailed affiliate and administrative control panels as well as a complete statistical reporting system for referrals, unique referrals, and commissions. It can be used for one-tier, two-tier or three-tier programs.
ProTRACK from Pathfinder Software
There are two versions of Pro-TRACK, which was launched in September, 1999:
Pro-TRACK Standard is for the affiliate program owner that wants to keep track of sales and wants to know from which affiliates the sale originated. Although the Standard version will not compute any sales data (owners manually keep track of sales), it is an excellent way to track and compensate your affiliate sales, says Normand Charette of PathFinder Software.
Pro-TRACK Pro will not only track where your sales are originating from, but also provide you with the statistics you need to track how well your affiliate program is doing. At a glance you will be able to spot which ones are your hottest affiliates, the amount of click-throughs per banner views, and the average sale per click. These are only a few features that are included in the Pro version. The new Pro-TRACK version 1.4 costs $597.
The Affiliate Program software
The Affiliate Program software is made by KowaBunga! Technologies, a sister company of Invisio.
Features include: Fully-automated setup; admin and members page; banner location tracking and verification; e-mail your affiliate members; monthly account statements; export your affiliate information; tracking click-throughs, sales and commissions; automatic reminders; SMART sales report; online sales history; variable commission structure; and two-tier commission support.
Perl/cgi, runs on Unix/NT.
It comes fully customized and installed for $499 (US).
CyberTrakker
CyberTrakker is the tool to help you build and manage your own affiliate distribution network, e-commerce and opt-in mailing lists without having to rely on other parties, says Ian Lauder, President of Cyber Sea Inc.
"CyberTrakker gives you total control of your affiliate and marketing tracking systems. Integration of e-commerce, shopping cart, affiliate tracking, hit tracking and site administration all under your control," he says. "The CyberTrakker system is also designed for small to medium sized businesses who cannot afford the high cost of a large scale e-commerce and affiliate tracking system. As your needs grow scale up the system rather than being tied to someone elses servers and systems for your tracking."
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 Jims 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.
Site*Sponsor
I have also seen recommended a software program called Site*Sponsor by WebGenie to track sales by associates. It comes in bronze, silver and gold versions. If you want only 100 affiliates, its free.
ViaMall/Yahoo Stores
ViaMall/Yahoo Stores tracking system is said to assure accuracy and honesty in reporting. A store using it is Thom Reeces On-Line Marketing Group
Ive read that it tracks only the referring URL and doesnt have any way to reward an associate for repeat visits. In December 1998 I heard that it wasnt accepting non-U.S. companies. (You may want to ask if that is still so.) Prices start at $US100 a month.
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.
TeknoSurfs Net-Tracker 2000
NT2000 software from Scott Ferbers 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.
SalesDoubler
Affiliate software SalesDoubler from Commercial Networks hires, spreads and keeps track of your advertisers/dealers and their sales.
Vilo Ivanic of Commercial Networks says its main features are:
Standard or two-tier commission setup calculated either in % or $.
Sales Tracking
Banner Impressions Tracking
Banner Click-Throughs Tracking
Emailer - Send email messages to ALL of your dealers from one place.
Product Database - Use it as a Shopping Cart
Ability to replicate whole site, not just one page
Search Engine submitable Dealers HTML links
Dynamically generated pages.
Advertisment banner code generator
Dealers statistics
Easy to use owners Administration windows
Export commissions data to off-line database
SalesDoubler costs $395 (US).
KCLICK2
KCLICK2, which sells for $100, is a pay-per-click CGI script created by Kevin Alexander. A little or no CGI experience is needed, he says.
"Features include: Automatic JOIN function (this can be disabled so only the webmaster can add new affiliates with a special password); deletion of old accounts that have had no activity for a specific amount of time easy installation - you only need to set several variables in the program (its easy to do) and customize the HTML pages to suit your website; deleting individual accounts; affiliates can instantly see their statistics; generation of reports based on the minimum amounts you have set for account balances - automatically generates these accounts for easy payout, and resets their click-counts for the next cycle; smaller volume accounts have their click totals carried over to the next billing cycle until the minimum is met; and more...."
