Affiliate Marketing Pro Strategies
Tips and Techniques That Lead To Fast and Consistent Results
Sergio Rodriguez www.SolidWebTools.com
Copyright © by Sergio Rodriguez
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: What is Affiliate Marketing?
Chapter 2: Why Affiliate Marketing?
Chapter 3: Why Do So Many Affiliate Marketers Fail?
Chapter 4: Understanding All the Affiliate Marketing Jargon
Chapter 5: The Tools You Should Have in Place Before You Start
Chapter 6: Niche Selection and Market Research
Chapter 7: Choosing Your Affiliate Marketplaces
Chapter 8: Criteria for Choosing High Converting Products to Promote
Chapter 9: Creating Reviews
Chapter 10: Increasing Your Conversions and Affiliate Sales
Chapter 11: Building Your Buyers’ List
Chapter 12: The Best Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Affiliate Links
Chapter 13: Fulfilling Your Bonuses Promised
Conclusion
Introduction
Being an affiliate marketer is one of the most financially rewarding methods of making money
online. In fact, no other method even comes close, in my opinion. Why? Simple, you basically
sell other people’s products and services to online buyers who are actively looking to buy the
very same thing you are promoting. It’s really a very simple business model. As affiliates, we
connect buyers to sellers, and make a profit in the process. It really is that easy.
Think about it. Every other type of online money-making opportunity requires you to invest in
some sort of product or service. You either have to create your own product, which will cost you
money, or you have to create a platform (e.g. a website) to sell other people’s products, which
also requires money. With affiliate marketing, that’s not the case at all. You can easily become
an affiliate for a product vendor or merchant for free and share your affiliate link without any
out of pocket expenses. You can share your link on social media, in forum posts, and even in the
comments section of blog posts where people are discussing the very same product that you are
promoting. Sounds like a win-win opportunity if you ask me.
Now don’t get me wrong, there will obviously be some costs associated with affiliate marketing
when you’re ready to take it the next level. But the reality is that it’s the most cost-effective way
to get started making money online. As for expenses, those will come as you start to scale up
and you have full control as to how much and/or how fast you want to grow your income.
Within this book, you’re going to discover what affiliate marketing is, and how to best utilize this
amazing business model to generate an online income. I’ve covered absolutely everything you
need to know to get started. My goal for you is that you take this information, apply it, and start
to see results as soon as possible. So, without further delay, let’s jump right into it.
Chapter 1: What is Affiliate Marketing?
As an affiliate marketer, you’ll promote other businesses’ products and earn income based on
the traffic and sales you generate. When you become an affiliate, you agree to the T&Cs (terms
and conditions) of your merchant’s program, and you use a specific link to promote the product.
When a visitor clicks the link, a cookie is placed on their computer. If they make a purchase, the
seller checks for the cookie and credits you with a sale according to the terms of your contract.
Best Practices for Affiliate Marketers
The most successful affiliates apply the process to their social media accounts, lead generating
funnels, and websites. It’s best to promote products you know and those that fit in with your
past and current experience. This strategy typically falls into the area of related marketing, when
you leverage the online presence you’ve already established. However, affiliate marketing can
be unattached as well, which means that you start with no presence or authority in the niche.
Finally, there’s involved marketing, where you promote services and products you use and
personally recommend. Below is a quick guide to how it works.
Signing up For an Affiliate Program
Once you sign up for an affiliate network, you’ll find a range of offers in various niches. Most
networks allow you to search and view sellers and offers by keyword or by niche, and you can
promote all the offers on the list from the moment you sign up.
Promoting Products Via Affiliate Links
You can promote products and sellers in a variety of ways. To be successful in your promotions,
you’ll need to be engaging and creative. It pays to think outside the box when trying to gain
conversions. You can find buyers for your products virtually anywhere on the Internet.
Visitors are Redirected to the Seller’s Site
When your affiliate links are all set up, you’re ready to make money. Sellers track visitors as they
click on your links, and those visitors are tagged with your referral ID number. When the
purchase is made, the seller sends payment to you.
Affiliate Marketing Builds Relationships Between Publishers, Advertisers, and Buyers
Affiliate marketing helps to build strong relationships between sellers, publishers, and
customers. When you become an affiliate, you’re basically a publisher. The advertiser or
merchant has a contractual agreement to provide you with the creative aspects to promote
their products; these direct your website visitors and social media followers back to the seller’s
site. By gaining a greater understanding of the affiliate/seller relationship, you can advance your
e-commerce strategies and find new ways to develop and grow your business.
Chapter 2: Why Affiliate Marketing?
If you’re looking for a way to monetize your social media accounts, website or blog, affiliate
marketing is a great way to do it. Not only can you make money, you can help your followers
and visitors find solutions to their most pressing problems. Promoting products that you’ve used
yourself is easy for you, because you have firsthand experience with them, and it makes things
easier for your customers because they find everything they’re looking for in one place. When
they make a purchase, you make a commission. It really is that simple! Below are several
reasons to try your hand at affiliate marketing.
You Get to Choose Your Niche
When you become an affiliate marketer, you’re the one in charge. Use your own personal
interests and hobbies to create a profitable business around any topic you choose. Life is too
short to be stuck in a boring job you hate. With affiliate marketing, you get to do (and promote)
things you really enjoy.
You Get to Set Your Own Hours and Be Your Own Boss
While affiliate marketing isn’t a ‘set it and forget it’ business, and it takes effort, you’re the one
in charge and YOU get to decide when to work. If you want to work a 12-hour shift and take the
next day off, it’s entirely up to you. When you become an affiliate marketer, you won’t have to
worry about a boss nagging you to meet important deadlines—because you’re the boss!
You Can Work From Wherever You Want
Affiliate marketers are at an advantage because they can take their work with them wherever
they go. If you like to travel, it’s the perfect solution. If you like working out of a coffee shop, or
if you want to go on a ‘working vacation’, it’s up to you. With affiliate marketing, you have the
freedom to choose.
