Affiliate Marketing Secrets
AFFILIATE MARKETING SECRESTS
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Affiliate Marketing – Definition and Overview
Chapter 2: Advantages and Benefits of Affiliate Marketing
Chapter 3: How Does Affiliate Marketing Work?
Chapter 4: Getting Started With Affiliate Marketing
Chapter 5: How to Find an Affiliate Program?
Chapter 6: Promoting Products through Affiliate Program
Chapter 7: How to Make a Successful Affiliate Website?
Conclusion
Chapter 1: Affiliate Marketing –
Definition and Overview
Affiliate marketing is a way of making money online. It’s really a
simple concept. When you are an affiliate marketer, you promote a
product, service, or site for a business, and you as a publisher get
rewarded for doing so.
In most cases, you find products related to your niche and offer them on
your website or blog. You promote the products and post a link on your
site where they can purchase the products. Then, when someone follows
that link to buy something, you earn a commission. The commissions can
be either a percentage of the sale or a fixed amount. You’ve seen links to
other sites when you’ve read other people’s blogs. These links make the
blogger money.
For example: I write a book about affiliate marketing. Your blog is
centered on tips to make money online. You actually promote and sell the
book from your site. You get a percentage of the sale. It’s like being paid
an advertising or marketing fee.
You may also sell other products that are related to your site. For example:
You blog about cooking and recipes. There are endless numbers of cooking
related appliances or utensils you could sell from your site to make it easier
for them to prepare those recipes.
In other cases, you might earn an amount when someone follows the link
and take some kind of action such as: sign up for something with their
email address or complete a survey with their name and address.
Your earnings are usually tracked by using a link that has a code
embedded in it. This link is only used by you. They may also be tracked
when the advertiser gives you a coupon code. You’ve probably followed a
link from another site at one time or another online. You’ve also probably
bought something where you enter a code. When customers do this, you
make money without doing a thing. They do the work for you.
There are a few factors that help make your affiliate marketing successful.
They include:
- The amount of traffic you have. The higher the traffic, the greater
your earning potential will be. - The quality of the products you recommend. Recommending junk
products can really hurt you, so you want to make sure what you
recommend will be a value to your readers. - The amount of trust your readers have in you. If you have
established trust, your readers are more likely to click on the
link.
Publishers like affiliate marketing for the obvious reason…you get paid
while someone else does the work. You may be in bed asleep and still be
earning money. If you find a product that is relevant to your niche, your
earnings can be good if you have a large following.
You may be wondering why an advertiser would pay people for advertising in
this manner. It’s a matter of cost. They may pay a lot of money for an
advertising campaign that doesn’t pay off. With affiliate marketing,
however, they only pay when the advertising pays off. If they have a
network of affiliates they may make less per sale, but overall, their sales
will increase.
If you have a good level of trust with the people who read your blog, they
will trust that you wouldn’t recommend something they wouldn’t like.
This will cause them to at least look at what you’re recommending. With
the right sales pitch online, you can make it something they “must” have.
If they purchase something from you and it is a good product that they
like, they’re more apt to buy another. They’ll also pass on where they got
it. That will lead more traffic to your site and increase your sales.
Chapter 2: Advantages and Benefits of
Affiliate Marketing
If you’re looking for a way to make money online, you should consider
affiliate marketing. There are numerous benefits to becoming an affiliate.
These include:- There’s no production cost—If you wanted to set up a business selling
products online you’d have to buy, ship, and store the products. It
can be costly. If you have an affiliate program, production cost isn’t
an issue. The merchant has already paid for the development of the
product. - The set-up cost is low—You probably already have a desk, an
internet connection, and a computer. That’s all you need to get
started. - There are no fees or licenses to pay—Affiliate programs are usually
free to join. Your geographic market reach is as big as your ability to
promote your site. The internet is a worldwide marketplace. You can
take advantage of this market. - You can sell almost anything—There are a few blog sites that probably
wouldn’t be able to find a product to promote that is related to their
niche, but they are limited. Almost everything you can think of
is sold online. There are thousands of affiliate programs, so it is easy
to find products related to your current site or the site you are
planning to set up. - You don’t have to handle any sales to make money from them—You
have no inventory, no order processing, and no shipping to deal with.
You making money from sales by promoting the products, not having
take care of the actual sales process. - You can work from home—If you’ve ever had a long commute to
work, you can really appreciate the ability to work from home.
It’s also a great way to get to spend more time with your family.
