Hopefully, with the help of our latest article series, you should now have a potent website that is attracting more and more visitors each day. The future's looking bright and promising after realizing, finally, that all your efforts were not in vain.
Hey, you can high-five yourself at this point, you deserve it.
Now that we're able to generate some traffic, let's see how we can turn these visitors into some cold hard cash. But, before you get started, a big question that you’ll be thinking over is: Are you better off going with a CPA network, or directly with a sponsor?
Here are a few tips that will help you decide…
Direct to Sponsor
Most affiliates yearn to go direct. Going directly with a sponsor wipes out any middlemen that could snaffle portions of your earnings. It usually means bigger payouts, higher lead cap, less competition on the same offers, the possibility to negotiate directly for better rates as well as faster payment, and so on…
Hell yeah! It’s like drinking milk directly from the cow with the farmer’s blessing. Why would you do anything else?
Well, maybe because, like most things in life-- there are some downsides to everything. Dealing directly with the advertiser also means that you are on your own, pal. You may get infinite milk from the cow… but you only have access to one cow. Depending on your traffic volume, you may not even be able to negotiate anything at all; you may not even get accepted into the program directly. And if you do get accepted directly with the sponsor, there's a good chance you'll be earning peanuts instead of butter. Some companies are rather exclusive and won’t waste their time with low to average earners.
This is when a CPA Network starts to look more and more appealing…
CPA Network
A CPA Network is big. We're no longer talking about milking your cow, it's more like the whole Farmville thing ! (ok let's stop that cow/farm thing metaphor right there) Therefore, you can now have access to a whole bunch of offers from multiple sponsors at once and select from there which ones are best suited for your traffic. And you know what? You still have access to high rates. Since the CPA Network has the weight and volume to negotiate more aggressively, it can usually either match or beat the sponsors standard payouts.
Speaking of which, another perk to choosing the CPA network is having all your earnings combined into one single payment. Of course, it leaves you less opportunity to chat with the sexy bank cashier, but way more time to improve your business and make more money.
Experienced CPA networks also take the legwork out of developing efficient marketing aids and landing pages for you to promote and profit from. Thanks to their impressive teams of account managers and talented designers (let’s hope so: That’s why they were hired), they have the resources to guide you towards the best earnings. After all, if you don’t make money, neither do they.
However, CPA Networks differ in value. They all provide a one-stop-shop that give you access to multiple offers. However, only the most interesting platforms will offer the real plus-value you should be looking for: Exclusivity and flexibility. That's where the line is drawn between professional networks and - ahem, "offer brokers,” all dealing with the same rigid campaign restrictions and limited creative material choice. You know what I'm talking about.
What you really want is access to exclusive campaigns, tons of ad tools customized to your needs and of course, top notch support.
Sound familiar?
Keep your options open
Now, it doesn’t mean that you MUST go with a CPA Network. If you are just starting out in this industry and you don’t drive a lot of traffic, then yes, this option seems unavoidable. Yet, if you believe in your marketing skills thanks to your numerous years of experience as an affiliate, then you should take the plunge and swim among the big whales all by yourself.
In any event, always keep your eyes peeled for good opportunities, either from direct sponsors or CPA Networks, and make the best out of your business. 9 times out of 10, the best recipe is to mix these two options.
Feel free to leave comments about the choice you made for yourself and why you made it!