Starting my own affiliate network

[IAmUnstoppable]

Background

I searched high and low for reasonable details on starting an own network, but couldn't really find any, except, for those with shallow information. I assume this is the best place to open this thread on this forum.

Here's what's happening... In my home country, there is no "affiliate culture". I mean, there is 0 affiliate networks, about 10-15 affiliate offers. The networks with those 10-15 offers are not based in my country. But the offers are good.

In terms of competition, basically, almost 0.

So, I said to myself, why can't I start my own affiliate network and have all offers in my native language. There are a lot of people here willing to earn money online by promoting "something". My brother and I ourselves have been owners of websites in our language, but the monetizing the visitors was always a huge challenge.

What I've done, what I know

I myself have been an affiliate at a quite a few affiliates networks, and still am and earning money. So, I've gained significant experience in how affiliates work, their psychology, what they want etc... (the same goes for customers). So, in terms of that, I am good enough.

I know that Hasoffers has a very nice tracking system, which is actually my favorite. I am saying this as an affiliate myself. So, I can go with it.

My problem

Offers are a problem for me. I don't know how to get offers to my network if I start it.
So, how should I contact offer/product owners generally? I know the landing pages of their products but I don't know how to find the people who make the product. There are also offers which ship to my country, but they don't have landing pages in my country's language and their call center operators speak some other language only. So, basically, these offers are useless for my country's traffic. BTW, I am talking about Cash On Delivery offers where making a call and confirming an order decides if the affiliate is paid.

It looks like a huge challenge to get all the things working together to make the system work (offers, publishers, technical side, programming etc), but I am up to the challenge.

So, tell me, what do you think? Would you have any advice for me? Are there things I must consider when starting my own aff network?

Treat me like I'm a noob, any response is highly appreciated!

 

[Graybeard]

Your intention is to do business with persons within your (unnamed so far) country? affiliates + customers/buyers?
However, you want vendors ('offers') that are willing to ship their 'hard goods' into your country?

If you want to ship and deliver goods internationally there are customs and duty issues to address.

I would start with goods that can be digitally delivered. Then perhaps; contract some dropshipping 'offers' >>>then share the revenue you would get with your network affiliates.

Another possibility is making deals with local product sources -->>your offers<< -- this would avoid the remote international shipments.

I think you could find some open source back-end affiliate software you could base your network on -- or some SaaS white label network software.

 

[IAmUnstoppable]

Your intention is to do business with persons within your (unnamed so far) country? affiliates + customers/buyers?

Yes, that's on my mind. I will have people who own the offers, and people who want to promote these offers for a commission.

If you want to ship and deliver goods internationally there are customs and duty issues to address.

No, I plan to ship products in my country only. At least as a start, then maybe, I will start shipping in the nearby countries.

I would start with goods that can be digitally delivered. Then perhaps; contract some dropshipping 'offers' >>>then share the revenue you would get with your network affiliates.

I like that idea of starting with digital offers. I've seen a few digital offer start-ups here which did not make it because of the lack of promotion, that would be game-changing. Can you elaborate on dropshipping offers? Here, I would need to deliver the next day, it's a compact environment and it's possible to do that. I'm afraid dropshipping offers would be somewhere abroad and it would not be possible to deliver next day. Is that what you meant?

I think you could find some open source back-end affiliate software you could base your network on -- or some SaaS white label network software.

So, if I want to place Titan Gel, Garcinia Cambogia or Forskolin Fuel (these are the popular ones which hit my mind now), for example, on my network. What should I do? Should I find the official website and contact them asking to place their offer on my network?

 

[IAmUnstoppable]

There are a few offers in my region, in native language, which are completely fake. They offer penis enlargement, miraculous erection dysfunction cure, varicose veins treatment, anti-acne stuff, weight loss pills. All of these are either pills, creams or gels.

I am 95% sure these are all FAKE.

I have a question I've had for a long time. How do they create such products? Do they simply buy gel-like substance, for example, and then mix it with some flavoring and scent-giving substances to make it look and smell like legit?
And, then put it in a custom bottle and box and brand and advertise it like crazy? Tell me please if you know anything about this.

