Quote:
Originally Posted by -TW
Overall goal: Set up a 1 or 2 tier affiliate program -- all auto-pilot -- that allows me to sell a 'real' cd product (not digital download).
This q might sound stupid.
I have found some fulfillment houses that will do the physical order filling + sending, etc.
What I want to know is, how do I set up + 'attach' a 1 or 2 tier affiliate program to the fulfillment 'system?'
Is the affiliate program just a function of the shopping cart system I choose?
The fulfillment houses don't seem to address this issue.
Any help to clear this up is appreciated!
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Hi TW,
If you want to set up an affiliate program, the affiliate tracking software inserts itself as part of the ordering process. The affiliate tracking software just tracks what has been bought, and through who (which affiliate) the buyer found you through. The software can then calculate how much you owe to your affiliates when the time comes to make payments to your affiliates.
One affiliate tracking software package with 2-tiers (and more) is Post Affiliate Pro
http://www.qualityunit.com/postaffiliatepro/ . It's not completely "auto-pilot" though since you still have to instigate the process of paying your affiliates on a monthly (or whatever) basis.
Other affiliate software options (with some reviews) can be found here...
I can't answer your fulfilment house questions since (so far) I've just dealt with "electronic" products (downloaded products, emailed products, and membership sites). Having said that, I don't think it would change things at all from using any kind of online ordering process, and sending the order to a fulfilment house. That's because the fulfilment house doesn't need to know which affiliate any order came through - they only need to know the details of the order, and who to ship it to. The fulfilment house doesn't need to know any details at all about the affiliate-tracking side of things.
By the way, I haven't used Post Affiliate Pro (or the others), but I investigated them for possible use. I actually started to code my own (very simple) affiliate program to use on my website - since I wanted some customized features! Then, Clickbank introduced
most of what I needed, and it was a lot easier to use them than to write my own software (which I was in the process of doing), so I ended up using them...
http://www.sowpub.com/affiliates/ (You can only use them for "electronic" products, though.)
I hope that helps!
Best wishes,
Dien