How do you start an affiliate program?

[Jayson L]

Is it possible to start an affiliate program to generate leads in a specific region such as 1 state? (Michigan) I want to generate auto insurance leads and haven't had much luck getting my website to generate state specific leads. How would I track the program, Pay the affiliates, etc...? What kind of price per lead would I be looking at? Any ideas?????

[Dan Grossman]

You have two choices.

1. Run the Program Yourself

• Buy affiliate program software to install on your website
• Seek out, contact and recruit new affiliates
• Request W9s and W10s from your affiliates
• Manually review every referred lead to check for signs of fraud or gaming the system
• Keep books on the affiliate transactions every month
• Cut checks and send payments to affiliates each month
• Update your books as checks get cashed
• Provide all the customer service to the affiliates, in mundane ways such as teaching them how to use your software
• At the end of the year, fill out IRS form 1099 for each affiliate, send to the IRS and to the affiliate

2. Join an Affiliate Network

• Sign up. Pay initial deposit
• Seek out, contact and recruit new affiliates
• Let the network do the rest

You're going to have a recruiting program if you only need leads for a single state, though. Not many people are going to be qualified to supply that to you.