No Selling is Involved
While affiliate marketers are in the sales business, no direct selling is involved. All you have to
do is recommend products to those who may benefit from them or find something of value in
them. You’re not selling; you’re helping others solve their problems.
You Don’t Have to Own or Store Products
One of the best things about affiliate marketing is that you don’t have to warehouse or own
products. When you recommend someone else’s products, you get a commission when a site
visitor makes a purchase. The best thing is, when you’re promoting others’ goods, you don’t
have to worry about customer complaints or returns because the seller does all that for you.
Make a Profit All Day, Every Day
Affiliate marketers can even make money while they’re sleeping. When you promote others’
products, you don’t have to be present when someone makes a purchase; the commission goes
directly into your affiliate account. While most workplaces tell you what you’re going to make,
there’s no limit with affiliate marketing. It takes consistency, hard work, and determination to
make it, but once you do, the rewards are incredible.
When you get into the affiliate marketing game, you can be there for your family, you can set
your own hours, and work wherever and whenever you want. Because you can take your work
with you, work won’t stop you from having a life. Hopefully, you can inspire those around you to
take control, follow their own dreams, and do what they genuinely love to do.
Chapter 3: Why Do So Many Affiliate Marketers Fail?
Out of the thousands of people who try to become affiliate marketers each and every year, only
a small number ever become successful enough to truly change their lives. Is it because things
are too competitive, and too complicated, or is it because affiliate marketing doesn’t live up to
the hype? Having met so many successful marketers, I can honestly say that the last reason is
simply untrue. Affiliate marketing success depends on three qualities: dedication, perseverance,
and most importantly, consistency.
Desire & Dedication
If you were thinking of taking up a new hobby and you wanted to become proficient enough at
it to quit your day job, think of how dedicated you’d have to become. Let’s take the sport of golf
as an example. A professional golfer hits hundreds of shots per day, whether they really want to
or not, because that’s what they have to do to be good at it. They carefully study the process,
they find and fix their faults, and perhaps most importantly, they stick to a training program.
While the book Outliers states that someone must put in a minimum of 10,000 hours of work to
become a master at their endeavors, I don’t think it will take you anywhere near that long to
become a great affiliate. However, you should approach the effort with the same level of
consistency and determination. It’s rare to find someone who follows a system precisely, but
this is the type of person who eventually succeed.
Choose a Method and Follow It
Over the past few years, there have been many affiliate marketing systems, and most of them
offer good advice. However, their techniques can be repetitive and tedious, and in many cases,
it may take several months to see results. Just like training to play golf, it takes dedication to
succeed. When you’re ready to give up because you’re not seeing any results, ask yourself these
three simple questions:
• How much time have I spent researching a niche before selecting it?
• How many pieces of content have I posted and/or written?
• How many social posts have I created, or niche sites have I put together?
We’ve seen most of the top affiliate marketing programs, and they all have one thing in
common: They do not promise to be successful if you don’t do your research, write content, and
engage with your audience through social media or your own website.
Finding the Time
By now, you may be saying, “There just isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done!”
While that may be true for a small number of people, it doesn’t apply to most. The average
person spends four hours per day watching television; just think of what you could accomplish if
you used half that time to focus on your online efforts. With time, effort, focus, and a system in
place, you can become successful in much less than 10,000 hours. If you’re serious about
success, you should ask yourself, “Am I doing everything possible to make my dreams come
true?” If the answer is no, now is the perfect time to start!
Chapter 4: Understanding All The Affiliate Marketing Jargon
If you’re going to become an affiliate marketer, you should understand the most common terms
used in the business. Below is a short glossary of affiliate marketing terminology.
• Affiliate: You, the site owner, who earns commissions for referring leads, sales, and
clicks to merchants.
• Agreement: The terms between you and the merchant.
• Information page(s): The part of your website that explains what the program is about.
• Affiliate link: A snippet of code in text or an image. It’s placed on your site to notify the
merchant that you should be credited for a visitor or customer that’s sent to their site.
• Manager: The person responsible for creating newsletters, setting up incentive
programs, budgeting, forecasting, supervising the front-end marketing effort, and
keeping up with industry trends.
• Affiliate program: Here, a merchant pays you a commission for sending sales, clicks, and
leads to their site.
• Program directory: A list of programs that includes information such as affiliate
numbers, commission rates, and provider names.
• Solution provider: The company that offers the software, network, and services
necessary to create and track affiliate programs.
• Auto approval: An approval process wherein every applicant is automatically approved
for the affiliate program.
• Commission: The income you get for generating click-throughs, sales, and leads for a
merchant. It’s sometimes called a finder’s fee or referral fee.
• Cookie: A small file that’s stored on a site visitor’s computer. It records information for
the merchant, such as what the customer bought and who generated the sale.
• Contextual link: Affiliate links are integrated into relevant text.
• Conversion rate: The number of clicks resulting in a lead or sale.
• CPA (cost per action): The cost of each commissionable activity.
• CPC (cost per click): The cost of each click on a link.
• CPM (cost per thousand): The cost of 1000 ad banner impressions.
• CPO (cost per order): The cost paid for every completed order.
• eCPC (effective cost per click): Affiliates earning on CPAs or CPOs will enter their
numbers into an eCPC, which is the total earnings divided by the number of clicks.
• Hybrid model: A commission model with CPA and CPC payment options.
• Merchant: An online seller of services and goods. Many merchants establish these
programs as a cost-efficient way to get people to take a certain action, such as visiting a
site or making a purchase.
• Pay per sale: You get a commission every time you refer a person to the merchant site
and a purchase is made.
• Pay per lead: You get a commission for every lead you generate for the merchant.
• PPC (pay per click): You get a commission for each visitor you refer to the merchant’s
site.
