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If you run an affiliate program, you want to reward your current affiliates for doing a job well-done. On that same note, you want to bring attention to your affiliate program and get new online agents to signup. How do you do that? With contests designed especially for your affiliates.

As great as it is to hear that contests can generate interest in your affiliate program and reward your top affiliates, you may wonder how and why? What is it that makes these events so successful? If you need proof that affiliate contests do work, continue reading on for five benefits.

1 You Have a Wide Range of Options

Affiliate contests come in all different formats. You have the freedom to decide what type of affiliates you want to reward. Do you want to give a prize to those who participate the most in the message board community? Do you want to pay the top earning or most improved affiliate a bonus? You can. Bonuses and monetary compensation are not the only prizes available. You sell a product; consider giving it away as a prize or choose a popular electronics device, like a computer or Blu-Ray player.

2  They Are Easy

Hosting a contest for your affiliates may seem like a lot of hard work, but it very easy. It all depends on the type of contest you hold. Do you want to reward the most active participants in the community forum? You will see how many posts each member has. Opt for the member with the most posts or the most detailed responses. Do you want to reward the top earning affiliate? Just use your software to find that person and there you go! The hardest part of hosting an affiliate contests is determining and writing out your rules; the rest is easy.

3  They Motivate Your Affiliates

The biggest reason why you should give affiliate contests a chance is because of the motivation it provides. Do you have 50 affiliates, but only 10 that are actively promoting your products? If so, the others joined your program, so they are interested. It is just that they may need a push or extra encouragement. Offer a great prize in a contest and you will see results. These results should include an improvement in performance, productivity, and sales.

4 They Improve Your Sales

Speaking of improved sales, they are the greatest benefit of hosting affiliate contents. As previously stated, contests motivate people. They like to get rewarded for a job well-done or just have the chance to win something for free. Your affiliates should put forth the extra effort to market your website or products. They do so hoping they will be the contest winner. The result, no matter what, is increased sales for you.

5 Word Spreads

Online, it is easy to see that home-based workers talk a lot on message boards. They share moneymaking tips, tricks, and warning with each other. If your affiliate wins a contest you held, they are likely to talk about it online. This can help to bring in new affiliates. No all program managers host contests. New affiliates will like that they get paid and have a chance to earn additional bonuses.

As you can see, there are many reasons why and benefits to hosting contests for you affiliates. If you have not started yet, give it a try. Chances are you will receive positive feedback from your team members.

If you run an affiliate program, you know the importance of motivation. Some of your affiliates will try their hardest no matter what. On the other hand, some need motivation. What can you do to motivate them? Host many contests.

When it comes to hosting contests for your affiliates, you have many options. If this is your first time hosting an affiliate contest, please continue reading on for a list of dos and do not.

DO advertise your contests. Contests serve as motivation for affiliates. They are more willing to put that extra foot forward if they know they are rewarded for their hard work. For a contest to work and improve affiliate moral, your affiliates must know about it. Highlight your contest on your affiliate program website, in a company newsletter, or through emails.

Do not forget to clearly state the contest rules and restrictions. For example, if you are rewarding the most improved affiliate, describe how you will select that individual. Is it the affiliate who sees the bigger increase in sale frequency or do you want to base your winner on the highest dollar amount of sales? Outline the prize, whether it be a special mention in an affiliate program newsletter or $25.

Do host contests and as often as possible. The more contests you hold, the more results you will see. For example, affiliates are more likely to work harder when they know they have the chance to win compensation every two months, as opposed to once a year. In terms of affiliate contests, it is best to opt for short-term results.

Do not focus on the same individuals month after month. This is most commonly seen with rewarding the highest earning affiliates. They tend to fluctuate between one or two individuals. Mix it up a little bit. In fact, offer a few contests aimed at new affiliates. These are the ones that truly need the extra push and something to strive for. Occasionally, offer a contest for the new affiliate who generated the most sales or the most improved affiliate.

DO share tips on how to improve sales. You want to do more than just say we have a contest for the most improved and top earning affiliates. Underneath the mention of your contests and above the various rules and restrictions, provide tips. These tips can help your beginners. Not only can it improve their chances to win a contest, but these tips should automatically increase the affiliate earnings. Share tips on internet marketing and stress the direct link between increased commissions and well-marketed websites. Focus on add placement. All links and banners above the fold are likely to get more clicks.

