Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
You have found a great product that you’re excited about, works very well, and is very useful. You are positive that it will be valuable for your niche so you want to promote it far and wide, where to start? Here are five ways to boost sales for any product.
1. Blog — Hey, I know you’re already blogging, but you need to blog more. Blog from every aspect that you can about the product. Do a review, answer a problem, inform your readers about the product and educate your readers on the problems as well as the ways to solve the problem (with your product). In addition, you can start some controversy over the problem, the product or the solution with an unexpected blog post that invites feedback, debate and discussion.
2. vlog — A vlog is nothing more than a video blog. Today we use digital video to put vlogs on youtube.com and other places across the net. You already have the content in the form of words, articles and blog posts. You can repurpose the content into video by appearing on the video, or by creating a PowerPoint presentation on video with sound back up either music, voice or both. You can even create a nice welcome vlog for new readers to your website or blog.
3. Article Marketing — You’ve likely heard of article marketing. While you can’t usually blatantly promote a product with article marketing, you can promote your blog or website which will have the product on it. With article marketing you write general articles about problems and solutions and place them on various sites throughout the Internet. Your author’s bio will carry the link that sends potential clients back to your website or blog.
4. Improved “about me” page — People like to do business with people they know and trust. If you are using a pen name and stock photography on your website or blog people may be afraid to buy from you. Change your about me page to include a picture of you, and even of you and your family. Humanize yourself as much as possible so that you explicit a feeling of trust among your readers. People who feel trust, are more likely to take a chance and buy from you.
5. Prove it — No matter what you are selling or telling your potential clients and blog readers it is important that you demonstratively prove your points with pictures, charts, comparisons and case studies. It is also important that you are always honest and above board. If you ever make a mistake, tell them. People appreciate honesty more than anything.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
If you want to be an affiliate marketer you must always stay aware of the laws in your country, state, city or province. The CAN-SPAM Act is a federal law in the United States that, according to the Bureau of Consumer Protection and the Federal Trade Commission applies to all commercial messages sent electronically. It’s a very serious law with very punitive penalties such as each separate email that is in violation can be subject to up to a $16,000 fine.
Make sure that you educate yourself since these rules and laws can and do change. You can read the Compliance Guide for Business by clicking the link here for yourself, but essentially, it’s important to understand that these laws are designed to protect consumers but they also protect you, the affiliate marketer. If you’re using ethical business practices it is likely you won’t accidentally spam anyone but it’s good to read the laws just in case. Remember not to assume that just because someone else does something that it’s legal.
Your email header should match your real domain name. There should be no trickery involved to fool the readers about who you are. If you’re being honest and above board you want people to know your name anyway because you’re proud of your business and what you stand for. Be who you are and you’ll be fine. Further, it is required that your business name and address is in each email sent.
One issue that can cause a controversy are email subject lines. Email subject lines should be relevant to what you are going to tell people in the email. If you use tricks to get them opened you may be accused of spam under the law. So make sure your subject line is indicative of your email message and you won’t have problems. If you are advertising something inside the email, the email should be specific that this is an advertisement or affiliate link. You can’t hide them, or make your readers believe it’s not an affiliate link or advertisement.
Always, very clearly give your readers a way to opt out of receiving more emails from you, and also make sure they double opt in to start with. Double opting in means that your readers sign up to receive your e-newsletter or mailing list on a form, usually on your website or blog, and then they receive an email confirmation that they are required to click on to confirm that they really do want to join.
It’s a good practice to explain to your readers on the email opt in form exactly what to expect from joining your list. This way it cuts down on unsubscribers later since they know what they are getting into by joining your list. Of course, it’s also important to stick by what you say, which will also discourage unsubscribing from your list. By engaging with clients, readers, customers and potential customers in an honest and above board way you will only make your business stronger.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
When embarking on affiliate marketing to bring more money into your business, or to create an entire business based on the affiliate marketing, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Right, is very subjective, by doing it right, I mean, making money in an ethical and legal way, in the most straight forward way possible.
Relevant Products — Product choice is the most important aspect of affiliate marketing. Make sure that your product choices are relevant to your niche. Product choice is as important in affiliate marketing as song choice is for contestants on American Idol.
Awesome Products — In addition to matching your niche and being relevant to your market, the product should be awesome. The product should under promise and over deliver to your readers. Don’t fill up your blog or website with tons of mediocre products in hopes your readers will click on something. Instead, choose really amazing products in order to educate your readers to trust your recommendations.
Marketing Mix — Don’t rely on only one method of marketing your great affiliate products. Instead, mix it up with reviews, blog posts, emails, article marketing and pay per click advertisements. Use every channel you have open to you in order to promote each new affiliate product. Your efforts will pay off long beyond the main campaign.
Honest Reviews — When giving reviews on a product, make sure that your review is honest and based on your real experience, or the experience of your review writer, if you hire someone to write reviews for you. You don’t want to be caught off guard by an angry reader who believed your review. If your review is based on reality, it will mean a lot to your readers and it will show through.
No Spam — Even well known affiliate marketers promotions boarder on spam sometimes. I’m sure you’ve received many emails in one day to the point it almost felt like harassment. Spam is thought to be when someone does not opt in to a list and receives unsolicited emails anyway. But it can be very spamish to send too many emails too whether people opted in or not. Also, there is much more to spam than opting in or out. Look up the CAN-SPAM act.
