Getting Started

What exactly is an affiliate program?

Simply put, an affiliate is someone who sells someone else's products or services in exchange for a commission.
When you sign up for SAS's affiliate program, you receive a unique link that you can put on your web site or in your e-mail messages. Anyone who clicks this link will be directed to our web site. If they make a purchase, you automatically receive a commission -- your share of the purchase price.

What are sub-affiliates?

With the SAS sub-affiliate program, you have the opportunity to recommend the SAS affiliate program to your visitors, customers, and subscribers. Every person who becomes an SAS affiliate based on your recommendation becomes your sub-affiliate. Each time your sub-affiliate makes a sale, you receive a percentage of that sale. PLUS, you continue to earn your regular affiliate commissions.
It's an exceptionally easy and affordable way to maximize your income.

Do I need a web site to get started as an affiliate?

You don't actually need to have a web site to market our products as an affiliate. Indeed, some of the most successful affiliate marketing strategies -- e-mail marketing -- don't depend on your having a web site at all.
However, we would like to encourage you to set up a web site as soon as possible. A web site provides you with a 'hub' -- a place where visitors can get more information about your products, and discover how knowledgeable you are about these products, without having to contact you directly.
If you market your web site successfully, you'll get thousands of people coming to your site each month -- which translates into more sales as an affiliate. So, the faster you set up a web site, the better your chances of getting more sales faster.

How do I get paid once I make a sale?

All payments are made via PayPal. We regret we cannot make any exceptions.
PayPal will deposit your commissions to your PayPal account each month.
If, for any reason, you're over- or underpaid in your PayPal account, the difference will be added to or deducted from the following check.

What kind of income can I expect to earn as an SAS affiliate?

Currently, a site with a medium amount of traffic receives a monthly referral check between $600 to $900. We have web sites that earn under $100 a month (very low- traffic sites) and others as high as $4,500 a month (popular, high-traffic sites).
The amount you earn depends on the type of people that visit your site, how many visitors you receive monthly, and how much exposure you give your SAS affiliate promotions on your site.
Sites that have links to the Student Athlete Solutions in many places throughout their web sites do MUCH better than sites that have just one link. The same holds true for people who actively promote the products -- through e-mail marketing, etc. Exposure is the key to the success of your campaign.
Make sure you spend some time reading the various tips and promotion ideas that we share with you throughout this site. You'll discover the same secrets that our top affiliates (affiliates earning $4,500+ per month) are using so that you can experience the same success. Even implementing just one of the techniques we share can literally double your monthly commission checks!

General Questions

I think I missed the latest affiliate newsletter or promotion. What do I do?

Because we don't keep newsletter releases and product launches to a strict schedule, it may seem like you've missed out on the latest affiliate mailing even when you haven't.
However, if you're certain that a newsletter was released and you didn't get it, you may want to check to see if the e-mail was accidentally filtered to your "junk mail" box. The same holds true if you're certain a promotion was just released to affiliates for a new or updated product.
The best way to stay on top of new product promotions is to log on to your affiliate account on a regular basis and make note of anything new that's been added to the product list.

Where can I find my affiliate URL?

We don't assign a single affiliate URL to you. Instead, we provide a different link for each of the products you can sell. There's also a different link for each of the promotional tools you can choose to help you sell the products.
These links are available here in the resource center. On the left-hand side of the resource center, you'll see a list of all the products available for you to sell as an affiliate. Click on the product name you're interested in, and a list of the different promotional tools available for this product will appear. Select the one you want to use, and simply copy and paste the HTML directly to your web site. The URL will reflect both which product you've selected, as well as which promotional tool you're using.

Finally, note that you don't even have to personalize the URL when you copy and paste it. We have each link individualized specifically for your affiliate account.

Are all of my sales registered on my "sales counter"?

The visitor counter records every single person who visits the SAS site by clicking through your affiliate URL. The sales counter records all sales that are made through your affiliate referral number for that month.

Technical Questions

I've clicked through my special link many times, but it only shows one visitor. What's wrong?

