I'm new to this affiliate malarkey

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Hi All


I am in the process of setting up a membership site with a monthly subscription. My aim is for just one review site to promote it via an affiliate link at a commision rate of 50%. I really don't require any further advertising through other affiliates, can anyone tell me the easiest and cheapest way to go about this and who with please?

[euraffiliates]

You may
(1)Join an Affiliate Network or

(2)Setup an in-house Affiliate Program or

(3)Both

All has merits and demerits
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Joining a network
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Merits
(1)The greatest benefit of joining a popular network like CJ or shareasale is, you can be immediately in touch of a many affiliates and offer them to promote your product. If you have a really good product, have a fair conversion rate you may immediately get good business from them. The network people help you too.

(2)You do not need to take the trouble of setup up and managing an affiliate system in your server.

Demerits
(1)There is a fair amount of cost involved. You have to pay for joining, promoting and approx 20% of affiliate commission

(2)The affiliate base will be never become yours. The moment you leave the network or stop paying them, you lose all of them. Even when you are subscribed, you can’t contact them in your own way.

(3)You will never use the same affiliate base to promote another website. You have to pay again.

(4)You will not get any SEO benefit from the affiliate links. Because the links will never come directly to your site, it will come via network site

(5)If you fetch some of your own affiliates they will become property of the affiliate network

(6)You do not have freedom of affiliate marketing in your own way. You have to do it in the way laid by the network.

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In-house Affiliate Program
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Merits

(1)You have got the freedom. You can create a custom widget and allow your affiliates to display or even sell your product apparently from their sites.

(2)Both the system and the affiliate base will be your property. You can contact the affiliates and give offers directly. You can add a new business in the system and allow the same affiliate base to promote it. Adding new businesses you can make an in-house network with your own websites over time. You do not need to pay a high join fee and again pay a big money for promoting it.

(3)You can get maximum SEO benefit by allowing natural or deep affiliates links

(4)You can request your customers, friends & partners to become affiliates and over time they will be promoting yours only. In the network they can immediate option to promote your competitors product too.


Demerits

(1)You have to buy, install, setup & maintain an affiliate system. Though buying and installing and setting up is a one time process and does not cost you a moon.

(2)You have to attract affiliates your own. This is not going to be as quick as joining a network.


The good news is that you do not have to create a system from scratch. You can just buy 3rd party in-house affiliate software and setup it for you. It may cost you less than the joining fee at any popular network. You can consider Euraffiliates (that comes with 3G tools) or any other affiliate software that suits your requirement and budget. You must do a fair comparison of both before buying.

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Both
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Merits
(1)You can enjoy the merits of both

Demerits
(1)You have to manage systems at two places

(2)Double commission payment issue may crop up when the same customers comes via both sources to your sites within cookie period. You may have to pay double commissions for the same sale as two systems will track independently.

The double commission tracking can be avoided with some custom coding although at least for a known affiliate programs.