Many times the reason merchants call me for a free consultation is because their affiliate program has hit a plateau and they want to take it to the next level. I was reading Website Magazine last weekend and found a good article by Geno Prussakov. He calls this plateau, the “Limited Potential Syndrome” and suggests 7 key areas to evaluate and offers suggestions for improving your affiliate program.

Limited Potential Syndrome and 7 Deadly Sins of Affiliate Marketing

“You have launched an affiliate program, a number of affiliates have joined and you have started to see referrals to your website. However, at one point the sales volume gets frozen at one level, and no signs point to a brighter future. In other words, your affiliate program is no longer growing, or growth has slowed to a crawl. Does this sound familiar?

I have come to describe the above situation as Limited Potential Syndrome. It’s not because your product or service has limited potential. And it’s not because affiliate marketing is the wrong channel to market your services or products — anything that sells online can be marketed through affiliates. The problem lies in the fact that either your affiliate program or your very website has limited affiliate marketing potential. The good news is that there is a cure. The treatment starts by paying closer attention to how your current website looks, and how your affiliate program is organized and structured. You need not be an expert to spot the most frequently occurring mistakes and to deal with them. What follows is a list of the seven most deadly sins that commonly hinder the growth of affiliate programs.” More…