Ebooks
-- Self-Publishing Your Way to Internet Success Part 8
Setting Up an Affiliate Program
By
Shelley Lowery
When you begin marketing your ebook on the Internet,
you
can dramatically increase your sales with an affiliate
program.
An affiliate program will enable you to recruit an
entire sales
force to market your ebook for you. The great thing
about
having an affiliate program is that your affiliates
work for you
on a commission basis. They are paid a specified
percentage
for each sale they make. If they don't make any sales,
they
won't get paid.
The key to obtaining affiliates is to offer a nice
commission for
each sale. The higher the commissions, the more
affiliates
you'll recruit.
There are thousands of affiliate programs on the
Internet. In
order to be successful, you must sell your affiliate
program
just like your product. In other words, your affiliate
letter
should be written like a sales letter. You must
persuade your
visitors to join your affiliate program by packing
your affiliate
sales letter with benefits. Tell them exactly what
your affiliate
program will do for them, how much commission they
will
receive and make the sign-up process simple.
Setting Up Your Affiliate Program
When you're ready to set up your affiliate program,
there are
basically two options. The first option is to purchase
an
affiliate software program. Affiliate software will
track your
affiliate sales and enable your affiliates to view
their stats.
This option requires that you run your affiliate
program and
you are responsible for accepting payment and sending
out
commission checks.
The second option is to use a third party affiliate
tracking
company to run your affiliate program for you. These
companies will track your affiliate sales, enable your
affiliates
to check their stats and send out commission checks
for you.
Affiliate Tracking Software
AssocTRAC
http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/web/jump.cgi?ID=2333
Pro-TRACK
http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/web/jump.cgi?ID=61
Affiliate Tracking Companies
ClickBank
http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/web/jump.cgi?ID=196
Commission Junction
http://www.commissionjunction.com/
Increasing Affiliate Sales
The key to developing a successful affiliate team is
to keep
your affiliates motivated. Set up an opt-in list to
enable them
to subscribe and receive new promotional methods,
sales letters
and articles to assist them in making more sales. This
will not
only increase their sales, but it will also enable you
to keep in
contact with your affiliates and introduce new
products.
Nobody knows more about your ebook than you do. Set up
a
page on your web site and provide your affiliates with
all of the
promotional information they'll need to market your
ebook.
This information might include all of the following:
- Banners
- Sample ads
- Articles
- Reviews
- Sales letters
- Autoresponder courses
To further increase sales, create a sample or limited
version
of your ebook. This ebook should be used to intrigue
and
persuade your readers to purchase the full version.
This can
be accomplished by allowing your readers to only view
a
portion of your ebook. In order for them to gain full
access
to your ebook, they must purchase the password.
The key to using this technique successfully is to
enable
your affiliates to customize the sales links within
the ebook
with their affiliate information. This will provide
your affiliates
with a viral marketing tool that they can freely
distribute and
earn commissions for years to come.
Creating a Customizable Ebook
In order to create an ebook that can be customized by
your
affiliates, your ebook must be in HTML (EXE) format.
In
addition, you must have a special ebook compiler. This
compiler will enable you to specify certain areas
within your
ebook that may be customized. When your affiliate
downloads
your ebook, they will also need to download an
additional
software that will be used to place their affiliate
information
within your ebook. There are very few compilers on the
market that use this technology.
Here are two that I recommend:
Ebook Edit Pro
http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/web/jump.cgi?ID=2894
Activ E-book
http://www.web-source.net/cgi-bin/web/jump.cgi?ID=105
Both of these compilers will enable you to create an
ebook
with customizable fields.
Developing your own affiliate program will not only
enable
you to increase your sales, but it will also drive
targeted
traffic to your web site. Even if your visitor decides
not to
purchase your ebook, they may be interested in some
other
products your web site offers.
Take your time and select the best affiliate option
for your
business. If you'd rather not take the time to run
your affiliate
program, you may want to use one of the third party
affiliate
companies. This is the easiest route and will enable
you to
concentrate on more important things -- like making
more sales
and writing new ebooks.
In part 9 of this series, we will focus on designing
your ebook's
sales page.
Copyright © 2001, all rights reserved
About the Author:
Shelley Lowery is the author of Ebook Starter. A
complete
ebook design kit that takes you step by step through
designing, creating and marketing your own ebook. Give
your ebook a professional look in just a few simple
steps
with over 100 ebook interface and cover templates.
http://www.web-source.net/ebookstarter.htm
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