[dpakman91]

ok, we are getting ready to put up our new line, including our tshirts for the asundaydriver.com clothing line. like many on the forum know, we recently put up a shopping cart.

something i've been trying with a couple of people that seems to have a lot of potential is setting up a coupon code for "anyone" (people that want to recommend the clothign to friends, etc).

then, if people buy with that person's coupon code (ex: dave04), we give them a commission for it, and the person using it also gets a small percentage discount.

i think this could be a great way to turn just about anyone who likes the line or wants to make some money on the side into a "salesperson." by paying them 10% commission or whatnot, it's in their interests to recommend the line, and we aren't limiting ourselves solely to those sales reps that deal with the stores.

any thoughts? so far, people i've discussed the idea with think it's not bad at all, and many in fact already asked me to set them up with a coupon code.

[troyswitch]

Yes! Affiliate marketing is an awesome idea.

A lot of companies do use this, even the big ones like Dell, eBay, Amazon, etc. It's nothing new, but it's one of those marketing secrets that not a lot of people seem to know. By employing affiliates to go out there and market your products for free--there's no other marketing tool that's better. Of course, you're not paying them until they bring in business, so it's a win/win situation for both.

Hopefully everything works out for you

[jpomerenke]

Affiliate marketing is and will always get you the best RIO. I would actually set up a real affiliate program and use that instaed of the coupon idea. You then can get your line of clothing in all kinds of online shopping malls, coupon sites, shopping portals, etc. The list can go on and on and that doesnt even count all the individuals taht can personally sell your products thru there personal sites, etc.

[dpakman91]

Originally posted by jpomerenke
Affiliate marketing is and will always get you the best RIO. I would actually set up a real affiliate program and use that instaed of the coupon idea. You then can get your line of clothing in all kinds of online shopping malls, coupon sites, shopping portals, etc. The list can go on and on and that doesnt even count all the individuals taht can personally sell your products thru there personal sites, etc.

excellent, any specific suggestions about getting the entire project off the ground?

[jpomerenke]

i guess the biggest and best is cj.com but it can get spendy...there are alot of affiliate software out there that is cheaper but then you have to do alot of the backend work yourself like send check etc....not that its hard


im surre other people on here will be able to give you better adivice on what way to go. I will be using a custom software that was built for my site by next month so that is all i know.

[troyswitch]

Yeah, Commission Junction (cj.com) is the most well-known, but it's also probably one of the more expensive affiliate programs. I'm sure there are others out there, but I haven't researched it too much. I'll try to do some research to see if I can help you out some more.

[dpakman91]

Originally posted by troyswitch
Yeah, Commission Junction (cj.com) is the most well-known, but it's also probably one of the more expensive affiliate programs. I'm sure there are others out there, but I haven't researched it too much. I'll try to do some research to see if I can help you out some more.

awesome, i appreciate it. i cehcked out cj.com, and it seems interesting, and like a good setup, but expensive.

[Karen]

In addition to cj.com there is linkshare.com and shareasale.com which are pretty big. These companies do all the tracking for you, but you pay for the service.

If you want to offer affiliate signups off your website, you can use Ultimate Affiliate by groundbreak.com. This program you track yourself and pay your affiliates yourself, but only has the one time purchase cost.

The main differences are that with cj and others, your program is available through their sites for people to find. Self hosted programs you will need to promote completely by yourself.

Karen