You won’t have the normal work expenses like gas, buying lunch,
wardrobe, etc. You can work from home in the comfort of your
pajamas if you want. - If you have your computer with you, you can work from anywhere in
the world—Have you ever wanted to travel, but taking off from work
isn’t an option? If so, affiliate marketing is perfect. You take your
office with you. You wouldn’t have to spend more than a few hours a
day working, and you could visit anywhere you wanted and still be
able to work. - There is a minimal level of risk—If you try to sell a product and
it isn’t making you any money, you just stop selling it and try
something else. All you have to do is take down your links and
promote another product. It’s that simple. You don’t have to
worry about being stuck in a long-term contract that binds you
to promote a product that doesn’t sell. - There is potential for high income—With your own affiliate business
online, your potential for income is only limited by your efforts.
Granted, not everyone makes a lot of money. You have to be willing
to put forth the effort to find, set up, and promote the products. If
you promote your products well and build traffic to your site, you can
have a successful affiliate business. - Chapter 3: How Does Affiliate Marketing
Work? - People who want to make money online usually struggle with creating a
website, ads, sales and closing scripts. They also have their own merchant
account services. A few people may actually enjoy going through that
process, but for those who don’t have the time, energy, or desire to put
forth that much energy, affiliate marketing is ideal.
If you want to make money online using affiliate marketing, you don’t
have to worry about the setup. The company usually provides you with
information about the product and product reviews or testimonials that
you can use, however, most people prefer to write their own personal
product reviews.
Your payment gateway is already set up by the business. You don’t have to
worry about handling the money or dealing with refunds.
Here are a few different areas of affiliate marketing and how it works
in these areas:
- What You Offer
All you need to do is use a search engine like Google, and you
can find a list of affiliate programs. A broad search will let you
know every program out there. You may want to only be an
affiliate for products in your niche. If so, then just search for
the niche you’re interested in such as:
- Electronics Affiliate Programs
- Cosmetic Affiliate Programs
- Food Preparation Affiliate Programs
Whatever niche you want can probably be found by simple
searching for it. You may want to look at some of the affiliate
resources that are popular like Clickbank.com or Amazon.com.
There will be a distributor form. It has the terms and conditions
that tell you how you’re allowed to sell their products and what
the commission is.
Here are a few good tips to remember when you’re selecting a
product:
- First, you have either have a website or blog to make decent
earnings. If you don’t at least have a blog, you should begin
one today. Focus it on topics that you are interested in and
know a lot about. With each Clickbank product there are some
statistics mentioned, let me explain them: - Select products that are related to the niche of your
website/blog. - Find items where you’ll end up making at least $20 per sale.
- A good gravity range for selecting products is a range of 50
10- There are some products out there that offer at least 75%
commission. It is good to select those where you’ll make at
least 50%. - Find products with good landing pages. If you’re not satisfied
with the way the website looks for the product you’re
promoting, it will probably be hard for you to convince your
audience to buy those products. Look for well-written sales
copy. - The best way to sell the products you promote is to find those
products that help your readers solve a problem. - Cost
It is usually free to sign up to be an affiliate. Some programs
require a small monthly or annual fee. This helps the business
their website, training, overhead, and use of their payment
processors.
Some vendors will require that the affiliate purchase the product
in order to make the biggest commission. They feel you should
have the product and use it so you’ll be prepared to give it a better
recommendation based on your first-hand experience working
with the product. - Earning commissions
The percentage of commission will vary depending on the
vendor’s terms and the vendor’s conditions. There isn’t a set
commission, and the amount of commission can vary greatly.
The commission you receive is based on these things:
- Commission structure of the product you wish to sell
- The number of people who purchase the product—this will
depend on how you advertise it and how well you connect
with the audience you are targeting - Whether or not the affiliate program is a program that
is leveraged
It is practically impossible to truly determine how much you will
make. The variables are just too great. It really depends on you.
- Receiving commissions
Every vendor has their own method of paying commissions.
There are vendors that will pay you on a regular basis no
matter how little or how much you earn. Others, however,
will not pay you until you reach a minimum threshold. They
can pay you in different intervals such as: Instantly, weekly,
bi-monthly, monthly, or quarterly.
The types of payment you receive can vary as well. You can be
paid by using ways such as: A check in the mail, PayPal, direct
deposit, Federal Express, or pay through a debit card. - Tracking sales
You will be assigned your own ID. It will be built into your
website URL when you sign up and are approved to be an
affiliate.