• Predatory advertising: A method that overlays banners or links on websites, or uses
other ways to redirect or overwrite affiliate links.
• Residual earnings: A program that pays you for not just the first purchase a customer
makes, but all subsequent purchases they make as well.
• ROAS: Short for return on advertising spending, or the amount generated for each dollar
spent on ads.
• ROI: Return on investment. The more sales are made, the higher the profit margin and
the greater the ROI.
• Super affiliates: The top 1% of affiliates who make the majority of revenue for a
program.
• Two tier: A marketing model that allows people to sign more affiliates up beneath
themselves, so when those people earn commissions, they earn as well. It’s also
referred to as MLM or multilevel marketing.
Now that you know the basic terminology used by affiliate marketers, you’re ready to get
started.
Chapter 5: The Tools You Should Have in Place Before You Start
Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money online, in part because there are so
many tools that take away the tedious work. The more you use these tools, the easier it is to
promote campaigns that bring profits. Below are some of the must-have affiliate marketing
tools for beginners. I know, I said that you can get started for free, and some of these tools
require you to spend a little money. Well, the reality is, you do not need these tools to get
started, but if you want to grow your business and make real money online, you will need these
tools eventually. Otherwise, you’ll just be making minimal amounts of money on a very
inconsistent basis, and trust me when I say that you do not want to be in that situation.
Keyword Research Tools
Having a keyword research tool is a crucial thing for an affiliate marketer. Not only do these
tools help you find a profitable niche, it helps you find out how competitive that niche is. You
can use Google’s AdWords Keyword Planner, which requires an AdWords Account and is free, or
you can use a premium software program or service. While Google’s tool will tell you about
related keywords and search volume, you don’t get much beyond that. Software programs come
with a range of features that help you target your market and analyze the competition. Consider
using the Google tool when you’re just starting out; once you are established and you have a
better idea of how things go, you can make the step to software.
Analytics Tracking
Tracking software gives you a way to manage your promotions and measure your results. There
are numerous products that claim to do this, but you should read reviews and read IM forums to
learn about these products before you make the investment. There’s a big difference between
tracking and web analytics software, mainly that analytics software only tracks performance
without providing campaign management tools.
Link Redirect Tools
It’s best to think of URL redirection in the same way you’d think of call forwarding. When a
visitor lands on your page, they’re sent somewhere else. URL forwarding lets you control the
appearance of your links when visitors hover over them, and it lets you change affiliate orders
without changing links. Redirects can help you protect your affiliate ID that’s found within these
links, and there are numerous tools that help you accomplish it. Personally, I use Pretty Links.
An Autoresponder
All affiliate marketers should eventually have an autoresponder. These third-party services
manage your subscriber lists and send them messages immediately or on a schedule. An
autoresponder can track your email open rates and other marketing metrics, and you can use it
in various ways. Send a single message to your entire list or send a series of emails that starts
when a visitor signs up. I highly recommend and personally use GetResponse. In my opinion, it’s
by far the best email marketing platform for affiliate marketers, and I’ve pretty much used them
all. You can sign up for a free trial and see why I love it so much by clicking HERE.
Web Hosting
Although this may seem scary for most new comers, a website is something that you will need
to have as you grow your online marketing efforts. It will become the hub of your entire online
business. The good news is that today, creating a website is easier than ever before. In fact, you
can have a fully functional website up and running a lot sooner than you may think. All you have
to do is create an account with a web hosting company and they will literally walk you through
the entire process. What most people fail to understand is that most web hosts offer extremely
beneficial services. Nearly all of them offer niche site templates and monitoring tools, and some
even offer more comprehensive solutions that you can tap into down the road. Hosting services
often have site builders, like WordPress, that let you easily and quickly create niche sites. If you
have not yet signed up with a web host, research the best options and find out which affiliate
marketing tools they offer. I personally use BlueHost. In fact, I’ve been using them since 2008.
They are an all-in-one solution for building a website. They have excellent tutorials to help you
get started, and their customer service is very responsive and helpful. You can read all about
them and sign up for a discounted rate by clicking HERE.
Chapter 6: Niche Selection and Market Research
You can’t be a successful affiliate unless you find the right products to promote, and the product
selection process can be difficult if you’re doing it for the first time. Below, you’ll find a few easy
tips on selecting a niche and doing your market research.
Stick to What You Know
This tip may seem rather obvious, but it’s surprising how many people don’t realize how
important this really is. Selecting a niche based solely on its profitability, even if you’re not
interested in the subject matter, isn’t always successful. If you’re not creating content out of a
genuine interest, your subscribers aren’t likely to be inspired to buy from you. Even if you’re
hiring someone to create your content, you should still learn about the subject. You don’t have
to be the field’s top expert, but you should have a basic knowledge of the subject before you
start promoting it.
Choose a Good Niche
This step may be tricky. The Internet is full of blogs and sites on almost every subject, but some
are more successful than others. The online world is a dynamic one, and it’s shaped and created
by its users. Some niches come and go, while others remain popular for years. Once you have a
list of potential subjects, it’s time to learn about their potential profitability. Ask yourself these
questions:
• How stiff is the competition? If there are dozens of other sites on the same subject,
you’ll have to work harder and spend more time drawing traffic to your site.
• Is the subject obscure? The more esoteric your niche is, the less competitive it will be.
Conversely, you may get into a situation where the subject is so narrow that it may
never attract the visitor numbers you want.
• Are there enough services and products you can advertise on a niche site? Affiliate
marketing is a great way to monetize a site, but if there aren’t enough relevant
programs that generate visitors’ interest, your efforts may fail.
• Is the subject well-represented online? Some subjects are quite popular, but there’s a
lack of engaging, readable content. These subjects often end up being highly profitable.
