With 30,000 affiliates and a 15% commission structure for sales of linked-to books, you'd think that Amazon had it made. But recently they announced additional commissions of 5% on any purchases made by shoppers brought to their site that session by an affiliate. Why? Amazon had been widely criticized for not appropriately rewarding its affiliates. They knew they must retain their strong affiliate network if they were to compete successfully with BarnesAndNoble.com, Borders, and a new German bookseller on the horizon.

Retailers have been looking to affiliate programs as the Next Big Thing. But unless you find ways to retain your growing affiliate network, it may be the Last Big Thing for your business. Retailers are looking everywhere to enlist the same affiliates. Here's how you can retain yours.

1. Provide a regular accounting of sales. Over the last few months I've joined several affiliate programs. One sends me a newsletter occasionally, but has never indicated any sales as a result of my links. An MLM-flavored retailer e-mails me whenever another affiliate joins as a result of my referrals, yet I've never received an accounting of sales. But every week since I joined a year ago, Amazon e-mails me a complete accounting of which books were looked at by how many people, how many books were purchased, my commissions on each sale, and my total commissions quarter to date. I look forward to that weekly e-mail to see how I'm doing.

I'm about ready to cut my links to non-reporting retailers. Why should I link to them if there's no indication it'll result in any money for me? A regular report of activity ties me to a retailer, and keeps me interested in what I'm doing to generate sales. Without a report, I soon forget I'd ever become an affiliate.

2. Pay as often as possible. Many retailers have set their minimum payments relatively high, meaning that only high traffic affiliates will receive regular checks. Of course, retailers don't want to be writing lots of tiny checks, but without regular checks, even small checks, your affiliates will lose interest -- and hope. By setting minimums high, retailers can get a lot of sales without having to pay low-performing affiliates anything, but that strategy will backfire. You've got to pay your affiliates regularly in order to keep them.

3. Give affiliates a sense that they're part of something greater. Being an affiliate has to do with belonging as much as getting paid, to contributing to something larger and greater. Find ways to build a sense of community among your affiliates. Send frequent notes of appreciation. Include your affiliates in your successes and new ventures. Talk to them like they're part of your team and they may well become your most enthusiastic supporters.

4. Add value to your affiliate's site. No doubt you've been to sites with rows of awards at the bottom of the home page. Wow! I got an award and I want to be sure you see it! If the logo that links the affiliate to your site is striking, it's much more likely to receive a prominent place than if it's dull or the same as all the others. Pay a graphic artist to design stunning affiliate graphics and you'll retain more affiliates in the process.

5. Provide special incentives and contests from time to time. Your purpose is to keep the affiliate relationship full of fun and hope. The more ways you can highlight it, or get your affiliates involved in a special promotion, the stronger an affiliate team you are growing. What if one week you gave 20% commissions to your affiliates? Don't you think that would make them perk up and take notice?

6. Find ways to encourage affiliates to extend their links to you. It's one thing for your affiliates to retain a link or two to your site. It's quite another to encourage them to increase their partnership with you. Now that Amazon pays 5% of any books referred shoppers purchase on their site during a session, I'm much more inclined to broaden my links to their site. They've also developed code which will allow people to search on my site for books at Amazon.com. I'm already thinking of ways to take advantage of these new features. As you find new ways to benefit your affiliates, they'll respond in kind.

Unfortunately, many retailers have leaped in to affiliate programs without a real commitment to building the infrastructure to keep it going.

Healthy affiliate programs are extremely valuable and provide significant competitive advantage. So plan your affiliate program carefully. Think of it as building an ongoing system. Provide adequate staffing and support to this marketing arm of your store, and it's likely to pay you back handsomely.

If you can retain a high percentage of your affiliates this year and next, your sales will build and build. Do it right and you're a winner. Do it sloppily and valuable affiliates will slip away to a competitor who takes the process more seriously than you.

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