We've designed our software so it only tracks the number of new visitors that come to our site through your link, rather than every single visit. We've done this in order to provide you with the most accurate way of measuring your conversion rates.
Remember, though, that no matter if the visitor is counted as a "new" visitor or if they are a "repeat" visitor and not counted on the visitor counter, your affiliate referral number is ALWAYS coded in all the SAS web pages, so if that visitor orders anytime during the next 3 years, you'll get the referral fee!

How will my visitors order?

We take care of everything! You just need to direct the visitors to the SAS web site through your affiliate links, and we'll look after taking the order, delivering the product, and providing customer service.
When one of your visitors clicks through your affiliate link, we'll display the appropriate salesletter, where the customer can order directly online, or by phone, fax, or mail.
When the customer is ready to order, the SAS ordering system takes over, and automatically processes the order -- while recording your affiliate identification number, guaranteeing that you're credited for the sale.

How will you keep track of the orders coming from my site?

It's easy! When you signed up as an SAS affiliate, you were assigned the unique identification number "879447". This unique identification number is included in every URL that you use to link to the SAS affiliate products/services.
In each case, your unique identification number appears in the URL? Well, it's this number that we use to track how many visitors you send to the SAS site, and how many sales you refer! We have special software that runs seamlessly in the background, automatically tracking everything without your visitors even being aware of it!
Now, in the case of all the "copy and paste" e-mail promotions, banner ads, text links, and product reviews that we provide you with to promote the various SAS affiliate products, we have already added your unique affiliate identification number.
However, if you decide to write a personal letter of referral and e-mail it to your customers and subscribers -- or if you write your own text link or article about an SAS affiliate product to add to your web site -- you'll need to use the correct affiliate URL with your unique affiliate identification number in it, just like we've shown you above.

How do I unsubscribe or terminate my affiliate relationship?

Because the monthly affiliate newsletters, the updates, and the follow-up e-mails that you receive are part of your actual affiliate account, we need to clarify whether you wish to only unsubscribe from the monthly newsletters, or if you wish to completely terminate your affiliate account.
By only unsubscribing from the newsletter, you can ensure that you stop receiving our monthly mailings. However, your affiliate account remains active and you'll receive any commissions that are generated through your ID number.
By completely terminating your affiliate account, you will no longer be a member of our program and will no longer be tracked or accounted for.
You will need to e-mail us (affiliates@studentathletesolutions.com) to let us know whether you want to unsubscribe from our mailings or terminate your account completely.

How do I change my contact or shipping information on my account?

If you want to change your e-mail address, mailing address, phone number, company name, or any other information we have on record in your account, all you need to do is go to the Edit My Account page and login to enable to make changes.

How do I copy and paste the HTML promotions into my site?

We've taken the necessary "copy and paste" function that you're familiar with from most computer programs, and automated it. This means that you can now add the HTML code for our product promotions to your web site or e-mail campaign with only three very simple steps:

• Step one: Copy the code for the promotional material you want to add
• Step two: Prepare your site for inserting the code
• Step three: Paste the code into your site

You don't have to be able to work in HTML, or even understand it. If you can type, you can add a product promotion.
The only thing you need to be able to do is set up your web editing software so that it shows you both your web page as it actually appears, PLUS the underlying HTML code.
All of the major web editing tools -- including FrontPage, DreamWeaver and GoLive -- have the ability to do this with just the click of a button. Consult your program's online help if you're not sure.

Affiliate Strategies

How do I get started with this affiliate program?

To get started with our affiliate program, you need to first decide which product (or services) you want to promote. We recommend that anyone new to our program start with our information products – the course, videos -- as these appeal to a much broader audience, and are therefore easier to sell.

Once you've decided on the product you want to start with, you have to decide how you're going to promote it. We offer a broad range of promotional tools that you can use for free -- including e-mail promotions, informative articles, classified ads, and e-mail promotions.

All of these promotional tools are available here in the Affiliate Resource Center. They're listed in the navigation menu on the left-hand side of the screen, beneath the individual products. To view the promotional tools for a product, simply click on the product name. The promotional tools -- banners, text links, etc. -- appear right beneath it.

