Is Anyone Earning a Living from Affiliate Programs?
by Diane Leonte
With the increasing popularity of affiliate programs it is
not surprising to find everyone is jumping on the band
wagon and joining one or several affiliate programs, with
the hopes of earning enough money to quit their day job,
or at the very least provide them with a nice
supplemental income.
Now this is good news for the affiliate program owners.
Affiliate program owners see a continuos increase in
revenues generated by their affiliate sales force who
are spending their own time and money touting th
affiliate program owners products and services all over
the Internet. Best of all, with the exception of what they
paid for their affiliate software, the affiliate program
owners do not have to spend one extra cent on their
affiliates/sales reps, or in many cases not even have to
give up a good deal on the commission pay outs for all
this new business.
But what's really in it for the affiliate? Well affiliate
program owners will tell you only 5% - 10% of the affiliates
are making $1,000 to $5,000+ a month working their
affiliate programs.
What makes it work for so few and not the other 90%- 95%
is that they have incorporated most if not all of the following
strategies into their marketing plan. These strategies will
work just as well for one affiliate program as they will for
several.
1. Choose Wisely.
Select affiliate programs from well known established
companies that have a reputation for delivering quality
products and/or services. Ask for references and testimonials
before joining if you are unsure. Any reputable affiliate
program owner will be happy to give out names of people
to contact if they have nothing to hide.
Choose a program that pays you 25% or more on your
personal sales, and one that pays residual or recurring
commissions. Those that pay on your additional tiers are
even more attractive, as this becomes a way to build residual
income over time.
2. Create a Website.
It is a very good idea to create your own web page on your
domain which links to the self replicating web site the affiliate
provided for you when you joined their program. Prospects are
more likely to buy from a web site they know and trust, rather
than the obvious reseller URL. Bringing the prospect to you
web site will give you the opportunity to offer a further
endorsement of the product or service before sending the
prospect on to the affiliate's website. This strategy also serves
a few other purposes as well;
-you will have the opportunity to request the prospects
e-mail address for your opt-in list,
-introduce the prospect to any other affiliate programs
you may be promoting,
-give you a more professional appearance.
For an example of this type of front-end approach, take
a look at the web page I have set up for this purpose,
http://wealthinmind.com/marketing.html 3. Get the list, the list, the list.
No other promotion will serve you better than obtaining
our own opt-in e-mail list. This can be done by creating
your own newsletter or ezine. For those of you that just
bristled when reading this, I can tell you as a publisher
of a newsletter, you can do it. If the thought of publishing
a full blown newsletter overwhelms you, then think about
creating and maintaining an email broadcast instead to
obtain opt-in subscribers. Everyone has either a special
interest, skill, or talent that can be put into a tips email
daily or weekly e-mail broadcast. This is all you need
to get your opt-in list started.
4. Generate Traffic to your Website.
I want to emphasize "Your Website" not the affiliate's
website. Having your own website will give you more
opportunities to influence the prospect into becoming a
Buyer. Most buyers do not buy on the first message.
Having buyers come to your website from an Ad
(first message) you placed instead of linking directly to
the affiliate's website, is providing you with one more
opportunity to sell the product or service using
endorsement before sending them onto your affiliate
website for the close.
5. Add Value.
With all the competition you have from other affiliates
selling the same product and services that you are, it is
a good idea to differentiate yourself from the fray. This
can be done by offering something free with the purchase
of the product or service. Generally a free subscription to
a newsletter, a free report, or an ebook can generate
enough interest for the prospect to take the extra step
and click on your link.
6. Say it in a different way.
Almost every affiliate program offers their affiliates Ad
copy to use when advertising. Generally there are no more
than 3 choices. In this highly competitive market you cannot
expect to draw the interest of many "would be" prospects by
serving up the same Ad copy they are seeing day in and day
out from Ads placed by your fellow affiliates. A good affiliate
knows their product and all the features and benefits associated
with it. It is the salesperson who takes the time to learn
everything there is to know about the product or service they
are selling who has no trouble coming up with original
compelling Ad copy which expounds upon the features and
benefits of what they are selling and entices the prospect to
look more closely.
( Virtualis is a highly respected web hosting company where
I have my website hosted, they offer an excellent affiliate
program, and specifies the following to each affiliate in their
welcome letter;
"To ensure that you as a VR(Virtualis Rep) have the correct
information necessary to effectively sell services for Virtualis,
we have the VR Test. Although this test is not (yet) mandatory,
if you do not take this test, you will not be able to partake in
much of the VR community such as posting to the Board,
chatting in the chat rooms, viewing your commissions, voting,
and more. The test is not hard and will enhance your Web
knowledge (if needed) and Virtualis knowledge tremendously".
This drives home the point, that top salespeople know how
important it is to know their product or service inside out.
In summary, do your homework about any affiliate program
before joining, advertise a unique message for the product
or service, present it on you own personal web domain,
and add value.
Lastly, give it TIME and be PERSISTENT.
© Copyright Diane Leonte,
http://wealthinmind.com - All
Rights Reserved
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Diane Leonte is a Business and Personal Coach,
Webmaster of "Wealth In Mind"
http://wealthinmind.com and Publisher of the "Achieving Success & Wealth"
newsletter
mailto:subscribe@wealthinmind.com "Are You Are Ready To Get What Matters Most To You?,
If Not Now....When?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
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