Self Publishing Your
Own Ebooks
Part 8 Setting Up an Affiliate Program
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 (Highly Recommended)
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, 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 'branding' software that will be used to place their affiliate
information within your ebook. There are very few compilers on the market
that provide this technology, so make sure you look for this feature when
purchasing a compiler.
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 program 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 © Shelley Lowery
About the Author:
Shelley Lowery is the creator of eBook Starter - Give Your Ebooks the look
and feel of a REAL book, notebook, manual or report. Create your own customizable
ebooks with ease and create an ongoing promotional tool that will circulate
the Internet for eternity.
http://www.ebookstarter.com.
Visit Web-Source.net to sign up for a complimentary subscription to Etips
and receive a copy of the acclaimed ebook, "Killer Internet Marketing
Strategies."
http://www.web-source.net
You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print,
in your ebook or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the author
bylines are included.
Part Seven
Part Nine
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