Keep in mind that each of the products are individually promoted and tracked, and they each have their own set of promotional tools to choose from. Click on each product name to view the different selections.

When you've chosen a promotional tool to use, click on the "Highlight and Copy" button beneath the corresponding HTML code for the tool, then open up the editing or HTML area of your web site. Right-click in the line of HTML code where you want to add the promotional tool, and select "Paste".

• For more information on how to choose a product or promotion, visit our Quick Start Guide.

How can I earn the most money with the SAS affiliate program? What product will generate the most sales and the biggest commission checks?

Overall, the biggest revenue generator for SAS affiliates is the ”Addressing College Affordability” course. Why? Because the market for information on building and growing a successful business is quite large. The markets for most of the other SAS affiliate products are more specific because they typically attract people who already have an Internet business.
So here's what we recommend:

• Start by recommending the “Addressing College Affordability” course to your customers and subscribers. You can promote other SAS affiliate products in addition to the ”Addressing College Affordability” course. Do not replace your course promotions with recommendations for the other SAS affiliate products, or you may see a drop in your monthly commissions.
• Next, consider adding a promotion for the;or the;monthly membership. Both of these also appeal to a larger audience because of the information they present about starting and growing an Internet business. Plus, you can capture the sales of those people who have an interest in starting an Internet business, but who are more comfortable with the lower price point of the video tapes and newsletter.

Obviously, you'll want to promote the course first because you'll earn a higher commission with it. But by promoting the ”Addressing College Affordability”, one after the other, you'll earn the highest commissions with these related products -- more than you would by just promoting one or the other.
You should also consider promoting the membership at this point.appeals both to people who already have an Internet business, and those considering starting one. An additional benefit of selling is that, because it's a subscription-based service, you receive a recurring monthly commission for each subscription you sell. That may not sound like much, but it adds up over time -- per year. The money keeps coming in long after you've made the sale -- and you only do the work once.

The next affiliate product you'll probably want to consider promoting is. It is an excellent partner product for the ”Addressing College Affordability”. Anyone starting or currently running an Internet business will have a strong interest in e-mail and e-business automation software like

• The affiliate product you choose to promote next will depend on the interests of your audience. can both be big commission generators when actively promoted to your visitors with an emphasis on how the product will benefit them by meeting their specific needs.
• Finally, a really easy way to increase your commissions is by promoting the SAS affiliate program. Recruit an army of sub-affiliates to earn a hefty commission on every sale they generate. Simply let your customers and subscribers know about the successes you've personally experienced with the SAS affiliate program, and your personal recommendation will attract sub-affiliate sign ups.

I get lots of traffic to my site, but my course sales aren't that high. What's wrong?

Even the most successful affiliates start off small, so don't be worried if your first month does not produce overwhelming results. Getting a site to produce thousands of dollars in referral fees takes a few months of "tweaking" to see what is most effective for your particular site.
For example, our current top affiliate member only received about $300 for his first check, but after working with us to find the most profitable ways to link to our sites, he is now producing referral fees in excess of $4,500 a month.
Frankly, you need a lot of traffic to your site to be receiving in excess of $2,000 every month, but no matter how small your site is, try some of the suggestions located within this site, as these are the techniques that top SAS affiliates are using with phenomenal success!

I have been an affiliate for a month and have not received any referral fees yet. What's going on?

Before you can start earning significant commissions each month, you'll need to increase the traffic to your web site.
There have been a few people in the past who have expected to earn huge commission checks each month, despite the fact that their web sites were only getting a few hundred visitors each month. The fact of the matter is that if you're not getting many visitors to your site, then you will not get many people linking through to SAS, and you will not make a lot in referral fees.
For advice on how to increase the traffic to your web site, click here.

I would like a copy of the HTML-formatted letter for a recent product promotion. How do I get one?

