Affiliation Assistance Tools
- Affiliate Programs Directory - A directory of thousands of affiliate, referral and associate programs to assist affiliates and webmasters in earning commissions. Free webmaster resources, expert affiliate guides and affiliate news.
- LifetimeCommissions.com - A directory of lucrative affiliate programs that pay lifetime or residual commissions for life.
- Quick Pay Pro - A complete system that will completely automate your Internet business. Including an instant plug-in affiliate program, unlimited follow-up autoresponders, real-time credit card processing, automated digital delivery, and web site tracking. Complete automation within 7 minutes, guaranteed. Free, no obligation trial.
Web sites that will assist you in marketing your affiliate program.
- LinkProfits.com - Your affiliate program needs constant attention and nurturing if you want it to be successful. LinkProfits group of Professional Affiliate Program Managers provides superior outsourced program management to select clients. They also provide program reviews and recommendations, as well as, presentations about affiliate marketing to all types of groups. You can request a free proposal to address your specific needs right from their site.
- PartnerIndustry.com - This is a great resource site for anyone involved with affiliate marketing. There are hundreds of links to all kinds of helpful sites. Whether you're a merchant or affiliate, a novice or pro, you're sure to find some important resources at this site!
Companies that will assist you in setting up your affiliate program.
- Affiliate Tracking Network - We are the first on the internet to offer various options on starting your affiliate program. You can either buy or lease our software. We will even administer your program for you if you prefer (that includes mailing the affiliate checks).
- Be Free - Be Free's Performance Marketing allows e-businesses to promote their goods and services on tens of thousands of relevant online locations. Paying only when a sale is made or a lead generated helps to make this one of the most cost-effective ways for businesses to advertise!
- Click Bank - An outstanding company that will enable you to not only accept credit cards without a merchant account, but they'll also run your affiliate program. They charge a one-time $49.95 activation fee, and a $1 + 7.5% fee per sale. There are no monthly fees. Over 60,000 affiliates can choose to sell your products for you.
- Click Trade - Lets you create your own affiliate program to allow others to send paying customers to you. Your business can reach new customers by being featured on thousands of affiliate sites. We have over 120,000 affiliates already interested in participating with your affiliate program. http://www.clicktrade.com/
- Commission Junction - Commission Junction creates powerful alliances between online merchants that sell products or services and affiliate content sites that have information or entertainment of interest to businesses and consumers. Commission Junction enables online merchants to place their products and services everywhere online at the point-of-interest to their consumers on a pay-for-performance basis.
Software programs to assist you in running your own affiliate program.
- AssocTRAC - You don't need to spend your whole day tracking customers and who referred them, it's all done for you. No more paperwork, no manual calculations or order tracking. No updating associate's information, no finding passwords for associates, and no writing checks. Your Associates sign up on a simple web form, and all their information is automatically entered into your database (which we will set up for you). They can start tracking their stats in real-time - instantly.
- My Affiliate Program - My Affiliate Program lets you start your own fully customizable, completely unique Affiliate Program in less than 24 hours - and for as low as $499.
- Pro-TRACK - A great affiliate tracking software that will keep track of sales and from which affiliate the sale originated. Although the Standard version will not compute any sales data (owners manually keep track of sales), it is an excellent way to track and compensate your affiliate sales. The Pro-TRACK 'Pro' version will not only track where your sales originated, but also provides you with the statistics you'll need to track how well your affiliate program is doing.
Freeware and Shareware Downloads
- CNET Download.com - Free downloads available in several different categories including; Business, development tools, drivers, education, games and more.
- Freeware Files.com - A large collection of freeware files available in many categories. Nicely organized with many good resources.
- Freeware Home - A top of the line site loaded with freeware and many other great resources.
- Freeware Web - A large variety of freeware ready to download from several categories. Many screen shots available.
- SoftSeek - Your source for freeware, shareware and evaluation software.
- TuCows - Literally 1000's of the world's best Internet software applications & games, and the Net's latest and greatest software releases.
- WinFiles - A complete windows resource site for windows shareware, drivers, how to articles, tips and tricks, bugs and fixes and more.
Web Design Tutorials
- Developer Fusion - Thousands of tutorials, source code, reviews, components and discussion forums for VB, ASP, ASP.net, VB.net, C# and JavaScript developers.
- DevLibrary - Hundreds of tutorials, files, and more, on Perl, VB, ASP, PHP, Java, CGI, and more.
