When choosing a merchant account, pick one that offers you security. Make sure they have an SSL-encrypted payment gateway.
» Not all affiliates are good affiliates. Try to clean up your list at least once a year. If a site hasn't performed for some time, email the webmaster and check if the account is still active.
» Regardless of their current level of productivity, it’s vital for you to stay in touch with your affiliates, encourage their participation and ensure that they place your links and other marketing materials in the most appropriate venues.
» It’s common for beginning online merchants to question the need for an affiliate program; after all, it’s your business, your website and your products or services – why give someone you’ve likely never met before a piece of the action? The answer is simple: traffic.
» Part of building an effective affiliate program is offering a competitive product. This seems like common sense, but it’s an often-overlooked factor. If it’s not something that you would personally feel comfortable in purchasing, then you’ll find few folks willing to buy it and even fewer affiliates willing to promote it.
» Offer a wide variety of marketing materials. Nobody knows your business and its offerings as well as you do, and as such, it’s up to you to develop the compelling marketing materials that your affiliates will need in order to drive traffic to your website.