Affiliate Internet Marketing | Building an Online Affiliate Business

One of the most hotly debated topics of direct marketing is the question of which is better: to affiliate online with ecommerce sites and information providers or to take the offline direct marketing approach through direct response mail, catalogs and advertisements. There are pros and cons to both approaches. Here are a few of the related issues.

Direct Mail Has Worked for More Than a Century; The Internet is less than 15 years old. J.C. Penney and Sears Roebuck were pioneers in the direct mail business, using catalogs to generate orders from small general stores in the late 1800’s, with products like gingham material or harmonicas delivered by stage coach. Copy in newspaper advertisements or catalogs described the products and created a desire to want them.

The entire direct marketing industry revolves around the written or published word. Of course, modern Internet advertising methods now combine video, audio and text. This new wave of direct marketing goes well past the copy of magalogs and book-length direct mail pieces.

Online Affiliate Marketing Offers a Lower Contact Cost Per Prospect Than Direct Mail

This issue really is debatable, depending on the strategy to reach the prospective customer. Remember, being a successful online business affiliate is based on knowing what people are looking for and then giving it to them. Researching the key word phrases that people search reveals an active way to identify prospects.

On the other hand, establishing an offline marketing association can leverage established customer relationships to offer joint products and services. Consider a lawyer and a dentist who do a joint mailing to their customer bases. The lawyer introduces the cosmetic dentistry services to clients injured in automobile accidents to a renowned, local dentist. The lawyer offers a coupon for a free estate asset review that is included in the dentist’s monthly newsletter. Both individuals benefit by expanding their current customer list with new prospects.

Endorsing another professional’s products or services helps build trust that may not be gained from mailing from an unknown service provider.

Getting back to the process of choosing to affiliate online, that same reasoning can be followed. If Jane Smithers researches and creates a hot-selling tilapia brazier recipe ebook, she can approach BroilerFish, a manufacturer of fish braziers, and offer a commission for every ebook that manufacturer sells to brazier buyers. Jane can put an ad for the fish braziers on her portal and send e-mails to her list offering a special deal on the cooking device. Both Jane and BroilerFish affiliate online to create more customers, sales and profits.

A final issue is the ability to find, maintain and expand affiliate relationships. In the offline world, it is often a matter of discovering who owns what mailing list and testing that list. In the online world, search for online affiliates is automated through the use of directories, search engines and special keyword or affiliate research software tools.

Perhaps the most effective resolution to the debate is to develop a blended approach of tactics to affiliate online and offline, testing the strategies and techniques that deliver profitable results. Using a system to publish and promote affiliate web portals and blogs can speed up the process.

The Portalfeeder system provides an interactive community that is savvy on affiliate internet marketing and can share valuable insights on what has worked and what bombed.

Do yourself a favor and check out Portalfeeder for yourself or you can read my detailed review by clicking here.

Dave Pipitone, www.portal-profits.com