Affiliate Question

momanddad · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 11

I am looking at affiliate marketing, or something similar, to supplement my income. I lost my wife to cancer, and now find myself as both Mom and Dad to my 3 college kids. Is there REALLY money to be made doing this? I know I probably don't really "qualify" for your blog, but I would appreciate anyone's input.

Thanks...Michael

Anita · Posted: February 20, 2007, 7:32 am Post subject:

Oh absolutely! My two biggest forms of income online is my advertising sales and affiliate marketing. Done properly, it can be a very lucrative business. I have an entire section on Mommy's Helper for Affiliate Marketing Help That should be of some help to you.

momanddad · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 11

Anita......Thank you for your input. I am looking forward to learning from your Affiliate Marketing Help.

I said I didn't "qualify" because the name of your forum is MommyHelper, and while I have always thought I made a pretty good Dad, I have found that I am NOT a very good Mom for my kids.

Michael

Anita · Posted: February 20, 2007, 5:09 pm Post subject:

Sure thing Michael. And if you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask! We're more than willing to help - even if you're not a mom Laughing

We do have a couple of other work at home dads who float around here every once in a while but they're not that active. But please know just because you're not a mom ... you'll fit in just fine Wink

BusyMomma · Posted: February 20, 2007, 9:05 pm Post subject:

Welcome Michael,

Sorry to hear about your wife. Crying or Very sad

It would be very hard to be both parents to the kids. Definitely come up to the general discussion boards whenever you need to and chat about it. You aren't meant to be both parents, so just keep trucking along being the best "YOU" that you can be for them. They will love you anyway. Wink

After you sort through all the info Anita gave you please make sure and come back and ask questions. We are here to help and learn from each other. It will do us good to have a male perspective here on the boards.
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momanddad · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 11

Val......Thank you so much for the welcome, and the encouragement. I am blessed that I have good kids. I tell people that my wife did a REALLY good job raising them.

I am in the process of pouring over the info that Anita told me about, and I am looking forward to being here.

Again...many thanks.

Michael

Anita · Posted: February 21, 2007, 5:21 am Post subject:

Christina · Posted: February 21, 2007, 11:47 am Post subject:

Hi Michael and welcome!

I am sorry to hear about the loss of your wife. I am sure that your children very much appreciate that you are there for them.

Like, Anita, I'd love to hear about your ideas for your web site. Smile

By the way, I'm not a mom either and they keep letting me come around too. Laughing

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momanddad · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 11

Anita....Yes, it has been my experience that y'all ARE always right!!! But I am glad, because it has also been my experience that us men are most nearly ALWAYS...'er, UN-right. LOL

Christina...Thanks for the welcome.

My website? Well, as I eluded to above, I am VERY new at this, and have lots more questions than answers. I figure that something that I know a little something about would be best. I actually started a cancer info thing when Jen got sick, but between her illness,,, and my zombie like state since her death, I kinda lost my focus about that. I do believe that in order for something positive to come from her death, I need to share hers, and our family's experiences. I have a few things started at CombatCancer.org, but it is very "green". It is mostly just a story at this point.

I do have an affiliate question. When you become an affiliate, and the company pays you for sales, are the sales tracked and listed back to you individually? In other words, when you get paid, will there be a listing of the person who bought from the company, or will the company just send me a check and I will be trusting them to keep up with the paperwork? Does my question make any sense? It sounded a lot better in my head than it does written down.....Darn, it's hard being a man!!! LOL

pattygale · Joined: 13 Sep 2004 Posts: 698 Location: Colorado Springs

Hi Michael,

Welcome to this wonderful forum! I'm sorry to hear about your wife. I have 2 kids in college, too, one in kindergarten and a 6 month old golden retriever.

My business model is pretty much all virtual, passive income and a good portion of that from affiliate marketing.

"When you become an affiliate, and the company pays you for sales, are the sales tracked and listed back to you individually? In other words, when you get paid, will there be a listing of the person who bought from the company, or will the company just send me a check and I will be trusting them to keep up with the paperwork?"

Most companies have sophisticated tracking systems in place that will track what is known as the "cookie" data from your. For example, when you sign on with a merchant, they will assign a unique ID code or number that is just yours.

All of the marketing tools they give you will contain that unique ID, so that when you place those on your site/email, etc., and then a visitor clicks on the link to make a purchase, the merchant get a report of the sale from your ID so they know who to give the credit to.

Then, depending on their threshold of payout, for example, some merchants require you accumulate $X amount of dollars before they'll send you a check. For most it's small amounts, say $25 or $50, but for a few, they'll require $100 before they will send you your check.

I hope that helps!

Patty
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momanddad · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 11

Hi Pattygale.......Thanks for the reply. I am going to study your business model if you don't mind. I am from Mississippi, and not even the smartest one from Mississippi, so I need all the help I can get.

More specifically....When I get a check from a company, will it be just the check, or will there be a listing of the individuals that made the purchase? I understand the cookie concept, but I am more interested in whether or not I will be able to identify individuals that make purchases.

Again...Thanks a ton.

Michael

pattygale · Joined: 13 Sep 2004 Posts: 698 Location: Colorado Springs

Hi Michael,

You are welcome. Some companies give you an option as to whether you want to receive a physical check in the mail or whether you want your commissions direct deposited to your bank or if you want to get paid with PayPal. It just depends on the merchant, but I always opt for the electronic payments whenever possible.

As far as being able to see the names of the customers who buy through your affiliate link, again, it all depends on the merchant and/or the service they are using.

In most self-managed affiliate programs, you are more likely to be able to see who those customers are. For example, I promote a website building software and I always know who those customers are because the company has added that to their tracking.

This usually is listed in the "congratulations, you've just made a sale email" and is also available in the online reporting that the merchant has setup for affiliates to login to. This allows me to really be in touch with those customers and establish a business relationship.

Most of the larger companies who use services like Commission Junction, Linkshare or Share-A-Sale, you usually don't give you access to those customers because they are technically customers of the merchant.

I hope that helps.

Patty
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momanddad · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 11

Yes Pattygale, that does answer my question. I was curious mainly because I was thinking of some way to reward people for driving customers to my site, basically paying them a part of my commission.

Just makes me think harder...But that does make my head hurt.

Michael

Christina · Posted: February 22, 2007, 4:40 am Post subject:

Michael,

Are you thinking of starting your own affiliate program? You mentioned wanting to reward referrals for sending people to you.

I'm not sure how that would work on a small scale. I know that Cognigen is set up somewhat similarly in part. I recently signed my designs biz up as an affiliate for Cognigen. You can see how that works at http://communications.thedesignsdivision.com or you can view the short movie at http://ddivision.MyLD.net (I'm not sure how helpful that will be for your purposes though).

I just had a thought... You could use your own affiliate program manager to reward others for sending traffic to your web site like a pay per click thing, but you won't be able to attach that to a sale through your affiliate links. If that's something that interests you, I recommend installing iDevAffiliate on your web hosting account (once you get one) so that you can manage your own affiliate program. I use iDev and it works well for me. You can see how mine is set up at http://www.TheDesignsDivision.com/affiliate .

Hopefully I haven't thoroughly confused you with all that.

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momanddad · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 11

Christina......I sent you a question about the Jerky via one of your websites. Do you get those daily?

Thanks.

Michael

Christina · Posted: February 23, 2007, 8:54 am Post subject:

Hi Michael,

I do get those daily, but I was out all day today and just got back home this evening. I just sent ya a reply. Very Happy

Let me know if you have any more questions and would like to chat further.

Christina
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Irresistible Woman Coach
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Every Woman Can Be An Irresistible Woman!

lorettaa · Mineral Girlz Expert Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Posts: 290

Hi Michael,

I was just wondering how things are going for you? Are you getting the hang of affiliate marketing?

take care,
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Anita · Posted: March 7, 2007, 10:52 pm Post subject:

Great minds think alike Loretta! LOL! I was just coming by to ask the same thing!

Take care,
Anita Razz

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momanddad · Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 11

Thanks a lot for checking on me. I have not been able to figure out how to get my affiliate idea put into motion. I think my idea is viable, I just have to get figured out exactly how to implement it.

I am, however, working on a couple of MLM programs that I am about to get involved with.

Again, thanks for checking no me.

Michael

Anita · Posted: March 8, 2007, 9:16 pm Post subject:

Hey again Michael! Your reply to Denise "first affiliate sale" post made me think of something that might help you. I have an entire section on Mommy's Helper about Affiliate Marketing

There is also two free Affiliate Marketing Ecourses there. One is to help you choose an affiliate program and the second has some tips on how to make more money with them.

Hope this helps some!

Take care,
Anita Razz

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P.S. You have to check this out:
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