Affiliate Programs and picking the best one!

Okay, so you have been looking at affiliate programs for a while now. Your inbox is filling up with all these advertisements and you just don't know how to pick the right program.

How do you know which program is going to bring the best profit?

Well, I personally believe that a lot of the income is created from the effort an affiliate marketer puts into a program. But I do have a few pointers as to picking the best one.

1. Commission. You need a program that will pay you a good commission rate. It should pay you at least 20% of each sale. A good rate is 50% and anything above that is ideal. You should also look for how often they pay. Some programs pay you twice a month and some only once a month. Most programs also only pay you when you have earned a base amount.

2. Attraction. Is the website attractive? Or will your customers leave your site without even reading. The site needs to easy to read, but not boring. Also you don't want to pick a site that is full of garbage, advertising an array of different subjects. Your site needs to filled with common ground. Also make sure the sight doesn't seem to be screaming for attention (lots of large, bold lettering).

3. Support. What is the support for your program like? Do they have a good list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), a contact email address with a quick response (24 - 72 hours is good)? Any more than 3 days for a response is too long. Some programs even offer live chat. Now that is good!

4. Your Statistics. The program should offer an automated and immediate reaction to your statistics. They should automatically contact you when you receive a client, prospect, lead, customer or when you make a sale, it should also be ready to view in your downline as soon as you have the knowledge of the sale etc.

5. Incentives. Does the program offer free gifts, tools and advertising content (banners, pop-ups, email letters, articles etc.)
It is important to have marketing tools to keep track of business and change things that may not work for you. Advertising is also important your traffic won't come from no where, And gifts are a good bonus for your customers as well as learning from the gifts yourself. Usually the gifts are products to help you with your business.

6. Monthly Reports. Every good program will have news and training updates sent to your inbox so you can learn what works best for the program and what the top affiliates of the program are doing. You should also be able to read this on their website.

7. Reviews. Sometimes you will find that the program you are looking at has reviews in the search engines. All you have to do is enter the name of the program in the search engine form followed by “reviews”. For example if you want to read about Strong Future International (SFI) you would type “Strong Future International Reviews” and click ‘search'. Select any item that describes what you are looking for, and read what people think.

It is important to do your homework before you dive into anything. Learn as much as you and make sure you feel comfortable with your decision before going ahead. Remember that you will not make money overnight……..Some of the best affiliates spent 3 years or more promoting before they got where they are today.