It works like this. Let’s say you find a company named
www.letsgodecocrazy.com. You find the site and sign as an
affiliate for their product. They will ask you for a user name. You
select “zigzag.” The username can be built into your URL as a
way to advertise. It may be www.letsgodecocrazy.com/zigzag or
http://zigzag.legsgodecocrazy.com.
Sometimes the company assigns you something different.
Sometimes it just looks like a very long line of numbers, letters,
and characters. Whatever is used, that’s the URL you need to use
to send your traffic to. When they buy by clicking on your link, you
get the agreed upon commission. - Sign up process
Research and find an affiliate that right for you. When you find
it, go to their website. Look for something like, “Affiliates,” “Join
Affiliate Program,” or “Partners Program.” Carefully read their
terms and conditions. View all the products they offer. You want
to make sure they are what you’re looking for.
If you clearly understand what you can and can’t do when selling
the product and you feel the commission rate is sufficient, sign
up. They should direct you to a form to fill out online. If you don’t
find an affiliate application, you can either call them or email
them and request one.
They will want to know your name, address, phone, email, and if
they give you a choice, how you want to be paid. Be prepared to
give them your Social Security number. This is for tax purposes,
and you will receive a 1099at the end of the year. Some request it
at the time of the application and others hold your earnings until
they receive it. If you don’t provide it within the time frame
requested, however, you will forfeit any earnings you’ve made. - Marketing
There are many different ways you can market your
product/service online. Sometimes, it will depend on what the
product or service is. It will also depend on you and where your
talents and preferences lie. Here are a few of them:
- Blogging—If you like to write, you may want to write a
blog post that tells what the benefit of your
product/service is. You can use your unique URL and link
it to your affiliate website. - Videos—If you don’t like to write, perhaps making a video
would work better for you. You can tell your viewers about
the benefits of your product. Then, just like the blog, you link
it using your URL. - Articles—You can write and submit articles. When you
submit the articles to directories, you include the benefits
of the product/service. Always remember to link it to the
affiliate with your own URL. - Social Media—The benefits of social media are endless. If
you don’t have a social media page of some kind, such as
Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, you need to have at least
one. You can write a blog or make a note why you’re
recommending this particular product/service and post
your link on your wall. - Solo Ads—You can find a list that is a good fit for your
product/service with an audience that will be interested in
it and have solo ads for that product
Chapter 4: Getting Started With Affiliate
Marketing
Now you know what affiliate marketing is and how it works. If you think this
may be something that will work for you, here are the basic steps you need
to do to get started:- Choose the right niche—When you’re ready to create your affiliate
website, you need to decide the type of product you want to promote
on the site. If you plan to place them on your blog, you’ll want to think
of products that are related to the subject matter of the blog.
Remember, you’re not stuck with this product. If it doesn’t sell, you
can drop it. Choosing a well-paying product that will benefit your
audience is the goal. - Selecting the right affiliate program—You need to research and
find businesses that offer you a commission-sharing program that is
profitable. High commissions don’t necessarily mean it’s something
you want to sell. The products need to be quality products that fit into
your niche. - Planning the right strategy—The right promotional strategy is
important. You need to define your target market. Knowing who your
customers are and what they’re interested in will make it easier for
you to develop topics and discussions that will attract them and bring
traffic to your site. You’ll want to be creative when you place your
affiliate links. This will make your visitors be tempted to want to
know more.
The more traffic you can bring to your site the better. To make a
substantial am ount of money, it is best to have a site that has at least
500 visitors a day. Traffic, however, is not all you need.
You can have all the traffic you could ever want, but if they don’t
click the merchant’s link, it means nothing. You have to entice them
to click that link.
Chapter 5: How to Find an Affiliate
Program?
Before you can build your affiliate website, it is important that you research
the affiliate programs available. Most of the programs will have a directory
you can view by subject to look at all the products that are available. There
are many affiliate networks available. Here are a few of them:
ClickBank.com (http://clickbank.com) —This is one of the best
retail marketplaces for selling digital products like eBooks or software.
There you will find thousands of ebooks in many different categories
like: Computers/Internet, Software’s & Services, Arts & Entertainment,
Health
& Fitness, Business/Investing, Games, Cooking/Foods, Parenting, and
Politics, etc. A large number of these books are written in a “how to”
method. They tell you how to do something or fix a particular problem.
