Quite often you'll see merchants go one of two ways on PPC marketing:
1) Any affiliate can promote them in PPC's (which is what Marifer is suggesting here). You create the pay-per-click account, pick the words, make the bids, etc. The most successful of affiliates I see doing this are the ones that sign up for multiple (in this case, "flooring") affiliate programs and try to make the sale on a few. You can also mix and match You are taking a bit of a hit because you're only making affiliate commission and not a full sale commission, however, you also have quite a few sites in which your user can select from. So you'll
usually make up for it in increased conversions.
2) Option 2, The merchant issues an email to all affiliates warning them they cannot bid against
Fast Floors in PPCs, which drives up their costs by having to compete with you for competitive terms like
hardwood flooring, laminate flooring, etc.
Personally, I think any business that selects option 2 is just driving away potential affiliates... because there will
always be a competitor that allows option 1. So you're "competing" for PPC bids anyway... only you're now competiting with your competitor's affiliates who are sending him traffic!
If you think you'd like to dive into this method of affiliate marketing, be sure to start off small with less competitive keywords and keep yourself on a strict budget. Do be ingenuitive, and make sure that you brainstorm on what complementary products for your page. In the case of FF, people putting in new floors are possibly remodeling an entire room. I'd try to strike deals with other home improvement companies, contractors, hardwood installers, etc to increase the likelihood my PPC clicks aren't wasted by a browser-close or back button hit.
It's all a delicate balance and sensible arguments can be made for both sides. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
