What differentiate you and a
Super Affiliate? Both of you all selling the same product, and both of
you may have a similar looking sales page. But you would be lucky to
make 1% of what he makes per month.
The number one reason have to
be persistence and hard work.
The Super Affiliate may be
more established, have a much larger opt-in list, have more JV contacts,
more knowledgeable and net-savvy.
But, have you ever asked
yourself how did that particular Super Affiliate gets to where he is
today? He must have been one of us, the marketer that work so hard for a
small return (if any).
The following are some
practical but invaluable tactics to increase your affiliate commission,
and hopefully, can be utilized as a springboard to elevate yourself to a
Super Affiliate level:
Discussion Board/Chat Room
This can be a time consuming
strategy but from my experience, it is the most potent one. Participate
in discussion boards or chat rooms related to the product you are
reselling. Search through the board to answer a related question posted
by someone else, post your own question, or start a conversation with a person. You should never
start trying to sell anything to them from the onset. Just help them solve a
problem or provide some suggestions or alternatives. Later on,
while you are re-posting/chatting, mention the product you are
reselling (provided that the board allows this or else, do this in
personal chat or ask the other person if you could email them). Must bear in mind that, you should always PRE-sell, not sell.
In other words, tell them the benefits of the product and why you think
it is better than the rest. Of course, it would be much easier to
pre-sell a product that you had bought/used. Alternatively, if
acceptable, include your affiliate text link under each message you
post, like a sig file.
Free eBook
Create a free ebook with a
subject related to the product you are reselling. Subtly (or in the
world of Googles, unobtrusively) add the advertisement and link of
your affiliate web site. Also submit it to some ebook directories.
However, do bear in mind that there are literally thousands and
thousands of ebooks out there today and most are less than useful with
information that basically doesn't tell you anything unless you purchase
the advertised product. As an example, an ebook/article on "How to
Increase your Affiliate Commission by 1000% in 1 Week" will normally
ends with "I guarantee that you will increase your affiliate commission
by 1000% in 1 week if you purchase these products, or join all the free
programs mentioned". Try to differentiate yourself from the rest by
writing an ebook that will be useful and helpful to readers on its own
without them having to purchase anything, but at the end of the day,
will draw your target audience to make a purchase or download your
affiliated product. Now, that is a tricky one.
Affiliate Program
Directory
If writing is one of your
weaknesses or you simply just don't like to write,
here is a simple but potentially profitable idea. The easiest and
uncomplicated way is to start your own affiliate
program directory. Better still, a niche directory. Join a large number of
related affiliate programs and list
them all in a directory format on your web site. It is recommended to
join an affiliate network such as
CJ.com
, which has hundreds of
different affiliate programs from their merchants, and the best part is,
all your commission will be accumulated, and hence, you will reach your
minimum pay-out faster. Once your web site is completed, all you
have to do is to just advertise
your free affiliate program directory.
Your Own
Affiliate Program Ads
The best
affiliates always write their own affiliate program ads.
Most of the time, we tend to use the standard
ads provided by the merchant of the affiliate program. But if all the other affiliates use the same
ads you do, that does not really give you an edge over
your competition. Using a completely different but more creative ad will give
you an added advantage over all the other affiliates. Additionally,
instead of promoting your affiliate URL which points directly to
the merchant's homepage/sales page, it is more effective to use
a "pre-selling"/splash page that explains all the benefits of
the product. From my experience, 99% of my affiliate sales came
from such method.
Use a
Personal Endorsement Ad
If you've actually bought the
product or service for the affiliate program, then give it a personal
endorsement by telling your readers how the product/service has
benefited you and/or the results you've received
using the said product. If you haven't bought the product/service yet,
you can still use other people's endorsement or testimonials on
your web site, provided it is approved by the merchant, or
better still, by the endorsee. However, this is normally not as
effective as your own personal endorsement. Why should others
buy a product recommended by you when you yourself have not even
tried or tested it out yet? And your credibility will be hurt if
your recommended product turns out to be a dud or a scam.
Believe me, this happens even to the established marketers, and
it will take them a long time to regain back the credibility and
trust.
Signature File
One old but
still effective ways to promote is to advertise the product
you're reselling in your signature file. Use an
direct but attention getting headline and a good reason for them to
visit your affiliate site. For effectiveness, make sure your sig file
does not exceed 5 lines. If your web site provide a free email
account to your visitors, this technique can be highly 'viral'.
Use an ad sig file to attach to all your free email user
accounts. I'm still using this method to promote
SiteSell
and although I have not updated or promoted my free email
service for many years, once in awhile, I still get a sale
through it.
Free
Newsletter or Ezine
You may have
heard that "The Money Is In The List", and at most time, this
sentence is true. Create a free
newsletter or ezine and use it to provide useful information to
readers, and advertise the affiliate programs you've
joined on the sideline. Your content must be unique to the those already
out there in order to build a sizeable and profitable list. If
all your content only ends with affiliate links to products you
are reselling, then you can forget about building a list. This
used to be a model strategy but today, there are so many net
marketers using this method that it is not as effective as
before. My advice is to be different. Really provide content
that will be helpful and only recommend products that you have
used successfully. In addition, you can submit your newsletter/ezine to online
directories, which will do no arm to your search engine
position.
Start a Private
Web Site.
This may be a
more advanced method. You will
definitely need to utilize a Private Site script for better
management and payment processing. Members to your private site
can access your library of free ebooks, softwares or goodies.
But the real strategy here may not be to make money selling
memberships. Use it as a free bonus if people buy the product you
resell. Alternatively, your private site could also allow people to join for
free and you could advertise the affiliate
program you've joined.