Since there is no manufacturing cost per item for software and eBooks,
the commissions can be high. You can expect commissions from 50
70% on these products. There are two ways you can make money on
ClickBank.
- Create your own products and then sell them. You have to
create a vendor account so you can list your product. You
determine the price of your product and list how much you’ll pay
an affiliate to sell it. If you have a good product, you may get
many affiliates
who want to sell it. You don’t have to worry about all those
accounts. ClickBank automatically credits the right amount
into particular affiliate account. It then credits your account
with the rest - Work as an affiliate to promote products. You may not be
able to or have time to write dynamic eBooks. You may also not
have the resources you need to manage everything. By promoting
products already listed in its marketplace, you can still make
money, and you don’t have to do the work.
When you visit ClickBank, you’ll find some statistics in their listings on
affiliate programs. Here are a few of the terms you will see on the site
and what they mean:
- Initial $/sale—This is the amount you earn per sale
- Avg %/sale—This lets you know the percentage of the
sale price you will receive. - Avg Rebill Total—The amount you might expect in addition to
the initial sale if the product has recurring billing such as monthly
membership fees. - Avg %/Rebill—You will only see this amount if that
individual vendor offers products that have recurring
billing. It allows
you to see the average commission rate to be earned for
that amount of income. - Grav—This lets you know how “hot” the product currently is. If
the gravity is high, it means there a number of affiliates are doing
well selling that product. If it shows low gravity, the number of
affiliates selling this is less. Generally, you should select products
which have a fairly good amount of activity by affiliates.
If you want to sign up for ClickBank, it’s a pretty simple process. You
just need to click the link that says “Sign Up.” You’ll find it on the page
near the top. Just insert the requested details and click “Submit.” It will
give you instructions to follow next. When you’re signed up and have
your own ClickBank ID, you’ll be able to find any product you want to
promote that is on the network.
Look at the products. When you find one you want to promote, simply
click the link to “Promote.” They’ll ask for your ID. Once you give it,
your HopLink, which is your affiliate link, will be created by the site.
When you’re browsing products you’ll see a link to “Promote.” Without
this link, you won’t get credit for your visitors that purchase the
products.
Commission Junction Marketplace—This network provides extensive
reach for advertisers. It also offers high rewards for publishers. It gives
publishers and advertisers who join a way to access information, analyze
results, and manage their programs for success. Here’s how it works for
each:
- Advertisers—You can use the reporting tools on CJ
Marketplace in many ways such as: Creating a call to action,
defining program terms, publisher applications reviewing, and
program performance analyzing. They also have an online
resource, CJU Online that is a way to learn strategies, connect
with publishers, and learn the latest news for the industry. . - Publishers—You can apply to join programs and have access
to all the inventory of links. Then you can start placing offers on
your site, putting them in e-mail campaigns, or in listing them
in search listings.
There are also other ways to find affiliate programs that operate outside
affiliate networks. These won’t be in the directories. Finding out about
them can be a little more difficult. You can always email the merchant
directly if you hear of one and ask them for details.
Sometimes you may see a program that says “Invite Only.” These sites
usually restrict entry either by only admitting people who have
purchased their product, or by reviewing and approving people on a
case-by-case basis.
Chapter 6: Promoting Products through
Affiliate Program
Review the product/service you are an affiliate of—When you
begin to promote your product/services, you’ll want to write a review for
each one you promote. A review is usually only one page and it contains
the following information: - Product, service, or website name
- Description—A brief description of the product, service or website
- Availability—Where the item can be purchased or accessed
- Pros—What you feel is good about the product
- Cons—What you don’t like about the product
- Price—Do you feel the price is fair, too high, or too low
- Recommendation—Why would you recommend or not
recommend this product and who would you recommend it to - Additional comments
- Contact information—Let them know the contact information of
the product/service/website owner
If you’d like to get products you can try out and then review on your
blog, there are two ways to get them: - Join a blog review network—Just complete a form with information
about you and your blog. Once you do, you will get review invitations.
You decide which ones you accept and which ones you decline. If you
accept the invitation, you usually get a product, and it’s yours to keep.
You use it and then write a review. Sometimes, in addition to the
product, you’ll get a form of nominal compensation like a gift card or
sweepstakes entry.
