I’ve been using DigiResults as my affiliate network for my new product for a few weeks now so I thought I’d give you the skinny on this affiliate network. If you’re thinking of listing a new digital product, I heartily recommend you give DigiResults a good look and consider this complete DigiResults review as I go over the major points associated with it.
Cost – First and foremost, let’s consider the costs associated with getting your product on DigiResults and the cost which they claim for themselves. It costs absolutely NOTHING to list your product in their marketplace and sell through DigiResults whereas Clickbank, for example, charges $50 for every new product.
And unlike Clickbank or other affiliate networks with stringent screening processes which your product and sales page have to go through before you can get your product approved to be sold, DigiResults is no hassle.
That means you could very easily test a new product and see how it sells without having to spend a dime. Awesome. How about cost per transactions? DigiResults also offers some of the lowest cost per transactions/their take per sale in the market, substantially lower than Clickbank, as well, at just $0.50 + 5% per sale over $10. That’s much more manageable than the $1 + 7.5% which Clickbank takes for themselves.
So for a $100 product, DigiResults only claims $5.50 per sale versus the $8.50 which Clickbank would take. That difference of $3 really adds up after many many sales.
Payment – Instant payment is one of the great things DigiResults has to offer which is likely to attract a lot of merchants AND affiliates as they catch wind of it. Merchants and affiliates are paid via their Paypal accounts AS SOON AS the sale is completed. The money is divided based on the commission split and both the merchant and affiliate can access that money immediately and transfer it to their bank accounts.
Refunds – Another place where DigiResults is a breath of fresh air is in the refund category. DigiResults puts the refund in the merchant’s hands, so it’s up to you to grant or deny a refund on a case by case basis. If you grant the refund, DigiResults automatically takes the commission split from both the affiliate and the merchant to issue the refund to the customer.
This is a welcome alternative to Clickbank who is bound to a very liberal refund policy. Clickbank is a reseller but with DigiResults it’s really being sold from you to the customer with DigiResults handling the payment. Therefore your return policy is all on you, so you should make it a good one (see how to make a return policy).
Clickbank/PayDotCom Integration – What? Integration with two direct competitors? This is a cool feature for anyone who is currently selling their product through Clickbank or PayDotCom and wants to switch to DigiResults but doesn’t want to lose (or piss off) their existing affiliate base by making them switch to another affiliate network. In the settings section of DigiResults for the product you want to switch, select the affiliate network you’re currently using, and then swap out the purchase link to DigiResults and you’re done, that’s it.
Your affiliates don’t have to make any adjustments, they can still get their money through their affiliate network, and DigiResults doesn’t even take a cut of it for themselves to make it all happen.
Furthermore, this allows you to sell your product through BOTH DigiResults and Clickbank but with one sales page and sales funnel… very nice if you are dead-set on selling through Clickbank or just want as many affiliates as you can get from marketplaces alone.
Specials – Another very cool feature of DigiResults is the option to very easily create special discounts of your product which you can share with certain people and sources. For example, if you want to email your list or give someone else the ability to email their list to promote your product while offering a special discounted price, you can set that up right here hassle free.
Support – Amazing. This is where DigiResults really soars above it’s competitors who give you stock responses and promises of 24-48 hour windows because of “high traffic” or something to that effect. This being my first product with them, I understandably had a lot of questions to ask them.
My initial email to them before I listed my product with them had about a dozen questions about their policies. They got back to me by the time I woke up the next morning with complete answers and explanations to each of my questions. The only delay in their response was because of the time difference as they are located in the UK and I was writing from the East Coast USA.
This is a company who takes their support seriously and is looking to be around for a long while.
Criticism – Of course this wouldn’t be a complete DigiResults review without some criticism to keep everything honest.
- No Recurring Product Support – I’m interested in putting together my first recurring product membership site in the coming months. DigiResults at present does not have recurring product support, just one time purchases, but they have consistently stated that they’re working on it and it’s on the top of their list (because everyone’s starting to use them and this is the most common request). Ideally they’ll get it rolled out soon given how profitable it would be for all involved.
- Affiliate Support – Affiliate support is not as prevalent as with Clickbank because they don’t have the same level of fame which Clickbank has. This will improve as more and more affiliates get wind of the system.
- Bad Affiliates – You have to take the bad with the good, and in DigiResults’ case this means that you have bad affiliates who are looking to exploit the good instant commission policy. In other words, because affiliates are paid immediately for sales which they generate for you, they can close their Paypal account and leave you to pick up the entire return if the customer wants a refund and you grant one. Fortunately, if you follow my guidelines on how to screen affiliates to screen every new affiliate who applies to your affiliate program (they have to apply and be approved before they can market your product), you’ll encounter little problems with bad affiliates.
UPDATE: As of today (Dec. 16th) actually I just received an email from Andy Fletcher, the owner of DigiResults and he mentioned a few awesome updates which have just cleared at the affiliate network.
Affiliate Payment: I’ve mentioned reservations at DigiResults’ instant payment situation where bad affiliates can exploit it and leave you having to pick up the bill on returns in full after they skip town (their Paypal accounts). As of today, you can set a payment delay on all new affiliates so that they don’t get their money for a period of your choosing (up to 60 days). Better yet, you can choose which affiliates get paid immediately and for which ones the delay applies. Why is this important? Because you can allow your good affiliates whom you trust keep their instant commissions whereas new affiliates/unproven affiliates you can make wait 60 days to cover your return policy. Very cool.
Other noteworthy updates and improvements as taken from Andy’s email:
Taxes – For all American vendors, you can now export W9 data from your sales so you can fill in your tax forms painlessly
Paypal Checkout Screen Customization – You can customize your PayPal checkout screen with your own business logo so your customers get a more professional sales experience
Specific Commission Rates – You can set commission rates for individual affiliates and products, so if there’s one awesome affiliate who you want to give an extra-special deal, you can give them a special rate.
Better Analytics – Your dashboard now shows a breakdown of all earnings for the past 8 weeks, so you can watch your profits climb and track business performance
Launch Stats – Your products screen now shows the full size of your launch, so you’ve got solid proof of the 5 or 6-figure launch to brag about to your friends.
Better Product Selection/Marketplace Navigation – The average EPC is now shown for all products in the marketplace, so you can see at a glance the super-hot products to promote.
Bottom Line: It just keeps getting better and better over at DigiResults and Andy and the rest of the DigiResults team are committed to not only compete with the likes of Clickbank but instead making themselves THE premier affiliate network for digital/other products regardless of whether you’re a merchant or an affiliate.