Affiliate Program Profile - Make Money Selling Oprah's Favorite Stuff

A few days ago I wrote an article about how to pick a profitable and productive affiliate program for a campaign. Today I am going to profile one of my favorite programs and products and give you some details into the above article and show you why I like the program, the affiliate manager, and the product. The affiliate program in the spotlight today is Dale & Thomas Popcorn.

Now let us look at each of the questions I posed about picking an affiliate for a campaign.

Have you used the product or service of the affiliate program?

Well, I have certainly ate enough of Dale & Thomas Popcorn over the last year or so to sink a battleship so I guess that would be yes. It is one of my favorite gourmet treat indulgences. So the program meats one qualification.

Is there already buzz?

Dale & Thomas popcorn has been featured on air on The View, The Today Show, and The Rachel Ray Show and in print in Town & Country, InStyle, Time Magazine, Cosmopolitan, and Chocolatier. Not to mention being named one of Oprah’s Favorite Things! Word is spreading fast and it drives sales online.

Everyone loves Dale & Thomas hand-finished premium popcorn. It is even one of Oprah's Favorite Things! As word spreads, it's gets easier than ever to promote Dale & Thomas Popcorn. So yeah there is buzz. Oprah is a marketing machine. Which is good and bad. Remember "A Million Little Pieces?" Well let me tell you Dave & Thomas popcorn isn't a fraud it is the real deal. They are also doing a pretty major nationwide ad campaign in sales flyers, magazines, and newspapers. Well that answers the buzz question with a pretty firm yes.

Does the affiliate program pay a high enough percentage?

For the most part I don't waste my time on programs that pay under 10% unless there is a very very significant buzz surrounding the product. I don't like spending thousands for a campaign if I'm not going to get a high return from the program. I really try and find ones that pay 15% or 20% and have a good incentive going. This increases your earnings-per-click and your overall ROI.

Dale & Thomas Popcorn pays a baseline offer of 10-12% PLUS VIP Offers based on performance – One of the highest payouts in their category! That is at the low end of my preferred range but the sales volume is high with this program and in addition to the incentives they are always running the ROI is as good as higher percentage programs.

Does the affiliate program have a performance incentive?

This is a pretty good incentive program. This is just the contest they are running at the moment. This affiliate program runs promotions pretty much all the time. At least since my involvement anyway. So in addition to earning your normal commission you can also earn an extra $500 bucks.

I usually prefer incentive programs that are tiered for a specific number of sales, leads, actions or whatever the program is set for. In this case however I'm pretty confident I can make the sales and be in the top 3 for the program. I have finished in the top 3 affiliates for this program on several occasions.

There you have it. I wanted to show you all in a bit more detail some of the things I look at when I am choosing an affiliate program for a campaign. There is much much more that I look at and much more that goes into the actual campaign but those are for another article. I hope this has helped you in your quest for affiliate success. Stay tuned and check back often for more in-depth analysis of affiliate marketing. In fact to really stay on top of things why don't you subscribe to my FEED and my newsletter!

later all and have a profitable and productive blogging day