I recently conducted an experiment that involved affiliate marketing and what I discovered was quite shocking to say the least!
 
Basically I sent 500 unique visitors to an affiliate product that sold for $77 and promised interested parties how to make money online…lot’s of it! I used Google Analytics to track various parameters such as keywords, number of people and entry point of the people who followed through to the merchant’s landing page from a blog-wide banner on my blog!

Guess how many sales I made from my promotional efforts…remember I did send 500 unique visitors! How many? Did you say 20? That would have given me a conversion ratio of 4 %

Out of 500 Unique Visitors From Highly Targeted Keywords I Made 0 (Zero) Sales!

I was puzzled to say the least, so I decided to launch a careful investigation and in-depth analysis of that particular affiliate program’s sales funnel system.

So here’s how the experiment went down:

Okay, in keeping with my guidelines of a quality affiliate program worth promoting I made sure that the affiliate program I targeted had the following essential elements:

 
1. Quality web design and professional looking landing page.
 
2. Excellent sales pitch with all the necessary elements required for effective persuasion which include:

→       Testimonials

→       Screenshots

→       Rock Solid Guarantee

→       Super Effective Salescopy
 

3. A high commission payout. In this particular case the permission payout was 75% on a product priced at $77.
 

4. Long Lasting Cookie. The cookie is the script of code that houses your unique affiliate code (amongst other data) which latches on to a customer’s computer and allows the merchant website to track that customer’s activity whenever they visit the merchant website.
 

Some of that data incorporated in the cookie determines its lifespan. A longer lasting cookie embedded with your affiliate code means you have a greater chance of getting your commission once the customer eventually buys the product.
 

The Subtle and Skillful Enterprise of Commission Theft
 

The commission theft we are concerned about here is not the old-school and typical type perpetrated by other affiliates swapping out your link but rather is a much more sophisticated system orchestrated by the affiliate program owner themselves!
 

As marketers we are well aware that it is extremely rare for the average individual to purchase a product on initial exposure. Rather it requires multiple instances of exposure before that individual is comfortable enough to make the purchase.
 

That is where the subscriber list comes into play. These days most affiliate program owners integrate email list collection in their sales funnel a practice that is perfectly justifiable and should in fact enhance your chances of clinching the sale so long as it is done correctly.
 

How Unethical Affiliate Program Owners Use Sign-Ups To Steal Your Commissions!
 

Once that customer of yours signs up to the list of the affiliate program owner (and trust me 99% do sign up, because the chance of getting a free report/free video that explains in greater detail how they are about to make so much money is simply an opportunity that is too good to pass up!
 

So now your Prospective Commission Generator (PCG), the person who arrived at the merchant’s landing page through your promotional efforts, is in the next stage of the sales funnel…The list!
 

In above board and genuine affiliate programs, the owner of the promoted product has your best interest at heart and that is indicated by the fact that they continue to only promote that single item within a series of well-written and structured emails designed to capture the sale.
 

In unethical affiliate programs this is not the case. The interest of the affiliate program owner is to build as huge a list as possible through the efforts of hundreds of affiliates just like you!
 

Once The Affiliate Program Owner Starts Cross-Promoting Other Products You Can Kiss Your Commission Goodbye!
 

After the first couple or so emails the affiliate product owner stops promoting the original product to your Prospective Commission Generator (PCG) instead and starts bombarding their email inbox with totally unrelated products that either have the owner’s affiliate code embedded within the promotional links, or the actual product belongs to them!
 

At best this has the effect of distracting and confusing your PCG from their original point of focus…which was the product that you were promoting in the first place!
 

As I mentioned earlier, the affiliate program owner really couldn’t care less, because it is a win-win situation for them! Whatever product your PCG (Prospective Commission Generator) buys is money in the affiliate owner’s pocket!
 

This system is set up to build a huge subscriber list for the affiliate program owner!
 

Assuming the affiliate program owner builds a list that is 100,000 strong, even if just 1% of that subscriber list purchases an item priced for $77, that is a cool and easy $7,700 in the owner’s wallet!
 

But hang on a minute…that doesn’t take into account the commissions that the owner has to pay out to his/her affiliates! Yes it does because the owner doesn’t have to pay out any commissions! Here’s why:
 

Next The Affiliate Program Owner Swaps Your Affiliate Code With Theirs…Your Commission Is Now Officially Dead!
 

In the next series of emails the affiliate program owner resumes promoting the original item that started this whole charade. The big difference this time round is that the owner has replaced your link with theirs and masked it with a URL link-shortening tool or service such as TinyUrl.com.

AND JUST LIKE THAT YOU GOT ROBBED OF YOUR COMMISSION BY THE AFFILIATE PROGRAM OWNER!

Article on affiliate marketing written by Ba Kiwanuka