Remember your goals — Don’t get side tracked from your main goals, and your main products and services that you wish to promote from your website and blog. There are so many different products and solutions out there, that it can be difficult to avoid distraction by all the shiny objects out there. However, it’s imperative to keep your goals for your niche in mind and do not stray outside it in order to have a cohesive business that works.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
There are many ways to make money from your blog or website, such as advertising, pay per click, your own product, and affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing involves promoting someone else’s product for a portion of the sale price. This percentage is often called “commission”. The most important and sometimes most difficult part of affiliate marketing is finding products to promote to your niche. You want the product to be useful for your niche as well as profitable for you.
There are numerous ways to find products to promote. You can start with products you use if they apply to your niche. Simply ask the person you purchased the product from whether they have an affiliate program or not. If they do, they will likely send you the link to sign up. If they don’t, you might be able to work out a special program just for you in exchange for your marketing efforts.
Clickbank.com is an excellent place to find profitable products to promote. Clickbank.com offers a simple way to find products to promote via their search engine right on the site. It’s free to sign up as an affiliate for Clickbank.com and there are a lot of products to choose from. You’re sure to find something to promote that works with your niche. Don’t be afraid to buy the product yourself to try it out, or ask for a review copy.
eJunkie.com makes it simple to find products to sign up for their affiliate programs too. The system is a bit more confusing than clickbank.com but there are plusses to it too. With clickbank.com you have to meet some minimum requirements before you get a pay out, with eJunkie.com it depends on the product you’re promoting.
Amazon.com is a great place to find products from almost any niche. Like the other networks, it’s free to sign up for an affiliate account. Amazon.com makes it very simple to promote products through a variety of means from straight text code, to pictures, to creating an entire store based on your keywords.
If you know the names of products you think your niche might like, you can do a simple Google search for the name of the product and then check to see if they have an affiliate program. Some affiliate programs are also called referral programs or partner programs so be on the lookout for those terms as well. As mentioned earlier, when in doubt use the contact page to ask.
Another way to find products is to find your competition and see what they’re promoting. Likely, if they are promoting a product on a regular basis that means it’s profitable. You can click on the products and look for the affiliate program information in order to start promoting the product on your website or blog too.
In addition to the ideas for finding affiliate products to promote mentioned above there are the larger networks such as Commission Junction, LinkShare, Shareasale, and numerous others. Try doing a search on “Affiliate Networks” in Google and you’ll find more than you need.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
Affiliate marketing can be a great way to make money. Finding a niche market with products and services you trust and believe in is the first step to success. There are tremendous affiliate programs which offer you an abundance of tools and materials to promote and market their products. However, what you do with those tools and materials is entirely up to you. You can be just another affiliate or a super affiliate.
What Is A Super Affiliate?
Technically speaking a super affiliate is someone who generates a significant amount of profits for the products or services they represent. A super affiliate can make a healthy living from their affiliate business alone while a standard every day affiliate may need to supplement their affiliate income with, gasp…a 9-5 job!
Benefits To Being A Super Affiliate
The most significant benefit to being a super affiliate is the income. Many super affiliates make six figures simply promoting the products and services of others.
Additionally, if you’re one of the main contributors to a company’s affiliate program they’re going to pay attention to you and your needs. You may receive a higher percentage of sales you may receive first shot with new marketing materials and programs and you’ll get the support you need when you need it.
Here Are A Few Steps To Become A Super Affiliate:
Step One – Commit to publishing content every single day.
Content has proven time and again to be the best sales tool available to affiliate marketers. Nothing, not even strategically placed ad copy works as well as providing quality content that pre-sells any product that you’re promoting on your website.
Possible content includes:
* Autoresponders.
* E-newsletters.
* Blogs posts
* Social networking via forums, social networking sites, and chat rooms
* Articles
* Press releases
Step Two – Track and test.
Make sure you know where your prospects are coming from, what motivates them to click through and what information they read and respond to – then give them what they need. Tracking and testing is the only way to hone your affiliate program into a smooth running, money making machine.
Step Three – Use the provided marketing materials and be willing to take it a step further.
Many affiliate programs do a great job of providing their affiliate with ready to marketing materials including:
1. Banner ads
2. Buttons
3. Email copy
4. Articles
5. Free promotional reports
Use the materials your affiliate manager has provided. It’s been tested and developed for results. That being said, be sure to create your own content too. Even as an affiliate you are your own company and your website needs to reflect your personality and brand. Building a community around your website and providing valuable content is a sure way to create a following that trusts you and your credibility – which will result in click throughs and affiliate sales.
Step Four – Pre-sell.
The good news is that your job as an affiliate is to pre-sell products and services. Pre-selling means your content, whether it is a review, article, tutorial, course, or blog post, speaks honestly about the products and services you promote. Pre-selling is about providing value to your website visitors and prospects, making them comfortable with you and your authority to generate interest and a click through to the company website, where the selling happens.
Step Five – Follow up.
Just like your affiliate manager follows up with you to see how you’re doing and what you need, follow up with your prospects. A great way to do this unobtrusively is to create a lead list by providing a newsletter visitors can subscribe, a free report, or any number of products in exchange for an email address and the permission to contact them with valuable information and special promotions.
Being a Super Affiliate is the only way to go if you want to build a successful affiliate marketing business. Find products and services you trust and believe in and then create a strategy to share information to your target audience. Test and track your efforts, focus on providing value to your prospects and leave the selling to the companies you represent. Helping others live better lives, without having to provide the products or services personally, is a great way to make a living.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
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