Ask-Me-About Forum

[Loz]

Question:

How do I ask for higher commission rates?

Answer:

Regardless of if you are a newbie or a super affiliate, just ask. Affiliate managers SHOULD be open to talking with affiliates of all levels. Here are some tips for broaching the subject:

* If the merchant’s payout is a flat rate ($ or %), you can assume that they have some wiggle room at the top. Affiliate program commission structures are usually created so that a sale is either immediately profitable or profitable for the merchant over the life of the customer. This means that there is probably a bigger margin than what the published payout is.

* If the merchant offers a tiered payout system, you know right away that they have room to pay affiliates different rates. Go ahead and ask to be put on a higher tier from the beginning, even if you have yet to drive a click. There is no risk to a merchant for increasing your commission rate to something higher, but still within the structured tiers. Why? Because they won’t have to pay you unless you actually produce. And when you do produce, you earn a commission which is within their comfort zone.

* Since you will be using PPC to drive sales, use the approach of you taking on the initial risk of investment and needing to recoup costs as quickly as possible once you begin generating sales. A larger commission rate from the merchant means that you have more profit to reinvest in growing your PPC campaigns for that merchant. Merchants love to hear this.

* Any smart merchant and affiliate manager reserves a VIP rate for their top affiliates. You won’t be able to get to this until you drive serious volume for them though. Ask the affiliate manager on a regular basis (maybe monthly) where you rank overall in their program. If you show improvement and climb the ranks, of course you are justified in asking for more.

* Finally, there is something to be said for developing a relationship. Even if you only generate a few sales here and there for a merchant they are likely to pay you more just because they know you (and hopefully like you!). Affiliate managers communicate with thousands of affiliates sometimes. Make yourself stand out from the crowd just by replying to their monthly newsletters. Or by emailing and asking educated questions. If the manager knows and likes you, you are almost guaranteed a “yes” when you ask for a commission bump.

* Finally, contact your affiliate manager around a holiday that pertains to their product, or when you are developing a new campaign or site. Tell them that you have some sort of plans for doing XXXXX, and ask if they would be willing to give you a temporary increase in commission. If they do, they may forget to bring it back down again at the end of the temporary period, or they may just decide that you earned the higher rate after all.

Source: PPC Classroom