Don’t be Afraid to Expand
As said earlier, sticking to a certain subject, even if it’s a popular one, isn’t always a way to
guarantee success. You should be prepared to branch out into other subjects in which your
visitors may be interested. That way, you’re always giving your subscribers something of value,
and you’re more likely to make a profit once your site gets a good amount of traffic. Branching
out is a great way to learn, and it can also help you raise your income.
Market Research
In this section, you’ll find some tips on researching your chosen market.
• Competition: It’s easy to research niches; competition is what you should look for. While
some believe that there’s no way they can compete with bigger sites, a competitive
niche is a healthy one, and there’s enough room for all. If the niche you chose isn’t
competitive, there’s likely little interest in it, and you should look elsewhere.
• Bookshelves: Local bookstores, libraries, and even the magazines at supermarket
checkouts can tell you which current topics are most in demand. These resources are a
great place to find niches that are just now coming into their own.
• Trends: Popular news sites can give you insights into niche trends. These sites typically
have categories for technology, science, health, and much more. Keep up with these
sites to stay up to date on what’s happening in your chosen niche. Consider setting up
Google Alerts so you get info delivered right to your inbox when things happen.
• Product research: This step is a bit more in-depth, but sites like Ubersuggest can tell you
what your audience is asking about particular products. Type in the niche topic or the
product name, and you’ll get results that point you in the right direction. Then, go to the
maker’s site and read about the product’s specs or download an instruction manual to
share with your site visitors. If it’s a product that’s available locally, go into a store and
take notes or photographs.
Do your niche and market research is easy if you’re persistent and you use the right tools. With
resources like those listed above, you’re more likely to find the right product in the ideal niche.
Chapter 7: Choosing Your Affiliate Marketplaces
Although the affiliate marketing world has become more competitive in the recent past, it still
hasn’t lost its money-making appeal. Affiliate marketing is heavily performance-based, which
makes it less risky for advertisers and merchants. With the wide availability of these programs, it
can be difficult to choose the right one. In this chapter, you’ll learn what to look for when
choosing an affiliate marketplace.
The Product
The most important thing is to choose a product that interests you. After all, there’s nothing
worse than feeling obligated to promote a product you’re not interested in. Because you’ll
spend a great deal of time with the product, it’s important to feel passionate about the material.
However, it’s equally important to consider others’ interest in and demand for the product.
Google’s keyword tool can tell you which terms are being searched and how often; if
competition is high and search volume is rather low, you should look for another product. If the
volume is high and competition is low, it may be the right product for you.
The Website
Once you find a program that’s interesting, has high demand, and is viable, look at the
merchant’s website. It should be user-friendly and simple to navigate, and calls to action (CTAs)
should be clear. Products and images should be clearly displayed so you know what you’re
getting. It’s important to check the website for leaks, or paths out that won’t generate revenue
for you. If there’s a leak, you can lose money and sales because your traffic is being siphoned
away. If you’re going to represent someone’s site, you should ensure that it’s reliable and has
the potential to create strong sales.
Conversion Rates
There are some numbers that are essential when choosing an affiliate marketplace, and
conversion rates are near the top of the list. The advertiser you’re thinking of partnering with
could have a good brand, a solid site, and high commissions, but if their site doesn’t convert,
you won’t make any money. Conversions are calculated by the number of people (out of 100)
who perform a certain action such as completing an order or signing up for a newsletter. To be
successful as an affiliate, you should look for a program with a conversion rate of more than 3%.
Payout/Commission
The payout or commission for promoting a product is the number most affiliates pay attention
to. Many times, an affiliate will automatically join a program with a high commission rate, but
this isn’t always the best strategy.
Average Order Value
Here, it gets really interesting because you can make a great deal of money. If a merchant pays
out 10% commission with a 1% conversion rate, and another merchant pays out 12% with a 3%
conversion rate, most people would sign up with the second merchant. However, it’s important
to consider the average order value. If a product pays 10% on an AOV of $400, an affiliate makes
$40 per sale, while a product that pays 12% on an AOV of $100 only yields $12. Here, the first
merchant has the higher-earning program.
EPC
Another important thing to consider is the merchant’s EPC or earnings per click. Some
marketplaces report this upfront, and it shows the average earning potential based on current
affiliates’ numbers. Alternatively, you can do your own EPC calculations to determine whether a
program is a good bet for you or not. Calculate your EPC by dividing the total commission by the
number of total clicks.
Cookie Duration
You should also consider the affiliate cookie’s length. It tells the merchant that the customer
was referred to them through your website. If a merchant has a 30-day cookie, the potential
buyer has 30 days to complete his or her order, and you’ll still get a commission. The longer the
cookie lasts, the better off you’ll be.
Tools
While affiliates use different tools, it’s good to find a merchant who offers a selection of
resources you can use to promote a product. These tools can be text links, videos, widgets,
banners, coupons, and more. It’s important to find a merchant who offers things you can use to
do your job more effectively. If you don’t have anything to work with, it makes it harder to drive
targeted traffic from your website to the merchant’s site.
Reversals
The program’s reversal rate tells you how many orders were un-commissioned, returned, or
canceled. This is a vital number because everything else can be great, but if a program has a 75%
reversal rate, it means that 75% of the orders weren’t credited for various reasons, and it also
means you won’t get paid for most of the work you do. If a program’s reversal rate suddenly
increases with no good explanation, it may be time to find a different marketplace.
Competition
It’s wise to consider how competitive an industry is, and to monitor what your competitors are
doing. Many merchants have more than one competitor, and all are looking for the top
affiliates. These programs have higher payouts and better conversions, and some even have
their in-house programs. It’s possible that merchants with lower payouts and AOVs do more
volume, in which case it makes sense to partner with that program. To get traffic to your site
(and to your merchant’s), your marketing methods need to stand out from those of others in the
same field.
