Business Development, Strategy Alignment and Consulting News from The Business City London -

	Back End Marketing
	d. How to Avoid Deadly Back End Mistakes! Any time you use an affiliate program as your back end you are sending a customer to another company! Hmmm... You had better make certain that you're not sending them to a company not worthy of your trust. A good back end affiliate opportunity should:
	i. Offer instant free sign up. If the company can't manage an efficient sign up process, they may not be able to manage closing a sale efficiently either.
	ii. Be trustworthy. Many affiliate programs will offer you the moon - only to shatter your dreams with broken promises. Watch them carefully. If they say they are going to do something and then blow it off without an explanation, I would proceed with caution. Keep in mind, though, that no company is perfect - they all make mistakes from time to time.
	No company is going to make you rich without any effort on your part. However, there is no reason why companies should not keep their word with you. If they must break their word, they owe you an explanation.
	iii. Pay a residual. If you send the company a customer, you should continue to make money from that customer. Some companies will pay you a commission on a single one-shot product -- and then when the customer buys more, leave you out.
	You'll get a much greater Return on Investment by promoting a product for a company that pays a residual.
	iv. Be complementary but non-competitive. If your main product is cars, you will have a hard time selling your customers a horse. That's not a complementary product. Selling the customer a competing car isn't so smart either, as you could be giving away a potential sale of your own product.