Imagine the confusion if all McDonalds told their new franchise owners was here's your restaurant, now go to it. Not one in 20 McDonalds locations would run smoothly. Owners wouldn't know how to cook the food, promote the restaurant, or what to tell employees. The mighty McDonalds chain would fall apart in no time.
I agree, this example is ludicrous. But it is exactly what most affiliate programs lay on their members. Affiliates get a link, maybe a banner, maybe even a canned web page, but that's it. It's here's your link, now go make a million.
Naturally that is not nearly enough training. Unless each and every one of your affiliate members is already a business genius, you shouldn't expect more than a trickle of sales.
That's why better affiliate programs insist on having their own affiliate training site. It provides answers to question, tutorials on how to market, and more.
This can be a section on your existing site or, even better, a completely separate site. YourAffiliates.com.
* Start your training site with a nice long FAQ page. Write down all the questions you have ever been asked about your program, then answer them.
* Step members through every aspect of placing ads, getting a domain name, building their own site, and advertising their business. You can write these tutorials yourself or have a professional writer create them for you. One cheap way is to go to an article bank like IdeaMarketers.com and get articles by other writers. You can put your mark on them by introducing each one with a paragraph or two of your own.
* Provide a series of sales letters members can customize with their own name and URL. Create a series of ready-to-use ads of various lengths. You might even provide a recorded example of how to sell your product over the phone.
* Keep an updated library of success stories. When you see an affiliate making lots of sales, ask them how they do it. Either write up their experience yourself or have the affiliate write it. Most will be flattered you want to share their story with other affiliates.
The affiliate member site can also work well for network marketing opportunities (which for my money are just affiliate programs with more tiers.)
Well-known marketing expert Kevin Nunley has a simple but effective training site for members of his NunleyNetwork.com home business program. One page gives new members a quick introduction. The next page provides a quick and simple system for marketing the opportunity. The third page provides a vast number of additional marketing methods for those who want to work the business full time.
Even more basic to a good training site, drop by just about every day and add new information. Make sure it appears that the store is open. Include updates, experiences, and offers to help members.
Make your email address and your phone number available to members. Don't worry about being overwhelmed with calls and messages. Most members will never try to contact you. But it is vital to be available for those who are motivated. They are the members who can double and triple your profits.
Keller Flynn offers the full spectrum of tools, ideas and action steps needed to create and run a successful affiliate program. Reach him at mailto:keller@affiliatedirector.com or 801-328-9006. Get his Extra Money Newsletter FREE at http://www.AffiliateDirector.com to learn more about how YOU can profit from the affiliate boom.