Foolproof Affiliate Methods

Grow Through Search Engines…
I guess a good place to start your search for merchants would be, of course, at the Search Engines!  Do a search for one of your keywords, plus the word “affiliate.”  Let’s use this example...
+fashion design +affiliate
(The “+” sign means that both words must appear on the Web page returned by the search.)
Now open Search It! and do this search…
Search It! > Straight up Search (STEP 1) > Google, no quotes (STEP 2) > +fashion design +affiliate (STEP 3)

If you have time, try a second search for the same term and compare…
Search It! > Straight up Search (STEP 1) > Yahoo!, no quotes (STEP 2) > +fashion design +affiliate (STEP 3)

Grow Through Directories...           Search and/or Drill Down

Directories are also a good place to research POTENTIAL PARTNERS.  An interesting place to start is…
Search It! > Inbound Link Opportunities > Yahoo! Wide (STEP 2) > fashion (STEP 3) > fashion design (STEP 4)
Since this is a large directory and there is a substantial annual fee, it has only serious merchants.  Many of the sites listed here will have affiliate programs so this search is like hitting pay dirt in a gold mine.  Simply enter your Site Concept word and hit Search It!.

Grow Through Specialized Affiliate Directories

Now let’s investigate your POSSIBLE PARTNERS and add some new merchants, too.  How?  Easy...
Search It! > Monetization (STEP 1) > Find Affiliate Programs at Google (STEP 2) > fashion (STEP 3)
Visit a site that appeals to you.  If it has an affiliate program that fits your Site Concept, first enter what kind of merchandise it sells and then enter the URL of the “join page” into POSSIBLE PARTNERS for that keyword (as explained above).  Check the top ten sites -- twenty if you are feeling ambitious - and record those with potential.
Repeat the process for each keyword in your Master Keyword List  (i.e., replace “fashion” above with another keyword like “fashion model”), starting with your specific high-profitability keywords and then following up with your general Concept Keywords (ex., “accessories” and other “concept-level” keywords that you develop, such as “design,” etc.).  Read the review of each potential match.

You can also look for “cross-concept companies.”  These are companies selling products that, because of their nature, fit with most or all Site Concepts.  For example, whether your concept is about “Renaissance art” or “pricing” or “fashion,” you’ll find books about it.  So always include a bookstore in your group of affiliate programs.
If you want to be really, really, really thorough, and you have more spare time than I do, you could check out these affiliate directories…
Associate Programs http://www.associateprograms.com/
Refer-it http://www.refer-it.com/
1webindex http://www.1webindex.com/

Grow Through The ClickBank Network

ClickBank, through its fast-growing Marketplace, gives you access to over 10,000 digital products and a commission range that extends as high as 75%.
http://www.clickbank.com/
Its account setup is simple and free. And ClickBank’s tracking and payment procedures are reliable and accurate.  The company manages the publisher (merchant) relationship so you always receive your payment.
Use Search It! to find digital products and their affiliate programs.

Grow Through Other Affiliate Backend           Providers/Networks/Aggregators

There are several companies that provide the tools, technology and services that online businesses need to register, track, report and pay affiliates.  In other words, merchants don’t have to “do it themselves” because these companies provide all the backend functionality necessary to run an affiliate program.
The “backend providers” prefer to call themselves “affiliate networks.”  Why?
Because they do more than just provide merchants with affiliate software.  They also provide merchants with affiliates, and vice-versa.  Since they have a pool of hundreds of thousands of affiliates, a merchant’s program gets instant exposure to potentially interested affiliates.
And affiliates get exposure to a wide variety of merchants.  It’s a good idea to join each of these backend providers.  You will likely come across many of the same merchants that you found in the affiliate directories.  But you will also find new ones.  So it is worth checking to see whether they feature any programs that fit with your concept.  For example...
Commission Junction http://www.cj.com/
Clickbooth http://www.clickbooth.com/
LinkShare http://www.linkshare.com/
If you find merchants with products that fit, enter what kind of merchandise they sell and also enter the URL of the “join page” to the POSSIBLE PARTNERS column in your Master Keyword List for each keyword that is relevant.

Grow through Alexa or Quantcast

Use Search It! to find potential affiliates through Alexa or Quantcast. Choose the Popularity search category.
Alexa, for example, displays traffic ranking, in-pointing links, and even visitor reviews!  Once you establish which sites in your niche are the big players, use the Related Links tool from Alexa to expand your horizons!

Grow Through Search Engines & Directories...           Favorite Tricks

Now for a few of my favorite tricks...
How else can you find merchants through the Search Engines?  Easy!...
1) Visit the advertisers!
2) Sniff affiliate sites.  (They’ve already done the homework for you!)...

These “linked-to” merchants already have affiliate programs -- all you have to do is check them out and see if they fit with your Site Concept!  Add the ones that do fit with your list of POSSIBLE PARTNERS

Grow Through Back Links

Find other sites that link to a site with this query….
Search It! > Back Links (STEP 1) > To (sub) from All Other Sites (STEP 2)
Many of these sites will be content sites that also link to other fashion-related merchants as affiliates (you can often tell by the linking URLs).  More than likely, these linked-to merchants already have affiliate programs -- all you have to do is check them out and see if they fit!  Add the acceptable ones to your list of POSSIBLE PARTNERS for each keyword.
And you can use this Search It! link-finder technique for all of your POSSIBLE PARTNERS for all of your keywords!

