Submitting sites to affiliate networks

[scottmccloud]

Hi,

Sorry if this is a bit of a stupid question but I'm new to all this, but how developed do sites have to submit to affilate networks to promote one of their merchants?

I'm asking this because I've got a couple of sites that I'm working on that I intend to use promote specific retailers through an affiliate network. Home page of the site is pretty much done with all the content written and the basic look of the site completed, but because I intend to sell the merchants goods, there are no other pages to the site yet because these are the pages where the goods will be displayed. I can't write unique product descriptions because I can't yet put the products on my site.

I'm probably missing something really obvious, but any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Scott

 

[wb]

Just tell the merchant that when applying. Providing the website looks good so far, you shouldn't normally have any problems in getting approved (some will insist the website is complete and live before considering approval though).

 

[scottmccloud]

Thanks for that, I'll give it a go.

 

[accelerator]

It really depends on the merchant. Some, such as highly branded fashion sites, are really picky. Others aren't fussy at all.

Rgds

 

[stevew]

Good luck, hope you find a good network

 

[GWM]

I agree with the general consensus. Some are fussier than others. What I did with my site is I put the products and pricing on and created all the content for the site targetting those companies I wanted to be an affiliate for. I launched the site and ran it for a number of days with no affiliate links as I hadn't joined any yet. So I didn't have any income but was promoting the companies for free essentially. Once I applied to their affiliate programs, those that accepted me as their affiliate, I added the code and started earning, and those that didn't, I removed from the site. It wasn't too difficult because I wasn't dealing with hundreds of products only half a dozen, but even if you do a little bit, it gives companies a feel for what your trying to achieve and what it will look like. Good luck.