Small business owners are GREAT at doing referrals for other other businesses, what they are not great at is formalizing and monetizing that relationship with small business affiliate partner programs.
Small Business Affiliate Partner Programs
In our post yesterday we talked about how small businesses can take advantage of formal online affiliate programs. Today we are going to go deeper than that surface and talk about Affiliate Partner Programs for small business owners.
These kinds of relationships are more in depth than plain affiliate marketing programs. Frequently they involve ongoing relationships with clients and partners and there is a stronger connection between the two companies than just shooting out a recommendation in an email. This type of arrangement can also sometimes be called a JV or Joint Venture.
How Affiliate Partner Programs Work
With affiliate partnerships, both companies agree that there will be a formalized referral process and a set amount of commission paid. This can be either a percentage of the sale, a one time “finders fee” or even a percentage of an ongoing monthly fee.
While it would be nice to have an online solution to track this (we are using 1ShoppingCart), you can also do it by sending a referral sheet for the other party to sign or by simply having a “handshake agreement” about payment.
Some Examples of Affiliate Partner Programs
- When I was a Realtor, I realized that they have THE BEST formalized partner programs nationally that I have ever seen. Whenever a Realtor gives a referral to another Realtor, both sides know that there will be a referral fee paid. The amount of that commission varies but falls generally between 25% and 35%. The downside to this system is that because of strict federal regulations, Realtors can only give referral fees to other Realtors, no one else.
- Marketing Artfully’s partner program is promoted to a very small number of select vendors. We are not looking to have 900 partners, just a handful or two of very specialized companies that promote our products and services. We work closely with other marketing companies, personal contacts and and our past clients so that they can “suggest” our services to others because of their belief in our company
- Trading your skills for compensation – If you are good at something, like sales or marketing, you can trade your knowledge and expertise for a cut of the profits. Conversely, if you have something great to sell, you can have a mini sales force out there promoting your product or service on a regular basis in exchange for a fixed commission amount.
Now, just because you have a program like this DOES NOT mean that you cannot accept referrals from people without paying or require that you get paid for every referral you give. I recommend my clients to other businesses all the time and would not even think of asking for a fee for doing so.
Having an affiliate partner program takes some time to set up (I would guess that I have about 20 hours into mine) and you have to keep in contact with your people or they will forget to promote you BUT the rewards are tremendous and SO worth the time!
There is an affiliate link to 1ShoppingCart in this post!
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Can’t find where to sign up for the affiliate program
Hey girlie girl! At the VERY bottom of this page or click this link…:) http://marketingartfully.com/marketing-artfully-affiliate-partner-program/
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