Affiliate Profit: Are You Losing Money?
Co Za Search I have bad news for you: You are probably losing money and you didn't pay attention to it! Let me explain...
Cologne, 12.10. 2004. ICANN accredited registrar Secura announces today, domains. The co. domains are the domains of South Africa. The co. domains belong to the popular domains in Africa. You cannot register at .za. If your name is not available at co.za, you can also register at org.za. domain is best for websites that target international
Website When you joined affiliate programs you probably considered the following factors:
It is simply an easy way of signifying information related to your organisation such as the geographic location, type of organisation etc... Q) Does the domain have to be hosted in the same country that it represents For example does a co.za domain have to be hosted in South Africa. A) No. A domain can be hosted anywhere. Dedicated Hosting South Africa
Email - The commission
- The conversion rate
domains. A local presence or registered company in South Africa is not a requirement for a co.za name. domain at once, if the domain name is free. //www.domainregistry. domains.html Hans Peter Oswald www.domainregistry.de //www. domains.com
Bokweb The profit formula looks like a child play: Commission x Conversion Rate = Your Profit
markets, while .co. domains are best for South African webpages or those with a strong South African reference. This is so because surfer are used to, and you may lose a part of your target group if you deviate from the expected Top Level Domain. domain, it is advisable to register also a .co. domain as well. serve basis.
Springbok In fact there are three big pitfalls here and if you don't manage them properly, your profit is at risk. Let consider them:
Domain Registration Please Enable Javascript Welcome to the first step in getting your website online. Please enter your desired domain name in the box below to check availability. Enter your desired domain name www. . biz bz co.uk co.za com info name net org org.za tv us za.com za.net
Zulu Co Za - Price: A high price means a higher affiliate commission for every sale but it may result also in a lower conversion rate. If the product is too expensive, nobody will buy. You shouldn't be blinded by the promise of a very high commission. You should keep in mind that the best price is not the one that gives you the highest commission but the one that makes the highest profit. An optimized pricing that makes satisfied customers and satisfied affiliates is what you should look for.
Samatch - Refund Rate: Refunds can kill your marketing efforts! What are
worth the sales you see in your account if customers request their
money back? A lot of sales mean nothing unless you keep the
money!
This is the whole responsibility of the merchant to keep refunds
as low as possible. A site that sells well is good. A site that
also keeps refunds very low is much better! There is only one way
to keep refunds very low: To deliver very high quality services
meeting customers' expectations or going beyond what they could
expect!
Sedo Com - Product Quality: Quality is king! Quality makes superior conversion rates! Quality enables higher prices and better commissions! Quality keeps refunds as low as possible! In a word: Quality should be your compass. Don't associate your business with low quality products or services. On the top of your list, promote only the very best. It will also keep your profit on top.
Cctld
How much money are you losing today?
Country Level Domain The money you earn and lose is significantly determined by the quality of the affiliate program you have selected as your top pick.
Cozanick The question is: How do you measure what is more qualitative and what is less?
Co Za Search There is an objective criterion to use for answering this question and for optimizing your profit: The refund rate of your top affiliate program!
Website A high refund rate express clearly that lots of customers are not satisfied with what they get and that affiliates lose money on their sales. On the contrary, a low refund rates indicates a high level of satisfaction among customers and safe earning for affiliates.
Email If you get many refunds with your top affiliate program, you should understand that the quality of this program isn't sufficient for keeping these customers satisfied and it doesn't do the necessary job for securing your profit. You are losing money!
Bokweb
What are good, medium and poor refund rates?
Springbok Refunds can't be totally avoided. There will always be customers that are not satisfied even for the most qualitative product or service. So, expecting a zero refund rate on the long run is not realistic. You should wish a refund rate as low as possible in your industry. It's important to consider that there can be significant variations from one industry to another but as a rule of thumb you can use the following scale:
Zulu Co Za 2% or less: Excellent
3% - 5%: Good
6% - 10%: Medium
11% - 15%: Poor
16% - 20%: Very Poor
21% or higher: Run away!
Samatch
With a 5% or less refund rate you can be happy. Your affiliate
program is reliable and your profit is secured. With a 6%-10%
refund rate, you should monitor closely your merchant performance
to ensure it doesn't get worst. It would be advised to scan the
market for a better alternative if you can find one. With an
11%-20% (or higher) refund rate you should be very concerned with
your profit. Whatever your industry is, you are bleeding and there
is probably a better affiliate program to promote.
Sedo Com
What is the refund rate of your top affiliate program?
