Should I be an affiliate?

[GregF]

I'm a technology consultant in the Bay Area. I'm often brought in to solve technology needs for business, however I'm finding this often spills into the home theater arena. The client either wants displays and entertainment set up at their office, or they ask me if I can come and do things for them at home.

I usually recommend DirecTV when a client wants entertainment piped in. But wherever possible I like to maximize my gains. I recently realized I could be an affiliate, and I might even look into growing my business and becoming a dealer.

For now though, it makes the most sense to give the business to a professional company and get some kind of commission.

I'm curious to hear the general thoughts of others with knowledge in this area. And here are some specific questions:

What company should I become affiliated with?

Is it worthwhile to think of becoming a dealer? Between myself and my handyman, and some training, we could handle it. Just not sure if it's worth the time and investment.

Any other thoughts welcome.

[Mertzen]

You could either affiliate somehow with a local retailer but of course then you have two reputations to deal with and the commissions might not be too high.
Becoming a D* dealer isn't all too easy especially when you probably don't have bulk volumes of new customers. The customers you do acquire you also have to support for one year after activation. This might come in the way of your regular business. There are ways to make it work as a dealer but not sure if they work for low volume.

[joe diamond]

For years I was an affiliate with American Satellite and Entertainment. Every check was accurate and on time. I recommend them highly. However, they stopped doing fulfillment installations so the sales aspect is the only function available.
The downside being that anything you sell will be installed by Directv HSP personnel. That will mean different things in different places.....you will have to somehow insert yourself into the local installation office to make sure your sales efforts get installed on time without issues. If you do the site survey yourself and screen the credit situation it could be good.

Good luck,
Joe