If I can do it with some effort, why can't I have my own offer? I'm ready to spend time on landing and pre-landing pages myself. Look at Forskolin Fuel, it is 100% fake. I've been an affiliate, promoting it, and I've seen how fake and what a scam it is. I'm like, screw it, why can't I do the same thing in my region? Tell me what you know, very appreciated. ^^

 

[affmarketer101]

It will be taking you a lot of money and effort because you have to recruit both affiliate marketers and sellers to post the offers on your website. Then, there will be a lot of things you should care while operating it like:
- Payment method, payment terms
- Tracking system
etc.

 

[IAmUnstoppable]

It will be taking you a lot of money and effort because you have to recruit both affiliate marketers and sellers to post the offers on your website. Then, there will be a lot of things you should care while operating it like:
- Payment method, payment terms
- Tracking system
etc.

I will be operating on COD (cash on delivery). That is what current offer advertisers are doing.
Unfortunately, I could not find who's making the product to ask them if I would be able to have the product in my network if I built it.
So, aside from payment methods, payment terms, what could be a problem is tracking. But, if I decide to use a decent tracking system would that still be a huge hassle?

Currently, if a person lands on one of the offers which are offered in my country, the only thing the buys has to do to buy is to enter name and email address and than the call center of the product calls them and verify the order and as an affiliate you get paid at this confirmation. Even if something happens and they don't manage to actually delievr the product and make the sale on delivery, there are no chargebacks. And, this system works. This kind of offers have been around for 1 year already but there only a handful of those available.

Again, these products are 100% fake.
I wonder, if they simply have bottles, placebo pills, custom stickers and boxes, and they just wrap it and ship it.
Any idea on this? Thanks in advance

 

[AffiliateAF]

Background

I searched high and low for reasonable details on starting an own network, but couldn't really find any, except, for those with shallow information. I assume this is the best place to open this thread on this forum.

Here's what's happening... In my home country, there is no "affiliate culture". I mean, there is 0 affiliate networks, about 10-15 affiliate offers. The networks with those 10-15 offers are not based in my country. But the offers are good.

In terms of competition, basically, almost 0.

So, I said to myself, why can't I start my own affiliate network and have all offers in my native language. There are a lot of people here willing to earn money online by promoting "something". My brother and I ourselves have been owners of websites in our language, but the monetizing the visitors was always a huge challenge.

What I've done, what I know

I myself have been an affiliate at a quite a few affiliates networks, and still am and earning money. So, I've gained significant experience in how affiliates work, their psychology, what they want etc... (the same goes for customers). So, in terms of that, I am good enough.

I know that Hasoffers has a very nice tracking system, which is actually my favorite. I am saying this as an affiliate myself. So, I can go with it.

My problem

Offers are a problem for me. I don't know how to get offers to my network if I start it.
So, how should I contact offer/product owners generally? I know the landing pages of their products but I don't know how to find the people who make the product. There are also offers which ship to my country, but they don't have landing pages in my country's language and their call center operators speak some other language only. So, basically, these offers are useless for my country's traffic. BTW, I am talking about Cash On Delivery offers where making a call and confirming an order decides if the affiliate is paid.

It looks like a huge challenge to get all the things working together to make the system work (offers, publishers, technical side, programming etc), but I am up to the challenge.

So, tell me, what do you think? Would you have any advice for me? Are there things I must consider when starting my own aff network?

Treat me like I'm a noob, any response is highly appreciated!

Good Luck IAmUnstoppable in your new adventure!

 

[TheTallGuy]

Good luck! I also thought about it, but their are already so many business in that brance... I guess its pretty hard to get promoters to a new network, i guess when a promoter (affiliate) is making some good money somewhere already they are often scared to try new things.. But good luck!

