advertmonk

Affiliate marketers are an interesting bunch. They seem to think that they have to accept whatever a vendor is willing to give them, no matter how lousy a deal it may be. If you think I'm kidding, take a look at some of the commission percentages that some of the vendors offer for their products. They're a joke. And yet, affiliates accept them. Well, I'm writing this article today to tell you, and I am a vendor myself, that you DON'T have to accept what they hand you. By becoming an effective deal maker, you can get a vendor to literally bend over backwards for you. This article explains why and how.

Let's start with the why first. Contrary to what you might be thinking, you don't need the vendors. They need YOU. Without an affiliate army to sell their products, they have to do all the work themselves. Now, some of them, like myself, like it that way. I don't like to rely on affiliates for many reasons that I won't get into here. But most vendors want affiliates DESPERATELY. So that makes you a very valuable commodity...IF you have what the vendor wants. What is that?

It's a track record. Yes, like it or not, you need to be able to show that you can sell products. If you can't, the vendor can find plenty of other affiliates who also can't sell products. So you have to be better than the rest. If you're not, you might as well forget about reading the rest of this article because it isn't going to help you one little bit.

Okay, assuming that you've proven that you can sell products, the next step is to look for an affiliate product that you THINK you can sell well. Find out who the vendor is and contact that person. In your email, tell the vendor who you are, what kind of success you've had as an affiliate (yes, you will have to show proof) and what you can do for THEM. In return, you will tell them that you will require an increased commission for sales (if 50%, ask for 75%) and that you will require a bonus for reaching certain sales goals, such as 100 sales, 500 sales, or whatever.

Whatever you and the vendor agree on, make sure you get it in writing with a contract and get it signed by both parties. You do NOT want to leave any of this to chance. That way, if the vendor decides to try to stiff you, you have legal recourse. Also, you will want to make sure you test any custom links that you get for the affiliate promotion to make sure they're working correctly.

The key to all this is showing that you are a successful affiliate. If you can't yet do that, there is more info in my signature that will show you how to get to that level.

Don't let the vendors dictate to YOU what you will get from THEM.