There are many things you should ponder before submitting an application to any Affiliate Program. I will describe a Network's main site in order to identify a reliable program.

Main Site: Check the Affiliate Program's main site diligently. Look for an address, a phone number or any other relevant information and check it.

Once you have identified the address, Google Maps is a wonderful tool that can be used to track down Companies and Networks.

Some of the whois online databases are quite useful too; nevertheless, most domains will remain private and, unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about it.

See if the Terms and Conditions are available before submitting your application form. It's very important you read the guidelines before submitting your private information to any Network. The Terms and Conditions should include all available and allowed marketing methods; you want to be sure that your preferred advertising method is on that list.

 

Test the Affiliates' Support. Every Network has a Contact Us form, use it! Those incoming messages are spread between the available Affiliate Managers. Check how long does it takes to get a response. Any Program getting back to you after a few minutes is obviously sending automated responses which is extremely unprofessional. (Messages thanking you for the submission or letting you know when you will be contacted are acceptable though).

For bigger Networks you can expect a delay of up to 72 hours, smaller ones should get back to you in less than 24 hours (weekends excluded of course).

Once you get a response you should check that the email address matches the Networks' domain and that the email body contains the contact details of the sender. (Contact details will usually include instant messenger IDs such as ICQ, MSN, Skype, etc ).

Another area to revise carefully is the Advantages/ Why us section, paying special attention to the following fields:Another area to revise carefully is the Advantages/ Why us section, paying special attention to the following fields:

• Payouts' Regularity (Weekly payouts is quite common)
• Payouts' Methods (Be sure you can use at least two of them)
• Re-Orders Policies (if no re-orders will be credited, never accept RevShare commissions)
• Referrals Policies (Refer a friend or second tier commissions are very common as well)
• Commissions % (Compare to other Networks on the same niche)
• Marketing tools and tracking systems (Most Networks offer these advantages for free, after all, you are signing up to make money and not to pay fees)

So next time, consider all above fact to apply for Affiliates Support.

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