If you didn't receive the most recent "copy and paste" e-mail promotion, e-mail us and we'll send you a copy: affiliates@studenathletesolutions.com.
You can also get promotional materials by logging in to your affiliate account. Go to the resource center and click the name of the product you want to promote, and you'll find a list of all of the available materials for each product.
If you'd rather write your own letter, or if you need personal assistance setting up your promotion, we urge you to contact our affiliate coordinator at 1-800-325-2111.

Is there a particular type of promotion that's more successful than the others?

In our experience, the more successful forms of affiliate promotions are those that either rely on the personal touch (like e-mail marketing), or those that provide a wealth of useful information (such as a product review) about the product.
E-mail promotions are particularly successful because you're sending a promotion to a group of people who are already interested in what you have to say -- your opt-in list. You know that they trust you, and look forward to hearing from you, because you give them really useful information. A personal recommendation to your opt-in list is always your best bet.
Informative articles about the product are also successful. Typically, these take the form of a review from you. Again, you're capitalizing on the relationship you have with your visitors to present them with helpful information that they can trust.
You can either use the prewritten e-mails and product reviews we've put in the SAS for you, or you can write them yourself. We've also created some tips on writing your own e-mails.

How do I generate more traffic to my site?

The first step in generating substantial traffic is to submit your URL to the major search engines. You should do this as soon as possible, as it does take some time to start appearing in the search engine results. To learn how, click here.
If you can afford to invest money in advertising, then the next thing you should do is start experimenting with pay-per-click search engines. They're great for driving qualified, targeted traffic to your web site. To learn more about them, click here.
Here are a couple of popular pay-per-click search engines:

• http://www.overture.com
• http://www.findwhat.com

Another way to generate more traffic is to look for online newsletters or e-zines that accept advertising submissions. If you look carefully, you can sometimes even find classifieds and e-zines that don't require a fee.
If you don't have a lot of capital, with just a little research you can find successful message boards, newsgroups, or forums where you can advertise. When posting to these, contact the host or the administrator first to ensure that they allow outside advertising.

What's an opt-in e-mail list, and how do I build one?

An opt-in e-mail list is a database of e-mail addresses belonging to people who have willingly given their name and e-mail address to you. For example, if you offer a free "joke of the day" e-mail to anyone who gives you their name and e-mail address, those people who responded will become part of your opt-in list.
DO NOT try to purchase thousands of random e-mail addresses from someone who has "harvested" them. This practice is unethical, and in fact, with the recent spam laws in place, you are allowed to market ONLY to your own list of opt-in addresses.
The other thing to remember about your opt-in list is that your subscribers MUST be free to unsubscribe at any time. And when someone asks to be removed from your list, you MUST remove them. But that's a good thing, because it ensures that your list is made up entirely of people who want to hear from you.
While building your own opt-in list may take some time, marketing to it gives you the highest sales. After all, your list consists of people who are already interested in what you have to offer them -- so you don't have to work as hard to make the sale.
Our first recommendation is to ensure your site is up and running. Submit it to the major search engines to get some traffic to your site. Once you start generating some traffic, you can begin working on your opt-in list -- try a pop-up or a major headline on your homepage that persuades visitors to subscribe to a free weekly newsletter or similar offer. Once they have voluntarily given you their name and address, they have "opted in." This database of subscribers is now your opt-in list that you are free to market to.

How do I recruit sub-affiliates?

The most effective way to recruit an army of sub-affiliates is through an informative e-mail or article that clearly explains the benefits of being an SAS affiliate -- including your own personal recommendation explaining how you have personally profited.
We've also created promotional materials that you can place on your web site to promote the program. Remember, many people have never heard of an affiliate program before and may have no idea what you're talking about until you explain it in "layman's terms" and show them the benefits. Simply mention that you've "found a company that will pay very generous referral fees for talking about their high-quality products on your site."
To view the promotional e-mail, click here >>
To view the promotional banner, click here >>
To view the promotional classified ad, click here >>
If you just tell visitors to go to the site and check it out without explaining the benefits of being an affiliate, they'll have no reason to make the effort and click on the link. You have to show them that the program is free to join and will earn them substantial revenue without a lot of work on their part. They get paid for posting a link to us. It's as simple as that!