Sales Guide
Here at Payless ShoeSource, we consider our affiliate partners to be our sales team on the Web. And successful sales peeple take advantage of the tools and support at their disposal. We care about your success, and our main objective is for you to make lots of sales.
This guide was designed to teach you how to promote the largest selection of Payless ShoeSource footwear anywhere. Payless ShoeSource sells one in every six pair of shoes sold in the United States, and we want to help you promote Payless ShoeSource's broad selection of quality, fashionable footwear in the most efficient and effective manner.
We want every click to go to the most effective spot on our site, so that the traffic you generate for Payless ShoeSource converts into higher commissions for you. We know you can send us quality traffic and we want to pay you for it.
Thank you for joining the Payless ShoeSource affiliate team and taking the time to read this sales guide. We look forward to building a strong and successful relationship with you.
This document covers the following topics:
- The Payless ShoeSource product and commission structure
- Who is the Payless ShoeSource customer?
- Eight things every Payless ShoeSource affiliate should know
- Coupons for your customers
- Additional tools to help you sell Payless ShoeSource
- About Payless ShoeSource
1. The Payless ShoeSource product and commission structure
Payless ShoeSource, Inc. is the largest specialty family footwear retailer in the Western Hemisphere. With more than 4,600 retail stores throughout North, Central and South America and its e-store Payless.com, Payless ShoeSource puts more feet in the latest footwear fashions than any other specialty retailer.
The percentage of affiliate commissions from Payless ShoeSource increases based on your sales volume:
- Earn 5% of net sales on every product purchased at Payless.com by one of your visitors for the next 15 days.
- Earn 6% for sales exceeding $500.
- Earn 8% for sales exceeding $1,000.
- Earn 10% for sales exceeding $5,000.
There is no limit to how much you can earn, and all products we offer at Payless.com are eligible for commission.
2. Who is the Payless ShoeSource customer?
Payless ShoeSource carries a wide array of shoes and accessories for women, men, girls and boys. Shoes and accessories are available in the latest trends, as well as classic styles.
In addition to all of the products that Payless ShoeSource carries for work and play, many of the shoes come in wide widths.
3. Eight things every Payless ShoeSource affiliate should know
There are certain things that all Payless ShoeSource affiliates should do to increase their chances of earning commissions from Payless ShoeSource.
- Get a Domain Name
You should have your own domain name. This gives your site better visibility with the search engines and directories, as well as credibility and recognition that come with your own URL (web address) instead of an extension of someone else's.
For example, what looks more credible to a visitor...?
http://hometown.aol.com/babylounge123/myhomepage/baby.html
-or-
http://www.babylounge.com
You can promote the Payless ShoeSource affiliate program from a free Web site, but you will create a more professional image if you have your own domain name. These days, you can get a domain for one year for less than $10.
- Pick a Web Site Theme
One of the reasons for joining affiliate programs is to make money. You earn commissions from the traffic you attract to your site. So, a theme for your site should be chosen that will attract a fair amount of visitors to your site - visitors that would have an interest in the advertisers you feature. Fortunately, Payless ShoeSource appeals to most of the folks that will visit your site.
- Target Your Market
When you try to sell to everyone, you end up selling to no one. If you are serious about making money with affiliate programs, you must find a market niche and target it. You must know your visitors, or the market you intend to attract. To this end, you need to choose affiliate programs whose products or services match the audience you attract to your site. This is not as difficult as it seems.
Your task is to create content that attracts those interested in your chosen subject on a regular basis, and feature affiliate links that make sense with this content.
- Focus, Focus, Focus
Many affiliates make the mistake of joining dozens (or hundreds!) of programs with little regard to their audience. They figure the more programs they join, the more money they can make.
Unfortunately, the opposite is true. Frequently, you will see sites that just have a splash page consisting of little more than banner links from dozens of affiliate programs. Sites like these, known as "banner farms," do not succeed in earning money. Not only do they not attract traffic, alas they have little chance of converting the traffic into sales.
Join only a few complimentary affiliate programs, and concentrate on providing attractive content that will generate traffic and sales.
- Keep Your Site Simple
One of the best ways to drive visitors away from a site, once they come to it, is to load it up with heavy graphics, animations, sounds, plug-ins and other bells and whistles that slow down the download time of the site.
