How to Recruit Affiliates

Setting up your affiliate center with various promotional materials is important, but unless you build upon that foundation and actually recruit people to join, you won't see any new traffic to your site via affiliates.

It's the same with any product. If you don't market it, you won't make any sales regardless of how amazing the product is. So treat your affiliate program like another product. What are the features? What are the benefits? Most importantly, what makes it unique? What separates you from the competition?

Go bold here. Dare to be different because being different gets you noticed. For instance, name your program. Add graphics to make the name pop and grab attention.

Then register the name of the program as its own domain so that it becomes its own exclusive site. If you don't want to do that, though, you can host your affiliate center on your existing site. Whatever method you choose, you do need a home page for your program. On this page, include the following information: How to Sign-up; Commission % per Referral; When and How Affiliates are Paid; What Makes Your Program Unique and Worth Joining; Summary of How the Program Works; Instructions for Accessing Sales Stats; and Terms of Agreement.

Now that your product is completely in place, it's time to start recruiting. The best way to recruit affiliates is by networking. Attend seminars in your niche and make personal, face-to-face contact with as many people as possible. Ask questions about their business and listen intently to their answers.

Show them you care about them before you start talking about yourself. Then tell them about your business and invite them to join your affiliate program. Other ways to network include tapping into your existing circle of contacts:

--Send a broadcast message to your list to let them know about your new affiliate program.

--Add a message about your program into your autoresponder series.

--Advertise your affiliate program in every product you sell.

--Posting a link to your affiliate center in a high visibility spot on your site.

--Contact your existing customer base and give them the opportunity to join your program.

Once you've maximized the power of the people you already know, you must actively search for partners. You can do that by creating a contact letter. In this letter, you should share the benefits of your program with others in your niche who promote complementary products. Then start mailing!

About The Author-- Glen Hopkins specializes in teaching struggling entrepreneurs how to turn their small Online businesses into thriving money machines all while working less and earning more. To get more information, including Free Reports, Videos and CDs, visit: http://www.GlenHopkins.name

Article Source: Articles island - Free article submission and free reprint articles