Heres a warning from Kevin:
As an advertiser you need to keep a watchful eye, as there are many scams out there! I look at the list daily, and look at the websites to look for things like a contest where people had to click to my site, read the first headline, and go back (at a cost of .10 to me) to others where you have to click on an advertiser to let the game download, etc.
Click It from Solution Scripts
Click It is a top quality pay-per-click CGI program, says Tim Watson of Solution Scripts. "Click It controls all aspects of an affiliate program (where a person is paid a certain amount per person the send to a web site) Click It is very configurable based on the owner sets the amount they want to pay per visit to their site, and the amount an account needs to accumulate before they can be paid. Click It also has full statistics for both the entire program and each individual account. The administrative script reads the data, and will alert the owner when accounts need to be paid, and how much they should be paid. All accounts stats can also be checked by their owners using an encrypted password system."
It costs $150 and runs on Unix.
eCommerceCONTROL
The eCommerceCONTROL system has the most sophisticated affiliate network tracking service for small businesses, the company says. Run a 1 or 2 tier network for referred sales and/or for referred subscribers. A unique technology allows you to change the ad running throughout your entire network with the push of a button and guarantees that your affiliate ad always maintains a premium placement on your network sites, enabling you to generate the most revenue possible. Driven by over 150 boardroom quality reports and compatible with all sites. More features and network building functions than any competitor, the company says.
EComWorks
EComWorks sets up and operates affiliate programs for major retailers, in partnership with Free.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.
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.
RevShare software
RevShare from http://nations web.com/affiliates/index.htm is another one you could investigate. It costs $US789.
AffiliateShop
AffiliateShop, launched in January, 1999, by ConnectPal.com, offers businesses which wish to set up their own affiliate programs a convenient and low cost solution to their marketing efforts, says Christopher Low. "Now, you can set up and manage your very own affiliate program on your web site. No commission. No deposits. Sign up now and well waive the set up fee and include a money back guarantee too. Manage your own affiliate program and watch traffic soar on your web site." It offers pay-per-click, pay-per-lead and pay-per-sale models.
CGI script - Commission Cart
Commission Cart is described as the "The only Internet Shopping Cart designed to allow others to earn commissions for promoting your products and services!" It costs $US249 from http://www.cgiscriptcenter.com/comcart/index2.html The site lists several businesses which are using it.
AffiliateWindow
UK based AffiliateWindow is a complete affiliate tracking and management software suite. "The program can be easily installed into existing e-commerce solutions in a matter of minutes," says managing director Kevin Brown.
AffiliateWindow.com Ltd manages the affiliate relationships, "taking away much of the financial cost and administration of running an affiliate program allowing the affiliate merchant to focus revenues and staff in other areas".
AffiliateWindow was launched in June 2000. Pricing: Ј999 followed by support at Ј300 a month.
PDG Shopping Cart software
PDG Shopping Cart software from http://www.pdgsoft.com is a fully featured shopping cart software with affiliate link tracking piggy-backed on to it. An SSL-enhanced version costs $US750.
ClickAffiliate
ClickAffiliate by Pierre Rodrigues of Paris by the Water. Pierre says: "This collection of scripts will assist you to start and manage an affiliate program for your site. Just put the files on your server and start receiving visits."
Affiliates link to you and earn by unique clicks they generated.
Example of link:
http://www.domain.com/cgi-bin/click.cgi?member_id
Pierre gives examples of sites which are using the script.
You define the amounts of clicks to pay as well the pay-per-click rate. The script can handle any currency that you define to calculate payments. It allows affiliates to check their stats and modify contact info. It costs $US35.
justClick! Target Networks 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.
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 wont 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.
