Are you ready to get started with affiliate marketing?
If so, your first move is probably to get your site approved by an affiliate network. Each network has different requirements but in almost all cases, you will have to show an affiliate network where you will be promoting their products and services. This means you would be wise to prepare your website accordingly before you fill out an affiliate marketing agreement. The first thing you need to understand is the terms of service a company expects you to follow.
Understanding Affiliate Network Terms
Getting your site approved by an affiliate network first means understanding the Terms of Service (TOS) involved. In some cases, especially with large companies, the TOS is lengthy, convoluted, and detailed, and can take days to read. They are often changing frequently, and it is your job to stay up-to-date on any new changes that are made.
Every affiliate network is different from others, some exceptionally so. You should respond to any communications quickly. There are hundreds of people just like you applying as an affiliate every week. When an affiliate manager from a company takes time to send you a response to your application, read that information carefully.
Terms of Service
ClickBank, Amazon, ShareASale, and other affiliate networks all have terms of service. They have developed reputations as the most reliable and trustworthy affiliate networks, and they have a particular way they want to do business.
Once you find a product or service you want to promote on your blog, you need to understand exactly what is expected of you. Every affiliate network or company that uses affiliates will have very clear-cut responsibilities you have to adhere to.
They also discuss their payout structure, how frequently you get paid, what your commission will be on particular products, what you can and cannot say when promoting or sponsoring their products, and everything else you have to know to make money with them.
Understand that in most cases you have to apply to become an affiliate. Companies do this for a very good reason. No reputable affiliate network wants just anyone promoting their products. By making you go through an application process, they hope to weed out the individuals who may damage their reputation by operating in a shady manner.
Applying to Become an Affiliate
Before they approve you as an affiliate, they want to find out exactly who you are.
You may be asked to supply things like your Social Security Number, national ID number or tax identification number, as well as the URL of your blog or website. This is usually just a formality but sometimes someone will actually check out your website and see if they want to do business with you.
In nearly every case, you will have a special team of affiliate representatives that will answer any questions you have. To sign up for any affiliate program, simply go to the homepage of the website. In the header or at the bottom of the page, look for phrases like “become an affiliate” or “affiliate program”.
This will take you to a page that answers your questions, can put you in contact with a human being if you have further questions, and allows you to fill out an application. Expect an answer in 1 to 7 days. It makes sense to apply to several networks at the same time, so you can get started as quickly as possible with the first company that approves you as an affiliate.
Respond to them as quickly as possible.
This shows that company you are serious about representing their products. Also, look at the name of the affiliate manager who contacted you. When you respond, address communications to that person, by name. This adds a personal touch that a lot of affiliate marketing applicants won’t take the time to perform.
The approval also comes more quickly when you have a well-thought-out marketing plan. If you can show an affiliate network that you have a written plan of action for promoting their products for now, 6 months from now, 1 and 2 years from now, and on into the future, that looks pretty impressive.
Be ready to commit your time and money to the promotion of an affiliate network’s products. Be sincere, and tell your affiliate manager or company contact exactly how much time and money you are willing to spend to promote their products.
Finally, don’t be afraid to ask your affiliate manager exactly what you need to do to show them that you are serious about a long-term relationship that is profitable for both parties. Use this and the rest of the tips just mentioned, and your approval to an affiliate network is more likely to succeed.
How to get Approved to Promote a Product
Once you have been approved by the network, you may still have to be approved by the vendor for each product you wish to promote.
Not all affiliate networks work the same way. On Clickbank, you do not need to be approved for each product you promote. Many products can be promoted as soon as you have your affiliate ID. Others do require that you request approval. On JVZoo and Warrior+, you must request approval for each product you wish to promote.
It can be frustrating to find out that some vendors won’t approve you unless you have made a certain number of sales. How can you sell if you cannot get approved??
You may feel like you’ll never be able to make any sales if no one accepts you as an affiliate.
However, what you will find is that most vendors are just trying to make sure that they only accept affiliates who are genuinely going to promote their products the right way, pre-sell their products and send them good quality traffic which converts into sales.
If you send poor quality traffic to an offer, you can negatively affect the product vendors’ conversion rates and this will not help them or you at all.
Don’t be surprised or disheartened if they approve your application but set your commissions to delayed and not instant.
This means that they will wait until the 30-60 day money-back guarantee has expired and then you will receive your commissions. This is normal and they just don’t want to pay you and then have to refund a customer as they will lose money.
Affiliate Approval Requests
To improve the chances of your affiliate approval request being accepted there are a number of things you can do when filling out your request, these are;
1. Social Media
Connect with product vendors on Social Media, like, share, and comment on their posts. Sharing their posts will help you stand out and they will appreciate the share as it will help drive more traffic for them. You can also join Facebook groups like JVZoo and Muncheye etc and interact with their posts to get more exposure.
2. Live Events
If you ever have the opportunity to attend live events then make sure you do. This is probably the best way to connect with people and build business relationships and friendships. If you can connect with people at live events they are more likely to remember you and accept your requests.
3. Buy their product
Purchase the product and then use it. Let them know that you would like to promote the product after purchasing it. This can improve your chance of being approved. They will appreciate the fact you have purchased it and will also see that you are promoting something you have used rather than not knowing what’s inside the product. I used this method to get my first affiliate approval on JVZoo.
4. How will you promote?
Let them know how you plan to promote their product and the methods you will use to drive traffic to their offer. If you have an email list or a following on social media in a niche related to their product this will help. You want to let them know you already have an audience that’s perfect for their product.
5. Don’t say you’re a student
If you are being coached or following training from another marketer then don’t mention this. They may not like the other marketer or their marketing methods. It’s fine to say that you’re new to the affiliate platform or new to marketing but ideally don’t mention it. They would prefer affiliates who have some experience.
6. Delayed Commissions
Accept the fact that if they do not know you or you haven’t made many sales before then they are likely to set your commissions to delayed. Don’t ask them to set your commissions to instant. Doing this will assure you will be denied.
7. After requesting approval
It can take a few days to get approved once you have submitted your application. If you have not had a reply in a couple of days, you may want to contact them on social media or via email. Let them know you have applied and not heard back. Ask if they can approve you or if there’s something you need to do to get approved. Be patient. It can take a couple of days for the vendor to go through all the requests, especially for a new product launch.
8. Your own products
If you have your own products then let them know. This is a great way to drive traffic through a launch to an affiliate link within your own product as long as it’s relevant.
9. Never promote poor quality products
If you promote products that don’t deliver then chances are people will refund. Vendors will be able to see your refund rate and if it’s poor then it’s very likely that your request will be denied.
So, there you have it. It takes some effort to get approved on reputable networks. Put some of these tips to good use and you should get approved as an affiliate for the products you want to promote.