TOS
Something many affiliates overlook is the program’s TOS (terms of service). It’s important to
read them, because programs vary widely. The TOS generally outlines how affiliate links can be
marketed, how they’re placed, the keywords you can use, whether you can link to your site with
direct search, the software you can use, and more. If you don’t read the TOS, you may find that
you won’t get credit for everything you’ve done, even after you’ve done all the hard work
setting up merchant links and promoting the brand.
Support
The last thing to consider when choosing an affiliate marketplace is whether there’s a dedicated
manager. It’s best to have an experienced manager, or an outsourced manager; however, it’s
better to have someone available to answer questions than to have no help at all. Managers
should be easily acceptable, quick to respond, and they should know how affiliate programs
work. They should understand the program’s TOS, and they should be able to answer your
questions or put you in touch with someone who can.
As an affiliate, you’ll have many programs from which to choose, and it can be hard to make the
right choice. However, using this list, you can quickly narrow your search to only the best and
most profitable programs.
Chapter 8: Criteria for Finding High Converting Affiliate Products to Promote
Your success or failure as an affiliate depends largely on the products you promote. At first, the
product selection process seems simple. You sign up with a marketplace such as ClickBank,
choose one of the thousands of available products, create your own links, and put them on your
site. However, these steps don’t always result in sales, and a lack of results can be frustrating.
The sheer number of products can make the choice overwhelming, especially for a newbie who
doesn’t know the business. Although there’s no foolproof way to find a high converting product,
there are a few tips that can increase the likelihood of success.
Brainstorm Your Niche
The first step to take is to decide which market you want to work in. Choosing a niche related to
your experiences, hobbies, passions, and skills is a great starting point; after all, you’ll be
spending a great deal of time on it! Do you like animals? Has someone in your family had a
specific health issue? Did you like your foreign language classes in school? Do people ask you for
advice on relationship struggles? Knowing a niche can be a tremendous advantage when
marketing a product, because it’s easier to write credible, persuasive sales copy when you know
the subject. Go through your chosen marketplace and make a list of niches you could possibly
promote. While it’s important to choose a niche you know, it’s also essential to focus on
profitability as well. The next few steps on the list will help you narrow the list further.
Know Your Customers
Let’s say that you chose “playing piano” as a possible niche. If you want to pursue things further,
it’s important to understand who’s buying and what they’re looking for. The simplest way to get
into your target market’s minds is to browse niche forums; it helps you learn your buyers’
wants, needs, and problems. For instance, some people in the niche will look for free sheet
music, and they’d likely not want to buy something from you unless it helps them achieve their
goal. Reading forums can help you learn what matters most to your target market, which will
help you choose the right products to promote. Other things to consider are how to target
impulse buyers and the narrowness of your niche. If it’s too specific, you may find that your
target market isn’t big enough to make many sales. If it’s too wide, you’ll find it hard to rank
your site in the search engines, and prospects won’t be able to find you.
Choose Top-Selling Products
By this time, you should have a solid understanding of your market and its needs. Now, it’s time
to go back to your marketplace and find some products that can meet those needs. We’ll use
ClickBank as an example here; it uses a ‘gravity’ score to show how well a product sells, based
on the number of sales and when they occurred. High gravity typically indicates that there’s a
great deal of competition in the niche, but that shouldn’t push you away. Competition is a good
thing because it means there’s a high demand for products in the niche, and it also means that
there may be a few people you could form a JV (joint venture) or partnership with.
However, I should say that in some cases, a low-gravity product can still be worthwhile. These
products may just be new, or others simply haven’t discovered them yet. While gravity is a
strong indicator of a product’s potential, you shouldn’t dismiss a high-quality product simply
because of its low score.
Multiple Products
Ideally, you should find a market with several related products. The reasoning behind this is
that, even if a single product is a hot seller, you’ll have a difficult time competing with
established affiliates. Another advantage of finding multiple products is that it lets you set up a
review page, which increases the chances of making sales. For instance, if you’re selling the
“learn to play piano” product in the example above, by including other “learn to play” products
on your page, your visitors will feel as if they have all the info they need to make an informed
purchase decision.
High Commissions
It’s pretty difficult to make a profit on small commissions. For your affiliate marketing efforts to
pay off, you’ll need to find products with higher commissions of at least $20 per sale. From that
amount, you’ll have to deduct your time and your advertising expenses. If a product has a higher
dollar value, then a smaller commission percentage may still make it a reasonable investment.
A Persuasive Sales Pitch
The last step is to take a good look at the product’s sale page. You’ll be using it to drive
conversions, after all. Does the sales page look convincing? Does it answer your target market’s
questions and address their concerns? Is it credible and persuasive, or does it make outlandish
and unbelievable claims? Would you make a purchase from a site that looks and sounds like
that? The answers to these questions, among others, will help you find the highest converting
products to promote.
To Sum it Up
Choosing the best products to promote is the first step in becoming a successful affiliate, and if
you do the process right, you can increase your chances of becoming profitable. However, even
if you start off well, you shouldn’t just set up an offer page and leave it be. Keep a watchful eye
on your reports, and use tracking IDs to see which products are performing the best. That way,
you know where to focus your resources and your efforts. By following these techniques for
finding high-converting products, you’ll reap the benefits of increased sales and bigger
commission checks.
Chapter 9: Creating Reviews
In the affiliate marketing world, high quality content is useless if your customers aren’t clicking
your affiliate links. In the end, affiliate marketing is all about earning commissions, which are
your compensation for the effort you put into creating compelling content and promoting
products to your target audience. Many marketers find it hard to include their affiliate links
without sounding overly salesy or spammy. Content should flow well, and the abrupt addition of
affiliate links can disrupt the visitor’s reading experience. However, with product reviews, it’s
easy to include these links in a natural way. Reviews encourage readers to find out more about
these products for themselves, but it’s up to you to create compelling content that sparks your
readers’ interest. I must note here that the platform to use to create product reviews is on your
own website. Below are several tips to remember when writing full blown product reviews.
