Attracting Affiliates

[Chameleon]

I see a lot of questions here from the Affiliate's standpoint, but my question is from the opposite angle:

How do I attract affiliates?

I've got a shareware software program that's been well received by my customer base. I'm not getting rich, but I've sold a fair number of copies of my program, and the customers seem to love it.

A few months ago I setup an affiliate program to try and drum up more sales. I went at it on my own rather than using someone like CJ becuase of the sizable fees involved. Thus far I've gotten a handful of affiliates. A few of them are sending me a decent amount of sales - proving that an affiliate program works.

Now the question is, how do I turn a handful of affiliates into hundreds or thousands so I can really see a spike in sales?

Any suggestions?

[MarkB]

Have you looked into other networks (including smaller ones)?

Have you tried looking at www.abestweb.com for possible promotion opportunities?

[chromate]

Yeah, definitely try abestweb. They may be able to tailor a program to suit your needs.

It may even be worth paying CJ to set you up a program. If you're making a decent number of sales on your own, then CJ should definitely be considered.

If you want to retain control of the program, then you could start to offer bonuses / rewards and sales tiers. You could also offer an instant bonus of $50 or whatever on an affiliate's first sale. Some affiliate's like to promote products directly through advertising such as AdWords, so you may like to make a list of keywords available to your affiliates that they can then bid on.

Promote the program by adding a link with details in your signature and then post to forums where there will be webmasters that might want to promote your program.

[Chameleon]

Chromate - you bring up an interesting point that I've been wondering about: Sales Tiers.

Are tiers really that important to affiliates? Is it a "must have"? Something a serious affiliate will look for when they are searching for a new opportunity?

[chromate]

Depends on what kind of tierd structure there is. Remember, affiliates are normally just interested in making money. So if they think there's a good opportunity to make more money, then they will more than likely feel more inclined to join your affiliate program.

I think your main problem is going to be the low price of your product. At 10% they're not even going to make back $1 per sale. So in this particular case, a tiered structure is probably a very good idea. That way affiliates can rapidly earn more and the program will be more attractive. I don't know what your overheads / profit margins are, but I would look at setting the top tier at 40% and not make it to hard to reach that level either. Makes promoting your program easier too if you can say "as much as 40% per sale".

It will take time and experimentation to see what works best though.

[Chameleon]

I think your main problem is going to be the low price of your product. At 10% they're not even going to make back $1 per sale.
You're right, the low price of the product has it's pros and cons. On one hand, an affiliate isn't going to earn a lot per sale. On the other hand, the low cost means that there is a wider audience for the program. It appeals to the novice user and it's affordable enough for everyone.

The other thing we have going for us is a good conversion rate. Some of our affiliates are sending us good, targetted traffic, and they have a conversion rate over 20%. That means 1 in 5 people they send make a purchase. If they send us 10,000 visitors a month, they make $2,000. That should be a good selling point I would think.

I would look at setting the top tier at 40% and not make it to hard to reach that level either.
I guess I don't understand the tier system as well as I thought I did. Can you elaborate?

I was thinking of a 2 tier system. Maybe the bottom tier gets 10 or 15% of the sale. The top tier would then get 5% of what the people under them sell.

[chromate]

Well, there's a whole load of different ways it could work. (yours being one of them). But what I meant was, for example, say 10 to 14 sales = 10%, 15 to 49 sales = 20%, 50 to 99 sales = 30%, 100+ sales = 40%

But that's a meaningless example. You would have to adjust the levels so it fits in with the number of sales you're seeing etc.

[Chameleon]

Interesting. I hadn't thought about that approach. Changing the commission rates based on how successful the affiliate is. More successful affiliates get rewarded with higher earnings. Hmmm. I'll consider that.

Any other ideas (by anyone)?

[nohaber]

Attracting affiliates is tough, IMO. If someone can help, I am glad to listen.

I sell a shareware program that costs 49.95$ (www.x3msoftware.com) and I give my affiliates 20 per sale. That's $20 per sale. I think this is a good incentive. I have a bunch of affiliates but they've made few sales.

So, finding affiliates who can actually promote your product is tough, imo.

Where are they? How do I find the affiliates that can make me money? I have no idea.

I am not complaining. I've just totally given up the idea that someone will help me sell more copies.

[chromate]

Your problem could be the landing page you're using for your software. It's got the information there, but could be more attractive / include screen shots etc. You may be losing sales at this point.

I promote some weightloss software which does alright, this is an example of their landing page: http://www.weightbydate.com/pro_overview_cpn04.htm

[Chameleon]

Your problem could be the landing page you're using for your software. It's got the information there, but could be more attractive / include screen shots etc. You may be losing sales at this point

Was this comment directed at nohaber? Me? Both of us?

I've thought about setting up a completely seperate web site to promote the software, rather than just having it part of my overall business site. Maybe make it a bit more attactive to a novice consumer. It might help with attract more search engine traffic as well.

Unfortunately, my marketting skills aren't world class. Getting the right language to attract sales (and affiliates) is a challenge. :o

Nice site, by the way!

[nohaber]

chro,
I had screenshots at one point but they didn't help at all. I have no idea, if they will. I guess the most important thing is that the user likes the program during the 15 day free trial.

Anyway, my site has good convertion ratio. The problem is I get no traffic/sales from affiliates.

And my question again: how do I find capable affiliates? Are there any community sites where there's lots of webmasters looking for affiliate programs? Something like that.

I've already accepted the idea that no affiliate will ever make me rich, so what I get is mainly from my efforts on traffic.

[MarkB]

nohaber, perhaps screenshots with information on how the program works... something like a step-by-step infomercial :)

And perhaps make it look like less a software page, and more of a 'helpful' page.

Sorry, it's Friday and I have no way with words this afternoon...!