Q: We wrote and are marketing a book using affiliates. We sell about 100 books a month, mostly through two or three affiliates. How does one broaden that base (i.e. where is the place where merchants go to meet affiliates)?
A: There is not one place where merchants go to meet affiliates. The trick is to go where the most targeted affiliates go for your category, and get in front of them.
This can take many forms. Some easy to implement ways to find contextual affiliates are to get campaigns going on the ppc search engines or running on one of the blog networks like BlogAds.
You should also look into advertising in some places that are not saturated by competing affiliate programs. Take a look at some advertising opportunities, such as magazines or direct mail.
Also, there are a number of software programs that will assist you in prospecting for potential affiliates.
You might also consider attending and maybe sponsoring affiliate marketing conferences and/or shows in your vertical.
Lots of ways you can find those targeted affiliates – but you’ve got to be creative or be willing to spend some money – or both.