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To become a new affiliate and to obtain immediate access to a database of members, fill in the application form and receive approval within 24 hours.
How It Works
The Bone Fish Ltd programme takes our back bone and fully integrates it into your brand
Bone Fish Ltd is the developer of the leading Dating Central Programme — an application that gives companies the opportunity to integrate a fully-manageable dating network into their existing website without the need to worry about customer services, refunds, complaints or site maintenance. It also provides new affiliates who are not owners of existing websites, the chance to start a new business venture in the online dating or social networking sectors without needing any real previous html experience. (We remind you that Bone Fish not only executes the set up of the site, but provides assistance with layout, design and other technical aspects to those that request it). The following steps show how it all works — from completing an application with Bone Fish, right through to getting an affiliate site live.
1) Getting started
Signing up and getting started is incredibly simple. Whether an affiliate is the owner of an existing website or whether he/she is starting from scratch, the process is relatively similar.
Firstly, a potential affiliate needs to fill in an application form, which can be found on the corporate site at http://www.bone-fish.com/register/register.asp, and await approval from the affiliate team.
2) Buying a domain name
Once the application has been confirmed and activated, if the affiliate has not already done so, he/she needs to look into buying a domain name (i.e. from a reputable company such as GoDaddy.com or 123Reg.com), and inform the affiliate team when it has been purchased. Those that are planning on integrating the dating site into their existing site can instead supply the relevant details regarding their active website to Bone Fish. This will enable Bone Fish to start producing a demo site, which will be kept in line with the look and feel of the live site.
3) Developing an identity & defining a niche
At this stage the affiliate is ready to start creating their own brand. The first step in creating a brand is crafting a logo. Most affiliates will already have either a logo that they wish to use, or a logo idea that they wish to expand upon. If the latter is the case, and depending on the complexity of the project, the Bone Fish Creative Department may possibly be able to step in and lend a hand.
Once the logo has been produced, the affiliate needs to ensure that his/her market is clearly defined. Who is the site aimed at? What type of dating site is it to be? Is there a clearly assigned age range and geographical area, and what feel, colours, type face and even stance are to be taken with regard to the site? Those that want to take it one step further may take the opportunity to formulate a slogan and/or sign off line to help reinforce the brand name even further. All of these aspects help not only to design the site, but also to develop an identity.
4) Site layout and design
When all of the above information has been complied, a header and footer for the site would be produced, and one of the standard Bone Fish templates would be modified to follow suit with the branding. (NB: Under instruction, this can either be done by Bone Fish on the affiliate's behalf or by the affiliate him/herself). With the pre-created header and footer, colour pickers, font options, font sizes and many more preferences, a template will thus be adapted to look and feel exactly as the affiliate chooses. It will also include the company logo, slogan and any sign off line that has been provided.
Those with HTML knowledge are able to add their own header; and those that would rather maintain a distance from the technical aspects can leave it in the hands of Bone Fish Ltd. Typically, the header will contain the following elements:
- Logo
- Slogan / Company catchphrase / Hint regarding site content
- Other relevant links or advertising space
Once again, those with HTML knowledge are able to add their own footer; and those that would rather maintain a distance from the technical aspects can leave it in the hands of Bone Fish Ltd. Typically, the footer will contain the following:
- Disclaimer information
- Sign off line
- Contact Information, etc.
5) Viewing the site for the first time
Once the above has been modified and all changes saved, a demo of the site can be previewed through the admin centre at the click of a button. (In fact, a preview can be created at any stage of the modification process above, giving the affiliate the option to change areas that are not to his/her liking).
6) Getting the site live
When it comes to getting the site live, those that have previous knowledge are able to take charge of this step by simply applying the link through to our service or by creating a sub-domain which can be redirected to our IP address — and once again, those that don't have previous knowledge can rely on Bone Fish for assistance.
In short, the IP address of the website needs to be redirected to Bone Fish. However, we leave it up to the affiliate to decide whether he/she wishes to contact the domain name provider him/herself, or whether (upon providing Bone Fish with the domain name account username and password), he/she prefers the company to do it for them in the strictest of confidence. As a norm, it usually takes between 24 and 48 hours for an IP address to be redirected to Bone Fish. However, by this stage the site will be fully-branded, up-and-running and hopefully producing results in no time at all.
7) Marketing solutions
Due to each affiliate having his/her own advertising budget and marketing plan, Bone Fish does not take part in this stage. And although Bone Fish is able to supply information packs and fact sheets regarding issues relevant to this matter, it is up to the individual on how they wish to proceed with the promotion of their site.
8) Other issues
Other more complex issues such as site integration, external hosting, extra site content or additional technical matters are usually talked through, one-on-one, with a member of the affiliate team.
If you require additional information on the intricacies of how it all works, payments and commissions, or site set up and design etc, please email the Affiliate Department who will be happy to send through our behind the scenes information pack: affiliates@bone-fish.com Alternatively, for support please click here.