If generating revenue is the prime purpose of your site, then site content that loads fast and offers true value without gimmicks is a top priority. Another key decision in your site design is banner and text link placement. Putting these at the top of pages will result in more hits and click-throughs.
- Market Your Site
It goes without saying that the 'if you build it, they will come' strategy of web marketing does not work.
You must market your site. This includes getting well indexed in the search engines and directories, advertising in ezines and newsletters, and participating in newsgroups and discussion lists. In addition, start your own newsletter or ezine, and promote your site in the signature files of each and every e-mail you send out.
Visit http://www.affiliatetip.com/search_engine_marketing_resources.shtml for details on getting your site listed in the search engines.
- Keep It Fresh
Your visitors want a fresh, topical site. It is essential that you constantly revise your site and site content. Whether you are trying to sell your visitors on the shoes and accessories from Payless ShoeSource, or any other product or service, success requires more than just posting an ad on your site.
You have to pre-sell an offer, and place it within the context of your site. And this context – or content – must be refreshed frequently to continue to attract repeat visitors. This is important; because most products are not purchased the first time a consumer sees an offer. It may take several impressions before they make a buying decision.
- Build an Opt-in E-mail List
An opt-in e-mail list is one of the most powerful Internet marketing tools around. Using a list to contact site visitors, who have opted to receive it, gives you a chance to offer products or services, and entice visitors to return to make a purchase or perform an action that will generate revenue.
You can use this opportunity to promote the benefits of a product or service. Please note - spamming (sending unsolicited commercial e-mail to people that have not opt-ed-in to your e-mail list) is forbidden.
Visit http://www.affiliatetip.com/e-mail_marketing_resources.shtml for more information on e-mail marketing.
4. Coupons for your customers
We have researched and analyzed what works, and our customers LOVE to get a deal. At any given time, we offer one or more coupon code to affiliates. We announce each of these coupon codes via e-mail, so be sure to opt-in to receive our e-mails on Commission Junction.
Also, Payless ShoeSource is working with CouponFeeder.com, where you can get a free account and receive fully dynamic affiliate coupon code, so you won't have to make manual updates to the coupon codes.
5. Additional tools to help you sell Payless ShoeSource
Learn from history
We are archiving the Payless ShoeSource affiliate newsletters, so you can go back and see tips and advice that you may have missed the first time around. Visit http://www.paylessaffiliates.com for the newsletter archive.
AffiliateTip.com
There are many tools and resources available at http://www.affiliatetip.com – be sure to visit and see what you can learn today.
As a final note, we hope you have found this document to be helpful. Marketing the Payless ShoeSource experience is about merchandising and promotions, and we have worked hard to develop a number of tools to help you achieve your goals.
We are here to help you, so if you need further assistance, call or e-mail us. We are always open to creating more tools and promotions to help you succeed and make money.
Contact Information
Contact the Payless ShoeSource Affiliate Team at , or call us:
Amy Rodriguez
703-368-8301
Shawn Collins
908-771-5574
6. About Payless ShoeSource
Payless ShoeSource was founded in 1956 in Topeka, Kansas, by two cousins who perfected a revolutionary idea: selling shoes in a self-service environment. Their self-service format allowed consumers to browse and try on shoes without waiting for sales help. More than four decades later, that idea continues to provide millions of shoppers a convenient, friendly experience.
In 1961, Payless ShoeSource became a public company, as Volume Shoe Corporation. In 1979, Volume Shoe merged with The May Department Stores Company.
In 1996, Payless ShoeSource, Inc. was spun off to shareowners and became an independent, publicly held company. Payless ShoeSource shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the trading symbol PSS.
Today, Payless ShoeSource is the largest specialty family footwear retailer in the Western Hemisphere. The company sold more than 200 million pairs of shoes in fiscal 2003, generating $2.78 billion in net sales. Payless ShoeSource operates stores in all 50 U.S. states, plus Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, Central America, the Caribbean, South America and opened its first test store in Japan in November, 2004. Payless ShoeSource stores feature fashionable, quality footwear and accessories for women, men and children at affordable prices in a self-selection format.
The company’s stores are located in a variety of settings, from urban to rural, including regional malls, shopping centers, central business districts, free-standing buildings and other retailer locations through our store-within-a-store strategy.
In addition, Payless ShoeSource operates Payless.com, which offers the strengths associated with Payless ShoeSource – quality, fashion and selection – and adds the convenience of shopping online.
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