If you are an entrepreneur or small business owner with a digital presence, such as a website, blog, or inbox magazine, affiliate promotions can be an excellent way to establish beneficial partnerships and to create additional streams of revenue. As opposed to selling traditional advertising space, with affiliate promotions you are displaying material that you created or revised yourself in order to link to an affiliate’s site. When your subscribers follow that link and make a purchase, you receive c omission on the sale. A key reason for the efficiency of this system is that you are not relying on technology to match you with an ideal partner. You know better than anyone who your customers are and what most interests them. Your customers and subscribers also trust you, so any reviews or recommendations that you post will help them feel more inclined to make a purchase.
Principles of Successful Affiliate Deals:
- Build partnerships, not one-shot deals.
- Don’t be greedy; give more than you get, and you will earn loyalty.
- Create win-win situations.
- Offer products that are good for your partners’ customers as well as your own.
- Fill a need or solve a problem.
- Keep your long-term goals in mind.
- Make your partner lots of money.
Adapted from: Tribby, Maryellen. Reinventing the Entrepreneur: Turning your Dream Business into a Reality. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2013. 183-184. Print.
