#HowTo – How To Negotiate A Better Commission Rate as an Affiliate

Bloggers and Affiliate Marketers, both those who are experienced and brand new to the industry, should always have a plan to maximize their commissions from retailers.

As earnings are almost always tied directly to pure commission relationships, I’ve put together a list of 3 tips to negotiate better (higher) commission rates with retailers.

When your audience turns into the type of customer that most matches the retailer’s idea customer – your chances for higher compensation is best. One of the most common ways to accomplish this is to focus on sending new customers (or re-introducting an inactive customer).

Obviously, you have very little control over whether or not a specific member of your audience has ever purchased at a specific retail store, but you can do a few things to optimize.

1.  Ask the retailer specifically, what your historical percentage of new customers / returning.   You may find that you have been sending a high percentage of new customers – which would put you in a much better negotiating position.

2.  Use marketing methods that are conducive to new customer generation.   Product reviews, emails to your subscribers or Facebook/Twitter followers, and content marketing.

3.  If you utilize coupons and/or deals – make sure that those posts are accurate, up to date, and relevant to your audience.   Focus less on SEO optimized “deal pages” and more on alerting your audience (through posts and emails) of the deals that the retailer is promoting at that specific time.

Bloggers often underestimate their value, and settle for low priced “Sponsored Posts” that don’t account for the true value that a post has over the long run.

Use that to your advantage when negotiating a commission a rate.   Always include your reach numbers (# of email subscribers, Facebook followers, Pinterest/Twitter, etc… ).   These individual audience numbers are critical to any increase in commission that you may be seeking.

Even if you only send a few customers per month to a retailer, don’t be afraid to ask for the value that you feel you deserve.   If those few customers (or more in those cases) are new to a retailer, they represent a lot of value to that retailer.

When negotiating with the retailer, focus on your connection to your audience.   Specifically, detail the things that you can do to continue to bring that audience to the retailer AND continue to bring new customers.

Remember, even if it is only a few per month – that is valueable!