I often I hear seasoned affiliates questioning the value of their affiliate manager. Wondering what on earth people in this position could do to help them? Why they would waste valuable time talking to an AM instead of trying to contact the owner of the ad network directly or someone who is seemingly more in charge?

Well the truth is not all affiliate managers were created equally. You will find that in working with different ad networks, just like there are good and bad offers, there are good and bad affiliate managers.

So what is it that you can actually expect from your affiliate manager and what are not likely jobs that you will get them to perform? Your affiliate manager is not in most cases an affiliate or a webmaster themselves (although in a perfect world that would be a pre-requisite). The AM will not be able to help you learn how to get the banner from the ad network to display on your site. They will not know how to create the traffic to promote the advertiser. If you, as an affiliate, do not already have a traffic source you probably need to take a few steps back and learn to do that first. If there is no traffic to the site no matter how great the offer and the ad you will not convert!

Now, if you have a good source of traffic already and know how to manage it then this is what you can expect your affiliate manager to do for you:

1. You can expect them to always answer your emails. If you cannot get an AM to reach out to you before you signup to a network, you should probably take that as a sign of things to come and bail. At Empyre Media we are especially proud of our availability and personal touch to all of our affiliates.
2. Your AM should be able to walk you through the signup process to the network. If there are any out of the ordinary steps, or approvals are required your AM can definitely help to push you through the system a little faster.
3. Your AM should know about what types of traffic are working well with which types of campaigns. If you are running a mommy blog versus a tech review site they are obviously going to have different types of creatives and ads for you to put out there. If they are recommending offers from verticals that don’t seem to match your surfer demographics then you know they don’t have your best interests at heart.
4. Your AM should let you know when new advertisers come on board that fit your vertical. They should try to get you the ads first before anyone else. A GREAT AM will even send you your creatives for the newest, hottest campaign already coded with your referral code.
5. If you are a large volume affiliate your AM Should be able to make negotiations with payout timelines as well as amounts in order to keep your awesome traffic. If you are asking for this type of favor though please make sure your traffic converts and is AWESOME. Otherwise it is not unreasonable for your AM to tell you that you don’t qualify for these perks. Don’t be upset if that is the case, just keep building and try a little harder to meet the higher quota.
6. In the event that one of the advertisers within the network you have chosen to promote does not like your traffic, you may find a network is not paying you when you think you are owed money. If you go and scream at the owner of the network they might help you. The affiliate manager is however the more sympathetic ear to tell your story to. They AM will take your story to the appropriate entity and get you an audience with the person who can affect that decision. How much better to have someone working for you on the inside though instead of just you versus the whole company and an advertiser.
7. Finally if you need any custom work done in order to better promote a particular offer, or new tools for promotion, you should speak to your AM. They are the front lines and they are fighting for you inside of the company for you to get the things you need.

So be nice to your affiliate managers. They are there for your benefit and a good affiliate manager will help you a long a fair amount. A great affiliate manager, like all of our affiliate managers here at Empyre Media, will go that extra mile for you to make sure you get the most from their network.

However, merchandisers are not the only ones who can benefit from online marketing. A booming industry provides great opportunity as well to individuals who are affiliate marketers. In affiliate marketing, an affiliate marketer doesn’t need to have his own products and services to sell. All he needs to do is to refer people to the merchant’s business site for them to buy the products and thereby, earn a commission.

The key to an affiliate marketer’s success is to choose a good affiliate program and to employ excellent marketing techniques in promoting or selling the products to consumers. Why good and not the best affiliate program? There is no “best affiliate marketing program” as one program might make one affiliate marketer a millionaire and the other a frustrated marketer. In other words, it can be a success to one and a failure to another. But there certainly is a good affiliate marketing program for you. How to make it best then depends on you and each individual in the program.