A few networks you may want to consider are:
- Sponsored Reviews (http://www.sponsoredreviews.com/) —
Sponsored Reviews can be used to attract people who will write an
honest product review. The incentive for them is that they’ll earn
cash. - Prizey—If you become a free member, there’s a chance you could
get connected with a PR company. - MomSelect (http://www.momselect.com/)—A review network that
is open to both bloggers and non-bloggers.
The downside to blog networks is not being able to select the invitations
you get. You may be interested in technology, and your blog may be
centered on it. You want to find good products to become an affiliate
with and you want to try them out first to see that they are quality
products, but you may get invitations for dish detergent or shampoo
instead. You can decline, of course, but actually accepting and doing
reviews for them gives you a good opportunity to practice writing
reviews for the products you do want to become an affiliate with. They
also help grow your audience, which is important. This is a great way for
new bloggers to start increasing traffic to their site.
- Ask for them—Find the company you’re interested in becoming an
affiliate with. Ask them if they‘d be interested in sending you a product
you’d like to write a review on and possibly promote on your site. Tell
them a little about you and your blog. It takes a little work to get your
inquiry crafted so that it is clear and persuasive, but once it’s done, it
will be worth it.
Make sure when you accept, it’s a product you think you can stand behind.
In other words, if you’d never pay $100 for a pair of jeans, then don’t accept
the invitation when you receive it. It will be difficult for you to convince
someone else to buy them. It would also be difficult for you to promote
them on your site if you wanted to become an affiliate.
Create a video tutorial on how the product/service works—
Video tutorials are a great for explaining “how to” topics. You can
actually show your audience how to do something, and they get a great
visual which can give them a better understand of how a product/service
works.
Here are the steps you should follow to prepare a good video tutorial: - Write a script—Select a concept or short task you can briefly describe.
You’ll want to make it around 300 words, since videos are ideally three
minutes and no longer than five minutes long. Make the script as much
like conversation as possible. Read through it several times and actually
walk through the steps you want to show your audience. Having your
script on a monitor with the places where you are to perform an action
highlighted can help you stay focused and on task during the video. - Prepare a simulation—Decide the kind of information, event, or
other task you want to show and run through it. Make sure it works
and you can show it in a simple way. Practice it a few times so you can
be sure that your actions line up with your script. - Record the simulation and narration—Ideally, this is done in three
steps:
- Record your script on one monitor and the simulation on another
monitor. Don’t worry if you find yourself slightly deviating from
your script. It happens when you’re trying to be conversational,
and that’s alright. Try to keep your voice natural, but focus on the
simulation. Get clean, smooth screen action. If it’s a computer
simulation, don’t use a touchpad mouse. The movements can be
jerky. Instead, use a regular mouse and drag it smoothly. Avoid
moving the mouse around when you talk, because it causes
editing to be difficult. - Record the audio again—You’ll need to separate the audio
from the video. Then read your script again. Make sure you
pause where you need to pause. When doing this type of
voiceover, try to be aware of things such as: varying the pitch of
your voice, avoid rhymes that are repetitive, enunciate, speak
clearly and confidently, and mix the pace of your speaking so you
will sound as natural as possible. - Match the timing—After you record the audio again, play both
tracks simultaneously. Match the timing. Your pauses may not
match up perfectly, but don’t worry about that. You can adjust the
space between audio waves and come close.
- Simulation post-processing—Go through the audio and the
simulation and take out any long pauses that are unnecessary or any
moments of inaction. You can add callouts where necessary to call
attention to something you want to show on the screen. Give your
video about a two-second title slide. Make sure it describes the purpose
of the video. Fade in your recording as you fade out the title.
The type of software you are using will make a difference in the options
you have for callouts, annotations, and animation. Just be sure to keep
it as simple as possible. The more you add to your video, the greater
the file size. The greater the file size, the more time-consuming it will be
to produce. If you want to integrate a music track, you can browse
istockaudio.com to find a loop or sting. - Publish and integrate the video—Make the video to an MP4 format.
Then upload it to your server. If you upload it to YouTube, it will
automatically render it in HD. Using HD allows any text you use to show
up clear and not blurry. YouTube also has voice recognition software
that automatically syncs your caption with the voice. Simply upload the
script in the captions section. The auto-sync program helps non-native
speakers and those who have difficulty hearing to know what your video
is saying. Search engine optimization is also increased.
Recommend it on your Site or Blog—Once you’ve created the
tutorial, you want as many people to see it as possible. Remember you
want quality content. If your audience is engaged and excited, then they’ll
come back to your site more often, and they’ll stay on it longer.
