I have a PHP web site that I wrote. It uses Authorize.net to process payment. I want to start an affiliate program but I don’t know how… There are plenty of scripts, should I use one of these? If so, which one?
Should I build my own? If so, could someone direct me to a site to get started?
I think you may be asking the wrong question. An affiliate program is a program that pays affiliates to send them leads or sales or traffic.
Are you looking to pay affiliates, or are you looking to promote other merchants?
If you are looking to start a program and pay others for sales and leads, you will want to make a choice between having an in house program where you will need to collect 1099’s and IDs, build a full tracking system, etc…. and send out checks manually etc… and MYAP or Kolimbo is probably your best option.
If you want to have a program but have someone else take care of tracking and collecting tax information as well as send out payments, etc…. I reccomend Share a Sale as they are inexpensive and they do not allow parasites into their network which protects you from potential lawsuits and a negative image.
You can also outsource it to an OPM firm (Outsourced Program Manager) and they can take care of recruiting affiliates for you as well as managing them, updating your datafeeds, creating widgets and more.
The OPMs I highly reccomend are http://www.downtownecommerce.com ask for Adamhttp://www.suluta.com tell mike Rollerblader or Liquidate sent you and he may hook you up with a better deal
or
Schaff Consulting who you should also mention Adam with as they may help you with a better price.
All three firms are very strong and very worthwhile.
You can also use http://www.abestweb.com which is the worlds largest forum for affiliate marketing information and kept spam free if you would like to learn more and try to doa launch on your own.
Best of luck!
Check hotscripts.com or else you may contact a PHP expert live at website like http://oktutorial.com/ to code one customized affiliate script for you.