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Category
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Name
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Rating
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Comments
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Super Affiliate
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$$$$$
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LinkShare is the ultimate super affiliate. You pretty much have to join LinkShare if you want to have any of the leading retail stores listed on your site. For example: Wal-Mart, Apple, Dick's Sporting Goods , Ford Motor, etc.
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Super Affiliate
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$$$$$
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Commission Junction is right up there with LinkShare in terms of offering you the highest quality advertiser selection.
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Super Affiliate
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$$$$
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More high level advertisers are joining Performics every day. It's becoming a must have like LinkShare and Commission Junction.
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Super Affiliate
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$$$
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This is one of the top performers. It does have a higher level of ebook type products but those can sell really well no matter what your website is about.
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Super Affiliate
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$$$
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A smaller selection but growing. There are some premiere advertisers available.
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Beach Bum Guide #3 (cont'd)
Affiliate Programs Tailored to YOUR Website
Affiliate Programs Tailored to YOUR Website
Okay, here is the list. I list "Super Affiliate" programs at the beginning. Consider these to be your "one stop shops" for affiliate programs. In many cases you can join one or two of these programs and have access to literally hundreds of actual advertisers in any category you can imagine. Just remember to tailor to your site and as long as you are able to get a nice regular flow of traffic to your site, which we'll get into in a future guide, you should do quite well for yourself.
In some cases, you may have a service that you would like to promote but they are only accessible via a super affiliate. This is becoming more and more commonplace. It has it's benefits but it can also have it's downside. And I say that because anytime you add a middleman it means less money for you! Still, many super affiliate programs are just too good to pass up so I list them for you just the same.
After you check out some of the super affiliate programs, I list some of my favorite direct affiliate programs. You will have to join these programs directly but this is actually a great way to ensure that your ads are targeted to your market, which is the key to your success. One word of advice, make sure you do what you need to do to keep track of all of your usernames and passwords. I use a very good program for this, called Roboform which uses encryption to protect your passwords and also makes it easy to maintain backups so you don't lose your information. However, you can also use a simple spreadsheet - just make sure you password protect it!
Ready? Here we go:
In some cases, you may have a service that you would like to promote but they are only accessible via a super affiliate. This is becoming more and more commonplace. It has it's benefits but it can also have it's downside. And I say that because anytime you add a middleman it means less money for you! Still, many super affiliate programs are just too good to pass up so I list them for you just the same.
After you check out some of the super affiliate programs, I list some of my favorite direct affiliate programs. You will have to join these programs directly but this is actually a great way to ensure that your ads are targeted to your market, which is the key to your success. One word of advice, make sure you do what you need to do to keep track of all of your usernames and passwords. I use a very good program for this, called Roboform which uses encryption to protect your passwords and also makes it easy to maintain backups so you don't lose your information. However, you can also use a simple spreadsheet - just make sure you password protect it!
Ready? Here we go:
As I mentioned previously, super affiliates are becoming fairly commonplace but there are still major benefits to becoming an affiliate with a direct company. A couple of my favorites are in my top picks section, Customflix and Cafepress. They have done really well for me on some of my other websites.
Now this list is certainly not going to cover everything. We'll accomplish that in time in the blog, forum and eventually the Beach Bum database when it is up and running.
I think it's better for you to start with a shorter list anyway, as this can be overwhelming, especially if you are just starting out or not as familiar with affiliate programs.
Ideally you should maybe pick 2 or 3 from the Super Affiliates list above and choose a few more from the list below, just to get started. But it's entirely up to you and you should check them all out just to see which advertisers fit best with your plans. My goal is to help you get started on some of these. If you have questions or want even more info, check back often and utilize the forum.
Now this list is certainly not going to cover everything. We'll accomplish that in time in the blog, forum and eventually the Beach Bum database when it is up and running.
I think it's better for you to start with a shorter list anyway, as this can be overwhelming, especially if you are just starting out or not as familiar with affiliate programs.
Ideally you should maybe pick 2 or 3 from the Super Affiliates list above and choose a few more from the list below, just to get started. But it's entirely up to you and you should check them all out just to see which advertisers fit best with your plans. My goal is to help you get started on some of these. If you have questions or want even more info, check back often and utilize the forum.
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Category
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Name
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Rating
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Comments
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General Advertising
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$$$$$
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What can I say? Google started it all for me. I put some Google ads on one of my first websites and was not convinced until I got my first check from Google. Then I started to see that you could really make money online if you played your cards right.