It is important to remember the quality rule when you’re selecting your
products. A lot of bloggers don’t seem to select their products by the
quality. They just promote anything. Other times they may be promoting
quality merchandise, but they don’t seem to care how they promote it.
They never use a fresh, new approach to promoting products. You should
take the time to consider the vendor. They care about their customers and
their integrity. Poor promotion of their products doesn’t make them look
good.
That’s one reason video tutorials are such a hit. They give your readers a
new look at an old product or a first look at a new product. It helps build
trust with your audience when you provide them with content they feel is
valuable.
Social media—If you’re looking for a powerful medium that helps you
connect with the mass, social media is it. All people who want to be affiliate
marketers have to reach out to a lot of people. Social media sites can help
you do it. Social media can be a powerful tool for affiliate marketers. Social
media websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter give you a chance
connect with the people from different walks of life and share what you
have to say with them.
There are several things you can do through social media to help make
your strategy for affiliate marketing successful. They include:
- Promotion of the affiliate programs—Once you’ve developed
your own following, those listed in your friend’s list will be able to
post all of your posts and links. You can promote the products for
which you are an affiliate through posts and blogs on your page. Fan
pages can be created as well, which will help to improve the
promotion for you. - Bond with your audience—You can increase the number of your
contacts by adding people that will appreciate what you have to say.
By creating interactive groups, you will have better coordination with
your audience. Once you share the information about your affiliate
products with the audience, ask them for their feedback. Feedback
can be valuable in both building bonding with your audience and in
helping you to make needed modifications to your strategy. Let them
know about your affiliate products and look for feedback. - Stay up-to-date—You’ll want to keep current on what is happening
in your market area. Through social media, you can about all of the
new product launches, and which the public really seem to like. This
will help you to know the current trends and help you fine tune your
affiliate marketing strategies in the right direction.
Since you won’t be the only affiliate marketer the competition is high to
make your strategy successful. Here are a few tips that will help you get an
edge over the market on social media sites: - Focus on relationships—Sites such as Facebook, Google+ and
Twitter are social media sites. The key word there is “social.” Make
sure you make connections with the right people and build a good
rapport with them. Try having a fan page that is numberless. This
will help you gain more information. Building a good, strong
relationship with your prospective clients will help with promotion.
They’ll want to pass on what you have to say with friends on their
page. - Add social bookmarking—You can put a social bookmarking
button on your website. Then, ask your visitors to follow. This way, if
people who visit your posts like them, is easy for them to share. There
won’t be a charge for using social bookmarking, so take advantage of
it. - Blog smarter…not harder—Some bloggers work very hard and
spend hour after hour preparing blogs that are seldom seen. When
creating your blog posts you plan to post on your site, blog smart.
The main focus should be to grab the attention of the visitor. Once
you do, give them informative, precise information that they will
find valuable. If you do this, your social media presence will
increase.
Boosting your web presence is important, and these tips will help you do
it. Once you have a good grasp of social media, you’ll find it easier to
find and connect with potential clients. Once you’ve chosen the right
products/services to promote, just be honest and honest with your
prospective customers. If you do, you can win their hearts through social
media.
Email list—A lot of bloggers don’t feel they can make money with
email marketing, so they don’t use it. They fail to see the advantages.
They just feel that it’s not worth their time, so they don’t try it. Just like
a new restaurant…you won’t know what it’s like if you don’t try it. You
may be missing out on something great.
There are some factors you don’t want to overlook as a blogger that will
later be realized as a mistake. Here are a few things you need to be
aware of before you begin your email marketing campaign: - Build your subscriber’s list—You want to have as many as
subscribers as possible on your list. If your email were a blog,
you’d have traffic to it. In email marketing, your subscribers are
your traffic. The more traffic you have for your blog, the better the
results. It’s the same with email and subscribers. The more you
have, the greater the results. - Be original—Many people using email marketing fail to practice
originality in their emails. This is one of the best ways to turn
subscribers into un-subscribers. If people don’t feel your emails
contain original, valuable information, they’ll unsubscribe in a
heartbeat. They don’t want their inbox cluttered with garbage. - Write to prove you’re familiar with what you’re
promoting—Nothing is worse than a “canned” review taken
straight from ad copy. Readers want to feel that you know what
you’re talking about. They’re looking for a personal touch that
shows you know the product. If you can, request the product and
use it first. This gives you first-hand knowledge to share with your
reader. This way, you’ll be better able to answer questions your
readers might have about the products. - Write honest reviews—Every product you review won’t be
“awesome.” Some will just be “average.” Whatever the case may
be, just say so. You can give your reviews a simple number rating
like 1—2—3—4—5. Be sure, however, to give it the rating you feel it
deserves. - Don’t use too many links—Links are great, and you do want to
use them, but there’s no use to have five links in the first
paragraph on the same keyword. You can limit the number of your
links if you are more creative and effective with the ones you use.