Be as Thorough As You Can
One of the most common mistakes affiliates make is adding their links too early, before readers
have had a chance to ‘warm up’ to the content. It’s important to remember that more content
means a higher search engine ranking. According to recent research done on the top ten search
results’ content length, the first result usually has 400+ words more than the 10th result. Do you
want to know why? I’ll tell you. On top of offering the best content, high-ranking pages have
more to offer the search engines’ bots during the indexing process.
From your readers’ point of view, finding out more about a product gives them more confidence
that they’re making the right purchase decision. If you want people to be interested in what
you’re selling (which is the first step in driving conversions), you’ll need to give them something
of value. Providing details about the stuff you’re selling shows your customers that you’re an
expert in your niche, and it significantly increases your credibility.
Be Empathetic Toward Your Readers
When reviewing affiliate products, the content has to be believable enough that your audience
relates to it. You’ll have to put yourself in your customers’ position, and write about the
problems your product solves rather than the product itself. Reviews are a chance for you to
gain your customers’ trust, and when you show empathy toward them, they’re more likely to
trust you enough to buy what you’re selling.
If you can, test the product yourself before you offer it for sale. When you do your own testing,
you can offer your customers firsthand experience and personal insights. Don’t forget to add
actionable, easily-digestible tips to further increase each review’s authenticity. Because your
audience wants an opinion from a real person, it’s OK to use an informal, conversational tone in
your reviews. Don’t obsess over strict guidelines; write as if you’re talking to a friend.
Stay as Objective As You Can
Millennials are the most discerning group of consumers in the world, and they can spot a biased
or fake review from a mile away. That’s why you should strive to be as objective as you can
when reviewing affiliate products. Discuss the product in depth, rather than simply rephrasing
the description you find on the product page. Get to the point, stick to it, and don’t make
offhanded comments about the vendor. To generate interest in the product you’re selling, focus
on its advantages for your customers rather than listing specific features. Keep in mind, though,
that there’s no such thing as perfection, and your audience knows that. Which brings us to this
tip….
Mention the Product’s Pros and Cons
Where objectivity is concerned, you shouldn’t leave a stone unturned. Explore all possible
aspects of your affiliate product. For instance, which user group stands to benefit most from a
certain feature? How can one of the product’s drawbacks affect its overall performance, and
how can users avoid the problem? It’s important to thoroughly discuss the products pros and
cons, and doing so will give your readers the information they need to complete the decision-
making process.
Use Plugins or Add-Ons to Optimize Conversions
To create effective, actionable reviews, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with some tools. At
the end of each review, consider including a summary box that offers your readers a fast recap.
CTAs, included as popups, can turn a visitor into a buyer, giving them the extra incentive to
convert. Most affiliates build sides with WordPress, which includes an extensive selection of
plugins and tools that maximize functionality, improve the user’s experience, and drive
conversions.
Yes, You CAN Write an Effective Product Review!
In the end, reviewing affiliate products is just another content strategy that prioritizes the user
experience. To be a successful marketer, you’ll need to remember your duty to provide useful,
relevant information to your audience. In return for that information, your readers will come
back to you for data and insights that empower them to make the right choices.
Chapter 10: Increasing Your Conversions and Affiliate Sales
Do you want to earn more money with your affiliate promotions, or have you tried it and
wondered if it is really worth all the effort you’re putting forth? If you answered “yes” to the
first question and “no” to the second, you may benefit from the tips I’m about to give here. In
this guide, you’ll get 14 tricks and tips from some of the industry’s top affiliates.
Make Things Personal
Because most people like to buy things from those they like, know, and trust, they’re more likely
to buy something if you’ve personally participated in it or purchased it. Therefore, it’s important
for you to be honest about whether or not you’ve tried the product. Tell stories about the
products you promote, and be selective about the programs in which you participate. That way,
when you do promote a product, people will take you seriously.
Practice Good Timing
Timing is important in a variety of industries, but it’s especially vital in affiliate marketing. You
should build your promotional schedule around the campaigns you’ve chosen, but you should
think of important sales dates as well. A few well-timed emails can be just as effective as a list of
social media posts done at random. Scarcity is a powerful motivator, and if you do a promo with
the tagline “Sale ends on Saturday”, it’s more likely to encourage sales than if you’d said “Sale
ends in two weeks”.
Use Your Email List Effectively
As an affiliate, your email list is one of your biggest assets. It takes a long time to grow and
cultivate a subscriber list, so use the tool wisely. When you send out email promos, consider the
following tips:
• Send out emails that include helpful tips. In the middle of such an email, share a link to
the product you’re selling. Don’t forget to offer your clients something valuable, so they
don’t think you’re being too pushy or salesy.
• Write a few relevant blog posts or articles and use an autoresponder like GetResponse
to send them to your target audience. In these emails, ask questions and encourage
recipients to offer their opinions. Above all, be ready to respond personally,
professionally, and promptly.
Know What the Audience Wants
As with other content marketing efforts, as an affiliate, you’ll need to get to know what your
target audience wants. I recommend taking the time to build an audience, and once you’ve got
one, recommend products you know they’ll like. Create a blog post or video that explains your
thoughts on a product, with the goal of having them visit your sales page. Consider updating
these posts as information changes, and you’ll continue to get Google results without creating
all-new content.
Practice Cross-Channel Promotion Strategies
All the great content in the world won’t do you any good if you don’t distribute it where your
audience is most likely to engage with it. Know which social media platforms your readers use,
and leverage them when promoting your products. If you have a large enough audience, group
them according to their interests before custom-crafting and delivering messages to them.
Create a List of Industry Events
If you’re promoting products in a hot or well-known niche (and I hope you are!), I recommend
making a list of top industry events and driving visitor traffic to it. This strategy works well for
physical events, but you may be able to use it if you’re promoting a webinar as well. You should
only recommend events with which you have personal experience, as it helps you to build trust
and credibility.