23 October 2000
About the Author
Allan Gardyne turned his back on journalism to make a full-time success of his AssociatePrograms directory site. Now a widely-acknowledged affiliate program expert, Allan runs his 8 person web business from a pole house in sub-tropical Australia.
:To contact see details below.
allan@AssociatePrograms.com
http://www.AssociatePrograms.com
You can hire someone to put their affiliate tracking software on your server. You can use a shopping cart, you can buy a CGI script - or you start an affiliate program by writing your own script.
If youre thinking of using any of the networks as a merchant, why not sign up as an affiliate first and test the service your affiliates will be receiving?
Confused already? OK, Ill narrow it down to one:
Corey Rudls Internet Marketing Center has the biggest-selling marketing course on the Internet. His sites attract 6 million visitors a year. His two-tier associate program works perfectly. Associates like Coreys tracking system because they can find the information they need quickly and easily. To them, it appears very simple.
I recommend Corey Rudls AssocTRAC software. You dont just get the software installed. The package also includes a heap of advice from Corey, whose company achieves sales of $5.2 million a year. Thats a huge bonus.
Corey knows his stuff. You wont make a dreadful, costly mistake if you read Coreys advice.
Want to do more research on how to start an affiliate program? There are lots of other options:
Ultimate Automation
Ultimate Automation, an affordable shopping cart system does ALL these things for you:
Takes orders for you.
Sends a series of follow-up emails to customers.
Signs up resellers.
Has built-in associate program software.
Gives you unlimited autoresponder sequences.
Has built-in ad tracking software.
Processes credit card orders in real time.
Manages your mailing list for you.
Sends out surveys and puts answers in a database.
Allows you to merge database fields with your autoresponders.
Allows you to move your whole business to a new ISP in a flash.
Click here for a FREE TRIAL...
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 dont 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.
Craig will install the Affiliate Link software on our your server for $US350.
He will also customize the software for an extra fee. If youre 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.
Ive read strong recommendations for Craigs 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 Craigs
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."
Craig can set up a one-tier or two-tier program for you.
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.
Pauls site is nothing fancy and may give you a misleading impression. The guy is a software programmer - not a designer. Instead have a look at his clients sites.
Pauls 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, Ive spent many hours searching the WWW for an affordable solution to offering an associate program without relinquishing control. Paul Galloways 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. Hes willing to listen when you have a suggestion, and for a modest fee, modify his program to suit your needs. Im going to be working with him and selling his product for substantially more than he sells it for. He receives my highest recommendation."
Pauls system costs $US199. You now have to do the installation and file preparation yourself. Unfortunately, Paul no longer installs the software for you, so youll need to know what youre doing.
When affiliate programs consultant Declan Dunn wanted an expert, this is the guy he chose.
For more details about Pauls software see Your Own Associate Program Recommended.
Commission Junction will handle the details
Commission Junction, launched in November, 1998, is building a rapidly growing, large network of merchants. You can quickly establish a pay-per-lead or pay-per-sale program, and benefit from publicity generated by this prominent affiliate network. Heres the description from the site:
"With a pay-per-lead program, you pay a commission when an authorized affiliate refers a customer to your site and that customer fills out a form or performs another action that allows you to follow up on the sales process.
"With a pay-per-sale program, you pay a commission when an authorized affiliate refers a customer to your site and that customer buys a product or service. The purchase may occur when the visitor is at your site or it may occur at a later time.
"Whether you want to start a new program or upgrade your existing program, we can get you started in a matter of days at a price that any organization can afford. We professionally manage all the details of your revenue sharing operations including affiliate sign-ups, approvals, tracking, reporting, and commission payments."
Commission Junction has a do-it-yourself set-up option and a "we do it" option for under $1000, plus an annual fee. Depending on volume, transaction fees range from 15% to 25% of whatever commission you pay.
The system appears to work very well. A huge advantage of using a network is that it promotes your program for you. Also, Commission Junction consolidates payouts, making it a favourite of affiliates. If you want to pay someone a commission for taking care of all the details, this is a very good option.
