_______________
This page contains additional useful information that Black Fives Affiliate Program participants may find helpful in their marketing and promotional efforts.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’ve signed up, I’ve logged in — now what?!
- Start with what you already have in place. In other words, you don’t necessarily have to create something new.
- Decide where you want to promote Black Fives products — your website, your blog, your Facebook account, on Twitter, or by using just your email list.
- Of course you could create or add any of these platforms at any time if don’t have them yet.
- Set an achievable earnings goal, or make a projection based on how many people you think will click your links and/or banners (this step is more more self-motivation than anything else);
- Return to top
If I don’t have a website, could I still be effective as an affiliate?
- Yes. Just start with whatever you already have in place, because you don’t necessarily have to create something new.
-
One quick suggestion is to simply send an email around to some of your friends. This could be easy since you’ve probably already told some of them about Black Fives products in the past.
-
Be sure to let your friends know about the new Black Fives Affiliate Program, and how they could earn money too! Remember, you get a percentage of whatever sales you refer, as well as a percentage of whatever sales they refer if they become an affiliate! In other words, you could both earn money.
- Return to top
How do I embed a link into an email?
- Most email programs allow users to create hyperlinks by cutting and pasting a URL into the highlighted text on an email message.
- Just find your unique affiliate URL in the “Links and Tools” section of your affiliate account page, which you can access from your “Welcome” page after you sign in.
- That same “Links and Tools” section has a sample email message that already contains your own unique affiliate URL embedded into the message (feel free to revise the message as needed).
- In general, you could use the following code in most emails that allow you to include HTML:
<a href=”http://www.my-unique-affiliate-link-URL”>Black Fives Online Gift Shop</a>
Just substitute your own affiliate URL. Note that the URL is the portion of the above HTML code that is between the quotation marks.
- Return to top
Where do I find my own unique affiliate links and banners?
What if I only have Facebook?
- Facebook is a great way to promote your affiliation with Black Fives.
- One suggestion is to take your affiliate URL (or another one from the “Links and Tools” page on your account welcome screen) and paste it into your status, into a message, or into a note — along with some corresponding relevant comment, valuable information, or useful insights.
- Optionally, you may decide to first shorten your URL using a URL-shortening service like tr.im or cligs, both of which are free and provide click statistics.
- It’s usually better to be as conversational, helpful, and balanced as possible (but brief), rather than to just paste the link with nothing else included, which could be seen as overly focused or self-absorbed.
- Return to top
What if I only have Twitter?
- Twitter is another great way to promote your Black Fives affiliation.
- Much of the approach is the same as with Facebook, except that you only have 140 characters to use with your Twitter tweets.
- Because of this character limitation, it’s even more important to take your affiliate URL (or another one from the “Links and Tools” page on your account welcome screen) and shorten it using a URL-shortening service like tr.im or cligs, both of which are free and provide click statistics.
- Then take that shortened URL and paste it into your Twitter tweet (or re-tweet, or reply) along with some corresponding relevant comment, valuable information, or useful insight.
- It’s usually better to be as conversational, helpful, and balanced as possible (but brief), rather than to just paste the link with nothing else included, which could be seen as overly focused or self-absorbed.
- There are many useful Twitter productivity tools available, such as Tweetlater and TweetDeck, and they are easily found in a Google search.
- Return to top
Why should I create a website or a blog?
- A website or blog isn’t required, but it can be very useful in your affiliate marketing efforts.
- That’s because affiliate marketing only works if you have people looking at your links and banners.
- You can accomplish that using email, Facebook, and Twitter, but you may be able to get even more traffic to visit your website or blog.
- You will have to determine for yourself whether you feel ready to create a website or publish a blog. There are many resources available online and elsewhere to help you decide, and to provide assistance once you get started.
- To find out more about how to get started with a blog, please read this article on the Black Fives Blog: Blogging, Or Want To? Check These Great Blog Resources And Tips.
- Return to top
Could you show me an examples of affiliate links and banners?