- Online Tutorials @ internetbusiness4u.com - Online tutorials based on technology which allows for fullscreen interactive multimedia and animation for over 200 courses which are delivered in real time right to your desktop. Learn Webmaster, programming, MCSE, and more.
- VisualBasicScript.Com The Ultimate ASP.Net Resource Index - A directory consisting of thousands of links to ASP.Net, ASP, VB, SQL, VBScript, XML, WAP tutorials, articles and much more. http://www.mm-inet.com/vb/
- Web Design Training for Beginners - Web design instructions beginners can understand... Now you can learn how to design your own personal or business website with simple step-by-step instructions.
- WebFAQ.net - A searchable collection of FAQs (copied/indexed from other sources) related to web development.
Sites offering resources to assist you in building your web site.
- SimCoWeb Perl & Webmaster Resources - Over 500 premium and free perl scripts for all major functions fully tested and reviewed. Plus, online generators for Flash, Javascripts, site submission, popularity check, and much much more.
- Webmaster Resources - Your source for free website and graphic design tips, web promotion strategies, domain names, web marketing articles, and more.
- Webmaster Yellow Pages - Free web site resources & services for webmasters including, free webmaster resources, affiliate programs, submit to search engines free, marketing tips & services, web design tools & tutorials, free web page hosting, ecommerce services & solutions, news, articles, and more resources for webmasters.
- Webmasters Junction - A free community dedicated to amateur & professional webmasters. Here you'll find a large number of quality webmaster resources and discussion forums for tutorials, web design help, promotion tips and more.
- WM-Net.com - Free high quality selected resources and tools for webmasters and website designers. CGI & Perl Scripts, DHTML, Design, Promotion, etc. Your one-stop resource for guides, freebies, web surfers and webmasters.
- ActiveWebmaster.com - Directory of webmaster resources, tools, and affiliate programs. Find cgi-scripts, promotion tools, search engine submission, meta-tag generators, e-commerce tools, and more. Our affiliate program directory is filled with all the best money-making opportunities. http://www.activewebmaster.com/
Five Low-Cost Ways to Start an E-Business By Mark Henricks - Entrepreneur.com
When Leslie Gordon started looking for a way to sell products from the Hudson Valley online, she didn't have a lot of money, time or computer expertise. What she had were high expectations for an e-commerce site that would be classy, powerful and adaptable. "Most important to us was finding a low-cost [solution] without sacrificing quality, sophistication or flexibility," says Gordon, 31.
Gordon found her low cost e-commerce website solution at Homestead.com. Menlo Park, California-based Homestead Technologies charges her $150 a month to host Madeinthehudsonvalley.com. She used the web design tool supplied by Homestead to create the site herself, and also takes advantage of the marketing services the host provides.
Besides saving the $10,000 she estimates it would have cost to have a programmer custom-build her site, Gordon is also happy with the results. "Their functionality mirrored the functionality of, say, an Amazon.com in its look and feel," she says.
Start-ups in search of a low-cost solution for an e-commerce website don't have as many options as they did three years ago, says Kneko Burney, director of business infrastructure and services at In-Stat MDR, a research firm. But that's not necessarily bad. Those providers that are left, Burney says, tend to be larger and stronger companies that have well-defined offerings and will probably be around for the long haul.
Selling online is still an excellent idea for many small businesses, and inexpensive options for setting up your own online store are plentiful and effective. To help you decide, we checked out five popular low-cost e-commerce website solutions.
1. bCentral
Microsoft's bCentral offers a hosting package for $49.95 a month and an e-commerce package for another $24.95 monthly. There's also a $35 setup fee. The e-commerce plan lets you start with templates and use various tools to add logos and build product catalogs. It includes a shopping cart, sales- and order-tracking, automatic e-mail order confirmations, customer traffic reports and PayPal Merchant Services. Telephone support is available for a fee. You can try the service free for a month.
Pros: No per-sale fee; allows you to also list your products on several other popular auction and shopping sites, including eBay, MSN Marketplace and uBid
Cons: Limited shipping options; lacks significant traffic-building services
2. eBay Stores
eBay Stores are priced at three levels, depending mainly on how much promotion the store receives within eBay. The $9.95 monthly Basic store gets only a few simple directory listings and no sales or traffic reports. For $49.95, a Featured store gets priority placement in related product searches and some monthly reports. The $500 Anchor stores are showcased on eBay Stores directory pages, get premium placements in search results, and receive 1 million impressions of their logo throughout eBay.
