How To Do Affiliate Marketing Without Getting Scammed
Affiliate marketing is a strategy in which a company partners with affiliates to help promote their products or services by offering commission-based incentives in return for every lead. Affiliates are also called publishers and they can either be an individual or a company that promotes the product or service to their network. If someone from their network purchases the product, then the affiliate will get a portion of that revenue. However, there are a lot of affiliate programs out there that promise the world, but not all will be the right fit for your company or product.
The right affiliate will have a network of potential customers that aligns with your target market. Before partnering with an affiliate, request the precise demographics and psychographics of the network. Either way, the numbers always tell the truth. If the affiliate’s network fails to generate enough leads, then you’ll need to keep looking.
That being said, first time founders are a vulnerable group. Their naivety is often preyed upon by scammers and con artists, and affiliate programs are among the list of potential predators. Affiliate fraud occurs when an affiliate reports false activity to generate more commissions. The best way to avoid getting taken advantage of like this is by doing your research and finding the most reliable affiliate programs out there, as well as understanding their terms and conditions.
But research and understanding take time and patience - two luxuries that the first time founder rarely have. When you’re running a startup, sometimes those day-to-day functions that are often left to other employees fall on your shoulders instead. And when you’re overwhelmed with those daily to-dos, it can seem almost impossible to find the time to research affiliate programs, much less find the patience to read through their terms and conditions.
We understand that entrepreneurs have too many things to do and not enough time to do them. We’ve created an app that helps entrepreneurs take this journey one step at a time, by helping them get through one task at a time. By using the mental health and performance grader in the Founders First app, you’ll become more aware of your current mindstate. With this awareness comes recommended tools to help maintain good performance and help you improve in areas you may be struggling.
For instance, imagine you’ve scheduled time in the afternoon to research affiliate programs. As the day progresses, this time slot gets pushed back further in the schedule as you prioritize your daily tasks over researching affiliates. In the back of your mind, you know you need to dedicate the time to this research, but these tedious tasks just keep popping up and pulling you in other directions. After checking in with the mental health and performance grader, the Founders First app might suggest you use Box Breathing to improve your focus so that you can get to the task that matters most.
Don’t let the stress of running a startup lead to bad decision making. Deciding whether to pursue affiliate marketing and which affiliates to partner with are both decisions that should be carefully considered. A lot of sites might tell you how to do affiliate marketing, but what works for one company may not work for yours. The Founders First app will help you find the time and patience you need to find the right affiliate for your company.
Join over 3,000 entrepreneurs dedicated to improving their focus and try the app free for seven days.
Join the Community
Founders First is a set of evaluation tools that will improve your business by strengthening its most critical asset: You.
Are You An Entrepreneur Struggling with the Personal Impacts of Stress?
Let us show you a revolutionary program that’s transforming the lives of entrepreneurs just like you.
Join the Community
Founders First is a set of evaluation tools that will improve your business by strengthening its most critical asset: You.
Founders Forum is a live show where we talk about mental health in entrepreneurship and how to build resilience to stay stronger, happier, and be more successful.
