Affiliate Marketing Blog by Shawn Collins Affiliate marketing news and opinion from Shawn Collins, an affiliate marketer since 1997, co-founder of Affiliate Summit and author of Successful Affiliate Marketing for Merchants.

Q: I am a new affiliate manager and am working on recruiting affiliates to my niche. How do I use search to find qualified affiliates of my competition, or even if they are not promoting my competition?
A: There are a handful of software programs, such as Link Capture that purport enabling you to find [...]

Q: One of the many hats that I wear is visual merchandiser in the retail sector. Part of my responsibility to distribute multiple goods to form a display at malls in Vegas and CA. Multiple items from multiple vendors; up to 12 items. How do I get a non-affiliate traditional online manufacturer (i.e acrylic signs) [...]

Q: Any ecommerce store whose checkout includes a coupon prompt will have the issue of paying out affiliate commissions for sales that were already in their shopping carts.
Many merchants consider affiliates who focus on offering coupons poachers because it is the merchant’s coupon prompt that caused their buyers who came in through ppc or organic [...]

Q: Where is the money on the Web? I’ve got years without success, how can I make it happen? What can someone who would like to be your copycat do as a step-by-step process I can follow?
A: I am not going to encourage copycats, which is one of the reasons I don’t talk about all [...]

Q: I am a new affiliate manager and I am just learning the job. I would like to know what, in your opinion, is the most important thing I need to know as a new affiliate manager?
A: The position of an affiliate manager is multi-dimensional, so I can’t really single out on thing that’s most [...]

Q: I own my own Web site and I am about to begin an affiliate program. There are so many companies to weed through – can you tell me the best affiliate network for my affiliate program?
A: As far as the best affiliate network, I don’t mean to be all philosophical and useless to you, [...]

Q: How do you retain repeat business once the customer knows the site to go to and get paid if they go to the brick and mortar store, where you don’t get paid?
A: As far as repeat business, you need to create some sort of community or other value proposition that will give people [...]

Q: Do people really make money in affiliate marketing… where should I start… and could I pay you to show me how?
A: Yes, people make money in affiliate marketing. Personally, I’ve been doing it since 1997. The amounts vary depending on the commitment, experience, site popularity, etc.
Some folks are making nickels and dimes, while [...]

Q: I am new to Internet marketing and, as such, I am very dumb. My question concerns display and destination URLs. Can you explain what exactly goes into the display and destination URL? Also, where does my affiliate hoplink fit in? I’ve asked Google and ClickBank and have not received a very clear answer.
A: [...]

Q: I am the marketing manager for a software company and I am exploring ways affiliate marketing can help our business. I wondered if you could point me in the direction to see if affiliate marketing would be right for us?
A: I guess the easiest thing would be to take a look at your [...]