Cctld There are two ways to find the refund rate of an affiliate program:
Country Level Domain 1) Look at the stats supplied by your affiliate program
Cozanick Do your math as following: Refunds / Sales = Refund Rate
Co Za Search Let say you make 1000 sales per month, you get a $23.50 commission per sale and about 160 customers request their money back every month. Your refund rate is 160 / 1000 = 16%. In that case it means that you should have earned $23,500 for your sales but you will get only $19,740 because of the refunds. You lost here 16% of your profit or $3,760!
Website You can ask yourself: Is it only I or all affiliates for this program get similar numbers? If you use Clickbank to promote affiliate programs, you can get the big picture about the whole community of affiliates that promote an affiliate program.
Email 2) Using Clickbank payout stats to calculate the average refund rate of an affiliate program
Bokweb In its marketplace, Clickbank publishes payout stats for affiliate programs. The $Earned/Sale factor gives us exactly what we need to calculate the average refund rate of a program.
Springbok The $Earned/Sale is the average net amount earned per affiliate per referred sale. This number is mainly impacted by refunds and it reveals the real commission earned by affiliates. With this number, you can have an inner look at the real performance of affiliates programs.
Zulu Co Za The average refund rate of an affiliate program is:
(Commission - $Earned)/Commission = Average Refund Rate
Samatch
What is the refund rate of popular affiliate programs at
Clickbank?
Sedo Com As an example, we have looked at three affiliate programs selling paid surveys databases. We have found their refund rates very high! You will be surprised at discovering how much money affiliates can lose when promoting these programs:
Cctld - SurveyScout: 16.2% refund rate!
- Survey Platinum: 20.9% refund rate!
- My Consumer Survey: 35.2% refund rate!
Country Level Domain To get into the details, on November 29th 2005 figures were as following:
Cozanick SurveyScout
Affiliate Commission: $23.50
Average $Earned/Sale: $19.69
Refund Rate: (23.50 - 19.69) / 23.50 = 16.2%
Example: For 100 referred sales you should earn $2,350. In fact
you will get only $1,969 because 16 customers out of 100 have
requested their money back!
Co Za Search Survey Platinum
Affiliate Commission: $23.50
Average $Earned/Sale: $18.58
Refund Rate: (23.50 - 18.58) / 23.50 = 20.9%
Example: For 100 referred sales you should earn $2,350. In fact
you will get only $1,858 because 21 customers out of 100 have
requested their money back!
Website My Consumer Survey
Affiliate Commission: $40.84
Average $Earned/Sale: $26.43
Refund Rate: (40.84 - 26.43) / 40.84 = 35.2%
Example: For 100 referred sales you should earn $4,084. In fact
you will get only $2,643 because 35 customers out of 100 have
requested their money back!
Remark: My Consumer Survey has a poorly designed site and a high
price for buyers. We estimate its conversion rate to be
significantly lower than other paid surveys programs. Despite its
high commission, affiliates will lose the most money with this
program.
Email
We learn three lessons about these paid surveys affiliate
programs:
- A lot of customers are dissatisfied.
- Affiliates lose big money.
- The quality of these programs is very questionable.
Bokweb
What should you do to stop the bleeding?
Springbok You have no influence on the quality of the affiliate programs you promote. Your only real influence is on the quality of your recommendation!
Zulu Co Za Giving your top recommendation to a very professional affiliate program that delivers the utmost quality services to customers will keep your profit as high and as safe as possible.
Samatch In the field of paid surveys and mystery shopping jobs, the most professional program available today is MaximumPaidSurveys.com.
Sedo Com Maximum Paid Surveys is a premium database of paid surveys and mystery shopping jobs. It delivers a superior value to both registered users and affiliate partners due to its very high quality.
Cctld
How to identify quality in affiliate programs?
Country Level Domain Defining quality is a difficult job. In general, people can't define clearly what quality is but they recognize it when they see it. So what should you look at in affiliate programs?
Cozanick The most qualitative affiliate programs find the right balance between the value they offer to customers and the value they generate to affiliates:
Co Za Search 1. Value to customers - It includes:
Website - Rich content
- Good looking website
- State-of-the-art organization
- Friendly functionality
- Affordable Price for most visitors
- Detailed documentation
- Bonuses strengthening the main offer
- Timely Customer Support
Email
2. Value to affiliates - It includes:
Bokweb - High conversion rate
- High commission
- Low refund rate
- Commission paid on time
- Good affiliate support
Springbok Sam Parker is a managing partner at Maximum Paid Surveys, a premium database of paid online surveys and mystery shopping jobs. Maximum Paid Surveys brings superior value to registered members by delivering the most professional resource of paid opportunities on the Internet.
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