I have a free downloadable e-book that has password protected sections for sale if the downloader wishes to buy. This e-book is also promoted by affiliates using Click Banks affiliate set-up.
A prospective affiliate has raised a question that I am unable to answer and I was hoping someone here could.
Okay, here goes. An affiliate posts a link, using his Click Bank nickname, to my e-book download page. The customer then downloads the book and reviews the free parts. If he decides to buy the password for the rest of the book, he clicks on the buy password link inside the book that takes him to my buy page and then on to Click Bank's order screen. At this time, the Click Bank order screen shows the affiliates nickname for credit of the sale.
I know this works, but I'd like to know how it works. Is the affiliate nickname somehow encoded by the e-book compiler? Or when the initial link to the download page is followed through the Click Bank hoplink? Or when the buy password link is clicked on within the e-book?
I haven't checked this (by you could be looking at your cookies file), but am 99% confident I know how
>> when the initial link to the download page is followed through the Click Bank hoplink?
I believe ClickBank sets a persistent cookie when an affiliate link is followed.
Most professional affiliate scripts/providers work this way, or at least have the option too.
With Clickbank the time is set for 90 days.
Also with Clickbank there is no flexibility (which is actually good for affiliates as merchants can't bend the rules so as not to credit affiliates - affiliates know it's fair) with how it works, so it's totally fixed at 90 days. In case of 2 affiliates both having links followed - the last one wins.
With some other scripts/providers, the time limit may not be fixed, or in some cases they only track across the same browser session (Amazon's affiliate program works this way)
Also happy New Year to you, and a prosperous one, too!
Looking back on my questions, obviously the e-book compiler would not be able to encode a link to the affiliate - there would not yet be an affiliate involved, right?
So ... Click Bank sets a persistant cookie, that sounds logical to me ... and this cookie lasts for 90 days ... also logical. As I said previously, the system works flawlessly, I just wanted to know how it worked.
Speaking of Amazon ... I made $47 on $800 worth of sales last quarter ... with ActivE-book I made $26.70 on 2 sales of the program in the last two weeks ...
Hmmmm ... must think about changing a few things 'round my site!
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