Choose Blog Ads Wisely
If you’re running a blog, you have plenty of opportunities to advertise, but you should avoid
overcrowding the page. When you strategically place your ads, you can bring enormous value to
your customers. Consider these placements:
• Sidebar graphics
• Inclusion of graphics for live events
• Banner graphics within related blog posts
Run Some Ads
By this time, you likely know that you’ll have to pay to get significant visibility on the majority of
social platforms. It doesn’t take much to increase your visibility; however, you will have to set a
budget and create a schedule around it.
Create Quality, Original, and Relevant Content
Your readers trust you to give them something of value, and you should keep that trust by
presenting your offers in relatable ways. This may include doing a video product review, or
including one in a blog post. Focus on the needs you think the product fulfills, and your audience
will be grateful for the extra service. Who knows, you may even find a wider audience!
Test URLs
If you’re using your URLS in email click-tracking programs, code is added to them, and it may
even override the affiliate ID. Furthermore, when you use link-cloaking or link-shortening tools
such as Bit.ly, your affiliate code is taken away. If you want to shorten an URL while still tracking
clicks, I recommend TinyURL. Note that these tools can sometimes trigger spam filters, and they
may affect your emails’ deliverability.
Set Up a Dedicated Email Account
Another thing I recommend is to set up another email address for the affiliate programs in
which you participate. These emails are extremely important, and most programs will send
updates and news about new products and services, as well as upcoming promotions. When you
have a dedicated business email, you’re more likely to get these important messages.
These are just some of the easiest and most effective ways to drive conversions and increase
sales and profitability. Next, you’ll learn how to build a buyer list.
Chapter 11: Building Your Buyers List
When you become an affiliate, your goal is to earn your subscribers’ and visitors’ trust. It’s best
thought of as like dating, where you evaluate people before you ask them out. When you’re an
affiliate marketer, you need to let people know that you’re serious and that you’re an expert in
your niche. Whether you’re promoting products related to health, the auto industry, or anything
else, you’ll need to gain your audience’s trust to become successful. Here, I’ll give you some tips
on using lead magnets to build your list and gain customers’ trust.
Use an Opt-In Form That Offers Something Free
The best way to start putting together a buyers list is to use a third-party email marketing
service such as AWeber or GetResponse. The time to start building a list is now; if you’re not
doing it, you’re wasting money! Even if you only get one or two subscribers a day, that’s still
about 700 per year. Those 700 subscribers could bring you another $20,000 in affiliate revenue
each year, and you’ll be surprised to see how fast your list grows once you start.
Set Up an Autoresponder
The next list-building step is to create a seven-day autoresponder. Every day for up to a week,
your subscribers will get an email through your third-party email marketing service. If you have
more than 600 subscribers, and you had to send each of them an email each day for a week,
that’s 4200+ emails you DON’T have to write!
The autoresponder needs relevant content to send to the audience, and I suggest adding guides
and tutorials based on your industry experience. The goal is, after all, to build trust, and sending
your subscribers valuable emails is a great way to do it. Even if you have the world’s biggest list,
it’s useless unless your subscribers trust you and want to buy from you.
Give Away Free Gifts
The most effective way to gain a customer’s trust is to give them something for free. Give them
a software download, video, ebook, or whitepaper, and you’ll gain their trust more quickly.
Sending subscribers free gifts is a great way to get their attention, and it will keep them coming
back for more. When you give your customers something of value at no charge, they’re likely to
come back and purchase your paid items. Too many marketers send out random emails
promoting the newest products, without investigating these products’ backgrounds or finding
out whether they’ll fulfill the audience’s needs. This isn’t just a mistake, it’s a good way to ruin
your list.
Do a Joint Venture With a Top Affiliate
Another good way to grow an email list is to reach out to top affiliates who can cross-promote
your products and services. It’s important to take a proactive stance, and to constantly follow up
with your JV partners when you do a product launch or when you cross-promote with others. If
you don’t treat your JV partners properly, they won’t return!
Set up CTAs on Your Site
The final step to building a good email list and increasing your sales is to include strong CTAs
(calls to action) on your site. Whether you add a “Buy it Now” button or a “Sign Up” button, you
should always include a call to action. Many affiliates, even the top ones, forget the power of a
good CTA. An affiliate starting out may fail to do this, and they’ll wonder why they’re not getting
any conversions. Your subscribers are looking for direction, and by including strong CTAs on your
site, you’ll see a significant change in your marketing results.
Now that you’ve gotten some tips on building a great email list, you’re ready to move onto the
next step. Keep reading for more great tips!
Chapter 12: The Best Ways To Drive Traffic To Your Affiliate Links
Many new affiliate marketers make the mistake of grabbing a link and posting it everywhere
they go online. That’s a mistake, because the social sites and other places you go aren’t likely to
be populated with people who want the products you’re selling; they’re either too savvy to fall
for the sales pitch, or they’re simply not interested. To succeed as an affiliate, you’ll need to find
better ways to promote your products. Here, you’ll find a few great ways to drive traffic to your
affiliate links.
Focus on Organic Search
This step may seem elementary, but it’s surprising how many affiliates ignore it. The best way to
bring traffic to your offers is by getting your site to rank high in the organic search results. While
this is harder than simply paying for traffic, organic search can pay dividends for years to come.
Set up a Quality Niche Website
This is the first step, and it’s also the most important. Google and the other search engines have
a long history of penalizing affiliates because of their techniques, most of which have been given
the “black hat” designation. These days, to be seen as a legit marketer and not a devious
spammer, you’ll need a high-quality site filled with valuable, relevant content, and your links
should be clearly marked as being from an affiliate. You’ll need to know your products, your
audience, and how to drive conversions.
