Pretty stupid question about affiliates

**technomad** · 08-27-2006, 05:29 PM

So I'm a little confused about affiliates. Are you supposed to have a site up and running before applying with them or sign up, see what they got, then build a site around a product?

If so, how can I decide what to promote if I don't know what they have to offer? For example, I want to make a site and promote blue widgets. I check Azoogle. The only thing I can see as a non-member is a couple of companies they have. There's one that may have blue widgets but Im not sure. And I don't know what kind of marketing tools they have that I can use. Should I create a site called bluewidgets.com with nothing on it, then apply with Azoogle and jsut hope they have a large selection of blue widget marketing tools? Or will Azoogle reject me because I don't already have a site generating traffic beforehand?

Was that confusing enough?:helpsmilie:

**theverysmartguy** · 08-28-2006, 01:54 AM

This is just my opinion:

If you make a site around a product, and then go and search for an affiliate on that product, and there isnt any, or no good ones, then you have kinda hit a dead end.

Now, if you go and find an affiliate that you want to promote, and its a good one with lots paid outs and its mostly affiliates that do the selling (you can find out whats the top ones at clickbank) And then make a page about that product, and then refer people to your affiliate link.

Thats just the begining though, just so you know. Not only the begining but the easy part really.

If you want to know more, just email me or PM me.

Thanks for Listening.

Jeff

**technomad** · 08-28-2006, 03:30 AM

Well, a site like Azoogle or CJ doesn't really tell you much about who is available to promote or what is available until you sign up. But I can't sign up(I assume) until I have a site.

When I do sign up, do these guys even care what my site is all about?

**theverysmartguy** · 08-28-2006, 12:53 PM

This is directly from their Terms and Conditions:

"In order to be eligible to become a Company Affiliate, and in order to maintain an active Affiliate status, Your Affiliate Website and/or Affiliate E-mails must meet the following criteria:

Your Affiliate Website must contain distinct and legitimate content, substance and material, not simply a list of links or advertisements. Further, the applicable Affiliate Website(s) must serve a purpose substantially or completely separate and distinct from merely being designed to earn money solely from Company’s Advertisers or other third party advertisers;
Your Affiliate Website and Affiliate E-mails must be written in English and contain only English language content;
Your Affiliate Website and Affiliate E-mails must each be represented by a legitimate second-level domain name (e.g. yoursite.com is acceptable; however, a shared server, e.g., sharedsite.com/yoursite, is not acceptable);
Your Affiliate Website cannot be offered as a part of a community-based website personal entry or personal page;
Your Affiliate Website and Affiliate E-mails may not incentivize users to click on ads. Incentives include, but are not limited to, awarding users cash, points, prizes, contest entries, etc.;
Your Affiliate Website must be fully functional at all levels; no "under construction" sites or sections are permissible; and
Spawning process pop-ups and exit pop-ups may not be activated through Your Affiliate Website and/or Affiliate E-mails.

The content of Your Affiliate Website and Affiliate E-mails must not promote, advocate, facilitate or otherwise include any of the following:

Racial, ethnic, political, hate-mongering or otherwise objectionable content;
Investment, money-making opportunities or advice not permitted under law;
Violence or profanity;
Pornographic, obscene, sexually explicit or related content;
Material that defames, abuses, is libelous, is tortious or threatens physical harm to others;
Material that displays any telephone numbers, street addresses, last names, URLs, e-mail addresses or any confidential information of any third person;
Material that impersonates any person or entity;
Any indication that any statements You make are endorsed by Company or an
Advertiser, without Company’s specific prior written consent;
Promotion of illegal substances or activities (e.g., illegal narcotics, how to build a bomb, counterfeiting money, etc.);
Material that discriminates on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, religion or sexual orientation;
Content which is inappropriate or harmful to children;
Promotion of terrorism or terrorist-related activities, sedition or similar activities;
Software Pirating (e.g., warez, hotline);
Hacking or Phreaking;
Any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
Any software, product or service that is illegal or that violates the rights of a third party including, but not limited to, spyware, adware, programs designed to send unsolicited advertisements (i.e. “spamware”), services that send unsolicited advertisements, programs designed to initiate “denial of service” attacks, mail bomb programs and programs designed to gain unauthorized access to networks on the Internet;
Any software, product or service that harvests or collects the personal information of Internet users, whether or not for commercial purposes, without the express consent of such users;
Any spoofing, redirecting or trafficking from other websites in an effort to gain traffic;
Any content that infringes upon the intellectual property rights of any third party;
Any material that otherwise infringes upon the rights of any third parties including, without limitation, false advertising, unfair competition, invasion of rights of publicity or privacy, violation of any anti-discriminatory law or regulation, or any other right of any person or entity
Gambling, contests, lotteries, raffles, or sweepstakes;
Any material that violates the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, as amended ("CAN-SPAM"); or
Any illegal activity whatsoever (including any violations of applicable U.S. state or federal law or regulation, Canadian provincial or federal law or the laws of any other jurisdiction in which You operate). "

So to get right to the point. Yes they do care what your site is about. You have to make the site, and then submit it to them for approval. So you could make this awesome amazing site, however, if they don't approve then you cant use azoogle.
But dont let that get you down, the best way to make money online is to make sure you have multiple streams of income coming in from different places.

I hope this helps.

Jeff

**aym772000** · 09-06-2006, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by technomad

Well, a site like Azoogle or CJ doesn't really tell you much about who is available to promote or what is available until you sign up. But I can't sign up(I assume) until I have a site.

When I do sign up, do these guys even care what my site is all about?

There are a thousand & one programs that not only provide criteria for joining their programs but provide website setup(free)training ,tools ,recommendations etc.

**xboxundone** · 09-08-2006, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aym772000

There are a thousand & one programs that not only provide criteria for joining their programs but provide website setup(free)training ,tools ,recommendations etc.

you can contact them ahead of time and ask to see a list of their offers. I do this all the time. Sometimes i signup and sometimes i dont

.