Affiliate marketing agreements are contracts like any other. The agreement you make with affiliate programs spell out your responsibilities, the affiliate partners’ responsibilities, and how and for what you will be paid for your marketing efforts.
Most people are taught at a young age never to sign anything they don’t understand and/or haven’t read. The affiliate marketing agreements you enter into are no different.
Here are things to look for when reading through the agreements offered by different affiliate marketing programs:
- Is the agreement clearly written? If you need an attorney to interpret it for you, you may decide that this affiliate program isn’t right for you unless you’re able and willing to take on the cost of legal consultation as part of your affiliate marketing budget.
- Are you expected to pay anything up front to become an affiliate? How much and what is the money for? Does the affiliate partner ever refund start-up costs; if so, which ones and when? Can these costs come out of your commissions or must you pay them up front?
- Does the agreement tell you what you’ll be paid for? Some affiliate marketing programs pay when your readers click on your affiliate partners’ Web pages; others pay only when someone makes a purchase on the affiliate partners’ sites. Be sure the affiliate agreement spells this out in detail to avoid questions and frustration later.
- Can you tell how and when you’ll be paid from the agreement? Most affiliate programs make payments when your commissions reach a certain amount. What commission amount do you need to reach before your affiliate pays you for your marketing efforts? Does the affiliate partner pay by check, PayPal, or another service?
- Does the agreement spell out procedures for settling any disagreements between you and your affiliate partner? This is especially important when you’re doing your affiliate work over the Internet and with people you’ve never met.
- How does the affiliate partner keep track of your referrals in order to calculate payments? Consumers frequently make a purchase some time after being first exposed to affiliate offers—does the agreement specify how long the affiliate partner extends credit to you for sales and how this is kept track of?
- Under what terms can either or both parties terminate the affiliate agreement? How much notice, if any, must you give your affiliate partner, and what are they required to tell you not only about terminating the agreement but also about changes to product or service lines?
Becoming an affiliate marketer is a great way to earn either a secondary or primary income to help improve your quality of life. However, it’s necessary to do due diligence when checking out different affiliate programs to make sure you are marketing products you can be proud of for a company you have good reason to trust. Careful reading of affiliate marketing agreements is an important part of forging your relationship with your potential affiliate partner companies. Be sure to read the agreement carefully, ask questions about anything you don’t understand, and take other steps to make sure that you’ll be able to feel good about the affiliate agreements you enter into.