Your affiliates will be happy if you choose Commission Junction.
Be Free - expensive but good
The Be Free tracking system is used by Barnes & Noble, enews.com, Fogdog Sports, Art.com, and other large companies. Its expensive but very good. Be Free is a suitable option for sophisticated online retailers with lots of sales - or those aiming to get that way.
Be Frees Affiliate Serving Technology (BFAST) is so technologically advanced "we can monitor millions of accesses and tens of thousands of transactions simultaneously", says Be Free co-founder Tom Gerace.
Be Frees advertising technology, BFIT, targets, places and tracks a retailers advertisements. The retailer can track the success of all advertisements to point of sale and determine that a specific banner in a specific location led to the sale of a certain product - extremely valuable information for boosting sales.
Be Free does not consolidate payments for affiliates.
LinkShare lets you handle the money
LinkShare is another large network which handles revenue sharing arrangements.
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 Outpost.com. It costs several thousand dollars to set up. LinkShare organizes things and does the tracking - it does not handle the money. LinkShare has attracted some big names, including Dell. You benefit from the publicity it generates. Details.
Nexchange affiliates dont lose their visitors
Nexchange allows host web sites, to sell thousands of products from hundreds of top brands. More products and brands are constantly being added. Commissions range from 10% to 25%, depending on the product sold. For example, a sale from the Magazines category pays 25%, a hat sale pays 20%, and a luggage sale pays 10%. A huge advantage for the affiliate sites is that people stay and shop - affiliates dont lose them from their site. Join here.
AffiliateTracking.com
Craig Belchers AffiliateTracking.com charges a flat rate $104.95 the first month and $29.95 a month thereafter. "Its a good choice for small webmasters," Craig says. "If youre planning to have over 50,000 affiliates we can set you up with a dedicated tracking server as well. Pricing starts off at $700 a month for a dedicated tracking server and tops out at around $3000 a month . . . we dont charge 20% of the affiliates commissions either. A flat monthly fee for both pay per sale and pay per click programs."
More networks
PlugInGo is an innovative new affiliate network which still has a fairly small number of companies lined up, but its worth keeping an eye on. It pays 7% on the earnings of people you refer to PlugInGo. It gives away points which you can "spend" and monthly auctions.
ClickBank allows vendors of information products to set up a simple associate program quickly, easily and free. Because it is so easy, you will be sharing space with a fairly mixed crowd. ClickBank accepts payments by credit card for you, and charges a percentage of each sale. It has about 40,000 affiliates.
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-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%.
clickXchange.com - Affiliate Program Software Providers
Build your own pay-per-click, pay-per-lead or pay-per-sale affiliate program. All advertiser accounts include a custom affiliate sign-up process to merge with the advertisers site. ClickXchange.com is a CA Web Designs company based in Huntington Beach, California. CA Web Designs has been in business since January, 1997. If you want an alternative to ClickTrade, this looks worth a cautious trial.
SafeAudit gives you the options of paying by clicks, leads or sales. Its a huge operation with many thousands of members, a small number of whom complained in 1998 that they were unpaid and that e-mails went unanswered. It charges you a percentage. It has had phenomenal growth.
DoubleClick Direct advertising network works with direct marketers on per-lead and per-sale advertising solutions. Its also a useful resource for online advertising information.
Ultimate Affiliate 2000 script from Groundbreak.com
"Simply one of the most fully featured affiliate program scripts on the Internet," says the creator of the CGI script, Steve Miles of Groundbreak.com. However, some customers have reported problems with this product and delays in receiving satisfactory replies.
Steve says the Ultimate Affiliate 2000 is possibly the only affiliate program which reports affiliate statistics graphically. The program has detailed affiliate and administrative control panels as well as a complete statistical reporting system for referrals, unique referrals, and commissions. It can be used for one-tier, two-tier or three-tier programs.
