How do JV Brokers work?

[Chris Freville]

I very much like the idea of using a JV Broker, but the more I look into it, the more confused I am getting. ???

1. Which payment processor do you recommend that will work well with JV Broker deals?
(Clickbank may not approve my product as it teaches people very sneaky affiliate techniques)

2. How much commission should give my JV partners? 75% is what I did for my last solo promotion.

3. Is it possible to pay more to an "invited" JV partner than my ordinary affiliates? e.g. 75% to JV partners and 65% to other affiliates? If you cannot do this, then what other incentives can you offer "invited" JV partners over and above ordinary affiliates?

4. How much do you pay a JV Broker? Some say 10%, some say as much as 25%.

5. If I pay 10% to my JV Broker and 75% to my JV partners, am I paying 85% in total? And, if I pay 25% to my JV Broker and 75% to my JV partners, am I paying 100% in total?

6. Are commission rates of 85% and 100% available on all the payment processors you recommend? (Clickbank has a maximum of 75%)

7. How do you actually pay a JV Broker? Is it done automatically via the payment processor or is the payment made manually at the end of the month (or end of the launch period)?

8. Do you need to a have 2 tier commission structure in place? I thought 2 tiers were so that if any of my affiliates were in turn to recruit further affiliates themselves then my level 1 affiliate would get say an additional 10% of all sales the level 2 affiliate made as well.

Therefore, if level 1 = 75%, and level 2 = 10%, then:
Sales made by JV Broker level 1 = 75% to JV Broker

Sales made by "introduced" JV partner level 2 = 75% to "introdcued" JV partner level 2 and an additional 10% to JV Broker

Sales made by "ordinary" JV partner level 1 = 75% to "ordinary" JV partner level 1 and nothing extra to my JV Broker

9. If I need to have an automated 2 tier commission structure in place, then please recommend who to use. Clickbank only have 1 tier. Paydotcom only have 1 tier. Paypal only have 1 tier. 1shoppingcart have 2 tiers, but I still need to have a payment provider such as 2Checkout attached to 1shoppingcart... OR should the tracking of the 2nd tier be done some other way, such as the JV Broker sends potential JV partners to a JV_invite page and on this page JV partners enter their name, email address and maybe their affiliate id if it is known - and then payment of the 2nd tier can be made manually by looking to see which sales were made by which JV partners?

10. How do you distinguish between JV partners introduced by the JV Broker compared to ordinary affiliates?
i.e. I assume I only have to pay the extra 10% (or 25% whatever it may be) to do JV Broker for sales made by the JV partners he introduced - and I would not pay this for JV partners which I found myself?

11. What tracking code (or affiliate id) should I put on the JV invite page? I understand you would have a custom field for Clickbank ID, but what would you do for PayDotCom? - because as well as recording their affiliate id you actually need them to sign up to your affiliate program by actually logging into PayDotCom. If there is a more suitable alternative to PayDotCom (and CB), please tell me who you recommend.

12. Should I set up two separate JV invite pages? One for my JV Broker to use and one for my own use? If so, I assume that the opt-in form should record them on to separate lists so I can track them separately?

13. What have I missed? Anything else?

Sorry about the long post, but as you can see I am very analytical and I need to understand something fully before I set it up incorrectly and lose money either for myself or my partners or my JV Broker. :'(

When answering my questions, it would really helpful if you could answer each one individually.

Thanks in advance!
Chris

[Mike Merz]

OK ... let me see if I can give my opinion on all your questions in one post, Chris.

I very much like the idea of using a JV Broker, but the more I look into it, the more confused I am getting. Huh

1. Which payment processor do you recommend that will work well with JV Broker deals?
(Clickbank may not approve my product as it teaches people very sneaky affiliate techniques)

Much as I dislike the current version, 1SC seems to be the popular solution, or 2CO ... though the BM script can be modified to offer 2 tiers and work with PDC, the AMember script can be modified to work with different Affiliate software and PPs, eBizAC, and others.

2. How much commission should give my JV partners? 75% is what I did for my last solo promotion.

75% is popular for low ticket digital products ... especially if your main goal is to build a customer list qualified at a certain dollar value.

3. Is it possible to pay more to an "invited" JV partner than my ordinary affiliates? e.g. 75% to JV partners and 65% to other affiliates? If you cannot do this, then what other incentives can you offer "invited" JV partners over and above ordinary affiliates?

