07.23.08
Higher Affiliate Commissions - Ask and You Shall Receive
Chinese proverb - “Man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth must wait very, very long time.”
Gahndi said it better - “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”
Here’s a good lesson I’ve learned recently - if you want more commissions from your affiliate programs, ask for a higher payout rate or a bonus. Sounds silly but it’s worked 100% for me (2/2 times).
Two examples from my experience:
1) You’re getting a reasonably steady flow of commissions from a specific partner but the rate is only 5%. Other partners offer 8-10%. In my case, one partner agreed to increase payout from 5% to 12%. In return they made a custom banner ad for me that I prominently place at the top of my site. Win-Win.
2) You’re getting some sales with a partner but there’s huge potential if their payout rate were only a bit higher. In my case, I asked for a rate hike, but they said they couldn’t do that. However, they could offer a bonus of $150 on $3,000 sales. Perfect, that effectively raised my commission from 6% to 11%
How to do it:
There may be several approaches based on you relationship with affiliate partners - that’s right, there are actual people administering these affiliate programs. Get to know them - I guarantee you’ll stand out and benefit from the relationship.
My approach - First, send an email to the program admin to warm them up. Make it a sincere request, like “I love promoting your products, do you mind if I create my own banners to showcase some of the hottest items? If so, I’m happy to share the banners with you for other affiliates to use”.
Another good approach might be to tap into their needs and ask how you can help. “Are there any new products or categories you would especially like to promote these days. I’d love to help” Wait for reply, have some honest dialogue and then ask for a higher rate or bonus.
I can’t guarantee this will work but it’s worth the exercise. Moreover, it will help you weed out the garbage affiliate links you may have on your site and invest more in your best programs.