ProTRACK from Pathfinder Software
There are two versions of Pro-TRACK, which was launched in September, 1999:
Pro-TRACK Standard is for the affiliate program owner that wants to keep track of sales and wants to know from which affiliates the sale originated. Although the Standard version will not compute any sales data (owners manually keep track of sales), it is an excellent way to track and compensate your affiliate sales, says Normand Charette of PathFinder Software.
Pro-TRACK Pro will not only track where your sales are originating from, but also provide you with the statistics you need to track how well your affiliate program is doing. At a glance you will be able to spot which ones are your hottest affiliates, the amount of click-throughs per banner views, and the average sale per click. These are only a few features that are included in the Pro version. The new Pro-TRACK version 1.4 costs $597.
The Affiliate Program software
The Affiliate Program software is made by KowaBunga! Technologies, a sister company of Invisio.
Features include: Fully-automated setup; admin and members page; banner location tracking and verification; e-mail your affiliate members; monthly account statements; export your affiliate information; tracking click-throughs, sales and commissions; automatic reminders; SMART sales report; online sales history; variable commission structure; and two-tier commission support.
Perl/cgi, runs on Unix/NT.
It comes fully customized and installed for $499 (US).
CyberTrakker
CyberTrakker is the tool to help you build and manage your own affiliate distribution network, e-commerce and opt-in mailing lists without having to rely on other parties, says Ian Lauder, President of Cyber Sea Inc.
"CyberTrakker gives you total control of your affiliate and marketing tracking systems. Integration of e-commerce, shopping cart, affiliate tracking, hit tracking and site administration all under your control," he says. "The CyberTrakker system is also designed for small to medium sized businesses who cannot afford the high cost of a large scale e-commerce and affiliate tracking system. As your needs grow scale up the system rather than being tied to someone elses servers and systems for your tracking."
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 Jims 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.
Site*Sponsor
I have also seen recommended a software program called Site*Sponsor by WebGenie to track sales by associates. It comes in bronze, silver and gold versions. If you want only 100 affiliates, its free.
ViaMall/Yahoo Stores
ViaMall/Yahoo Stores tracking system is said to assure accuracy and honesty in reporting. A store using it is Thom Reeces On-Line Marketing Group
Ive read that it tracks only the referring URL and doesnt have any way to reward an associate for repeat visits. In December 1998 I heard that it wasnt accepting non-U.S. companies. (You may want to ask if that is still so.) Prices start at $US100 a month.
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.
TeknoSurfs Net-Tracker 2000
NT2000 software from Scott Ferbers 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.
SalesDoubler
Affiliate software SalesDoubler from Commercial Networks hires, spreads and keeps track of your advertisers/dealers and their sales.
Vilo Ivanic of Commercial Networks says its main features are:
Standard or two-tier commission setup calculated either in % or $.
Sales Tracking
Banner Impressions Tracking
Banner Click-Throughs Tracking
Emailer - Send email messages to ALL of your dealers from one place.
Product Database - Use it as a Shopping Cart
Ability to replicate whole site, not just one page
Search Engine submitable Dealers HTML links
Dynamically generated pages.
Advertisment banner code generator
Dealers statistics
Easy to use owners Administration windows
Export commissions data to off-line database
SalesDoubler costs $395 (US).
KCLICK2
KCLICK2, which sells for $100, is a pay-per-click CGI script created by Kevin Alexander. A little or no CGI experience is needed, he says.
"Features include: Automatic JOIN function (this can be disabled so only the webmaster can add new affiliates with a special password); deletion of old accounts that have had no activity for a specific amount of time easy installation - you only need to set several variables in the program (its easy to do) and customize the HTML pages to suit your website; deleting individual accounts; affiliates can instantly see their statistics; generation of reports based on the minimum amounts you have set for account balances - automatically generates these accounts for easy payout, and resets their click-counts for the next cycle; smaller volume accounts have their click totals carried over to the next billing cycle until the minimum is met; and more...."
