Trying to start an Affiliate Network?

21 replies
I can definitely help you get off on the right foot. Ask questions i'd be happy to answer!
#affiliate #network #start
  • Profile picture of the author ChrisBa
    How much capital is a good starting point?
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    • Profile picture of the author mafai44
      Thinking about it.. Where would I start?
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      • Profile picture of the author jamesboulay
        Originally Posted by mafai44 View Post

        Thinking about it.. Where would I start?
        Ask CPA networks if they need a part time account manager/support agent.
        I thought about it for a while, but with all the fraud I figured I'd be happier and less stressed honestly promoting decent offers ethically.
        I still toy with the idea and you can probably (I did the math about a year ago) start for the price of a website that'll convert companies (i.e. BestBuy, Yankee Candle) into trial accounts.
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      • Originally Posted by mafai44 View Post

        Thinking about it.. Where would I start?
        Its really not that tough to put together, however you must have some knowledge in the industry. First place to start would be what you would specialize in (niche wise), and which platform you would like to use (HitPath, Hasoffers, etc). After obtaining a platform to use, then your on your way to hunt down offers, negotiations, contracts, etc. It does take a great deal of time to get setup, but mostly tedious work. Nothing to complicated though.
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        Conducive Media CPA Network | Est. 2010
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    • Profile picture of the author nickdamodda
      Originally Posted by ChrisBa View Post

      How much capital is a good starting point?
      I've heard a lot of people say around 10k.
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  • I wouldn't say around 10K. You can start a network for a fraction of that. It costs zero investment to obtain offers, just negotiation skills and being attentive. But you do need to have the operation in full functional mode, so this could mean either buying more machines, software or hiring someone to help you out. But the costs will still be much lower than 10K to start it up.
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    Conducive Media CPA Network | Est. 2010
    Reviews @ affiliatepaying.com/conducivemedia
    www.conducivecpa.com
    info (at) conducivecpa.com
    AIM: ConduciveMedia

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    • Profile picture of the author JasonWestwick
      Originally Posted by ConduciveStrategies View Post

      I wouldn't say around 10K. You can start a network for a fraction of that. It costs zero investment to obtain offers, just negotiation skills and being attentive. But you do need to have the operation in full functional mode, so this could mean either buying more machines, software or hiring someone to help you out. But the costs will still be much lower than 10K to start it up.

      So what would be your plan of action if you get a couple of affiliates doing 3-4k a week and need weekly payments to further scale???
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    • Profile picture of the author imback
      Originally Posted by ConduciveStrategies View Post

      I wouldn't say around 10K. You can start a network for a fraction of that. It costs zero investment to obtain offers, just negotiation skills and being attentive. But you do need to have the operation in full functional mode, so this could mean either buying more machines, software or hiring someone to help you out. But the costs will still be much lower than 10K to start it up.

      I agree with Jason you need capital to play with the Big Dogs end of story.

      but I am sure a few sneak by paying upper affiliates net 30 for a few months...maybe...


      CHAD
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  • Profile picture of the author italeads
    Starting an affiliate network can be difficult if you don't know the industry. Although, it can become much simpler if you network well.
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  • Profile picture of the author AdBank
    I would say 10k is enough to start a network. You could always pay affiliates net 15 for the first couple months and put some affiliates on weeklies after that if they are doing enough volume.
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  • Profile picture of the author manzippo
    Hasoffer cost you little to start on. But most of us know Hasoffers always stands for bad affiliate network.
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    • Profile picture of the author CreativesLinda
      Originally Posted by manzippo View Post

      Hasoffer cost you little to start on. But most of us know Hasoffers always stands for bad affiliate network.
      Just because a network uses the HasOffers platform doesn't mean it's a bad affiliate network. It would be a bad affiliate network no matter which platform they used, and there are many of those using platforms other than HasOffers. We've used HasOffers at Campaign Creatives for a year and a half now and, I'm sorry, but you won't find a more honest, trustworthy affiliate network out there. Every affiliate gets paid for every single legitimate lead every time. If we get credit and paid for a lead, they get credit and paid for a lead. The costs of other scripts are so prohibitive that good, honest people didn't even have a chance before to pursue this side of affiliate marketing. While the HasOffers platform isn't the most user friendly, I'm grateful to them for giving me an opporunity I otherwise wouldn't have had.
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      • Profile picture of the author mholen
        Originally Posted by CreativesLinda View Post

        Just because a network uses the HasOffers platform doesn't mean it's a bad affiliate network. It would be a bad affiliate network no matter which platform they used, and there are many of those using platforms other than HasOffers. We've used HasOffers at Campaign Creatives for a year and a half now and, I'm sorry, but you won't find a more honest, trustworthy affiliate network out there. Every affiliate gets paid for every single legitimate lead every time. If we get credit and paid for a lead, they get credit and paid for a lead. The costs of other scripts are so prohibitive that good, honest people didn't even have a chance before to pursue this side of affiliate marketing. While the HasOffers platform isn't the most user friendly, I'm grateful to them for giving me an opporunity I otherwise wouldn't have had.
        @CreativesLinda - Hey it seems you know HasOffers really well--much better than their customer support.

