Affiliate Programs...When Only The Best Will Do!

If you run an online business and are tired of struggling to find the right type of affiliate program for your needs, this post is for you. We’re going to talk about what affiliate programs are, how they can help your business, and more importantly contrasting different types of affiliate programs available so that when you’re done reading this post, you know exactly what kind is right for your business.

What Is An Affiliate Program?

An Affiliate Program Is A Marketing Plan That Pays You For Every Sale You Make Using Certain Marketing Techniques. These Programs Allow People To Promote Your Products/Services And Earn Commissions From The Sales They Make For You In Return.

Now when I say “sales,” I mean that you get paid a commission for every sale someone makes from your affiliate link. For example if a potential customer clicks on your affiliate link and they buy a product on Amazon.com that is associated with your affiliate program, you’d be paid a commission, either per sale or in some cases by volume.

Why Should You Be Part Of An Affiliate Program?

If you’re thinking about joining an affiliate program, the most obvious reason to do so is because it has the potential to be very profitable for you. In fact, one of the best affiliateships is Amazon Associates which provides extremely high commissions.

Before even thinking about joining an affiliate program, it's important to be aware of how payouts are structured. Payout rates depend on the type of affiliate program you're looking at. For example, the payouts from Amazon Associates (based on sales) are slightly higher than other programs because the commission rate is usually greater. If you're interested in getting paid by commission, then this plan is your best choice because it will allow you to get paid more if your sales volume increases as most programs do.

Now one thing I would like to mention here is that not all affiliate programs are created equally. I would definitely recommend that you do some research and find out what the payout rate is for each program you’re looking at. If you’re not familiar with affiliate programs and don’t know what to look for, here are a few points to consider:

Some programs have a minimum payout threshold, meaning that you will only get paid if certain sales volume has been reached while others will pay every time someone buys something from your link. Obviously the best affiliate programs are pay-per-sale because of this fact; however sometimes pay per sale is not an option. In this case you should always choose a program that pays by volume because eventually it will add up.

Now when it comes to payouts, the other thing you should look at is what currency you will be paid in. Most affiliate programs will pay out in USD, however some do pay out in Euros or even other international currencies. The main point here is that you should choose a program that pays out in the currency which is most valuable to you.

When it comes to payouts, another thing worth mentioning is that some affiliate programs require a minimum payout threshold, while others don’t have this kind of requirement. For example, Amazon Associates will pay you on a monthly basis as long as you achieve a minimum threshold of $10 in sales every month; however most other programs don’t have this kind of requirement.

Fine Print: Some affiliate companies will use misleading language to attract affiliates. If a company offers "per sale" commissions, make sure that the companies payout per sale is indeed a high profit margin product (that is, not $2.00 affiliate payout on a $10.00 product.) It is also important that they pay per sale not by volume (which may be cheaper but often results in low conversions and commissions.

How Do You Get Paid?

So if you’re thinking about jumping on the affiliate bandwagon, you shouldn’t worry too much about how you’ll get paid. Think of it this way, most affiliate programs will send a check annually so it doesn’t really matter how you get paid. However, there are still a few things to consider before joining an affiliate program and this is what we will discuss.

Are You Paying Taxes?

When you join an affiliate program, most of the time it is up to you to report all your sales and commissions generated by doing so. If you’re planning on joining a program and paying income tax, then you should always discuss this with the affiliate company first.

If you’re not sure how much sales tax to expect and will be reporting your commissions to the IRS, here is a handy guideline from the IRS which shows the approximate sales tax rate for each state. This can be helpful if you want to know what kind of sales tax rate to expect when buying products in U.S. states or locales that have no income taxes.

The Sales Tax Rate Calculator allows you to input numbers in different states and get an estimate of what your sales taxes will be based on your purchase and merchant location: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/sales-tax-rate-calculator

The above calculator is very useful to use in case you're not sure how much sales tax you'll be paying for different products in different states. There are also a few other helpful calculators that I'd like to mention such as the Sales Tax Refund Calculator, as well as the Mobile App Store Tax Calculator, which can be found here: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/10-cool-online-tools-calculate-sales-taxes/

So when it comes to reporting your income, affiliate programs usually don’t provide you with any tax information. This is something that you must figure out on your own by taking a look at the sales reports they provide you. Most of the time affiliate programs will tell you the sales figures and commissions generated but if you want to know how much taxes to expect at the end of the year, this will vary depending on several factors.

Other than paying tax on your income, another reason why it's important to consider this is because depending on where your business is located, you may need to file other types of taxes.

Conclusion

First things first. I'd like to stress that affiliate marketing is not only a great way to make money, but it can also be a good source of passive income and you should always treat it as such. The main idea behind affiliate marketing is that it generates sales for companies, which in turn generates commissions for you. If you're new to this business model, then I'd encourage you to take time and read some articles that provide you with more information about how the whole affiliate recruitment process works and how such plans work out in practice.

Some great resources for online business beginners include www.bloggingyoursidehustleonline.com , www.affiliate-worldwideguide.com , www.crushitreviews.