Do not forget to recognize those who won contests. At the close of a contest, you may just pay the winner their extra $25. Do more than that. List the contest winner on your website or in a company newsletter. For starters, it improves moral. The winner of the contest would have been pleased with the extra $25, but having their name published now gives them pride. They know you and other affiliates appreciate their hard work. Finally, newcomers to your program want to see proof that the contests are legitimate. New affiliates who can see a list of past contest winners and know that you do deliver the prize are more likely to put forth that extra effort.

DO think outside-of-the-box, in terms of contest themes. As previously stated, popular contests for affiliates include the most improved affiliate and the top earning affiliate. These are good, but remember there is more to running and making money through an affiliate program. In the above mentioned tip section, it was stated that high traffic websites and good add placement translate into sales. Reward your affiliates for these. Have a contest for the best-marketed website, the best-designed website, or the website with the best ad placement. If your affiliate program relies on sales pages, instead of banners, reward affiliates with the best sales page design. Your options are endless. Basically, anything remotely related to affiliate program and internet market can turn into a contest.

If you run an affiliate program, your success as an online seller depends largely on your affiliates. They are the individuals who market your website. They bring traffic to it and help to generate sales. This is an important job. Unfortunately, not all affiliates realize the potential they have to make a difference or make money. Some need an extra push. You can provide that push and motivation by hosting affiliate contests.

When it comes to hosting contests for your affiliates, your options are endless. Anything remotely related to affiliate programs and their success can be turned into a contest. Not only that, but you can have varying rewards. For example, a contest winner can have their name listed on your affiliate program website or in a newsletter. They can also receive compensation; your options are endless. If you are looking for good and unique ideas, continue reading on for a few sample contests.

Reward top performing affiliates. Top performing affiliates are the backbone to your success. They drive the most traffic and sales to your website, where you have products or services available for sale. Everyone wants to be rewarded for a job well done. When rewarding your top affiliates, choose between the affiliate that brings in the most sales or the affiliate that generates the highest sales in terms of dollars.

Reward most improved affiliates. As previously stated, your top earning affiliates want to be recognized for their job well done. This is important, but so is providing encouragement to the little guy. These ones can benefit the most from a rewards system. Consider offering a contest for the most improved affiliate. Once again, you can choose from the affiliate who increased their sale frequency or the dollar amount the most.

Reward the affiliate with the best marketed website. This website receives the most traffic. Remember, traffic translates into sales for you. Affiliates need to do more than just create a sales page or throw a few links and banners on their website. If no one visits that website, both you and they will not make any money. That is why internet marketing is an important component of affiliate programs. Use site explorer websites to determine which of your affiliates have the most incoming links.

In keeping with Internet marketing, you can turn your contest into a lesson. Article directories have been used as internet marketing tools for years. Capitalize on this. Ask each of your affiliates to submit one article to an article directory. They need to include a link back to their website, where your coded banners or text links are displayed. Have each affiliate participating in the contest send you the link. Read each article and choose your favorite. Which one are you, as an internet reader, more likely to click on?

Reward the affiliate with the best designed website. A well-designed and easy to navigate website is also important with affiliate programs. A poorly designed website cannot hold readers for long. Most internet users will click on the back button before they get the chance to see or click on your company banners or links. For that reason, consider hosting a contest for the best designed or easiest to navigate website. If you can not decide, pick a few of your favorites and get your other affiliates to vote.

Reward affiliates with the best ad placement. If your affiliate program relies on banners, you know the importance of ad placement. Clickable graphics appearing at the top of the page get more clicks, as readers do  not have to search the page to find them. Hosting a contest for ad placement can also turn into a lesson. You highlight the importance of ad placement. Since many seasoned affiliates know all about placement, it may be best to avoid compensation. There may be too many winners. Instead, write the names and provide links to the affiliates with the best ad placement.

Most of this article focused on using banners and text links as affiliate marketing tools. If you are selling a single product or service, you may opt for traditional sales pages. For example, your affiliates can use a provided template or design their own standalone sales pages. In that case, host a contest and reward the affiliate with the best sales page. You can base your contest on design, ease of reading, and information provided.