by: Michael Dixon
In Part 1 of "The Online Businessperson Butterfly", we discussed how to stay focused and concentrate on one thing until it was completed before moving on to something else.
We picked a market, Bird Watchers, and then went in search of a product to offer to that market. The product selected was binoculars.
Now we need to continue our research to enable us to better market this product to our market in such a way as to increase our chance at success (and profits).
Since we don't own any birding binoculars to resell we need to find a merchant that offers an affiliate program that we can join so we can make a commission on the referrals we send to them through our advertising.
Let's go back to http://www.google.com and type in "birding binoculars : affiliate program" (omit the quotes). We find 27,700 listings.
Now, start clicking on the different listings and search the sites for affiliate or reseller programs.
The first listing is for www.opticsplanet.net and when we click on their link we are taken to their site. Now we look in the menu for either Reseller or Affiliate. Don't stop there if you do not see it. Scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see the "Affiliate Program" link. Sometimes you may even have to go to their "Site Map" in order to find it. The harder it is to find the link to the affiliate program, the better it is for you. This means you will have fewer competitors. Those who are butterflies will not stay long enough to find the nectar.
Read the Affiliate Program information and if it sounds like what you are looking for, sign up for it. It is as simple as that. IMPORTANT; DO NOT SKIM THE INFORMATION. READ IT! Make sure you understand their TERMS and PRIVACY POLICY before signing up. This can save you on aspirin later.
Now we can make a commision on their complete line of products from the purchases made by the referrals we send to them.
You need not limit yourself to one affiliate program. Check out the others. I would not join more than a couple at a time though. If you offer too many choices to your visitor they will soon leave. They are themselves, after all, butterflies of a different color.
In Part 3 we will look at advertising the birding binoculars for www.opticsplanet.net
(c) 2004 - Michael Dixon - All Rights Reserved