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Entertainment
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$$$$$
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You could credit Amazon with being the grandfather of Affiliate marketing. They pretty much started it in 1996 and put themselves on top by doing it right the first time. Obviously you can target just about any product they sell on your site and even make your own storefront full of product links that you never even have to touch. Genius!
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Dining
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$$$$$
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Remember what I said before about having the right domain name? Well you can't get any better than this! They hardly need a search engine for people to find them and that is the key! But I digress... I like their program alot. They let you choose between a direct affiliation or you can also represent them via Commission Junction. I choose direct but it's up to you. Top notch banner ads too, really make your site look professional and not cluttered. One more thing, everyone eats so you can put their banners on just about any site.
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Internet
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$$$$$
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IPower is a web hosting company and they are one of the top performers in the industry. If you have a site related to computers or the internet then this might be a great performer for you. Their payouts are excellent.
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Musical
Instruments |
$$$$
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Very targeted which makes it an excellent pick if you have a music related site. They have a multi-tiered payout structure which means the more you make the more your commission rates go up. As of this writing, you could earn up to 80% commission at the top of their rate structure!
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Casino Games
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$$$$
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If you have a gaming related site or just want to have some ads for poker and other casino games, which are hot right now, then this is one of the best in my opinion. When you join their program you have access to all of their casino products under several brands.
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Giveaways
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$$$$
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Unless you've been living under a rock, you have undoubtedly seen all of those ads for "free iPods, PS2's and DVD players". Well those ads are pretty effective and can be very good for your revenue. Don't think in terms of if you would click on one of those ads if you saw it, think in terms of how many people you'll want to click on those ads on YOUR site when they see it!
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Travel
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$$$$
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Every now and then I come across an affiliate program that is not only good as an affiliate program but also as a service in general. A lot of people think being a travel agent is a dead business. Brick and mortar? Maybe! But online travel is a huge market and if you have any interest in travel then you might even want to start your own business with them as well! Either way, worth checking out!
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Real Estate
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$$$
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Real estate is a booming business and there are an increasing number of people out there getting into the game. They also offer a tax lien investing course. Not sure what that is? We will actually get into that in our wealth building guide.
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So there you have it. Those are my favorite programs. Keep coming back to this site for more in the future. We'll be filling you in on the Mr Beach Bum blog where you'll get to hear stories from fellow Beach Bums about their successes.
One final note. Many of the affiliates you sign up with will ask for your Tax ID or SS#. This is a requirement in the United States. In the next guide, we'll give you some more ideas about opening up an LLC or other business type. We'll also look at some other wealth building programs available. Remember, don't put all your eggs in one basket!
Proceed to the next guide: Wealth Building Programs.
One final note. Many of the affiliates you sign up with will ask for your Tax ID or SS#. This is a requirement in the United States. In the next guide, we'll give you some more ideas about opening up an LLC or other business type. We'll also look at some other wealth building programs available. Remember, don't put all your eggs in one basket!
Proceed to the next guide: Wealth Building Programs.
Top Pick #1
LinkShare
LinkShare is a "Super Affiliate" site that is free to join but offers you a huge selection of advertisers to align yourself with. You, as a web publisher, will have access to some of the highest quality advertising opportunities on the web. Every purchase made through your links nets you a commission. Affiliate marketing at its finest. I highly recommend that you join this program today - It's FREE!!
Click here to join.
Here are just a few of the premiere advertisers that you can expect to find on LinkShare:
Click here to join.
Here are just a few of the premiere advertisers that you can expect to find on LinkShare:
CafePress
CafePress is a site that lets you set up a shop full of products with your own personalized logo, photographs, art, etc on them. You can make T-Shirts, mugs, cards, framed art, the list goes on. Anyone who has a cool logo for their website and wants to sell some shirts or something on the side needs to sign up today. It's free to join and free to run a basic shop. A more advanced shop with hundreds of products costs a bit more but can more than pay for itself if marketed properly.
And, if you need a great shop for beach bum apparel, look no further than www.littlegrasshack.com
And, if you need a great shop for beach bum apparel, look no further than www.littlegrasshack.com
Top Pick #2
Top Pick #3
I like ShareaSale a lot. They have a mom and pop shop feel to them and I feel like I can get a unique set of advertisers here. If you have a niche audience then chances are you'll find the most suitable advertisers for your niche audience here.