Getting on Oprah and having a New York Times book review helps, but what really makes bestsellers is word-of-mouth. Some of this peer-to-peer marketing happens naturally, but to maximize the buzz I've created an affiliate program.
What's an affiliate program? It's a way for you to earn a huge commission every time someone you referred buys something from my WanderLearn Shop.
What's a "huge" commission? 40%! To put that into perspective, Amazon.com offers 6% commission to its affiliates. So you're getting nearly 7 times more referral revenue than Amazon!
What products earn such a commission? All the products on my WanderLearn Shop. For example, when someone buy The Hidden Europe for $25.99, then you'll learn $10.40! Let's say 10 of the people you refer to me buy the hardcover of The Hidden Europe. You'll earn $104 (40% of $26 x 10)!
Will I have to ship anything? Do I need to bill the customer? Nope! You don't have to do anything. We'll process the order and ship it. You just sit back and collect your fat commission!
How often do I get paid? Once a month, as long as you've accumulated at least $10 in commissions. That's much better than other affiliate programs which won't payout until you have over $100. Payment is done over PayPal.
How do I become an affiliate?
1. Sign up to be an affiliate for my shop. It's free and takes one minute!
2. Send me at short email at
3. Assuming I approve your account, you'll get a confirmation email that gives you a unique tracking code, like 4e46b74eefb75.
4. Log into the shop's affiliate page and under My Tracking Information, you'll select Custom Affiliate Tracking Code. Type the name of a product you would like to link to. A custom tracking code is automatically generated.
5. Copy the generated code and use it in your promotion campaign!
For example, this URL:
http://francistapon.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=61
becomes:
http://francistapon.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=61&tracking=4e46b74eefb75
(Of course, your tracking ID will be different.) The product page is identical from the customer's perspective, but the shopping cart software will log your tracking ID and give you credit if the customer purchases the product.
How can I use the tracking code?
Use the unique URL whenever you're promoting one of my products. For example you could:
- Create a banner or image with the link embedded in it so that it takes them to my shop when they click on it.
- Put the hyperlink in an article or a review about the product.
- Post it on your Facebook wall.
- Include it in an email.
- Use it in a Tweet.
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Where do I get images or banners?
I've created a few banners on this page, which you are free to use. The vertical banners on this page are 120x385 and 200 x 400, respectively.
You can also go to the product pages (e.g., HYOH or THE), download an image, and create your own banner.
If you would rather that we make one, then just email me the specs (dimensions and text) and we'll make something up.
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Anything else that I should know?
Yes, the shopping cart application that I'm using (OpenCart) just implemented this affiliate option. This first version has two shortcomings:
1. You must refer a specific product in your shop. Not a category. Not the entire store. Just one specific product. If the customer buys a different product, then you get nothing. It's stupid, but that's the way it the OpenCart affiliate system works today. Therefore, if the customer buys 3 different products, you'll only get credit for the one product you referred. Stupid, but that's the way the first version of this affiliate system was designed. OpenCart is planning to improve the affiliate system so that the affiliate gets credit for any sale that is made at the shop, but that feature won't come out until 2012. To make up for that shortcoming, I'm offering a generous commission. The good news is that most people only buy one product anyway, so you're probably not going to miss out on a sale. My advice is to promote the one product that you think has the best chance of selling. Another idea is to feature all the products in text links (e.g., HYOH is available as an ebook, hardcover, or audiobook).
2. This is not a cookie-based affiliate system, so if the customer returns to the shop the next day to buy and does not get there via your link, then you will not get credit. Again, it's stupid, but because OpenCart does not use a cookie-based system, it only works when the customer puts the product in their cart from the tracking page you referred him to. Again, the high commission makes up for this. You'd have to sell 7x more stuff on Amazon to make up for these two shortcomings, so you will still come out far ahead by going with my affiliate system.
If you have more questions, contact me and I'll post the answers!
