Frequently Asked Questions
- What's an affiliate program?
- What makes the BCS program so powerful?
- How much will it cost me to join?
- When do I get paid?
- How long does it take to sign up?
- How do I sign up?
- How will you keep track of the orders coming from my site?
- How will I know how many of each product I sold?
- What kind of income can I expect?
- How much will I be paid when I make a sale?
- How many people can I expect to buy?
- Do I need a credit card merchant account and a secure site to join?
- Can I receive my commissions via Pay Pal?
- How should I incorporate the BCS Affiliate Program into my web site?
- How will my visitors order?
- Can I take orders directly on my web site instead?
- What kind of support do you offer?
- Will you supply me with marketing material that I can use on my site?
1). Q: What's an affiliate program?
A: In a nutshell, you refer people to another site in exchange for a commission on every qualified sale you produce. That usually means adding a link (encoded with a unique ID number) from your web site or e-mail message to another site, which tracks how many sales you are responsible for.
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2). Q: There are thousands of affiliate programs around. What makes the BCS program so powerful?
A: BCS’ Philosophy
Business Credit Services™ has been the leader in business credit and financing since its inception in October 2000. With more than 12,000 clients, Business Credit Services™ has been able to create the most comprehensive, effective and legitimate business credit program available.
In the last couple of years, several other companies have tried to match the level of service and results that Business Credit Services™ provides its clients. However, no other company has come close. The quality and depth of services provided by Business Credit Services™ are unmatched in the industry. This is not a statement of arrogance but rather of fact when you consider business experts call us when looking for the real scope of business credit and financing. Companies and media outlets such as Entrepreneur, Inc, Kiplinger, DowJones, CNNMoney, FoxNews, CNBC and more all have called us when they had questions about business financing and credit. See links to these stories here.
Business Credit Services™ prides itself on avoiding the EASY WAY OUT approach that most other companies have chosen to “help” small business owners build credit. In our opinion there is no easy, quick and simple solution to building a solid foundation for a long lasting company. Of course, anyone can tell you to get a phone line and business license for your company and go apply for Office Depot® and Staples® credit cards, but that doesn’t provide the results small business owners are looking for in gaining access to the capital they need.
It is extremely important to us that we keep our clients clear of any fraudulent strategies offered by so called “Business Finance or Credit Companies”. There are several strategies offered that sound great because they provide a quick solution, but are only smoke and mirrors or illegal acts. See our section on Frauds and Avoid Scams!
The year 2008 brought tremendous growth to BCS. In September, Business Credit Services™ was acquired by Corporation Service Company® (CSC), the leader in business, legal and financial related services tailored to the needs of companies, law firms, and financial institutions. The transaction has given BCS significant new capabilities to pursue our mission as a leading facilitator of small business growth in the United States and beyond. Our founder David Gass and the BCS executive team; have joined forces with CSC and The Company Corporation® ("TCC", CSC's division serving small business), to make the commitment to educate and help entrepreneurs and business owners to achieve success.
The Company Corporation® is the largest incorporation service firm to small business in the United States and has helped hundreds of thousands of businesses get their start. Together we, TCC and BSC, will bring a wide array of products and services to the market to meet the needs of small business owners and entrepreneurs and support their growth and success. We are here to provide real solutions to real life business challenges. We are here to change the statistics of business failure by giving small business owners the access to capital they need most, when they need it most in a legal and ethical manner.
With CSC’s experience of working with small and midsized businesses for the last 100 years and BCS’ innovations in creative financing, together we are poised to change the statics of business failure to positive statistics of business success in the coming months and years.
Here are some other great reasons to partner with BCS:
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Commission size: The dollar amount is limitless! With commission rates starting at 10% running all the way to 80% and a variety of the best product in the industry and service unmatched in any industry you will see sizable commission checks.
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Proven simple sales process: We give you field-tested and proven "Copy, Paste, and Send" promotions and other easy-to-use resources.
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Multiple targeted products for backend selling: Allows you to sell several related products to your audience at various stages in their business life span for maximum profits.
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Exclusive Affiliate Resource Center: This private "Members Only" site (LinkTrust) lets you track your visitors, sales and earnings, all in real time, so you always know exactly how you're doing.
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We take care of everything: Once you pass the visitor on to our site, we'll take care of all the details, all fulfillment is done by BCS. You don't have to do a thing!
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3). Q: How much will it cost me to join?
A: There is no cost to join!
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4). Q: When do I get paid?
A: All referral checks are mailed within 10 business days after the customer payment has been received. Please note that we have a $15 check minimum. If you earn less than $15 during a sales period, the amount you earn will be carried forward to the next month. Once your total commissions total at least $15, a check will be issued.
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5). Q: How long does it take to sign up?
A: The sign-up process takes just a couple of minutes -- and there are no long surveys or endless forms to fill out. In just a couple of minutes you can be signed up and access our Affiliate Resource Center where you'll find all the info you need to get started.
