20 Effective Tools for Affiliate Recruitment

Appreciating the fact that your time is money, and you’re not looking for a 3,000 words article (but rather a concise and ready-to-implement list of tools), let me skip the introduction, and jump right to the list (don’t read it as a ranking of any kind; just a list of tools every one of which may be used effectively if approached wisely):

1. Facebook — Does your affiliate program even have a FB page yet?
2. Twitter — Are you tweeting like these companies do?
3. LinkedIn — Participate in Groups, answer questions, get your name out there.
4. Snail mail — Yes! Everyone’s flooded with emails. Mail will get their attention.
5. Link on site — Does your main website have an “Affiliate Program” link, or are you making these mistakes?
6. Affiliate program page — Optimize it to rank well for the keywords of importance [find some content ideas here].
7. Affiliate program blog — 22% of affiliates find out about affiliate programs through these.
8. Guest blogging — Get your name out there!
9. Paid search — Tried running closely-targeted PPC campaigns to find affiliates?
10. Customer database — Satisfied customers make great marketers!
11. Link-building tools — A few robust ones were discussed here. And remember to follow-up.
12. Affiliate directories — Nope, they’re not dead! Here’s a list to start with.
13. Second-tier affiliates — Thought of paying a bounty per every new affiliate they bring in?
14. Forums — Do you have presence on major affiliate marketing forums?
15. Conferences — Hang out where affiliates hang out (here’s a list)
16. In-network opportunities — Look into the opps your affiliate network may be offering [example here]
17. Keyword optimization — If your program is run on a network, make sure you’re easily findable!
18. Symbiotic recruitment — Aka: “I announce your program to my affiliates, you announce mine to yours”
19. Syntryx — A tool worth checking out.
20. Outsource it — If you don’t want to mess with all of the above, you can always hire an OPM to do it for you

Something to add in conclusion: in compiling the above list I’ve stayed away from the tools and methods which I, personally, have never tried.

If I have missed something that has worked well for you, please do let me (and my blog’s readers) know about it via the “Comments” area below.