Do Affiliate Programs Really Work?

YES
67% (4 votes)
NO
33% (2 votes)
Total votes: 6
Jaiem's picture

They have: 1,191 posts

Joined: Apr 1999

I think you can do OK with affiliates if you do more than just put banner or button ads. Put some time into make a real page that describes the product or service.

BTW, you can do too well also. On my e-comm site over the last year we have had several "complaints" from one of our affiliates that we make significant sales for. I suspect they don't want us to do so well and have to pay us a commission. Wink

mjames's picture

They have: 2,064 posts

Joined: Dec 1999

Of course they work! I know a number of people who make in the thousands per month off affiliate programs -- proof that it's possible. Also, you don't need some insane amount of traffic to be profitable ... in the end, 10 targeted buyers are more important than 100 untargeted visitors with two buyers.

And Julia is right about "it depends." Some programs are more effective than others, but if your idea of affiliate programs is sticking a banner on your site, you need to take a step back and reconsider things. The best affiliate tactics involved integrating affiliate programs into your site as content ... write book reviews, promote discounts, etc.

They have: 25 posts

Joined: Sep 2002

Quote: Originally posted by The Webmistress
I have found that TradeDoubler is a very good one.

TradeDoubler is a good affiliate network. There clients are really picky over which sites get to publish their ads.

Digital eXchange - Community Forums
http://forum.carrbrook.org.uk/

Busy's picture

He has: 6,151 posts

Joined: May 2001

Melter has a site in the critquic section at the moment with info about them http://www.webmaster-forums.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19302

The Webmistress's picture

She has: 5,586 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

I have found that TradeDoubler is a very good one.

They have: 25 posts

Joined: Sep 2002

It also depends on how much traffic you get, my sites have never been popular. So my programs never get clicked.

I don't get enough traffic to join the likes of ValueClick or Double Click.

Digital eXchange - Community Forums
http://forum.carrbrook.org.uk/

The Webmistress's picture

She has: 5,586 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

It all depends on how you set them up. On our sites we have banners on all the pages and they do get clicked on but we also have the affiliates on the appropriate pages in the directory and they do make us a lot of money each month. I suppose it depends on what the site is and if the banners are appropriate to the subject matter.

Julia - if life was meant to be easy Michael Angelo would have painted the floor....

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