Getting accepted to CPA Affiliate Networks should not be a difficult task, but for newbies or someone starting out this can be hard if you don’t know how or what you need to do to get accepted. A lot of people send me messages for tips or “how to’s” for getting accepted by affiliate networks. Before I began I want to give you the number one tip…BE HONEST!

What you’ll need

1. Name
2. Email
3. Other contact details (Daytime & Evening Phone)
4. Current Address
5. Business Name
6. Payment details (Paypal or DD)
7. Tax Information / SS (Unless outside USA)
8. Website details including UB’s & niche
9. How you intend to send traffic (i.e. Email, PPC or SEO)
10. If Email you may be asked for the IP address of your mail server
11. Other affiliate networks you’re working with

Domain

You’ll be asked to provide the domain that you’re using to carry out any activities. Make sure the domain is active & isn’t a holding page. Also make sure that this is a reputable domain that has potential to provide leads/sales to the network.

Avoid putting adwords.com or anything similar as your domain because this probably won’t get accepted (depending on the Network, most are fine with PPC only affiliates as long as you specify). If you’re just doing SEM I wouldn’t bother putting any website down.

I submit a few domains as most of the networks like to see I can run various offers. This also gives you a better chance of approval. For example, say they only allow Health related websites and you submitted three different websites; sports, diets, ebooks. Well if the network only approves health related websites then they might no approve you for the sports and ebooks website but will approve you for the diet related website. If you have 10 websites or more, there is no need to list them all unless needed. Maybe list your top three. Later on once approved by the affiliate network you can discuss your other sites with your affiliate manager and they will help find you offers to promote.

Email Address

This is a vital part of the equation. It’s best to provide an email address that corresponds with the domain name you’ve submitted above, this helps to cement the fact that you’re legitimate with the network you’re applying to. Try to avoid free email accounts like hotmail, gmail or yahoo.

I have a lot of websites and keeping up with my emails from all my accounts is tough, so I forward all my emails to one account hosted from Google’s Gmail. I recommend gmail because of its vast amount of tools and easy interface. UPDATE: Google’s Gmail now allows you to send/reply emails from another email address. Learn more here.

Verification

Quite a large number of networks will now ask you to verify that you either own the website or ask you to call up & have a chat with them. This is a good opportunity to start up a conversation with an AM before you get accepted. This may give you some insights into how knowledgeable they are.

What not to do when accepted

1. Don’t lie about the website that you own
2. Don’t start trying to get a better payout on offers right away, wait until you start pushing volume
3. Don’t hassle the hell out of your AM, use them wisely
4. Avoid brand bidding, you’ll get booted fairly quickly for this
5. Be careful with incentivized traffic, some offers allow it but most don’t

How you should use your AM

Account Managers are a wealth of information at some Networks, the bottom line is that the better you do, the more money they make.

• Ask the right questions, don’t bust balls
• Which offers are converting well currently?
• Which landing pages are kicking ass? (most won’t tell you this but it doesn’t hurt to ask)

This should be all you need to really start rolling. After you apply you should get a response by email and hopefully someone will call within a day or two. If not, give them a call! This is really important - it shows that you are are keen on working with them, not just applying to anyone that’s out there. Take a look at my recommended best networks if you are looking for somewhere to start. They all have a good range of offers.

Tags: Affiliate Networks, best networks, CPA Affiliate Networks, Get Accepted, getting accepted