I believe you should pay JV partners a higher commission ... this can be done with any of the popular affiliate program software apps. If not, there is a variety of different things you can add as perks to separate JV partners from regular affiliates ... like: one on one interaction and special, custom promo tools, review comps, reciprocal promotions, brainstorming during all phases of product development, testing, and promotion, exclusive contests and promotional pricing, etc.

4. How much do you pay a JV Broker? Some say 10%, some say as much as 25%.

Depends on the Broker ... level of participation (just brokering? ... brokering and affiliate management? ... brokering, affiliate management, and assistance in all phases of product development?), ticket (low, mid, high, etc.). Could be as low or as high as agreed upon.

5. If I pay 10% to my JV Broker and 75% to my JV partners, am I paying 85% in total? And, if I pay 25% to my JV Broker and 75% to my JV partners, am I paying 100% in total?

Yes ... believe or not, merchants that are solely offering the promotion to build the biggest, purchase qualified list possible are often willing to walk away with little or no piece of the sales pie.

6. Are commission rates of 85% and 100% available on all the payment processors you recommend? (Clickbank has a maximum of 75%)

To my knowledge, the affiliate program mods will set commission at any level you choose in most of the better known PPs and AP management software.

7. How do you actually pay a JV Broker? Is it done automatically via the payment processor or is the payment made manually at the end of the month (or end of the launch period)?

I'm not an authority on this ... but I believe ClickBank is one of the few solutions used predominantly in the IM niche that takes care of all phases ... I know there are others, but can't think of them at the moment.

8. Do you need to a have 2 tier commission structure in place? I thought 2 tiers were so that if any of my affiliates were in turn to recruit further affiliates themselves then my level 1 affiliate would get say an additional 10% of all sales the level 2 affiliate made as well.

I, personally, use the second tier (yes, the same one you mention) for ease of set up and tracking ... if the second tier option exists, it's easier to plug into it. I don't recommend merchants make a second tier available to the public ... it often gives potential JV partners the feeling that the campaign is going to have too many affiliated participants, diluting the potential for them to make sales. If you'd like to offer it to JV partners, fine ... but take the angle that it's a privilege, and they should just bring on a handful of their closest ... and most reliable, partners and associates. No need to load the list with tire kickers.

Therefore, if level 1 = 75%, and level 2 = 10%, then:
Sales made by JV Broker level 1 = 75% to JV Broker

Not sure where you went with this .. ?

Sales made by "introduced" JV partner level 2 = 75% to "introdcued" JV partner level 2 and an additional 10% to JV Broker

Sales made by "ordinary" JV partner level 1 = 75% to "ordinary" JV partner level 1 and nothing extra to my JV Broker

Yeah ... not sure how you arrived at all that.

First of all, if you're using an JV partner driven campaign, I'd have a closed affiliate program ... offer new customers into the program as they finish purchasing.

JV partners - 75% commission. JV Broker - 10% commission on referred partner sales, unless they are running the affiliate program and get a piece of all sales made by all affiliates. Merchant - 15% commission, minus PP charges.

That's all you have to worry about. If the JV Broker refers a partner, they receive a predetermined commission per partner sale. If not, they don't ... unless the JV agreement says they do (see answer to 4, above).

9. If I need to have an automated 2 tier commission structure in place, then please recommend who to use. Clickbank only have 1 tier. Paydotcom only have 1 tier. Paypal only have 1 tier. 1shoppingcart have 2 tiers, but I still need to have a payment provider such as 2Checkout attached to 1shoppingcart... OR should the tracking of the 2nd tier be done some other way, such as the JV Broker sends potential JV partners to a JV_invite page and on this page JV partners enter their name, email address and maybe their affiliate id if it is known - and then payment of the 2nd tier can be made manually by looking to see which sales were made by which JV partners?

Post Affiliate Pro, JRox, Ultimate Affiliate, JV Manager (Fantasos), and other AP software are options that I believe can be used with AMember and other top membership scripts.

You can make a separate list in AWeber and other top autoresponders ... use a form with an ad code unique to the JV Broker, with name, email, and CB or PDC ID ... compare the CSV files from that and CB Analytics to arrive at the sales (you can share these files via Google Docs very easily). Jon Ledger kindly threw together a parsing script for me to automate the process, but we are working on a more advanced version. Also ... look up Becky Dielman for a modified BM script that works on 2 tiers.

10. How do you distinguish between JV partners introduced by the JV Broker compared to ordinary affiliates?
i.e. I assume I only have to pay the extra 10% (or 25% whatever it may be) to do JV Broker for sales made by the JV partners he introduced - and I would not pay this for JV partners which I found myself?

