In addition to the commission per sale models that were discussed in previous lessons, you'll also find cost per action models as an affiliate marketer. Cost per action (CPA) is when you earn money after someone takes a desired action through your link.
For example, there are certain CPA offers that are set up as lead generation campaigns for the company you're affiliating with through your CPA network. So, if someone clicks your link and enters their name and e-mail address you can earn a set amount of money. Sometimes all a person has to do is enter their zip code and you can get paid!
In other cases, the person who clicks through your link will have to go a little bit further in order for you to get paid. It might be that they need to sign up for an offer, make a purchase, or take some other desired action. Before you promote any CPA offer, you should examine what the requirements are for you to get paid. What you choose to promote will often be dependent on the niche you are in (the topic your website is about) and what type of conversion rate you expect to get.
Note that the more steps the person who clicks through your link has to go through in order for it to "count," the more you will tend to get paid. 
Zip code submit offers tend to be fairly low-paying, while those where a physical address has to be entered will be higher paying. The highest paid of all are generally those that are set up as free trial offers or purchases.
You'll find that most companies run their CPA offers through a CPA network. These networks are set up similarly to Commission Junction in that they house offers for many different companies. These companies have an agreement with the CPA network to allow affiliates to get links to promote their offers. You can usually sort through the available offers within your CPA network by searching for certain niches, certain types of offers, etc.
Unfortunately, it is usually more difficult to get accepted into a CPA network than it is to get accepted into a standard affiliate network. Don't despair! You just need to get a good feel for what cost per action is all about and show the networks that you know how to promote the offers to make money (this will make their clients happy!).
There are many different CPA networks out there. Some of the most popular include Azoogle, ClickBooth, and Never Blue. This is definitely not an exhaustive list! You can use the site OfferVault.com to see what kinds of offers are available throughout the different CPA networks to determine which ones might be right for you to apply to.
As a side note -- if you decide to apply for CPA network as a "newbie," expect to get rejected at first. All you'll usually need to do is give the CPA network call and explain how you plan on running their offers and driving traffic. This will show them that you are very serious about your marketing and you will generally be approved for the network right away.
No comments:
Post a Comment