 

[Kaiz3r]

Sound great , study your country market , promote your self looking for collaboration with local companies . see the product that's come from outside of your country . i don't know what is your country but i'm sure you will find some E commerce Brand that have an affiliate program . in my vision the publishers are who define the type of advertiser who are you have too looking for depend on their traffic their quality their quantity . Don't forget the accounting , terms side .
Good luck in your adventure

 

[TheTallGuy]

About the 'approaching only locat market first' is that smart? Dont know in which country you live, but i give you more change of succeed going WW or focusing on big countries first

 

[IAmUnstoppable]

About the 'approaching only locat market first' is that smart? Dont know in which country you live, but i give you more change of succeed going WW or focusing on big countries first

I think it is smart. Consider the competition you have to keep up to. Especially the problem of getting affiliates. As you said affiliate are afraid of trying new things, I plan to teach the fellow website owners of my country how to become affiliates. I think they will have way more income promoting CPA offers rather than having to get less than 1 cent for an ad placed on their website.
+ the payment method is tailored for this audience. Because a lot of people do not use credit/debit card. Certain people have them but most don't even know how to shop online. If you give them a sales page, 80% of the population won't be able to fill card number, expiry date, and CVC.
Since that is the situation, I will operate on COD, cash on delivery. All they have to do is to enter a name and a phone number and the payment is made on delivery. This works here currently.
As of going international, that can be done later I think. It involves a lot more work like having a call center where operators speak that language etc. BTW, by going international, I am talking about the countryes neighboring my country. These are somewhat uncharted lands for this kind of stuff, that is why I think my country and, plus (later), neighboring countries would be a smart move.

 

[TheTallGuy]

I think it is smart. Consider the competition you have to keep up to. Especially the problem of getting affiliates. As you said affiliate are afraid of trying new things, I plan to teach the fellow website owners of my country how to become affiliates. I think they will have way more income promoting CPA offers rather than having to get less than 1 cent for an ad placed on their website.
+ the payment method is tailored for this audience. Because a lot of people do not use credit/debit card. Certain people have them but most don't even know how to shop online. If you give them a sales page, 80% of the population won't be able to fill card number, expiry date, and CVC.
Since that is the situation, I will operate on COD, cash on delivery. All they have to do is to enter a name and a phone number and the payment is made on delivery. This works here currently.
As of going international, that can be done later I think. It involves a lot more work like having a call center where operators speak that language etc. BTW, by going international, I am talking about the countryes neighboring my country. These are somewhat uncharted lands for this kind of stuff, that is why I think my country and, plus (later), neighboring countries would be a smart move.

I still think CC or Mobile offers are the best as their payment flow is the shortest. COD would defintly not be interesting for me as affiliate to start with as it takes really long before the affiliate finally gets the 'Succeed' confirmation and doesnt know for a long time how to optimize their LP/flow etc... Big payoffs for 1 offers are nice, but if it takes loads of work and time before you get it, i would also be happy with smaller payments which happen 20 times more then the big one because of the shorter flow, and faster opportunity to scale it larger because of the faster postback info you get from the campaign.

 

[IAmUnstoppable]

I still think CC or Mobile offers are the best as their payment flow is the shortest. COD would definitely not be interesting for me as an affiliate to start with as it takes really long before the affiliate finally gets the 'Succeed' confirmation and doesn't know for a long time how to optimize their LP/flow etc... Big payoffs for 1 offers are nice, but if it takes loads of work and time before you get it, i would also be happy with smaller payments which happen 20 times more then the big one because of the shorter flow, and faster opportunity to scale it larger because of the faster postback info you get from the campaign.

Can you give me an example of CC and Mobile offers you are suggesting?

It does not take long to get the confirmation after the user enters info in COD case. For example, the model I am talking about now is the following, and it gets confirmed within 15 minutes if the phone number entered is the real one(that's unless it's someone who wants to joke with the operators): user fills this form on the landing page

and, then, the operator calls within about 15 minutes to verify and complete the offer. as long as the confirmation is received from the customer, the affiliate is credited the commission.

I agree on faster and smaller payments. And these COD are happening just like that. The buyer price is really low for these offers because the country is not doing economically well and you can't make products which sell for more than 20-30 dollars. Well, you can, but idk how it would work. And they sell like hell. People believe all these anti-aging, weight loss pills, penis enlargement gels work. So, it sells well, even on COD.