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6). Q: How do I sign up?
A: Just go to our application form. Within minutes of submitting it, you'll receive a Welcome E mail, followed by a 5-part training course that explains the power of our different promotional tools
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7). Q: How will you keep track of the orders coming from my site?
A: It's easy! When you sign up as an BCS affiliate, you will be assigned a unique identification number. This unique identification number is used in every URL that you use to link to the BCS affiliate products.
Plus, in all the "Copy & Paste" e-mail promotions, classified ads, banner ads, text links, pop ups, etc. that we provide you with to promote the various BCS affiliate products, we have already added your unique affiliate identification number. (We want to make things as easy as possible for you!)
When your visitor first comes to our site, we'll tag them with a "cookie" that includes your affiliate number.
If they have their "cookies" turned off on their browser, our special tracking software will always point to your reference number, even if they bookmark us and return later to purchase.
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8). Q: How will I know how many of each product I sold?
A: You'll receive an e-mail alerting you of each order moments after it is placed. Plus, our exclusive Affiliate Resource Center (LinkTrust) lets you view exactly how many visitors have traveled from your site to BCS and how many of each product were sold on a daily basis (including the customer's name and how they ordered).
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9). Q: What kind of income can I expect?
A: The amount you earn depends on the type of people that visit your site, how many visitors you receive monthly, and how much exposure you give the link to the Internet Marketing Center.
Sites that have links to the Internet Marketing Center in many places throughout their web sites do MUCH better than sites that only have a small link or just one link throughout their site. We cannot emphasize enough how important exposure is to the success of your campaign.
Make sure you spend some time reading the various tips and promotion ideas that we share with you throughout the Affiliate Resource Center. You'll discover the same secrets that our top affiliates are using so that you can experience the same success.
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10). Q: How much will I be paid when I make a sale?
A: We pay out between 10% and 80%% of our net profit! (i.e. The revenue from a sale minus our costs.)
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11). Q: How many of my visitors that I send to your site can I expect to end up buying?
A: As you probably already know, conversion rates depend on many factors. On average, most BCS affiliates earn one sale for every 95 to 115 visitors they send us for our core product.
We want to make it clear that the type of traffic you generate has a direct effect on the percentage of people that buy. For example, if you are promoting the "Insider Secrets" course on a site that sells horse saddles, it would be more reasonable to expect 1 sale out of every 750 to 900 visitors to the BCS site as these visitors are not targeted (i.e. they're unqualified visitors).
However, if you have a site that explains how to promote your business online or how to start a business online, you could expect to see results such as one out of every 50 visitors buying because they are the perfect qualified visitor with a natural interest in our products.
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12). Q: Do I need a credit card merchant account and a secure site to join?
A: No. That's the beauty of an affiliate program -- we take care of all of the payment processing, secure server technology and even the shopping cart system. All you do is promote our products and cash your commission checks every month!
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13). Q: Can I receive my commissions via Pay Pal?
A: No. All commissions are paid out in US currency checks and are sent by regular mail. Unfortunately, our current system is not yet equipped to perform electronic transfers or to credit affiliate credit cards directly.
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14). Q: How should I incorporate the BCS Affiliate Program into my web site?
A: We offer a whole range of ready-to-use options -- from banners and text links to pop-up windows and ready-to-send e-mail promotions -- that you can easily add to your site or your opt-in mailings. We give you tools you need, but no matter how you integrate them into your web site, we give you complete control.
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15). Q: How will my visitors order?
A: We take care of everything. You just need to direct the visitors to the BCS web site through your affiliate links, and we'll look after taking the order, delivering the product, etc...
When the customer is ready to order, the BCS ordering system takes over, and automatically processes the order -- while recording your affiliate identification number to guarantee that you're credited for the sale.
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16). Q: Can I take orders directly on my web site instead, and just send you the customer information afterward?
A:No. We offer a secure web site which is essential in collecting online orders. Plus, we handle all customer questions and requests, including cancellations and returns.
In fact, that's one of the reasons why earning affiliate commissions is so much
easier than managing your own business! You get to eliminate the hassles of product development, ad writing, order processing, shipping, refunds, and customer service. We do all that. All you do is drive visitors to our site!
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17). Q: What kind of support do you offer?
A:We employ two full-time Affiliate Support Specialists, whose sole focus is to provide you with the answers, advice and trouble-shooting that will help you succeed. They're available to help you during business hours -- e-mail -- and firmly believe that there's no such thing as a stupid question!
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18). Q: Will you supply me with product descriptions and marketing material that I can use on my site?
A: Yes, we supply you with tested "Copy & Paste" e-mail promotions, along with banner and classified ads and even pop-up windows -- all of which are field-tested and proven to work.
In fact, minutes after completing our brief application form, you'll get access to our Affiliate Resource Center, which features our exclusive Quick-Start feature, letting you get up and running within only 5 minutes!
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