- There are several Black Fives links and banners in the sidebars (margins) of The Black Fives Blog and Baller-in-Chief;
- These are just like the affiliate banners available to you, except that yours will be unique to your own affiliate account.
- Return to top
What is the best way to promote Black Fives products?
- There are many ways to promote something online, and many new ways keep emerging;
- The large variety of social networking tools are tailor-made for online promotion, so that’s a good place to begin;
- You could place your affiliate links in emails you send to friends, on discussion boards, in blog post comments, on your Facebook wall, into your tweets on Twitter, on your MySpace page, or in many other social networking spaces;
- Remember to be conversational and informative whenever you are sharing a link, similar to the approach you’d take when telling a friend about a new link you’ve discovered.
- Return to top
Where should I place my affiliate links?
- You could place your affiliate links anywhere around the web — in emails you send to friends, on discussion boards, in blog post comments, on your Facebook wall, into your tweets on Twitter, on your MySpace page, or in many other social networking spaces.
- Return to top
How do I build traffic and get people to see my links and banners?
- Recommend our products to your friends, colleagues, and contacts in emails you send to them, in which you include the link URLs (you may wish to shorten the URLs using websites like tr.im or cligs, both of which provide click statistics);
- Place the links in places where people will see them, such as on your Facebook page or in your Twitter tweets (for Twitter you may want to shorten your URL using websites like tr.im or cligs, both of which provide click statistics);
- Visit forums, blogs, and other sites where you could comment, in order to place your links there (be sure to balance this by actually leaving behind thoughtful comments or useful information);
- Return to top
Are there affiliate links for subscriptions like “Claude’s Thought for Today”?
- Yes, you could earn commissions just by getting people use your affiliate links to subscribe to features like “Claude’s Thought for Today”;
- If someone uses your affiliate link to subscribe, then you’ll earn commissions if they subsequently make any purchases at the Black Fives Online Store!
- Return to top
Why is being an affiliate with Black Fives such a good idea?
- Well, aside from the fact that you could earn extra income, it’s also true that affiliate links and banners for Black Fives products and services are only available through Black Fives, Inc. That means you get the direct benefit of a higher commission rate, since we don’t have to share that rate with a third party link sharing provider (like Commission Junction or LinkShare).
- This also means that the web won’t ever be flooded with Black Fives banners, so yours will stand out even more, giving you more opportunities to attract clicks and therefore earnings.
- Return to top
How does the two-tier commission structure work?
- Here is an example: Affiliate A refers Affiliate B to Black Fives and receives the Tier 1 commission. When Affiliate B refers a sale, Affiliate A will receive a Tier 2 commission for that sale because Affiliate A referred the affiliate who referred the sale.
- Return to top
How many affiliates can get credit/commissions for a sale?
- Only two. The Black Fives Affiliate Program is designed on a two tier platform. In our previous example we had a second affiliate sign up under the first affiliate; if a third affiliate (Affiliate ‘C’) were to sign up under our second affiliate (Affiliate ‘B’) by following the steps outlined above we would have 3 affiliates. If Affiliate ‘C’ makes a sale, he will receive the Tier 1 Commission while Affiliate ‘B’ gets the Tier 2 commission. Meanwhile Affiliate ‘A’ receives no commission even though he referred Affiliate ‘B’.
- Return to top
Should I check back from time to time for new links and banners?
- Yes, check regularly for updated links, banners, and special offers.
- Return to top
Will this FAQ section continue to be updated?
- Yes, this section will continue to be updated so please be sure to check back from time to time.
- Return to top
Should I read the Terms and Conditions?
- Yes, read the Terms and Conditions section carefully. It’s not tricky or confusing; it’s just a good habit.
- Return to top
Are there other good resources on the web for information about how to succeed as an online marketing affiliate?
- There are numerous articles, tutorials, and guides (most of them free) all over the web. Just use Google with the search terms such as “affiliate marketing” or “how to be an affiliate marketer”.
- Return to top
<< Back to Affiliate Page
Recent Comments