Types of Affiliate Program Management Solutions/Software

There are basically only 4 different types of affiliate management software solutions. They are:

  1. Custom Software - You can have proprietary software written and hosted on your own server. However, unless your company has very specific needs not served by other solutions, this can be a very costly endeavor. I highly recommend that you look at a number of third party solutions before resorting to this option.
  2. Affiliate Network - Affiliate networks are the most expensive, yet feature-rich affiliate management solutions. Some networks charge either a flat monthly fee or a percentage of sales to handle all your affiliate sales transactions and in handle commission payment processing. The biggest benefit to joining most affiliate networks is that thousands of affiliates will be introduced to your offer as soon as your offer is made available on the network. Some networks are trade-specific, such as Credit Soup, which promotes only offers from credit card companies and financial institutions.
  3. Remotely-Hosted and Third-Party Software - You can buy an existing script for placement on your own server, or lease a solution that resides on the leasing company’s server.
  4. Shopping Cart Integrated - Some shopping carts, like 1ShoppingCart have affiliate program management solutions built right into them.

Affiliate Networks

Because the topic of proprietary software is outside the scope of this article, we’ll move right on to Affiliate Network Solutions.

Do You Sell Digital Products?

Clickbank

If you sell a digital product, like an ebook or software, you should definitely consider Clickbank, which acts as a third party payment processor, (say THAT 3 times fast) and has a built-in affiliate program/network.

Clickbank has thousands of affiliates in their network who are always looking for digital products to promote…Nothing but nothing sells like information on the ‘net, and Clickbank affiliates know that well!

Clickbank is the company I use to process sales of my Super Affiliate Handbook. Jim Edwards and I also use their services for Affiliate Business Blueprint sales.

Checks arrive like clockwork every two weeks.

It’s super cheap to set up with Clickbank too. There use to be a one-time $50 setup charge (now it’s free) , and then a $1.00 fee and 7.5% applied to every order processed. Order fees are split between you and the affiliate who referred the sale.

Sure, Clickbank’s affiliate program has its limitations, not least of which is the inability to contact the affiliates who promote your product.

Nevertheless, it is a ‘best bet’ for getting an affiliate program started quickly, easily and inexpensively.

PayDotCom

In many ways, PayDotCom is similar to Clickbank in that it is a third-party payment processor with a built-in affiliate network.

PayDotCom offers a couple of options that Clickbank does not, so you may want to consider joining both.

PayDotCom lets the merchant choose whether or not a customer’s purchase should be refunded, whereas Clickbank refunds immediately on customer request provided the request comes within the allowable period.

PayDotCom also uses PayPal and StormPay as payment processors. Clickbank doesn’t offer the Stormpay option.

Do You Sell Hard Goods or a Service?

Merchants who sell hard goods and services have many affiliate program management solution options… and I do mean many.

Do you want to have your program introduced to tens of thousands of affiliates… today? Then consider partnering with Commission Junction, the largest affiliate network.

Although CJ is one of the more costly solution - with a one-time fee of $2250 dollars to gain access, and an annual maintenance fee of 250 more dollars - having so many affiliates available to promote your product from the outset, may

offset the initial and ongoing costs of having CJ administer your program.

If you like the idea of having thousands of affiliates on your ‘doorstep’ by joining an affiliate network, but think CJ’s prices are a little steep, you might want to consider:

Remotely-Hosted and Local Third-Party Solutions

If you’d want to save money and don’t mind finding your own affiliates then a Third-Party affiliate management program solution may be right for you.

  1. My Affiliate Program is a very popular robust and completely customizable third-party hosted Affiliate Tracking and Management solution offered by Kolimbo (Kowabunga Technologies).They brand themselves as the ‘The Original Affiliate Tracking & Management Solution Provider, Since 1997′ and claim to ‘power over 500,000 affiliates, and 2000 private networks, and continues to hold its place as the #1 private affiliate software and management solution on the market today.’Indeed, many of the most successful companies with which I do business use the ‘My Affiliate Program’ to power their affiliate programs.
  2. Assoctrac by the ‘Internet Marketing Center‘ is yet another hosted affiliate program solution, which is used extensively on the ‘Net.Although Assoctrac offers a wide array of features, and is reported to have excellent support, as an affiliate, I find the interface just a little on the clunky side. As a merchant however, you’ll probably appreciate the very attractive price on this solution.
  3. Ultimate Affiliate by Groundbreak is a script that allows you to run a fully featured affiliate program from your own website with no monthly fees, while promising easy setup and free updates to their software. Many of the merchants whose products I promote use Ultimate Affiliate. As an affiliate, I appreciate Ultimate Affiliate’s simple, easy-to-use statistics interface.

    Shopping Cart Intergrated

    Last, but certainly not least are affiliate management program solutions which are built right into your shopping cart.

    As a merchant just starting out, this may in fact be your best choice, because you won’t have to wonder if the software you buy or lease will actually work with your third-party payment processor and shopping cart - it’s built right in!

    1ShoppingCart is the first choice among merchants who are looking for the ‘full-meal deal’ or all-in-one solution with all the tools you will ever need to do business online.

    The short list of features includes a shopping cart that connects to your merchant account (with support for 60 different payment gateways, including Paypal) and does shipping calculations for your orders.  Got a membership site? 1ShoppingCart comes with and Automated recurring billing system, or you can set up recurring billing for individual customers. You can track and split test your ads,  and their service also comes with multiple autoresponders and an ebook delivery system.