The top affiliate programs know that you must first align yourself with the top affiliate networks. You have many options but by far the easiest is to join an affiliate marketing network. They act as an important mediate between the vendor and the affiliates. Do you know which networks host some of the top affiliate programs? 

Examine Your Affiliate Network Options
First off, ClickBank is currently the number one affiliate network. It has more affiliates and vendors than any other network out there. Next is ShareaSale. After examining the top two, you can start looking at Click3Sell, CJ, Tradedoubler, PayDotCom, and Plimus. While these are not as popular as ClickBank and ShareaSale, they have benefits in their own right. 

Physical Products vs. Digital Products
Whether you are selling physical products that must be delivered or digital products that can be downloaded, makes a difference in your affiliate network of choice. For example, Amazon and Tradedoubler focus mainly on physical product. ClickBank and PayDotCom however, offer digital information. 

Setting Up Your Affiliate Program
Step 1: Categories
The very first thing you need to do is decide which category or categories your product fits best in. While your product may fit a variety of categories, it is best to stick with one main category and those related to that. 

For example, canoes can fit under sports, camping, and even fitness. However, you are better off to focus on one aspect when trying to attract affiliates. 

Step 2: Description
Every affiliate will read your description when they are deciding to join. Therefore, your description needs to reflect the main points of the product and why affiliates will want to join. This may include high commission, high conversions, or even prizes for affiliates. It should also have a link to your sales page. For many, it will be your sales page that wins or loses the affiliate. 

Step 3: Promotional Material
Potential affiliates want to see what you have to offer them. 

• Do you offer reprintable newsletters?
• Do you have content ready to publish?
• Do you provide banners, links, buttons and other advertisements for webpages?
• Do you offer training sessions?
• Will you provide more content in the future?

All these things will help persuade potential affiliates to join your program as compared to a competitor. 

Step 4: Commissions
If you have not already done so, this is the time to talk commission. You will need to spell out exactly how much the affiliate will receive. If there is a subscription involved, you need to say how much they will receive for future billing. Recurring sales is a big selling point. Therefore, if you have recurring products, be sure to mention it. 

Final Thoughts on Attracting Affiliates
Joining top affiliate programs is only the first step. You make sure your affiliates are just as important to you as your own sales. After all, trained affiliates will boost your sales, increase traffic to your site and increase your SEO. Treat them well and they will increase your bottom line.