Affiliate Programs And Referral Programs Explained

Many online marketers actually don't know the difference between affiliate programs and referral programs. In fact, most will think that both of these are the same. However, they couldn't be any further from the truth. There is a huge difference between an affiliate program and a referral program. Knowing the key differences between these two can help a business owner decide on which program they should use for their offers in order to grow their business. 

The main difference between an affiliate program and a referral program is that an affiliate program is a where the referred leads come from someone the affiliate do not know and as for a referral program, the lead will come from someone they know personally (word of mouth to friends and family). 

By knowing the difference here you will know that there should be a difference in the structure and the compensation as well. 

Let us first look at the difference in structure of these two systems. 

Structure 

You see, for affiliate programs, your affiliates are mainly website owners or traffic brokers who have existing traffic that is interested in your offer. So these affiliates place a link on their website and direct traffic to your offer. If someone who uses their link to arrive on your offer and then buys the offer your affiliate gets paid. And this is usually done automatically because of the use of modern technology that tracks the cookies of the visitors. Even the crediting of the sale is also done automatically. 

A referral program's referrer however, is normally your own existing customers. Usually they are not webmasters or anyone who can bring in a lot of traffic. They are compensated if they would recommend your offer to someone they know personally. The main strategy here is to promote customer satisfaction via good quality and services so that your customers will start referring your offers around. The compensation is to encourage them to try harder to get you the lead. 

Compensation 

The compensation model is usually an agreed percentage based on the sales. It could differ greatly from the first 10 customer referred compared to the 1000th customer. The affiliates can be compensated with other bonus incentives as well or prize if they could reach a certain amount of sales per month. In order words, the compensation model for an affiliate program can be very complicated, but it is definitely very flexible as merchants usually would love to encourage their best affiliates to try harder to grow their business. 

The compensation model used in a referral program is quite simple when compared to the model used in an affiliate program. Usually is in in terms of cash or a bonus reward. No fancy tricks. Just a simple send me a customer and you get a discount on future purchases or some cash reward. 

Relationship with 'Referred' Customers 

The relationship of an affiliate with their referred customer is basically none. They do not know personally who their referred persons are, and they send traffic based on demographics. Hence the chance of conversion from a lead to a paying customer is much lower. 

In a referral program, the referred usually have a strong relationship with the person they refer it to. They will try their best to explain your product with enthusiasm. This usually results in a much higher conversion rate. The only problem is that referral programs usually do not bring in as much traffic as an affiliate could and affiliates can usually bring in much more profit than a referrer could. 

Agreements 

When it comes to making an agreement with affiliates, you will need to be more careful as it is a two way link where it benefits both parties. You need your affiliates to perform as much as your affiliates need you to convert the traffic that they send to you. Plus, the agreements need to meet the FTC rules when it comes to affiliate programs. 

However, with referral programs, everything is kept as simple as possible. As long as they refer a customer, they get compensated. There is no need for any special agreements. 

Which One Is Better? 

It is safe to say that both types of programs are going to be beneficial to growing your business. Affiliates will definitely be able to bring in more traffic and sales for you. However, a good referrer can easily increase your branding and reputation. Giving the chance, they would even make good comments about your offer on social sites or Facebook, which can potentially help you get even more exposure and sales. 

Hence as a business owner, it is best if you could set up both an affiliate program and a referral program to get the best out of both worlds. Just think about it, your affiliate will drive you the initial sales and capital required for more advertising and improving on your product's quality. And your referral strike force will be out there giving you the best kind of testimonials you could ever hope for. 

Lastly, you will realize that because referral programs generally convert better, affiliates are now using 'review and recommendation' tactics that are similar while mimicking a referrer's job which is to build some sort of trust and relationship with their traffic first and thus preselling your offer first. This is known to help a lot with affiliate conversions. 

Therefore, although most people will think that referral programs are not worth the time, you should know better by now that referral programs can help you build a better brand reputation. 

Max Kim

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 Cash For Surveys 

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Every company needs to know what their consumers think about their products.Getting customers feedback can be costly and time consuming.That is why they want people to take surveys to speed up the process and at the same time get feedback.

Get Cash for Surveys how it works? 

Get Cash For Surveys Review is a membership website that will allow you to find the very best surveys.Taking surveys online is a great way to make money online in your spare time.You will not get rich but it can be a nice addition to your regular income.It is a perfect way to make money online in your spare time.

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Get Cash for Surveys-The costs 

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Conclusions 

You will get all the difficult procedures simplified.You are automatically invited so all you have to do is to pick a survey and complete it and after that you will get paid.The user interface is simple and there is also a calculator to help you keep track of you earnings.For just a few hours a day you will earn anywhere from 300-3000$ a month,it`s all up to you!

This is the paid survey program you can trust and earn some decent money at the comfort of your own home.For a limited time you can even get it 50% off and there is also a 60 day money back guaranty.

 srikanth Raj 

Referral Marketing - What Is It And How Can It Help Your Small Business?

I know this word can strike fear into most small business owners, but I also know how incredibly effective it can be. Do you want new clients recommended to you every week without you leaving your desk? It can be done, so let's mention the R word that makes it happen, Referrals! 

How many referral strategies do you have in place? How many referrals do you receive each month from customers, other businesses, friends and family? How do you reward your referrers? First you must understand the golden rule of referrals before even thinking of trying to win them. The golden rule is WIIFT? 

WIIFT is 'What's In It For Them?' 

If you do not put anything into an equation for referrers you will never sustain the referral relationship. This is such a basic point but one so regularly missed. I have referred hundreds of leads to people I have worked with over the last 20 years. Being into sales and marketing I regularly spot opportunities, and with a strong desire to help I put people together. 

Now some of the people I refer to immediately ask how they can help me. They get it. They understand WIIFT. So many others, probably the majority sadly, take the referral, make their money on the sale or deal and never once even say thank you. Which one am I going to refer more leads to in the future? 

I call this the triangle of mutual benefit. On one corner of your trianlgle you have your clients, on another, you have the referrer, and on the final corner of your triangle you have your business. 

If you join all three points you form a triangle. You HAVE TO fill this triangle with MUTUAL BENEFIT for all three parties or it cannot support itself and will collapse! 

The end user (purchaser) receives the service; you will receive payment for your product or service, but what about the referrer? If you currently receive referrals from different sources and your referrer receives no benefit apart from "the referrer is happy that the client gets a good service" I am afraid that this will not last for much longer. You have to give something back to the referrer. 

This may be a financial payment, but the best method is always to offer reciprocal referrals. If you expect a referrer to generate leads for you, why should the referrer not expect you to do the same for them? If you take away any mutual benefit for the referrer you remove them from the equation - what are you then left with? A flat line, and flat lines in any sense are not a good thing. 

So how can you ask for referrals? Do you ask your client's for referrals? If yes, how often do you ask them? Do you ask them every day, every week, every month? You have to find the right balance, but YOU MUST ask your clients for referrals. Would you like the simple sentence to enable you to achieve this? 

"Is there anyone else you know who could benefit from my product/service?" 

The best time to ask this is just after your client has been singing your praises when you have done a wonderful job for them. Alternatively, you can also ask for referrals in your email newsletters, at the point of purchase of any products (offering discounts or additional benefits to the referrer). 

Referrals can be an excellent source of new business. If you already provide excellent products or services you will naturally receive some referrals. You can stop there if you like, but if you want to make your business more successful, profitable and your life a little bit easier, one of the best methods to achieve this is by obtaining more referrals. 

Why not set yourself a target of asking for just one referral a week to start with? (Remember there is no treasure without measure, and as Sir Alan Sugar says"You have to have a goal to score". 

 Nick Jervis