Heres a warning from Kevin:
As an advertiser you need to keep a watchful eye, as there are many scams out there! I look at the list daily, and look at the websites to look for things like a contest where people had to click to my site, read the first headline, and go back (at a cost of .10 to me) to others where you have to click on an advertiser to let the game download, etc.
Click It from Solution Scripts
Click It is a top quality pay-per-click CGI program, says Tim Watson of Solution Scripts. "Click It controls all aspects of an affiliate program (where a person is paid a certain amount per person the send to a web site) Click It is very configurable based on the owner sets the amount they want to pay per visit to their site, and the amount an account needs to accumulate before they can be paid. Click It also has full statistics for both the entire program and each individual account. The administrative script reads the data, and will alert the owner when accounts need to be paid, and how much they should be paid. All accounts stats can also be checked by their owners using an encrypted password system."
It costs $150 and runs on Unix.
eCommerceCONTROL
The eCommerceCONTROL system has the most sophisticated affiliate network tracking service for small businesses, the company says. Run a 1 or 2 tier network for referred sales and/or for referred subscribers. A unique technology allows you to change the ad running throughout your entire network with the push of a button and guarantees that your affiliate ad always maintains a premium placement on your network sites, enabling you to generate the most revenue possible. Driven by over 150 boardroom quality reports and compatible with all sites. More features and network building functions than any competitor, the company says.
EComWorks
EComWorks sets up and operates affiliate programs for major retailers, in partnership with Free.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.
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.
RevShare software
RevShare from http://nations web.com/affiliates/index.htm is another one you could investigate. It costs $US789.
AffiliateShop
AffiliateShop, launched in January, 1999, by ConnectPal.com, offers businesses which wish to set up their own affiliate programs a convenient and low cost solution to their marketing efforts, says Christopher Low. "Now, you can set up and manage your very own affiliate program on your web site. No commission. No deposits. Sign up now and well waive the set up fee and include a money back guarantee too. Manage your own affiliate program and watch traffic soar on your web site." It offers pay-per-click, pay-per-lead and pay-per-sale models.
CGI script - Commission Cart
Commission Cart is described as the "The only Internet Shopping Cart designed to allow others to earn commissions for promoting your products and services!" It costs $US249 from http://www.cgiscriptcenter.com/comcart/index2.html The site lists several businesses which are using it.
AffiliateWindow
UK based AffiliateWindow is a complete affiliate tracking and management software suite. "The program can be easily installed into existing e-commerce solutions in a matter of minutes," says managing director Kevin Brown.
AffiliateWindow.com Ltd manages the affiliate relationships, "taking away much of the financial cost and administration of running an affiliate program allowing the affiliate merchant to focus revenues and staff in other areas".
AffiliateWindow was launched in June 2000. Pricing: Ј999 followed by support at Ј300 a month.
PDG Shopping Cart software
PDG Shopping Cart software from http://www.pdgsoft.com is a fully featured shopping cart software with affiliate link tracking piggy-backed on to it. An SSL-enhanced version costs $US750.
ClickAffiliate
ClickAffiliate by Pierre Rodrigues of Paris by the Water. Pierre says: "This collection of scripts will assist you to start and manage an affiliate program for your site. Just put the files on your server and start receiving visits."
Affiliates link to you and earn by unique clicks they generated.
Example of link:
http://www.domain.com/cgi-bin/click.cgi?member_id
Pierre gives examples of sites which are using the script.
You define the amounts of clicks to pay as well the pay-per-click rate. The script can handle any currency that you define to calculate payments. It allows affiliates to check their stats and modify contact info. It costs $US35.
justClick! Target Networks 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.
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 wont 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.
23 October 2000
About the Author
Allan Gardyne turned his back on journalism to make a full-time success of his AssociatePrograms directory site. Now a widely-acknowledged affiliate program expert, Allan runs his 8 person web business from a pole house in sub-tropical Australia.
:To contact see details below.
allan@AssociatePrograms.com
http://www.AssociatePrograms.com
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