See 9 answer, and also make clear with the JV Broker who you have on your team at the start. No JV Broker is going to tolerate ... 'Oh, I already asked them to get on board in the past ... forgot to follow up', over and over again. You're being petty and cheap ... wasting their valuable time, and will most likely not get their help ever again.

11. What tracking code (or affiliate id) should I put on the JV invite page? I understand you would have a custom field for Clickbank ID, but what would you do for PayDotCom? - because as well as recording their affiliate id you actually need them to sign up to your affiliate program by actually logging into PayDotCom. If there is a more suitable alternative to PayDotCom (and CB), please tell me who you recommend.

Simply ask them to sign up through your PDC referral link prior to putting in their info ... the PDC like ... like CB, are all the same except the partner ID ... all you need worry about is the name, email, and that ID ... plus the unique ad code if you're using more than one broker or bringing them on yourselves through the same form.

12. Should I set up two separate JV invite pages? One for my JV Broker to use and one for my own use? If so, I assume that the opt-in form should record them on to separate lists so I can track them separately?

Yes ... I recommend it to avoid confusion.

13. What have I missed? Anything else?

I can't see it being possible.

Sorry about the long post, but as you can see I am very analytical and I need to understand something fully before I set it up incorrectly and lose money either for myself or my partners or my JV Broker. Cry

When answering my questions, it would really helpful if you could answer each one individually.

Thanks in advance!
Chris

NP ... that's what we're here for.

Because you had so many questions covering so many different areas, I was brief on all of them ... willing to expand and elaborate on a one at a time basis.

Best,

Mike

[Chris Freville]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your quick response.

As a summary I think the main points are:

1. Keep your JV Broker happy (either have an exclusive closed-door program that only your JV Broker will use to invite JV partners to join - or - if I do have a separate sign up page for ordinary affiliates make sure they are tracked separately from the JV Broker by opt-ing them into a different Aweber list)

2. Use an automated 2 tier commission structure - but this is not available in PayDotCom - therefore should I use 1SC linked with 2CO or something different?

3. Have the JV_invite page ask for name, email and Aff id - if I am not using CB or PDC then I assume people have to enter a 2CO Aff id (or whatever you recommend I use) - BUT people must have already have signed up as an affiliate with 2CO of whoever beforehand so they know what their actual Aff id is.

Mike, I think it may be easier for you to simply recommend the following (since CB and PDC are probably not suitable):

1. Use xxx payment provider
2. Use xxx 2 tier affiliate program

Thanks
Chris

[Mike Merz]

Hey, Chris.

1. Keep your JV Broker happy (either have an exclusive closed-door program that only your JV Broker will use to invite JV partners to join - or - if I do have a separate sign up page for ordinary affiliates make sure they are tracked separately from the JV Broker by opt-ing them into a different Aweber list)

I don't look at it simply as keeping a JV Broker happy ... just work in an professional, organized fashion to save yourself trouble of all kinds and derive the most out of your efforts.

2. Use an automated 2 tier commission structure - but this is not available in PayDotCom - therefore should I use 1SC linked with 2CO or something different?

Like I said ... Becky Dielman can modify the BM script to track 2 tiers ... PDC will pay the affiliates, and both you and I will have access to my second tier stats ... when the smoke clears, you can pay me separately for my services based on the aforementioned stats.

3. Have the JV_invite page ask for name, email and Aff id - if I am not using CB or PDC then I assume people have to enter a 2CO Aff id (or whatever you recommend I use) - BUT people must have already have signed up as an affiliate with 2CO of whoever beforehand so they know what their actual Aff id is.

If you're using 1SC in conjunction with 2CO, 1SC has it's own affiliate system that supports 2 tiers. No need to track by ID ... I'm using cookies just like the 1st tier.

Mike, I think it may be easier for you to simply recommend the following (since CB and PDC are probably not suitable):

1. Use xxx payment provider
2. Use xxx 2 tier affiliate program

The method I mentioned previously (autoresponder CSV shared via Google Docs, and a mutually shared CB account for the individual project to derive the sales report CSV ... compare the two reports) has worked well enough for me to take on some of the most successful CB and PDC launches of all time ... so I would never tell folks I don't support them.

I'm answering these questions in a bit of a rushed fashion ... hopefully I'll be able to focus on them with a clearer head, and on a one at a time basis ... a little later.

Best,

Mike