Business Ideas 

by Terry Dean

Dealer networks or associate programs are one of the best ways of adding multiple income streams to any web site.  Although I don't usually recommend someone use an associate program for their primary product, they make great secondary products on
the way to your multiple profits from any web site.

You are better off having some type of unique product, service, or item that you own reprint rights to as your main product so that you can earn the majority of the profits on the first sale to your customers (this first sale is also the most expensive one to make to them).  Associate programs on average only let you keep 10% to 40% of the money off of your sales so you are better off with a higher percentage item on your front end. 

With reprint rights to products at a $1,000 or less in many cases, that is where I would look first for my primary product to start off in business.  Then, I would find associate programs to help me create extra incomes that all support my primary theme.

Choosing the Right Associate Program for your Site

There are three major questions you should ask yourself when looking for an associate program to join:

1.  Does it fit into your overall theme?
Stay with a theme.  We discussed this in the first chapter.  You have to develop a theme and  then stay with it.  Way too many web sites have become just a place to list a bunch of associate programs.  Don't let that happen.  Make sure to have one theme and strategy flowing throughout your entire site.  Don't sell nutrition products and software on the same site.  It doesn't work and will only confuse your prospects.  Everything on your site has to have one consistent flow and feel to it.

2.  Is it a good product or service?
Make sure you can recommend enthusiastically.  Do you love the product or are you just trying to make some money?  People will be able to tell when they take a look at your presentation.  Make sure that it is a product you would recommend to your family (if it applied to them).

3.  Does it pay well?
You can't make money if the program doesn't pay.  Take a look at the pay plan ONLY after you have answered the first two questions.  Don't jump on a program just because it seems to pay well.  If it doesn't fit your site or doesn't have a killer product, you will have to pass on it anyway!

Below are a few samples of affiliate programs for your to take a look at (all chosen from completely different industries to give you an idea of what is out there).  We are not specifically recommending any individual program:


Automobiles
At Autoweb.com you can be paid a commission for referring potential car buyers or for individuals who place ads selling their used cars.
http://www.autoweb.com/content/home/autopartner/index.cfm

Books
Amazon.com is the most well known web site for selling books online and currently has over 300,000 affiliates. 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/partners/associates/associates.html/

Nutrition Products
iHerb will pay you a commission from sales of their herbal products and from their books on nutrition.
http://www.iherb.com/linktous.html

Magazines
ENews has one of the largest selections of magazines available and now you can make money through referring others.
http://www.enews.com/

Information Products
The largest and best dealership for information products is ClickBank.
http://www.clickbank.com

Perfume
Fragrancenet has over a 1,000 different fragrances for you to profit from if it goes along with your web site theme.
http://www.fragrancenet.com/fnet/affiliate_program.html

Golf
Golf is a passion for millions and now you can make extra profit from any golf related site by partnering with Clip Shot Golf.
http://www.chipshot.com/substitute.cgi

Sporting Goods
FogDog is a source for sporting goods online and you can make a profit from your own sports store.
http://www.fogdog.com/affiliate/index.jsp

Travel
Inntopia allows you to make a commission off of luxury travel that your web site visitors take.
http://www.inntopia.com/

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