 

[Graybeard]

Look at Amazon's business model with ✔Prime service -- they are selling convenience with a 2 day delivery.

The history of Internet ecommerce in the USA is that ecommerce has been it has been bad (disruptive) for the Mainstreet retailers. Retailers are probably going to be poor prospects -- even if you offer to sell their goods for a percentage they may think you will just be taking their existing market where they are making money now -- that is how many retailers think. Unless you can present them with some marketing plan that you will find NEW customers for them -- they won't by it. To the retailer you are just going to churn their existing customers.

Any manufactured or wholesale distributor will what you to prove credit-worthiness and only sell the product to you -- you would resell it.

It's one thing to collect cash at the point-of-sale it's another thing to collect it remotely on a COD basis. When you have an unpaid COD delivery the merchandise is returned to you after paying the shipping both ways along with some non deliverable penalty fee. What is going to be your refusal rate?

If you cross international boundaries you have currency conversion costs to consider. With the credit card networks you just pay a small fee. Converting cash is another story -- you will have to pay what it costs there -- have your considered that?

That all said, have you considered being the regional liquidator of unsold or slow selling merchandise for manufacturers, wholesalers and larger retailers?

That is a distress market where you could offer a value proposition -- turning owned inventory into fast cash. The idea is you buy (or sell for them at a fee) the distressed inventory at a discounted price. The low price allows you to create offers to your end consumers at value prices that they would not get in retail stores.

Look at Amazon's business model a large amount of their volume is done this way
Maybe, in your economy COD may work to a certain extent it is a cultural thing. In the USA it's a cashless society except for the poor and the criminal element evading taxes. People with money use banks and have plastic (credit cards).

 

[IAmUnstoppable]

On that note, I would be glad if anyone can help me with a request that I have. I am doing everything in my power to find affiliates in connection with Immigration Services. Any tips on how to best find reliable affiliates would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

Okay but that's not related I suppose.

 

[Patrick3333]

Background

I searched high and low for reasonable details on starting an own network, but couldn't really find any, except, for those with shallow information. I assume this is the best place to open this thread on this forum.

Here's what's happening... In my home country, there is no "affiliate culture". I mean, there is 0 affiliate networks, about 10-15 affiliate offers. The networks with those 10-15 offers are not based in my country. But the offers are good.

In terms of competition, basically, almost 0.

So, I said to myself, why can't I start my own affiliate network and have all offers in my native language. There are a lot of people here willing to earn money online by promoting "something". My brother and I ourselves have been owners of websites in our language, but the monetizing the visitors was always a huge challenge.

What I've done, what I know

I myself have been an affiliate at a quite a few affiliates networks, and still am and earning money. So, I've gained significant experience in how affiliates work, their psychology, what they want etc... (the same goes for customers). So, in terms of that, I am good enough.

I know that Hasoffers has a very nice tracking system, which is actually my favorite. I am saying this as an affiliate myself. So, I can go with it.

My problem

Offers are a problem for me. I don't know how to get offers to my network if I start it.
So, how should I contact offer/product owners generally? I know the landing pages of their products but I don't know how to find the people who make the product. There are also offers which ship to my country, but they don't have landing pages in my country's language and their call center operators speak some other language only. So, basically, these offers are useless for my country's traffic. BTW, I am talking about Cash On Delivery offers where making a call and confirming an order decides if the affiliate is paid.

It looks like a huge challenge to get all the things working together to make the system work (offers, publishers, technical side, programming etc), but I am up to the challenge.

So, tell me, what do you think? Would you have any advice for me? Are there things I must consider when starting my own aff network?

Treat me like I'm a noob, any response is highly appreciated!

This is quite a great idea, but what you have to do first is to think about it first, why do other never thought about doing this there too? Where to get offers, what type of offers you could add to your network, what type of offers are popular over there too, and then you will have solve the major part of issues, also look at who you could partner with, to make your work easier too, and with good support! Wish you luck on this!