Let Your Affiliates Become Your Recruiters b

Have you ever thought that your affiliates could drive even more business to you by having an affiliate program for your affiliate program?Before you have a nose bleed, this is simply achieved by offering your current affiliates a two tier payment mechanism. The first tier is the one they are on now; they get paid for referring business directly to you.The second tier is a payment to the affiliate for any business produced by someone else that they have recommended joins your affiliate program. This guy is what is known in the trade as a "sub-affiliate".For example, Joe sends you business each week and notices that you offer a two tier scheme, he then thinks, I know some people who'd be interested in promoting this too! So he gets Fred, Barney, Betty and Wilma to sign up to your affiliate program.In doing that, you give Joe a commission percentage of the sales they have generated. This could be a 5% on top of what you would pay normally. Do you see the benefit from Joe doing this? He may refer people that will sell much more product that he can yet he will still earn and income, and that can be great for doing very little work!It is a true Win, Win, Win! The affiliate is happy, the sub affiliate is happy as he has a new program to promote, and you are happy because without the Affiliate you'd have to try and find these affiliates. Trust me some of these super affiliates that can really turn around your business are real hard to find! This way is only going to cost you an extra 5% on sales.Now before I get you too carried away, you really need to think about adding a two tier structure at the get go or make sure you have the profit margins, reducing your affiliate's commissions just to introduce a two tier structure will not motivate anyone.You have to make sure any new commissions come out of your end not the affiliates.Having said that, a two tier affiliate program can launch you and your affiliate revenues into the stratosphere.How to I set up a Two Tier System?One of the drawbacks to the major affiliate networks is that not many offer a Two Tier System. With this in mind it might be best to use an "in house" affiliate solution to run along side any existing affiliate program you may have and invite affiliates to join. The best solution that I have used is AssocTrac by the Internet Marketing Center. It is a software solution that runs off your own web server and you have full control over everything. It is also relatively simple to setup and run.The other solution that works fantastically well is My Affiliate Program (MYAP) by Kowabunga Technologies. This is a hosted service, i.e. it sits on someone else's server. This has its advantages too. It is quick to implement, the learning curve is not as high as AssocTrac. The downside I suppose is the feeling of a lack of ownership. Click here to read more about My Affiliate Program (MYAP)How to I promote a Two Tier System?If you have an existing program with a large affiliate network that doesn't offer a two tier system then it may be an idea to create an in-house system such as AssocTrac or MYAP and then invite key Affiliates into a Two Tier Scheme. Make sure though that if this is what you do, you only offer the second tier. Let them continue to earn there income through your affiliate network partner.You don't want to be in breach of your terms and conditions.Secondly, tell your affiliate network what you are trying to do. They may not have an off the shelf solution but they may be able to find a way of managing within your existing affiliate management tool.If you don't have an affiliate program currently running then it may be easier to start with MYAP or AssocTrac. You can then use your Two Tier system as an incentive for affiliates to join and start recruiting other Affiliates.As you can see, there are good reasons why you should look at a two tier system; in fact I can't see a good reason not too! It will drive sales, motivate affiliates, and have your affiliates actively marketing your program for you!Good Luck!