        So I'd like to ask you, if I'm creating my own affiliate network with HasOffers, but promoting Clickbank and other CPA products, how can I track conversions? Won't there need to be some code on the advertiser's conversion page?

        I realize that Clickbank can track it, but I want my HasOffers affiliates to be able to see their stats.

        Please let me know, it would REALLY help me out. Thank you!
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        • Profile picture of the author CreativesLinda
          Originally Posted by mholen View Post

          @CreativesLinda - Hey it seems you know HasOffers really well--much better than their customer support.

          So I'd like to ask you, if I'm creating my own affiliate network with HasOffers, but promoting Clickbank and other CPA products, how can I track conversions? Won't there need to be some code on the advertiser's conversion page?

          I realize that Clickbank can track it, but I want my HasOffers affiliates to be able to see their stats.

          Please let me know, it would REALLY help me out. Thank you!

          What you need to do is check with Clickbank or any other network or advertiser you use for offers and find out what method they use for automatic postback, if they have that option available. For some, you can give them a global postback URL and that will work for every single offer you get from them. You give them one link and that's it. Any conversions will track back to your network and your affiliates can see them in their stats when they log into their accounts. And you can see them, too, in your reports without having to do anything.

          For others, they use a 3rd party tracking pixel. A pixel for each offer you use has to be given to the network or advertiser providing the offer. They'll place it for you within the code of the offer on their side so that it'll fire every time a credited lead is generated and will automatically post back to your network.

          You have to remember to set up the offer on your network so it matches the type of postback being used - HTTP iFrame, Server Postback with Transaction ID, etc. Your AM at Clickbank or any other network/advertiser will tell you which one you need to use.

          If neither one of those options are available for automatic postback, then you'll have to look at your conversion reports on the network or advertiser's site and manually upload the conversions on your network. That way they'll show in your reports and your affiliates' reports.

          Hope that helps!
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    • Profile picture of the author mtmjohn
      Originally Posted by manzippo View Post

      Hasoffer cost you little to start on. But most of us know Hasoffers always stands for bad affiliate network.
      I dont think so. There still have a lot of good networks using hasoffers in the market.
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  • Profile picture of the author guilcoelho
    Starting an affiliate network is quite a task. Being up to date for me is the most important part. You have to be on point with everything (know your offers,publishers traffic,advertiser terms) I agree with italeads networking is definitely important.

    And if you are interested in starting your own network you cant go wrong with tyler! I know this from personal experience! =)
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  • Profile picture of the author convert2seo
    the tracking platform alone doesn't characterize a network in full. I think the most important thing is the relationship with the affiliates. It's best to start with a core of friends, people you know and grow around them
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeremy_AM
    First you have to ask yourself what your competitive advantage is going to be. Starting yet another HasOffers network that claims to have the highest payouts ever isn't going to cut it, because you're that's infinitely played out. What's going to make you stand out?

    Before starting a network you need to seriously analyze your plans. If you need to ask how tracking works or how much capital you need, or other basic questions, you either aren't ready or haven't given things enough thought.

    Just my two cents.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cash37
    Tips to those that want to stand out:

    Free banner/LP customization

    Weekly calls

    Ad network discounts

    Sponsored trips to affiliate summit & other conferences

    Discount or free use of seo tools (could be hosted on a vps)

    Private affiliate meetups/trips I think Epic does this

    Bi weekly payouts

    Internal content creators/article writing

    New offers. Instead of the same old plain dating offers, run some niched versions like Jewish, BBW, Asian, Indian etc

    Random giveaways - maxbounty and peerfly do this though I never won

    Option to get paid via amazon giftcard, best buy card, etc

    Insurance- if I do x amount of leads a hour and your server goes down for a hour I still get paid

    Free uptime monitoring for LPs

    Hosting discounts

    Hosting deal with preinstalled 202

    Thats just a start
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  • Profile picture of the author cad60k
    Just a quick one if anyone is still following this post. I was interested in managing my own affiliate network.
    A company has approached me to run there affiliate side of there business. The affiliates would be very exclusive to that market so I won't be hunting down thousands of affiliates to market the product.

    The most important factor for me would be the Affiliate tracking Software. Can anyone advise what worked the best for them to manage there affiliate network.

    Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Sauve
    The facepalm is strong in this one. *sigh*
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    Steven Sauve
    steve at maxbounty.com / IM = maxbountysteve
    http://www.maxbounty.com
    MaxBounty ranked #1 CPA Network in the world: http://mthink.com/top-cpa-networks-2014/

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