If you're interested in growing your online business, there are many options for doing so. But there's one option with lots of potential that many new entrepreneurs overlook. You've probably heard of becoming an affiliate, promoting and selling other people's products, but did you know you should start an affiliate program of your own?

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If not, this article will show you how to start an affiliate program that has the potential to bring in an additional stream of income. 

What Does It Mean to Start an Affiliate Program?

When you start an affiliate program it means that you are responsible for benefits and the work that comes along with having your own program.

The benefits include having more control over your destiny with your own programs, the additional income from the sale of products as more people join your program, and the additional authority your site will get from the backlinks created as your links are distributed to more affiliate partners. 

The work includes figuring out how you want your program to run, finding the right affiliate network on which to place your products, being responsible for paying your affiliates and/or the pros and cons that come when you outsource the management of your program to another company. 

When you have products and services that are available online, you can create another stream of income for  your customers (and really anyone who wants to join) when you implement a program like the one we'll be discussing. 

Two Types of Contributors in Affiliate Marketing 

There are also two types of businesses involved in affiliate marketing. You may know people who earn income as an affiliate for other companies. 

However this article will discuss becoming a merchant and starting an affiliate program of your own.  

Most people are familiar with affiliates, but less is discussed about the other side of affiliate marketing, the merchant side. Here are definitions of both merchants (retailers) and affiliates (publishers). 

• Merchants - The affiliate merchant (advertiser) acquires affiliates for their business. They are responsible for implementing a sales tracking system, providing a selection of linking methods, attracting affiliates, monitoring results and paying affiliates.  Some (or all) of these functions may be outsourced.
• Affiliate Marketers - The affiliate marketer is a publisher or content creator who promotes products and services. He or she doesn't develop the product, ship the product, or handle payment to the merchant.
  
  The affiliate simply refers others to products and/or services offered online, and when a sale is made, he or she earns a commission.

Consider How ShareaSale Can Expand Your Salesforce

If you're selling your products online, through your blog, an eCommerce store (WooCommerce, Shopify, etc.) you can set up an affiliate program that you can offer to all or some of your best customers.

This arrangement can be used to help your best customers earn by promoting your products to their audience. 

Once you have set up an online platform (preferably a blog), shop or eccommerce site, you can start your own affiliate program.

Starting an affiliate program means you will have other people, (preferably satisfied customers), become a brand ambassador for your company.  You can offer them a flat fee or a percentage each time they make a sale. 

Other Affiliate Networks You Can Partner With

You would use their system to submit a request to join their network and work with a sales rep that would handle your account.

There are many affiliate networks you can partner with like Rakuten, ClickBank, Impact, Commission Junction and more, in addition to Shareasale that will run your program for you.

They have a variety of benefits as well as fees you would pay for their services.  

Each one of these networks work with major brands and they serve as a one stop shop for your new affiliate program.

They have a variety of companies (brands) they work with in major niches, so you're sure to find a partner that has products that compliment or work well with what you're offering. 

These networks will manage your program for you so that you don't have to be bothered with details like how to run your program, or how to pay your affiliates. 

The Benefits of Starting an Affiliate Program for Your Business

Here are some of the benefits you'll receive when you start an affiliate program for your business:

How to Start an Affiliate Program

While all of this increased activity is great, there are several things you’ll need before you start.  There are several areas that will need to be managed in your program:

Running an affiliate program expands your ability to grow your brand.  It’s also a great way to get traffic and backlinks to your site.

If you’re not sure how having a program will benefit your business, let’s expand on the definition above. This helps you as the business owner and it helps your customers, as well as other business owners, who may not have products of their own.

There are many benefits to getting this set up for your business.

• Sign up – For each person that is interested in joining your program, you’ll need a way to manage the sign up process. You’ll need to think of questions you might want to ask of each person before you decide to have them join your program. The goal is to make your sign up process quick and easy. 
• Approval – You’ll need a way to approve your affiliates that meet your criteria as well as a way to notify them that they are approved to get started. 
• Graphics, Banners and Links – You’ll need to provide your affiliates with "creatives". Creatives are the visual images and links you'll provide to your affiliates so that they can promote your products. Banners, graphic and links should be in a central location that can be accessed by your affiliates that includes each affiliates unique code.
• Payment – Each affiliate will need to be paid, so there needs to be a system that pays them on a periodic basis.
• Training - Training is optional, however if you want affiliates who know what they're doing, this is a great idea.  New affiliates may especially need training on how your program works, the do's and don'ts as well as tips to help them earn more income. This can consist of videos, newsletters and more. 

Options for Starting Your Program

You have several options for starting an affiliate program for your business. It depends on whether you want to manage it yourself, outsource it or use software to manage it. 

Option 1: If you have the resources to manage your program you can run it yourself.  As your program grows, it may be something you can outsource to someone else. If you have a few products, you can start by using a program like SendOwl to handle your affiliate program.

Option 2: As your program grows even more, and you add more products, you might want to consider a network like Shareasale to handle running your program. The video above details the Shareasale program and how it works.

Watching it will give you specific information on how you can use it to grow your online business. 

These networks are well known and they handle everything from the sign up process, to payment processing. They track links and send you reports on how well your affiliates are doing.

Option 3: You can also use software or plugins on your WordPress blog to manage your affiliate program. Just perform a Google search for "affiliate marketing program" + "WP plugin".

Reverse it and use a variety of words until you find plugins that interest you.  You can also search for plugins in your WordPress dashboard by going to Plugins > Add New.

The Kinds of Products That Are Best for Your Affiliate Program

Here are the two product types that are a good fit for an affiliate program. These kinds of products are inexpensive to make, and because you make them, you have more control over pricing. This means you can share more of the income with your affiliates, while making a profit of your own.

You can make the products or designs once and get paid for your product over and over, providing passive income for each product in your collection.

• Digital Products - The reason digital products are great for affiliate programs is that they are relatively inexpensive to create, you have total control over the price. You can start an affiliate program with a program called SendOwl that will allow you to sell digital products and run an affiliate program using their platform.
  
  This means you can offer discounts, bundles and other packages that will encourage people to make a purchase. These products can be instantly delivered to customers without your intervention.
  
  You can use graphics programs like Canva and Adobe to make digital designs that can be placed on products. These products can be sold on your site and offered to your affiliates. These graphic design programs can also be used for print on demand (below) designs as well. 

• Print on Demand Products - These are products that are made with your designs, inspirational messages and creative graphics and printed on items like t-shirts, mugs, sweatshirts, stationary and more.
  
  These products are printed and shipped by a company like Printful, that handles processing and shipping products on your behalf, for a fee. 

Having a well run affiliate program is just one additional way that you can create another stream of income for your household.

There is no limit to the number of products you can include in your program or the number of affiliates you can have.  The sky is the limit!

Stay tuned for more business building tips, tools and resources. 

Training for Your Affiliate Program

Training is an important part of a successful affiliate program. It's important that your affiliate know how to promote your brand. There will be things you allow them to do and things that you want them to avoid.

You will also want new affiliates to understand how your program runs so that they can get the best results. There should also be some high converting creatives, (banners, images, landing pages, videos, email swipes and more) to help your affiliates promote your program with ease.

Once you have decided how you will run your affiliate program, create a training program and place it in an area accessible only to your affiliates so that they can get the most from your program.