Guest Post by Gabrielle Greene
I’ve been an affiliate marketer for going on ten years now. I enjoy the diversity and working with several different niches. But, this is the first year that I have been visiting the idea of selling my own products again. The idea is exciting but also a bit overwhelming between finding the right vendors/wholesale prices to researching merchant processing options and more.
PayPal is one of, if not the most popular payment processor for accepting payments because it’s easy to use. But over the years I’ve had a few encounters with my money being held up and issues over refunds. For that reason I started researching merchant providers aside from PayPal. Below are tips to help you assess which merchant provider will meet your needs.
Processing Needs:
- Is there an application fee?
- Is there a contract requirement?
- Are the fees reasonable and comparable to other merchants?
- Is the system user friendly and easy to integrate?
- Does the company offer a mobile reader which can be used with your mobile device? Is it free?
More on Fees...
Aside from an application fee, are there any other fees involved in the initial set up?
Are there monthly minimums that must be met?
Make sure you ask about “per transaction fees” in addition to monthly fees and minimums.
Can payments be deposited directly to your bank account? How frequently?
As an aside, the credit card industry is rife with shady practices, take your time and due diligence in researching terms and conditions. Also read reviews by other business owners that will help you to make an informed decision.
Army of Affiliates?
Although I am used to being the affiliate, with this website there will be other things to do so in order to make money, having other affiliates sending traffic to the site is my main focus. It has taken me quite a few years to learn that I can’t do everything and that there are some tasks I just don’t need to do.
Setting up an Affiliate Program
There are several widely used affiliate management programs on the market to choose from, it’s just a matter of picking one that will work well for you and fit your needs.
Two of the popular ones I have found are:
Ejunkie – Affordable with packages as low as $5/month. It has all the necessary features to start selling your products online and to help affiliates promote it.
Clickbank - $50 one-time fee, 7.5% transaction fee, but Clickbank has been around a long time and is one of the largest digital marketplaces. Compare to other programs though as the transaction fees can be steep.
The goal is to make the affiliate area as easy as possible for affiliates to promote your product. Having experience as the affiliate can prove beneficial in this area. Some things to consider are:
Provide an affiliate link to be used when promoting your products.
Have an information product page to introduce potential affiliates to your product. The page should be concise and clearly describe what the product is and why people need it.
Promotion banners are important! Offer different styles, sizes and colors that will be compatible with general themes and styles.
Email copies that affiliates can you use to send to their mailing list is a benefit to you and the affiliate as the easier it is to promote your product, the more likely they are to do it.
As the affiliate program manager, your two main functions to a successful program are being available to your affiliates to answer questions and provide help as needed. And to track and monitor conversions so that you know what is and is not working.
-- My name is Gabrielle Greene, I blog at TipsOnHowToSaveMoney. My friends often refer to me as “Gaby Gabs A lot,” especially if it has anything to do with freebies and saving money! As the mom of two teenage girls, being frugal is an absolute must. It tends to drive my husband crazy, but oddly he doesn’t complain when the coupons are for golfing.