Pros: Inexpensive for a Basic store; lots of traffic from eBay's 42 million users
Cons: Rudimentary store-building tool; produces basic sites that look like any auction site
3. Homestead Storefront
Homestead's Storefront e-commerce solution is priced from $29.99 to $130 monthly, depending on how many products you list and whether you opt for the Basic or Plus version. Both include hosting and employ Homestead's easy-to-use setup wizard, SiteBuilder software, templates and store manager. You can assign different price points to products by attribute, such as size or color; send order confirmation e-mails; and offer quantity discounts and other extras.
Homestead Storefront works with most major online merchant accounts to process credit card payments online; if you don't already have one, Homestead will set up an account for another $22.95 per month. Standard features include basic website visitor statistics and a search engine submission service. Additional promotional packages start at $4.99 and go up to $69.99 a month.
Pros: Easy-to-use drag-and-drop SiteBuilder tool; well-regarded customer service
Cons: Still has something of a "free website" stigma; standard bundled promotional tools are rudimentary
4. ISP "Website in a Box"
Many large, reputable ISPs and hosting services offer affordable and worthwhile "website in a box" solutions for e-commerce start-ups. As a rule, these give you more options than other solutions, but are also more complex to manage.
For instance, DellHost, a service now operated by Sprint, sells a $449 website starter kit that includes domain name registration, a three-page professionally designed website and a year's worth of basic hosting. Such ISP-based e-commerce solutions are good for information-intensive applications.
Pros: Allows for more sophistication and flexibility; 24-hour toll-free telephone support included with most packages
Cons: Bundled e-commerce software that's harder to use than site-builder services; may employ dynamic web pages not readily indexed by search engines
5. Yahoo! Stores
This is the most recommended solution for low-cost e-commerce. Hosting is $49.95 a month--with a one-month free trial offer-and charges for e-commerce include 10 cents per item listed per month, 0.5 percent of each transaction and 3.5 percent if the referral came from the Yahoo! Network. Domain name registration is included, or you can use your existing domain name for $10 a year. Get daily sales and visitor statistics, apply for a merchant account through Yahoo!, and upload existing product databases to create a catalog with just a few clicks.
Pros: Low-cost e-commerce solution; combines, flexibility, reliability and a full set of features
Cons: Relies heavily on templates, so your store won't necessarily have a distinctive look unless you master HTML; can submit your store for inclusion in Yahoo! Directory, but listing not guaranteed--even if you pay their fee
Once you've identified a few possible solutions, it's time to start weighing them against your concerns.
- Price: E-commerce solution sellers have packages to fit almost any pocketbook. Websitesource.com offers what may be the cheapest e-commerce package around, including a shopping cart and secure connection, for as low as $8.95 monthly if you pay for three months in advance.
At the other end of the spectrum, you can pay $1,000 a month for a dedicated server, plus tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to e-commerce site developers to create a one-of-a-kind site.
One thing experts warn against is trying to scrape by with a free hosting solution. Having pop-up ads on your site will only drive customers away, and free hosts generally lack the security and reliability of paid hosts. "I would caution people away from looking for a zero-cost option," says Homestead CEO and co-founder Justin Kitch. "It you're serious about starting a business, you need to invest."
- Site-building: The site-building tools offered by providers such as Homestead and Yahoo! Stores are generally easy for nonprogrammers to use. Among the features to look for are a wide selection of customizable templates, quick updating of inventory, and other changeable information.
Also consider the look and feel of your website. Rudimentary site-building tools like those offered by eBay Stores result in plain, undistinguished online storefronts. "The eBay Stores aren't really like a store," says Bob Kerstein, who has used a variety of providers, including eBay Stores, to sell antique stock certificates online with his e-commerce storefront, Scripophily.com. "It's the same thing as an auction listing." To find out what your store will probably look like, check out some other online vendors who use the same provider.
- Back end: Get web traffic reports that provide fresh, complete information on people who visit your site, including where they came from and how long and where they stayed while they were in your store. Other useful functions include a broad array of shipping options, automatic sales tax calculation, online payment options and flexible product listing.
- Marketing assistance: Providers like Yahoo! and eBay let you tap into their huge streams of traffic-for a fee-while ISPs may have no such traffic for you to use. Also consider active marketing. Many effective online marketers sign up visitors to receive free e-mail newsletters, for instance. Good stores have an e-mail opt-in button to make it easy for people to sign up.
Low-cost e-commerce solutions offer the beginning e-commerce merchant viable routes to test a business idea without over-committing scarce resources. Then, if things work out, it's possible to expand the business as big as the market will allow.
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