For example: Have graphical banners that are custom made which
say things like, “Learn more about the product,” “View the
product,” or “Checkout my review.” These let the reader know
exactly what they’ll be getting at the other end of the link. These
attract the reader, and peak their interest in the product.
Chapter 7: How to Make a Successful
Affiliate Website?
If it was a piece of cake to build a profitable website, everyone would be
doing it. Building a website in itself isn’t that difficult. Building one that
can help you make a good amount of affiliate case, however, can be a bit
more difficult. If you want to build a site that makes you a successful
affiliate marketer here are a few steps you should follow when you create
your site: - Give your customers what they want on your site—People will tell you
there’s no “magic formula” for success in building an affiliate website.
While this may be true to some extent, there are a few things your
customer will want that will help make your site successful. These
include:
- Quality content—I can’t stress enough how important it is to
give your readers content that they will value and appreciate. Filler
content just won’t cut it. When you create your site, focus on
building one that gives your readers revolutionary new
information, quality advice, and valuable resources.
Remember that it’s just as easy for a reader to “click out” of your
site as it is for them to “click on” it. I’m sure you’ve searched for
something on Google and found a site that looked interesting by
the title. You open it, and find something that doesn’t give you any
help whatsoever. The first thing you do then is click the “back”
button and go back to the search to look for something that does
give you something you can use. Your readers will do the same
thing. Give your readers information you would find valuable.
Everything on your website—your articles, your blog posts, your
videos, your pictures, etc—should give the reader what they were
searching for. This will, more than likely, make them want to
continue reading. It may also make them want to make a
purchase.
If you’re worried about providing quality content, here are a
few tips that will guide you:
Don’t try to optimize your site solely for search engines.
Optimize them for the people who visit your site and will
read it. If you do this, you’ll get more people to your site, so
the search engine numbers will take care of themselves.
Research your content thoroughly to be sure it is correct.
Just like giving quality content adds a positive impact to
your site, giving your readers incorrect information can have
a negative impact on your site.
Give the reader what you say you’re going to give them. There’s
nothing worse than wasting your time reading an article that
doesn’t tell you what it says it’s going to. If you say you’re going
to give them 10 ways to overcome their fears, you should give
them 10 ways to overcome their fears. If your title suggests it,
and they click on you in the search,
make them glad you did by giving them the valuable
information they want. - A design that is neat, attractive easy to use design—Thank
goodness the days of ugly websites are coming to an end. It isn’t
acceptable to have tacky animated graphics or banner ads on your
site. Often, however, you still see affiliate marketing sites that look
like they came from the ‘90’s.
Your website is your potential customer’s first look at you. It gives
them an overall impression of you. You want it to be one that will
inspire confidence so people will trust you. Visit other sites online.
Look at the ones that make you want to read them and the ones
that make you want to click out immediately. If you don’t have a
site that is neat, attractive, and easy to use, it will look
unprofessional and make your viewers hit the dreaded “back”
button.
You don’t have to have difficult coding know how or purchase
expensive design software to have a really nice, professional
looking website. On programs like WordPress, you can create a
great site with a few clicks of the mouse and an attractive theme.
That means there’s no reason at all you should have an old
looking, unattractive site. - Great opt-in forms—Although there may be some exceptions
to the saying that “the money is in the list,” it is basically a solid
framework for getting the most for your money in affiliate
marketing. You can build good relationships with your readers by
encouraging them to “opt in” to your list. As a result, you may also
be able to increase your profits through the use of pre-selling and
by having multiple sales per customer.
Getting people to do this isn’t as easy as it may seem. One of the
biggest challenges you may face as an affiliate who uses email
marketing is implementing opt in forms and squeeze pages that
are able to convert your readers to members of your list. You can
have great content and pre-sells, but if your opt-in forms are ugly
or misplaced, you may end up with only a few subscribers.
