How to Keep Affiliates Motivated to Sell

It is natural for a product to go up and down on the sales chart. When a product is first launched, the sales may be quite high. Once the product has been around for awhile, the sales will decrease a bit. Likewise, when a new affiliate comes on board, they may be very excited and receive a high amount of sales through their promotions. After a bit, though, their sales may wane, or worse yet, take a total nose dive.

People lose their motivation for many reasons. Some people are always on a search for the “newest” thing, and their short attention span is what drives them away from certain products. Other people may join an affiliate program without a clear understanding of how to earn money as an affiliate. When they don’t receive as many sales as they thought they would, they may get frustrated and quit.

Other people may have something else, such as a family emergency, that is crying out for their attention and they simply had to put the affiliate program on the back burner. Whatever the reason, it is natural for people to lose some of the excitement they first had when they joined your affiliate program. To combat this problem, it’s important to give affiliates a constant stream of motivation.

By definition, when motivating someone, you are moving them to action. Some people have a very high internal motivation and are driven to success. Most people, unfortunately, do not operate that way. Their motivation is driven through outside forces. The easiest way to motivate someone, including affiliates, is through providing incentives.

Providing bonuses, usually based on a number of sales, is a good way to keep affiliates motivated. If they know that once they sell $150 or 5 products they will receive an extra 5% in commission, they may strive for that goal a little bit harder.

Holding contests is another fun way to motivate people and it can be done in many different ways. Offering cash prizes or recruiting other business owners who are willing to donate a prize or two to the affiliate who sells the most in a pre-set amount of time is just one way to do so.

This works well for everyone; affiliates have something to strive for, product owners do not have to spend any additional funds on the prizes and the business who is donating the prize will receive extra publicity they wouldn't otherwise have.

Other ways to keep affiliates motivated is to offer support when they need it, keep them informed of new promotions, and to send personal acknowledgements when they achieve a goal or just because. Giving someone the feeling of being appreciated and valued can be the best motivator of all.