Provide Quality Content
Much of your affiliate traffic will come from organic search if your site has a narrow enough
focus, your quality is high, and you’ve earned your ranking. To do so, you’ll need to write and
keep a blog by buying content or writing yourself. To avoid Google penalties, don’t use spun or
low-quality content. It’s not necessary to post very frequently; once a week should suffice to
show that your site is active.
PPC
PPC (pay per click) through Google AdWords gives you full access to the search engine’s display
network. Create ads that point to your website, not directly to your links, as Google does not
like to directly display affiliate ads unless THEY are the affiliate. Test ads for varying keywords,
study their results, optimize them, and build your advertising strategies accordingly.
Stick to Your Niche
If you’re working in a relatively narrow niche, you can easily pull ahead of your competition.
However, if your focus is spread thinner, you won’t be able to penetrate your target market. If
you are tempted to branch out to new and unrelated products, put together a site in a different
niche rather than trying to shoehorn it into your old one.
Include Customer Testimonials
When you’re selling affiliate products, send follow-up messages to buyers to find out about their
experiences. If they give great reviews, ask them if you may use them on your website to help
teach others about your product’s benefits. If you can’t get any testimonials from customers, it’s
perfectly acceptable to invent your own. However, you’ll need to write them in a believable
way, so potential buyers don’t see them as being fake.
Write a Product Guide
Unless you’re only selling eBooks, you’re likely to be able to create tutorials using your products.
Even if it is as easy as using a supplement along with a sensible diet and an exercise plan, you
can do it. It’s always possible to find material to post and write, and if you’re in a popular niche,
these evergreen guides will attract people who may be on the fence (but will buy later).
Create Supplementary Material
This is the opposite of creating evergreen guides. When you have a niche site, you’ll need to
ensure that your content has a narrow focus. Fortunately, most topics have some degree of
depth, and you can cover the product in a variety of ways. Discuss the product’s history,
ingredients, technology, or other factors. It’s not broadening the base of your content; it’s
digging deeper to cover all conceivable angles.
Promote Your Products to Industry Communities
No matter what product you’re promoting, it’s part of an industry, and all industries have online
communities. There are forums, blogs, Facebook groups, and Twitter accounts for any industry,
and it’s up to you to find them and become an active participant. Post your affiliate link in your
profile, in your forum signature (if allowed), and in discussions wherever possible. Generally,
you should attempt to post links to real, helpful posts rather than to your sales pages; it comes
across not as advertising, but as trying to be helpful.
Get on Social Media
Even if you’re in a narrow niche, you can leverage social media to your benefit. Facebook is
especially important because of the info you can get through the Insights tool. Create a virtual
audience for your PPC campaigns, and you’ll build your buyer list.
Rent Space on an Email List
Sometimes, it’s possible to find other businesses in the industry and work with them. Pay for
newsletter space, and you’ve essentially created a sponsored post. When done with blog posts,
Google considers this a “black hat” tactic, but it’s OK to do it in email content, as it’s neither
controlled or indexed by Google.
Build a List
As said above, Google doesn’t monitor email communications, and that’s why email lists are
perfect. You can use them for promotions, repeat customers, social media growth, and various
other reasons.
Write an eBook
Although you’re selling affiliate products, that doesn’t mean you can’t sell your own stuff as
well. It’s easy to write and sell an eBook; simply expand on the content you’re already creating
for your niche blog.
Create a Video Offer
Video is highly underrated among affiliate marketers. It’s simple to create a basic video and post
it to the major sites. Encourage users to view these videos, which should compel them to learn
more about the products you promote on your blog and landing pages. When you use offer
videos, you can turn your site into a conversion-driving machine.
Chapter 13: Fulfilling Your Bonuses Promised
After you get your visitor to make a purchase, you may want to give them a “thank you” gift as a
token of your appreciation. There are a few ways to do this, and I’ll discuss them in the brief
section below.
Deliver it Automatically
Some affiliate networks make it easy to deliver your bonuses automatically. When signing on to
promote a product, find out whether they include bonus pages and downloads.
Add a Link to Emails
When someone signs up for your buyers list, you can add a link to the bonus product in the
welcome email. Your subscribers are more likely to keep coming back if you give them
something valuable. Alternatively, you can put the links in a PDF file and email them to your
buyers or subscribers.
Set up a Membership Site
If you’re inclined to do so, you can set up a membership site to protect your downloads from
piracy. Add your buyers as lifetime members, or monetize the membership by inserting your
own affiliate offers. I always recommend to everyone a tool that I use for all my bonuses called
CommissionGorilla. It makes the whole process very simple, because it includes ready-made
bonus packages that are delivered automatically when one of your products are purchased. It
even automatically creates the bonus download page for you. If you’d like to try it out, you can
use it completely risk free for 90 days for just $1.00 by clicking HERE.
Conclusion
Well, this brings us to the end of Affiliate Marketing Pro Strategies. I sincerely hope that you’ve
learned a lot from reading this book. My goal was to make this more of a guide, that you could
refer back to as you go through your affiliate marketing journey. Make sure you keep it handy
and review it regularly, it’s the only way to truly master the steps that I’ve laid out for you.
Before you go, I want to really emphasize one final, yet crucial piece of advice. Make sure that
you stay consistent with whatever strategy you decide to use as an affiliate. If there is one single
characteristic that separates the successful marketers from all the rest, it is by far consistency.
Whether you decide to promote your affiliate offers through blog posts, video reviews, social
media, or any other method, the single most important thing that you can do is to do it over,
and over, and over again, on a consistent basis. If you do, you will succeed.
Don’t you ever give up on affiliate marketing. I believe in you, I know that you can and will be
successful. So just keep taking massive consistent action, and feel free to contact me with any
questions or concerns that you may have. I’m always happy to help anyone that’s a part of my
growing community of Internet Super Stars!