By Jimmy D. Brown, InfoProfitShare.com

What if there was a magic bottle that you could rub and a traffic genie would pop out to beckon to your every internet marketing command?

After the initial shock wore off, you’d be quite happy to have it in your possession, right?

Well, in a manner of speaking, such a genie exists. She exists in the form of an “affiliate manager”.

An “affiliate manager” is someone who oversees the operations of an affiliate program in exchange for compensation.

And, out of all the traffic “tools” on the market, the affiliate manager is the one that you should be using daily in your business if you own your own product.

Why?

The bottom line is: more traffic, which results in more revenue for you.

But, specifically, there are 3 reasons why you need an affiliate manager…

1. Recruiting. Your affiliate manager can recruit new affiliates into your program for you. Instead of you spending time trying to find (and then convince!) affiliates to join your program, your “affman” can do this for you while you focus on other things.
2. Rewarding. Everyone knows that simply getting people to join your affiliate program is not enough. It takes a lot of effort to get passive affiliates to become (and stay!) active. An affiliate manager is responsible for motivating your team to remain involved in your promotions.
3. Running. Beyond getting affiliates into your program and making sure they stay active, your affiliate manager can “run” as much of your operations as you want her to. Here are just a few things my affiliate manager (props to Nicole!) does…

   * Creates training materials
   * Write follow-up mailings
   * Communicates with affiliates
   * Answer affiliate support questions
   * Monitors contests and incentive programs
   * Posts to our blog
   * Clerical stuff (creates rebrandable files, etc.)
   * Circulates content (article directories, etc.)

   I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

Perhaps the best part of hiring an affiliate manager is the fact that it doesn’t have to cost you a penny in out of pocket expenses. That is, you can setup your agreement to be performance-based: you pay the affiliate manager a percentage of the overall revenue generated through her efforts … the more revenue she brings in through the affiliate program, the more she earns.

Now, the question is –

** Where do I find an affiliate manager? **

There are actually quite a few ways to find quality (emphasis needs to be on “QUALITY!”) affiliate managers for your program. Let me share just one…

One of the easiest ways to find an affiliate manager is to visit your favorite affiliate marketing (or internet marketing) forum and post a request asking for recommendations or responses for your needs.

You can do this in two ways –

1. Post a PUBLIC Request.

That is, you post a message for everyone to see, with brief details on the position you have available and that you are seeking recommendations or interest to explore further.

2. Post a PRIVATE Request.

The other option is to identify those participants at the forum who appear to have experience and/or knowledge in affiliate marketing who might be good affiliate manager material. Then, you would simply contact them privately to see if there is interest in discussing your needs.

Running your own affiliate program is a tremendous traffic generation tool, but it has a lot of parts. There are many different activities that are involved in successfully running an affiliate program, and hiring an affiliate manager to oversee your operations is a great way to free up your time to work on creating additional products and other “creative” work.

A good affiliate manager can bring in affiliates, train and motivate them, and run your operations for you. Her efforts bring in the traffic; your efforts turn the traffic into orders.

It’s the closest thing to a traffic genie in a bottle that you’ll find. Rubbing is optional. Using this strategy isn’t.

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Jimmy D. Brown is the author of Sales Army Secrets, full of meaty details on ways to find affiliate managers, how to structure your agreement with them and tasks to have them handle. Details here.

Affiliate link or our product link (Why tell?)

Free Online Learning Event Teaches Moms About Affiliate Marketing

September 2, 2008, Portland, MI – Books, clothing, shoes, and furniture – nearly everything you can find in your local mall is available for sale online. Increasingly these sales are generated through the recommendations of a virtual sales force, a practice known as affiliate sales.

It can be an ideal income source for mothers who want to stay at home with their children and contribute to the family income, but it’s not always as easy or effortless as it sounds. Kelly McCausey, host of Work at Home Moms Talk Radio, has brought together a team of professional affiliate marketing speakers to help moms navigate the ins and outs of affiliate marketing for the Moms Affiliate Expo, an online webinar conference September 11th through 14th.

“Over the years, I’ve met a lot of moms who join affiliate programs dreaming of financial freedom,” says McCausey, “but the reality is that if you want to make more than pocket change through affiliate programs then you have to have tools in place to build your success.”

Moms Affiliate Expo brings together leaders in the field to deliver those tools and resources. The three day online conference is free to attendees and features exhibitors with affiliate programs that are especially lucrative to moms along with expert speakers who have achieved success through affiliate sales. McCausey herself supported her household and paid off her debts as a single mom through affiliate income.

“Moms Affiliate Expo is a combination of learning and networking that moms can experience from the comfort of their own homes,” says McCausey, “It’s an opportunity to find out the best ways to build an internet based business through affiliate income.”

The event is being sponsored by the popular family meal menu program, Menu Planner Central which has a generous affiliate program for moms to participate in.

While the Moms Affiliate Expo is the first of its kind, McCausey is no stranger to putting together successful online events. She’s just wrapped up the fourth season of the Hot Seminar Series, an annual online learning series for momtrepeneurs. As host of WAHM Talk Radio over the past four years, she’s helped hundreds of moms establish and grow their online enterprises.

Interested moms can register for the event at no cost at www.momsaffliateexpo.com
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Editor’s note: I have known Kelly for years and I can always count on her to provide high quality, extremely useful information and resources. She presents material in a down-to-earth, practical manner that is helpful for new and experienced Internet marketers alike. And she only aligns herself with other reputable people, so I’m sure all the expo participants offer quality resources.

Bottom line: if you are interested in learning more about affiliate marketing, participate in the Moms Affiliate Expo. It will be well worth your time.