10% Commissions vs 50%+

Most 'serious' affiliates are interested in the EPC or Earnings Per Click i.e. how much they can expect to earn for every person they send to your offer.

So the commission rate or absolute value is not key (although it may entice less experienced and, hence, less effective, affiliates).

You therefore need to offer some indication of EPC based on actual results. In most cases, these will come from actual campaigns you have run yourself. If you cannot demonstrate that you can make money from your own offer, why should an affiliate come on board?

I hope that helps.

People are so used to 100% commissions in the IM niche that seeing 10% is probably instantly putting them off despite the fact they can earn more with you.

That's kind of what I'm afraid of. I mean, 10% of a $200 service will earn an affiliate 3x more than 100% of a $7 eBook.

@William...

Good point on the EPC. Maybe I should add that data to my listings. The services do sell very well (EPCs of $11+ on some of the offers). Maybe it's as simple as adding more data to the listings.

Hey

Without knowing anything about your product, it's quality and the competition you're facing, it is possible that some affiliates don't know how much cash they stand to make from your offer however, this isn't the only metric affiliates look at.

EPC (earning per click), conversion rate (the percentage of visitors who actually buy) and the refund rate are also very important in the decision to promote a product as an affiliate.

Also whether or not you have an upsell that you also share commissions with will also be a big one.

Many larger affiliates simply won't promote products if you don't give them review access as they need to know what your product is about and attest to it's quality before they can justify the purchase to their subscribers. Promoting ONE bad product can cause lots of otherwise happy subscribers to opt out of their list.

If you haven't already done so reach out to blog owners in your niche and offer them review copies of your product and the option to promote for a higher commission just to get your stats going in the affiliate marketplace you use and see if that doesn't make a difference in the number of affiliates you attract.

Good luck
Ricky

As I mentioned in the OP, most are service-based. Review copies are not an option. That said, the sales pages (WSOs) often show sample work.

Thanks guys. Sounds like I wasn't seeing the forest from the trees, so to speak. Sometimes it just takes a second pair of eyes to see something hiding in plain sight.

I agree about the EPC - make it very obvious to potential affiliates as to the cash figure they'll be getting.

I've added EPC data to the listings. I'll see how it goes from here on out. Thanks all.

You work hard on copywriting to sell your product or service to customers. You also have to work hard on copywriting to sell it to your affiliates--the difference is that the affiliates may be easier to sell.

Affiliates are lazy and looking for easy and quick returns (I'm not trying to rag on affiliates here, just trying to do a hard adjust to your perspective of where affiliates are coming from). What they really want is the simplest and most economic way to riches.

You, as the product owner, need to deliver killer banners and graphics promoting your product, you need to deliver sales pages and sales letters that affiliates can simply cut-and-paste to start using. If you make the tool-box, they will be persuaded to promote your product regardless of the commission rate because it is so easy (easy money!!!).

Is there a funnel? Are there follow up products? Can affiliates keep earning after finding one prospect? Those are bonuses to affiliates that you could consider.

So what you have to sell affiliates on is to let them know that "not promoting" your product is just plain leaving money on the table. Promoting it is easier than selling ice-water in the desert and a lot more rewarding. You give them everything they need, and they just post and profit....

Hope that helps.