H1: Establishing Your Own Affiliate Program: A Guide to Building a Sales Force

H2: Understanding Your Options for Affiliate Programs

Affiliate programs can be established in various ways, with costs ranging from affordable to expensive, depending on the path you choose. The key is to select the one that aligns with your needs and budget.

H3: Pay Per Click vs Pay Per Sale

Some people opt for a "pay per click" model, where they credit their affiliates a certain amount every time someone clicks on their affiliate banners or links. However, a more result-oriented approach is the "pay per sale" model, where you only pay out when someone clicks through and makes a purchase. This way, you're not just paying for traffic but for actual results, which is the sale.

H3: Setting Up Your Affiliate Program: Software vs Third-Party Services

You essentially have two options for setting up your affiliate program: purchasing software or using a third-party service. The advantage of a third-party service is that they handle all the accounting aspects, including click-tracking and sending your affiliates their commission checks. This frees up your time for more productive tasks, but this convenience comes at a cost. Let's explore some of your options:

H2: Third-Party Affiliate Services

• Clicktrade.com: Outsource your affiliate program to ClickTrade, and they'll handle everything from tracking to paying your affiliates. They charge 30% for their services and require a $500.00 initial deposit.

• Clickbank.com: Ideal for those who sell information products online. Each of your affiliates will need to have a Clickbank account (which is free) for tracking their sales. They accept the payment for you by credit card and charge a percentage of each sale.

• Affiliate Shop: No software installation required; just add a few lines of HTML code on your site to get your program running. They charge a flat setup fee of $395.00 and a monthly fee of $45.00.

H2: Software Options for Affiliate Programs

Ensure that whatever software you purchase offers real-time stats tracking. If you're integrating it with your existing shopping cart, ensure compatibility.

• Affiliate Tracking: You can buy or lease their software which runs on their server. Pricing starts at a setup fee of $75.00 plus $34.95 per month.

• Affiliate Software: Pro-Track is affordable and easy to set up, but it currently only runs on UNIX servers. Pricing starts at $695.00 for setup on a single domain.

• My Affiliate Program: You design the look and feel of your program and decide the payout. Easy integration with your website and Quickbooks for paying your affiliates. Pricing starts at $499.00 plus a $50.00 monthly hosting fee.

• Ground Break: If you're proficient at configuring CGI scripts, consider downloading this script and doing it yourself. It only works on Unix platforms and costs $200.00.

H2: Conclusion

As you can see, there are numerous options for setting up your own affiliate program. It will require some time and money, but the result is a powerful sales force that extends your reach on the internet. Whatever program you choose, ensure it's easy to set up and user-friendly to avoid losing people before they even get started. In the next part of this article, we'll explore some ways of promoting your newly established affiliate program.