Ben Givon - The Affiliate Marketer Challenges

1. Ben Givon on affiliate marketing challenges Businesses should always be looking for ways to generate greater revenue. In the case of affiliate marketing, promotional efforts are not that expensive, and the sales can be significant. The opportunity to make a profit from affiliate marketing efforts and improve the bottom-line of the company is a boon to many small businesses seeking new ways to grow. Royalty Free Photo Let’s look at how affiliate marketing can grow revenues when it’s managed properly. Seeing the sense in marketing a competitor’s products Taking the example of a company that produces its own products and markets them on their web site, it’s easy to stop there and only try to profit from your product line. The idea of offering other related products that your company doesn’t make is anathema to many executives. However, when seeing things from the consumer’s perspective, what they find attractive about Amazon is the one-stop shopping whether they don’t have to go elsewhere to pick up several items even if

2. they’re from different product categories or brands. The same also goes for other websites too. According to Ben Givon CEO of BAFF Networks, “Offering products from competitors where your company doesn’t have a competing product compliments your offer to customers rather than negates it. If your company doesn’t offer that type of product, providing access to a competitor’s product looks good and lets you gauge whether it will be worth developing a new product line to complete with them or not. Meanwhile, your company can earn commissions as an affiliate with their product which is like taking some of a competitor’s revenue and keeping it for yourself. Why not!?” Managing an affiliate network to increase sales When you’re managing an internal affiliate network with many affiliates responding to you and having queries, it can get too difficult to manage without effective software that’s custom designed just for this specific purpose. "Managing your own affiliate network is complicated when it’s disorganised. Having a tool that lets you keep on top of every aspect of the business is key to ongoing success," says expert Ben Givon. With your own network, you can recruit scores of affiliate marketers keen to review your products and earn commissions from selling them. It doesn’t matter whether you have a sales team on salary or not, with a good collection of online affiliates working on your behalf on a commission basis, revenues are likely to rise. However, staying organized as you grow the size of the network is important to not lose the faith of the affiliates who are quick to report when things go wrong. Build business relationships with competitors It doesn’t always have to be a combative relationship that your company has with its direct competitors. Not every business covers all aspects of their industry. A software company may offer solutions to certain problems, but not others. A second software company might have its release which helps customers tackle a different set of problems successfully. Ben finishes by saying “Often, small businesses have complimentary product lines which opens the door for cross- promotions and affiliate promotions too. In the case of affiliate deals (or offering a discount on a competitor’s product when purchasing your own) there’s plenty of ways to make it a win-win for both parties.” Making money from affiliate marketing is open to individuals and companies that see an opportunity

3. to profit. Not doing so leaves money on the table. Staying organized while managing the affiliate side of your business, whether as an affiliate network or an affiliate of several other networks, avoids missing out on chances to earn more and taking advantage of special offers.