Affiliate Marketing Tip: Dealing with Merchants Directly

When you are dealing directly with a merchant, there are some things that you have to realize. You need to know how to deal with them but also what to expect to encounter from the as well. That is what this section is going to help you with. Let’s take a look at some of the various things that you can expect to hear and deal with when going through a merchant.

a) If you are going to go to the trouble of emailing a merchant and they don’t respond the first time, do not worry about it, be persistent because many merchants receive countless numbers of emails daily and take time to sift through them and weed out the spam. If they still fail to respond to your, think twice about continuing promotion on their behalf because a lack of communication can also be indicative of other problems such as payment or just plain disinterest. You should also bear in mind that some merchants work on the shotgun principle. What this means is that they make big promises, set a high payouts knowing full well that few affiliates will ever reach it. Next thing you know, they get as many affiliates promoting their products and services as possible which will give them the maximum exposure, with the minimum cost and effort on their part. It’s not a good business model for them to use in the long term and after a while affiliates drop away, but not before the company has raked in thousands. Many MLM (multi-level marketing) programs also work on this principle and only the guys at the top generate any serious revenue so you need to expect this and watch out for it.

A good way to protect your payments from merchants is to sign up for affiliate programs that are extremely well established ad networks such as Offers Quest or FastClick if you want to get paid for your work. When you are working with a major ad network means that even if you only make a few dollars from each program, those dollars that are generated will all feed a common account, accumulate rapidly which will allow you to reach the payout threshold in a shorter time period. Most ad networks work with merchants on a “money up front” or monthly “pay as you go” basis because this decreases the risk of those merchants who are suddenly disappearing with your hard earned commissions. For this to work, you need to demonstrate your web marketing prowess

b) Unless you have a web site that already generates high traffic, don’t ask the merchant for higher commissions in the first communication. So many affiliates do this and end up being totally ignored because most affiliates probably can’t deliver on their promises due to the fact that too many of their claims are unachievable. If you don’t have a solid sales record for the product or service you are promoting, you’ll need to prove yourself to merchants off the bat and put some thought into your promotion and rack up a few sales before attempting to secure higher payout rates. Be professional in your communications

c) When you are communicating with merchants, you have to make sure that you use a professional manner not the laid back style that you use when talking toy our friends. If you have suggestions of how a merchant could improve an offer that would convert into more sales, let them know, but be very polite and constructive in your feedback -not insulting by saying things like: “Your banners suck” because this will alienate them.

d) You have to remember that the Internet as a trading place is still very new in comparison to the business platforms of the last few millennia like regular advertising through television or newspaper ads. Some of the quality companies that are offering an affiliate program may be just breaking into this side of marketing and will appreciate any feedback you can give them.

e) A smart merchant understands that good affiliates can’t be found everywhere as is often assumed and hoped. Merchants need someone that acts business like and treats them with respect, assists with resources and provides prompt payments. Smarter affiliates understand that a merchant wants quality promotion and sales performance for minimum outlay. Successful merchant/affiliate partnerships happen when both parties understand these points and work together because that is when the money starts rolling in.

Nowadays, you can get millions of different goods and services on the Internet, advertisers look to individuals and companies to help them sell their products by using webmasters and others to spread the word. These advertisements can come in the form of banner advertising on affiliate sites, text links, reviews written by affiliates, direct email, blogs etc.

How it works is that the advertisers pay webmasters for displaying the ads, or for click throughs that are sent to them, (Called pay per click) which is a commission that is paid on any sales that happen as a direct result of a referral from their web site or email message or during each visit. I will explain more on this in a later section.

The fact of the matter is that you will likely not need to be bothered with a merchant at all if it weren’t for the money involved. The fact that affiliations can be used as a mass promotional opportunity for both sides that results in more money for both just adds icing to the cake. That is why the next section is about mass promotion through affiliate marketing.