How To Determine If The Juice Is Worth The Squeeze

As the admin of 10 text ad exchanges with 16 years advertising and marketing affiliate programs there are times when people recommend programs to me to promote.

While I am a member of over 500 programs consisting of traffic exchanges, safelists, text ad exchanges, products, and services I do not just jump on the next shiny thing that launches.

I have to know if the juice is worth the squeeze meaning I need to know what the cost and profit numbers are.  Plus, the site has to be a real value to the people I refer or it's just not worth putting my reputation on the line.

With so many scams online (98% at least) very few programs thrill me in fact most are just re-packaged junk that didn't work before and still doesn't.

If you are new to all this make money online stuff, I have a short check list I use to determine if it's worth joining, promoting and supporting a program.

1. What is the cost of the One Time Offer and upgrade?
So many times I see an ad in my email inbox that offers great stuff and then at the end they say something like:  Watch for the OTO, it's awesome!.

I never believe it of course as most of the content I read is complete rubbish.  Scams are designed to pull the money from your pockets by playing on your emotions.  Knowing how to play you is how they get your money.

2. Once the costs are established, the next question of course if what is the commission paid to the affiliate?

I prefer programs, products, and services that pay at least 50% on average although 40% is respectable.  As a carpet salesmen I only earned 1 - 2 % of sales.  Back in the day when I was employed (Yuck hate that word) I sold over 9 million dollars in carpet and flooring in one year alone.  The juice was not worth the squeeze let me tell you! lol.

3. Is the site professional looking so it easily attracts new customers.  If the graphics looks amateur I have a hard time laying any money on the table.

If the script is junk or low quality I know there will be problems using the site which costs time, which as you know costs you money.

4. Does the admin respond to support questions?
I may before joining a site send a quick note off to the admin to test the response time.  24 hours is acceptable, even 48 hours, but after that I no longer think about joining the site.

5. Do the members actually get paid?
This is fairly easy to check by doing a quick Google search for the program name and using a plus sign, add the word blog, or forum, or scam to the search phrase.

While this recon can take time, it can save you a lot of headache as well as time and money.  There are thousands of opportunities to earn so no loss if one doesn't measure up.

6. Does the site have all the affiliate tools needed to effectively promote the site?
Banners are standard however I am looking for more than the 468x60 banners.

I look for:

125x125
468x60
728x90
120x60
120x600
600x300

Solo ads?  Ezine or blog posts?  Text links?  Keywords along with Google Adsense type ads to use?  Videos?  Splash pages?  Lead Capture pages that allow me to use MY autoresponder, not theirs?

The more they offer, the easier it is for me to get the traffic rolling fast to start promoting right away.  While most programs don't offer everything, you should at least have a minimum of the basics.

a. Banners
b. Solo ads
c. Splash pages

More is better of course.

7. Is the pay plan easy to EXPLAIN to others?
Seriously, if you've ever looked at MLM comp plans you know there is no way to explain it in 30 seconds or less.  This means you actually have to know it like the back of your hand or you will stumble your way through questions.  This leaves your potential prospect with doubts and usually kills the sale for you.

I find most people simply buy the hype, then try to promote without ever really reading the words on the page.

For instance, I can promote a program like TopSurfer's wholesale program with ease because it's simple to explain how they will make money with it!  For instance, Topsurfer offers a wholesale account. It costs ten dollars per month, and you earn 100% of the money paid directly to your Paypal account.  I can easily explain it in 30 seconds.  Profitable?  Oh yes. Also please note that this is not a recurring payment, you must manually add time or purchase it again after the time runs out.  1 month, 2 months, 3 months etc,.

8. I do the math!
So if a program like let's say Instant Splash which hosts unlimited splash and squeeze pages for only $9.99 per month.  It pays a 50% commission recurring monthly so it's both affordable and profitable.

With just two paid referrals, you break even which eliminates the risk (if you can call $9.99 a risk) and increases your profits.  Thus, it's  great paying useful tool that is easily promoted.  I highly recommend it as I've been a member for years and I always make a profit.

Honestly I think some programs are designed to screw you and make it seem like a day at the beach.  Doing the math on any program first will expose it for the scam it probably is.  If you don't do the math, you most likely will get burned... again.

9. Age is a big deciding factor!
Just because so-and-so launches a new site does not mean it's good because there is no history.  In the case of a site being launched by an admin who already has established history it is a safe bet yes, but not guaranteed.

We see a lot of PTC sites that open every day, however, in most cases you will lose both time and money.  And if you don't already know this?.... No one is going to pay you $100.00 per email read.  Nobody!  It is an absolute scam so run as fast as you can to a reputable site like for instance Clixsense.

They've paid out more than $3,000,000.00 that's MILLION dollars to their 2 million plus members since February 2007.  Age counts.

10. Finally, there is risk in everything and the only safeguard you have is this.

A.  Do not join while you're in a desperate state.  You will lose 98% of the time and it will hurt when you lose your money.  Wait a day, sleep in it and then take action if it's warranted.

B.  Free sucks if you are looking to earn more than pocket change.  Upgrade to get the benefits of more options plus bigger payouts.

I encourage you to use this check list and to add to it for your own use.  It will save you money and help you locate truly great paying solid programs to recommend to others looking to make money online too.

Stay tuned for more. :-)

RESOURCES:

TopSurfer:
Instant Splash:
Clixsense: