If you want to know anything, ask someone who's already been doing it for
a while. In other words, someone who walks the walk instead of just running
their mouth.
So who better to ask what new affiliates should do than seasoned affiliates?
Here are some suggestions from the pros themselves:
Provide lots of value. The key to getting visitors to return to your website
time and time again (and buy from you time and time again) is to provide
useful content they need and/or want.
So what's “useful?” That depends on the topic. If you've got a website on
how to drive web traffic, then naturally giving them lots of great info they
can use on how to get more traffic is going to be useful. However, if you run
a humor site, then providing content that is genuinely funny might not be
“useful” in the traditional sense of the word, but it's what your visitors want.
Bottom line: Give them what they want and they'll come back for more.
(Now where have I heard that before? ;-)
Here's a little trick: Instead of focusing on “making money,” focus on
creating value and the money will come.
If you wait until you're ready, you'll be waiting for the rest of your
life. Are you still “getting ready” to be an affiliate? Make the decision to just
do it. So what if your website isn't perfect or your emails aren't perfect? I'll
let you in on a little secret: They never will be, no matter how long you wait.
So just jump in and start swimming – the water's fine!
Do it with passion. You can be an affiliate in ANY niche – so why not
choose a niche you're passionate about? It's far more fun to review a
product or write a blog post on a topic you love, rather than one you feel
complete and total ambivalence for.
Watch out for the picture in your head. You imagine sending out one
email and getting a 50% response rate, or doing one PPC campaign and
raking in $10,000. Then it doesn't happen. Then you get discouraged. Then
you procrastinate. And pretty soon you're out of the business entirely. Why?
Because reality didn't match the picture in your head.
Here's the news: That picture in your head is what you're shooting for – it's
not what's going to happen the first day or maybe even the first year out of
the gate. Like anything else, you work your way up in affiliate marketing.
You get better. Your list gets bigger. Your website gets more traffic. You
become more attuned to what works and what flops like a dead mackerel.
And one day, you finally match that picture in your head. But it doesn't
happen overnight.
Worrying won't change the outcome. You write an email to your list and
you worry you're saying the wrong thing, you worry you'll make a stupid
typo, you worry no one will open it, you worry no one will buy the product
you're promoting, you worry you'll get hate mail or everyone will
unsubscribe... etc.
What a colossal waste. I can tell you from experience that worry has never
once changed the outcome. Worry is a useless emotion that will drive you
bonkers if you let it, so just let it go.
Thinking you're too late. There are affiliates out there making six figures
a month – maybe seven figures. You should have jumped on the affiliate
wagon 10 years ago, now it's too late. Right?
Wrong. You have to start somewhere and sometime. Right here and right
now is absolutely the best place – it always is. And if you think that just
because you're starting from scratch, you can't be effective as an affiliate –
bear this in mind:
“If you think you are too small or too new to be effective, you have never
been in bed with a mosquito.” That's a quote from Betty Reese. Mosquitoes
only live for two weeks – guaranteed they don't worry that they're “too late”
to bite the bejeebers out of you – they just DO it.
Think of it this way - Those who went before you have laid the groundwork
for you to be successful.
Comparing yourself. This goes right along with thinking you're “too late.”
If you're trying to compare yourself to the mega-watt affiliate who pulls
down six figures a month, you're just hurting yourself.
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” -Theodore Roosevelt
Knowing and doing are two different things. Getting your first affiliate
payment is like getting your driver's license - you've only just begun to
become a great affiliate or driver. It's when you're driving your car every day,
or getting paid every day, that you'll find you know what you're doing
and you're actually DOING it.
Know your partners. Before you sign up with a network or an affiliate
program, do your research. See if someone has had a problem with them if
their products are good, if their customer service is stellar, and if they treat
their affiliates well.
Focus focus focus. You've got 5 different niches and 7 outstanding ideas
and you're going in 12 different directions at once. Know what happens
when you pull someone in 12 different directions, or even just TWO different
directions? They either don't move, or they get pulled off balance.
Build one website at a time. Make it profitable. Work on it some more. Once
you have a very firm foundation, then and only then should you consider
going in a second direction.
Optimize for ONE search engine. If SEO is your method of traffic
generation and you optimize your website for Google, don't get smart and
then optimize your website for Yahoo or Bing – you'll get penalized for this
by Google. No, it's not fair, but it is fact.
Only promote products you are familiar with. If just one time you
promote a product you haven't tried yourself, and it turns out to be a lousy
product, you've just ruined your reputation with everyone on your list who
either bought that product or already knows it's junk. Why risk it? Only
promote products you can wholeheartedly recommend.
Test everything. Even if the biggest guru gives you what sounds like the
best advice, it still might not work for your niche/website/audience. So
never assume and always test.
Establish trust. This runs throughout everything you do, whether it's the
information you impart, the products you offer, etc. The more transparent
and trustworthy you are, the more people will trust you when you suggest
they make a purchase.
Become an authority in your niche. Whether you do it by creating your
own products or by surrounding yourself with authorities is up to you. Best
scenario – do both.
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