You can create effective opt-in forms hat can give you an
unstoppable opt-in magnet if you have two important things:
A great hook—The hook should be something that makes
people want to subscribe to your list when they see it. It
might be an eBook that they would usually have to pay $30
dollars for that you’re giving them for free. It may be a free
gift of some kind. Whatever it is, write the hook so that it
sounds irresistible! Make them think, “Wow, they’re giving
that to me for free just for signing up? I’d be stupid to turn
that down.”
Opt-in forms that convert—You should design them with
high conversions in mind. Make sure they’re attractive. You
want to make sure they are well placed. Place them where they
will be clearly seen but not in a manner that they distract
from your content. - First-rate customer service—If you have a competitor that
offers pretty much the same merchandise, one way to win
customers over that competitor is to have better customer
service. I mean if site one and site two are alike, and site one has
bad customer service, where is the customer going to
go…straight to site 2— YOU!
You can have the most attractive website in the world with the
most attractive, well-placed opt-ins, but it won’t matter a bit if
you don’t treat your customers with the respect and courtesy
they deserve.
No, you don’t have to handle their orders or returns, but you still
need to offer customer service. You need to make sure that you
reply to email inquiries, blog comments, and even complaints
promptly. Be kind and courteous in your replies and try to give
your customers the answers they want. If you don’t know, don’t
say, “I don’t know.” Look it up! Sure, they could look it up
themselves, but then you might lose them as a customer. If you
take the time to look it up for them, they’ll remember that.
They’ll also pass on to their friends how kind you were to them.
This will give you that “site 2” customer service that wins over
that “site one” site in the battle for new and returning customers.
If you want to build an affiliate website that will bring you good profits,
you need to make sure you do it right. Make sure it has everything you
need and make sure it’s done in the right manner. A good baker wouldn’t
leave out ingredients or add salt instead of sugar. Put in everything you
need and do it in the right manner, and you’ll have a successful,
professional looking website.
Conclusion
If it’s done right, affiliate marketing can be a profitable business. The thing
to remember, however, is that it does require some work on your part. You
can’t just set up a site and do nothing. You have to promote your items. The
more you do and the more effectively you do it, the more you’ll sell.
Affiliate marketing isn’t something you can dive into with enthusiasm and
give up after a few weeks with no profit. Building your audience, email lists,
and customers takes a little time. Patience is a virtue—stick with it, and
your patience will be rewarded. Be impatient and give up, and you’ll fail.
In order to succeed in affiliate marketing, you really need to get
passionately involved. You need to actively work to grow your business
and to solving your reader’s problems.
It is important to remember that doing things just for the money seldom
works out right. That’s why you should select products you would use
yourself. Be passionate about them and have confidence in them, and
you’ll be able to promote them more effectively. It’s easier to write about
things you are confident in. Sometimes, that won’t even seem like work to
you because you enjoy doing it.
Affiliate marketing isn’t for everyone, but if you’ve bought this book, and
read this far, you’re definitely interested in it. One key thing you need to
remember is that “without customers, you have no business.” That’s a very
literal comment, but it’s also a very powerful comment with two separate
and definite meanings:
- If you don’t promote your product and attract potential customers
to your site, then it’s pretty much useless to have a site. You’ll
never make a profit if the customers never see your products.
Know your target market and find ways to get them to see what
you have to offer. Promote it in a way that will attract them to
your site. - Your customers are your lifeline—treat them well! Don’t give up
once you’ve attracted customers. Know you need them to keep
your business profitable. Center your business on those
customers. Get to know your customers and what they’re looking
for. You can survey your target market to find out exactly what
they want. Once you know that, give it to them.
One of the biggest mistakes an affiliate marketer can make is to
misjudge their customers. It’s not enough to think you can sell
product X because someone else did and made a profit. If your
audience is only interested in product Y, then you’ll never sell
product X to them. What you should be offering instead is product
Y. Your customer’s wants and needs should be what your site is all
about. Tell them what they want to know and offer products they
want to buy, and you’ll have satisfied customers and your
audience will grow.
People who passionate about the niche they are working in and truly like
the products they sell can do really well in affiliate marketing. This is
because they believe in what they’re selling and enjoy what they’re doing.
That doesn’t mean you have to be passionate about it to make a profit— you
don’t. What you do need to be, however, is dedicated to it. It’s YOUR
business. YOU decide what to sell. YOU decide how you want to promote it,
and YOU have to do the work. It does take a little effort, but by doing the
right research, finding the right products, and promoting them in the right
way, YOU will be the one making the profit