It is helpful when you have already focused your search to a specific interest, which may be the theme of your website (if you already have one). In this way, you would be able to direct yourself towards a program that really matches your needs, wants and resources. It would be easier for you to eliminate options that are not suited to your own criteria for a good affiliate marketing program. You can join affiliate forums and learn some tips and get suggestions from experienced or super affiliate marketers.
Most affiliate programs are focused on the merchants. Very few programs actually focus on the affiliates. One difference that you need to look for is the ability to select or customize the products that you offer. If you are evaluating an affiliate program and can’t find products that you are interested in it might be best to move on. However, there are a few programs available that will help you find the right products for you and your business.

Once you have found a few affiliate programs to consider, before you sign up, here are a few things to consider. Are the products and services top quality? If not, you are going to have trouble believing in your own marketing, so why would anyone else? Next, what is the history of the program? Have they been in business for some time and who has joined their network? You can tell a lot about a program by its affiliates and its reputation. Finally, look for programs that actually support the affiliates with marketing content, ads, banners, email writing, etc. These will be the programs that are easiest to plug into as you start.

This article copyright 2010, Empyre Media. Find out more about Empyre’s FULL SERVICE affiliate program at http://www.empyremedia.com.

Affiliate programs can be a great way to make money online. You don’t have to spend time developing your own product, worry about taking orders, or take care of customer service.

If you already have a high traffic website or run an e-zine, you can stand to earn a steady flow of commissions every month without a lot of extra work on your part.

The following 5 tips can help you choose the affiliate programs that are right for you.

1. Choose affiliate programs that match the content of your site. If your site targets a niche market than choose affiliate programs that offer products to that niche market. There are very few affiliate programs on the web that actually cater to your needs.

2. Choose affiliate programs that pay a high commission. For example 30%-50% on your direct sales is a common measure.

3. Join affiliate programs that have products or brands that you yourself trust. If you don’t know anything about the products you are promoting, it will be much harder to write sales copy, integrate with your current marketing and so on.

4. Join affiliate programs that offer a line of products rather than only one or two things. This way you can earn commissions when your referrals come back and purchase other services or products.

5. Join affiliate programs that offer their affiliates great marketing support. Many affiliate programs offer their affiliates pre-written ads to use or get ideas from, sales letters, marketing courses, and articles to use in promoting their services.

Remember, the best affiliate programs will see their affiliate program as a partnership with you and combine high commissions with excellent support so that you can start earning money
promoting their products as quickly as possible.

What commissions does the affiliate program pay?

Of course, if you are joining an affiliate program you are doing so for the commissions. There are affiliate programs available online that offer great commissions to their affiliates in order to keep them active and working hard. Then there are other programs that do not pay well, do not keep up with referrals, and basically cheat the affiliate out of hard earned money. Make sure you know exactly what kind of program you are getting involved with and that you will make good money for your time and effort.

What products can I sell as an affiliate?

A key aspect of the affiliate programs you are looking at are the products. You might see an affiliate program that has the equivalent of a mall with links to thousands of products. The thought might enter your head that more links equals more business, but in this scenario it is not necessarily true. Generally, the affiliate programs that recognize the most success sell one quality product or line of top products that a large percentage of the population can use, need, afford, and will actually want. This is the best type of affiliate program to associate yourself with and what you should be looking for.

How long has the affiliate program been in business?

Experience is also important when it comes to affiliate programs. You want to work for an affiliate program that is settled in the market, that knows how to handle the business it is involved in, and is concerned with treating partners fairly then rewarding them for hard work. An experienced affiliate program knows what works and what doesn’t, so don’t be tempted to sign up for a brand new affiliate program just because you want to be one of the first people to join… this might not work to your advantage. It is very important to always do your research before jumping in.

And, here are a few remaining questions that you need to answer before you sign up or apply for an affiliate program. Does the affiliate program work FOR you? How many options do you have to customize or choose the products you will market? How many affiliates are in the program and how long have they been part of the program? Are there super affiliates (well-known names) that are part of the program? What are the criteria to join? Can anyone join or do I have to qualify to be part of the program?

Make Sure You Find A Program that is FULL SERVICE.

Find out more about Empyre’s FULL SERVICE affiliate program at http://www.empyremedia.com.