Residual Commission

I opened an email from Ken Evoy this morning - his newsletters are among the few that I read top to bottom, by the way ;) Anyway - there were two really good gems in this particular message:

The first is a cool new tool called Search It! It seems to do a million and one interesting things, so I'm still playing with it and checking it all out. So far - thumbs up! I'll have to fill you in on the details as I figure them out myself, but this is a fun one!

The second was a link to one of Allan Gardyne's websites: www.LifetimeCommissions.com . (How did I miss that before?!) I like Allan's AssociatePrograms.com site, and especially his forum, so now I'm checking out this second link. Right up my alley! Step One: Subscribe to the newsletter!

Rosalind mentions recurring affiliate commissions in her Super Affiliate Handbook - and it's definitely something that anyone in Affiliate Marketing should put some serious consideration into. In her example, she used two dating sites. One that pays you per lead (one time), and one that pays you per sign-up (residually). While it's true that PPL (pay-per-lead) affiliate programs convert VERY nicely, recurring affiliate commissions can REALLY rack up and result in a super-high ROI (return on investment).

This is an example of "working smart" for those of you that were interested in that comment in my previous post ;) One of my own experiences with these types of programs was with my Web Host. As you know, I use ThirdSphere for my own sites -- and recommend them to others as well. Last Spring, just before I made the switch to their servers, my websites had a terrible amount of downtime on my previous host... and a whole slew of glitches afterwards when they came back online. It was a nightmare! That was the primary reason for the change - with the additional benefit of cutting my hosting costs in half. You cant beat that ;)

Through my newsletter I let everyone know what was going on, why I was making the switch, to which company and why, etc. Many people saw the value in what ThirdSphere was offering, and chose to move their websites there as well. Smart move! It honestly wasnt a 'hard sell' - just me talking straight-up with subscribers about the situation at hand and the move that we were making.

-- I hate to interrupt myself, but this is so ironic: another sale was just recorded in my ThirdSphere affiliate account! See how this works?! :)

Anyway, what I was going to tell you is that their affiliate program offers recurring commissions. With my previous host, I earned $10 for each new referral - period. With ThirdSphere, they pay you each and every month that your referrals continue their service. Just another testament that these guys are running a top-notch company from every angle!

To give you a taste of how powerful this type of program is... that one newsletter issue has resulted in $3,000/year in commission... and growing. There was one other program that I promoted earlier this year - once - we're talking 10 minutes of my time. By the end of this year, that investment of 10 minutes will have paid over $1,400 in commission...

You get the picture, right? A lot of potential there ;) When it comes to Affiliate Marketing, there are two things I love: recurring commission and 2-tier programs. Keep an eye out for those!

By the way, BOTH of those affiliate programs are for services that I use myself - and both of them practically sold themselves. Again, no 'hard sell' or hypey pitch involved. And the commission I receive doesnt at all affect the price that anyone paid for those services - you would pay the same price regardless of whether you were referred or signed up directly through the main site. And as I mentioned - I am involved with them both, myself... and signed up through a friend who was kind enough to recommend them to me! All that said just for clarification, because I know what goes through your mind when people talk numbers ;)


p.s. Coincidentally, I also got a check in this morning's mail from SiteSell (Ken Evoy's 5Pillar Affiliate Program). It was totally unexpected, and a nice little chunk of change at that! I'll have to log in and find out what's been going on behind the scenes there, as this is one of those great programs that keeps on working for you even when you're not actively promoting it ;)

If you're not already in on this one, you can join through my tier by using this link: http://affiliates.sitesell.com/wsn.html