Seriously need help with selling our App and setting up affiliates

by orthon
10 replies
Okay. We released an app in the app store and THEN found out it's basically impossible to get affiliates to sell it for us... at least, every "expert" I've talked to said it could not be done.

I think I have a way, we have to modify the payment process for the app but I'm not really a computer person..I own a driving school.

Can somebody PLEASE tell us how we can not only use affiliates to sell our app in the app stores, but also sell our HTML online course and our behind-the-wheel training?

I've posted many jobs on UPwork looking for ANYONE that can tell me how this can be done, we tried to hire consultants, talked to big companies... NONE of them seem to know of ANY way to use affiliates to sell apps in the app stores.

So, does anyone know of a way? I thought of one..but again, I'm not a computer person so somebody MUST have thought of one better...I'd really like to know it!!
#affiliates #app #selling #setting
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  • Profile picture of the author orthon
    Anyone at all?
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  • Profile picture of the author Monetize
    I read your post yesterday and it probably belongs in
    the developers forum of this site. I'm just wondering
    why you would need affiliates to sell your app in the
    app store. But I'm not an app person so I'm probably
    missing the point.
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    • Profile picture of the author orthon
      Originally Posted by Monetize View Post

      I read your post yesterday and it probably belongs in
      the developers forum of this site. I'm just wondering
      why you would need affiliates to sell your app in the
      app store. But I'm not an app person so I'm probably
      missing the point.
      My apologies if this is in the wrong section. As to why affiliates:
      Because 1. we cannot afford to advertise our app up and down the state, 30 million people here. Big area. 2. paying affiliates for a sale is far far far better than tossing money into the ad wind and hoping and praying for sales. 3. Because our app does not show in the app store, even typing in it's name does not make it show..so we need a boost.

      Anyway, that's the meat and gravy of why we need affiliates. But we also want them for local behind-the-wheel training and our html online course (on our site, not an app).
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      • Profile picture of the author Monetize
        Originally Posted by orthon View Post

        My apologies if this is in the wrong section. As to why affiliates:
        Because 1. we cannot afford to advertise our app up and down the state, 30 million people here. Big area. 2. paying affiliates for a sale is far far far better than tossing money into the ad wind and hoping and praying for sales. 3. Because our app does not show in the app store, even typing in it's name does not make it show..so we need a boost.

        Anyway, that's the meat and gravy of why we need affiliates. But we also want them for local behind-the-wheel training and our html online course (on our site, not an app).

        Thank you for the clarification. I thought
        that you would get better replies from
        developer types. Maybe contact the app
        store tech support as to why your app
        does not show up in their search results.
        Good luck to you!
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Originally Posted by orthon View Post

    Okay. We released an app in the app store and THEN found out it's basically impossible to get affiliates to sell it for us... at least, every "expert" I've talked to said it could not be done.

    I think I have a way, we have to modify the payment process for the app but I'm not really a computer person..I own a driving school.

    Can somebody PLEASE tell us how we can not only use affiliates to sell our app in the app stores, but also sell our HTML online course and our behind-the-wheel training?

    I've posted many jobs on UPwork looking for ANYONE that can tell me how this can be done, we tried to hire consultants, talked to big companies... NONE of them seem to know of ANY way to use affiliates to sell apps in the app stores.

    So, does anyone know of a way? I thought of one..but again, I'm not a computer person so somebody MUST have thought of one better...I'd really like to know it!!
    Host it in two places.

    This is the problem of building on someone else's platform: you're subject to their rules. When itunes killed 3rd party affiliates, that platform became less valuable to you.

    Have your own self-hosted site for 3rd party affiliates. Get them to send traffic to that site instead of the app store. Their interest is in getting paid, and if they send traffic to the itunes site they won't.

    People can see your app is hosted on the usual platform, so it's legitimate. They just have to buy on your self-hosted platform.

    So now the question is: what's the incentive to keep buyers away from the itunes store (example)? First I'd test and see if they balk from your site and go there anyway; if it's not an issue, and buyers go from the affiliate to you and nowhere else, then there isn't a problem. If they do balk, and buy from itunes, you'll have to give them an incentive to buy from your self-hosted site. But I'd test first because it might not be an issue.

    Then you can sell buyers the in-app training.
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    • Profile picture of the author orthon
      Originally Posted by Jason Kanigan View Post

      Host it in two places.

      This is the problem of building on someone else's platform: you're subject to their rules. When itunes killed 3rd party affiliates, that platform became less valuable to you.

      Have your own self-hosted site for 3rd party affiliates. Get them to send traffic to that site instead of the app store. Their interest is in getting paid, and if they send traffic to the itunes site they won't.

      People can see your app is hosted on the usual platform, so it's legitimate. They just have to buy on your self-hosted platform.

      So now the question is: what's the incentive to keep buyers away from the itunes store (example)? First I'd test and see if they balk from your site and go there anyway; if it's not an issue, and buyers go from the affiliate to you and nowhere else, then there isn't a problem. If they do balk, and buy from itunes, you'll have to give them an incentive to buy from your self-hosted site. But I'd test first because it might not be an issue.

      Then you can sell buyers the in-app training.
      Can you describe the self hosted site for 3rd party affiliates in more detail please?

      We were hoping to use linkconnector, but might try another one like CJ..it all depends on the costs, I admit I've lagged on the research but I used to be an affiliate and used several networks as an affiliate. This is my first time at bat as a vendor.
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  • Profile picture of the author marktr
    you can try submitting it to services like JVZOO and Clickbank (affiliate networks). A great way to get sales is really to optimize your product's landing page within the app store. use as many relevant keywords as possible in the description of the app. Your users (even if it's just like 100) would probably be the best affiliates. Thinking outside the affiliate network, ask users to write reviews, what to improve, and recommend the app to their friends. Word of mouth is the ultimate source of marketing.
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    • Profile picture of the author orthon
      Originally Posted by marktr View Post

      you can try submitting it to services like JVZOO and Clickbank (affiliate networks). A great way to get sales is really to optimize your product's landing page within the app store. use as many relevant keywords as possible in the description of the app. Your users (even if it's just like 100) would probably be the best affiliates. Thinking outside the affiliate network, ask users to write reviews, what to improve, and recommend the app to their friends. Word of mouth is the ultimate source of marketing.
      I could not get clickbank to reply to my inquires as to weather or not I could sell an app in the app store via clickbank.

      Oddly, even typing in the name of the app will not get it to show in the app store. Direct links work.
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  • Profile picture of the author hsvdm
    You can use platforms like clickbank to develop your affliate marketing network. This is a great opportunity to connect with new users. They can recomend your app to their followers and users. It also allow to have user reviews.
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