Affiliate programs

foodietwoshoes

Does anybody here have successful experience in using affiliate programs? We joined Shareasale a couple of months ago, but so far only two sites have joined us that are actually food focused or related in any nature whatsoever to what I Fancy Food is. We`ve had scores of coupon sites and `online malls`, none of which have resulted in sales.
What I`d like to know is how did you recruit affiliates? Is it rude to email specific sites/blogs,  asking them to consider joining our affiliate program? I don`t want to be considered spam.  I despise spam! The sites would be personally chosen, and a letter would be personally written and it would all be legit. Is that wrong?
Any other suggestions? I looked into affiliate managers, and that is just way out of our budget right now.
Edited to clarify - I am not asking to email people to ask them to buy my products, I`m asking to put a banner on their website, via a Shareasale commision link. 
foodietwoshoes10/28/2008 12:12 PM

ninchan632

An interesting but honest question.  I am posting this reply just to share my experience in the affiliate mktg and online biz, not because I am one of those self-claimed gurus.  Point No 1 is SPAMming.  To my opinion, the term spamming is only used by those who do not belong to the present world of "online community"  They are just like those people who refuse to place a mailbox in front of their house, fearing that SONY, PANASONIC, SAMSUNG, BMW, VOLVO company might drop in some brochures in their mailbox.  Fear that their privacy might be jeopardized.  My point is sending emails to promote your products and business should be accepted worldwide. 
The best mktg somehow or other is sending emails, just include your contact no/ address or email for inquiries - can spam act.Point No 2 - Promoting products in an affiliate program normally ends up in frustration because the amount gain is less then amount giveth.  You are competing with some several hundred thousands other affiliates who are trying to sell the same products using the same services name it Yahoo, Google or Safelists or FreeAds.  It boils down to how much money you put in to be at the top 10 of the list and how much patient you have pushing your ads every other day.    Suhaimininchanceshttp://urlPass.com/3uauhttp://urlPass.com/3uavninchan63210/28/2008 9:45 AM

foodietwoshoes

Thanks for the reply. I think you have the wrong idea of what I am asking, though.If I understand what you are saying, that would be my definition of spam. I don`t want to send out emails asking people to visit my site, I want to ask about a hundred webmasters if they would be interested in putting a Shareasale banner on their website that links to my store, in which they would receive commission. 
Example = Here on SUN I`m looking right now at a little banner for Microsoft Office Live, and FedEx Office. Hypothetically, if I wanted an ad for my company on SUN, via my Shareasale link, would writing SUN and asking them to consider joining Shareasale be considered rude? That is basically what I`m asking, but replace SUN with food blogs and recipe sites. 

SlowCookerMate

I am not sure what you mean by "joining Shareasale".  If you want a banner or link on someone`s site, I don`t think it would be rude to approach them and ask.  This is generally how they generate revenue and will probably want some compensation.

ninchan632

Right! If you wish webmasters to place their links in your web and yours in theirs - that is one method of advertising not spamming.  It is call link exchange.  The more links the better.  That is equivalent to great networking.  As mentioned by some other members earlier (myplace2sell and SlowCookerMate) webmasters would be glad to be contacted for this purpose.  So, good luck in your mktg and advertising. 

foodietwoshoes

Thanks for the comments, everybody.

WebJunky

put up a classified describing your product and the affiliate opportunity you are offering.
 
consider clickbank.  they have the biggest affiliate network ready to market your product (it is still a challenge finding good partners though)
 
spend time on social networking sites and determine the best candidates (look for people wanting to generate extra cash in their spare time)
 
your best marketers/advocates are often your buyers who have benefited from your product. why dont you approach some of your happy customers and ask them if they would help you promote your product for a commission on a per sale basis?
 
building an affiliate force is one thing, retaining it is another.  the best companies who have done well with this are companies who have designed affiliate education / training programs to empower their affiliates to make their lives easy.  for those affiliates, selling is a piece of cake because the company has done such a good job laying out a platform that almost guarantees sales.
 
a classic example of this is internet marketer ken evoy. he focused on building his training program for affiliates. as a result his own product has propelled to the heights of success on the internet.  if you want to see an example click on my link below that shows how to generate money from adsense.  that is a direct link to one of ken`s program.
 
good luck to you