Reduce Risk by Diversifying

One of the major attractions of becoming an affiliate is the small amount of risk involved.  As an affiliate, you have little or no...
•  product development expenses
•  advertising costs
•  inventory to maintain
•  overhead expenses (salaries, physical location, etc.)
In other words, affiliates do not have millions at stake.

But you do have one big risk...
If a merchant or backend provider goes out of business, it takes you with it.  Let’s talk briefly about how to minimize this risk...
After you review the affiliate directories and backend providers, you should have a good selection of programs.  How many programs should you choose?  How do you know which ones are solid?
You don’t, really.  Yes, you can weed out the dogs by doing the basic research outlined below.  But most of us just don’t have the ability or time to thoroughly analyze a company, its financials, and its business model… and then predict success or failure.
So your best bet is to spread your business among as many programs as possible that fit with your Site Concept.  But there are some important qualifiers to this policy...

1) If you represent 10 programs, don’t put them all on the same Keyword- Focused Content Page.  Work in only the few that are tightly relevant to the content of each page.
2) Pick the best-of-breed from each category of merchant.  For example, if you plan on representing a Net marketing company, SiteSell would be the obvious choice (ahem!).
If you plan unusually heavy support for a given category of product, you might want to represent the best two merchants.  For example, suppose you foresee hundreds of book links on your site.  It might be a good idea to choose the best 2 online bookstores -- if Bookstore A and Bookstore B fit with your concept and both seem to be stable companies, then use these two.  No more, though...
3) Don’t choose too many programs.  Tracking each program takes time, so 10 programs is probably a good balance.  If any one of them dies, you don’t lose too much.
4) Your best results will come from focusing on a smaller group of quality programs (from within the 10).  Their products must...
•  be excellent
•  be complementary with, even enhance, each other
•  fit your concept
and...
•  be from a rock-solid company.  Since you will give these companies more attention than the others, you must feel very comfortable with their business prospects.
Here’s the bottom line...
Don’t give too much emphasis to any single program, unless you have some special reason to feel unusually comfortable with it.
Things happen.  So protect yourself by choosing a variety of affiliate partners.
Of course, you can also reduce your risk by weeding out the dogs through some basic research.

Affiliate Marketing Tips - Part 4

And now in part 4, we'll learn how to Plan Your Monetization Models
“Show me the money!” -- Jerry Maguire (1996)
Goal-of-the-DAY...

Foolproof Affiliate systems that workss

Welcome to part 3 of the Affiliate masters trend.
 
In this part we're gonna be reviewing how to Develop High-Profitability Topics
“Why do you rob banks?”  the officer asked infamous bank-robber Willy Sutton moments after he arrested him...
“I go where the money is.”
Goal-of-the-DAY... Use the SUPPLY and DEMAND WINDOWS to build a Master Keyword List, fully researched, of 5 high-profitability keywords for each of the 3 Site Concepts (brainstormed in part 2).
With this goal in mind...
Let’s say that you love fashion.  You eat, live and sleep it.  You read all the fashion magazines.  You head straight to that part of any bookstore.  Your friends beg you to talk about something else “for a change!”
It’s time to brainstorm and prune.  Initially, you’ll brainstorm as many related “Keyword-Focused” topics as possible that are related to fashion.  Then you’ll prune out the low-profit-potential ones.
First thing you do?  Power up what I will call your “keyword tool center.”  There are three WINDOWS of information that you will be researching...

Best Results - Guide to Affiliate Marketing

To site an example from yesterday's tutorial, let’s say that your passion is the Renaissance artist, Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), a highly individualistic and graceful artist who fell out of fashion and died in obscurity.  (Hey, in art, ya gotta be good to die broke!)  It’s your passion to give this man his due on the Net.

At first glance, the focus is rather narrow.  It might be difficult to develop enough HIGH-PROFITABILITY topics to attract sufficient targeted traffic (part 3).  And there may not be many affiliate programs to develop a substantial primary monetization model (part 4).
On the other hand...
•  that may not matter to you - the passion may be primary, while the money is secondary to you.
Or...
•  since you really are an expert, you just may succeed in developing tons of Keyword-Focused topics to be able to create lots of high value Keyword-Focused Content Pages about Botticelli. You may end up “owning” this niche.  And, while completing the prep work, you may discover...

Wealthy Affiliate surefire guide

Let’s look at examples of how “low-CR affiliates” create negative mindsets by making how-you-reach, what-you-say, or how-you-refer boo-boos.  We’ll begin at the top…

1) How to Reach Your Visitor...

Free-For-All Sites (FFAs) are a great example of how not to reach people.  For the most part, FFAs have become so seamy and useless that no matter what you say, you’re doomed from the start.  I once made a request to all 5 Pillar Affiliates for FFA success stories... not a single success story!  I won’t bother to ask again.

Compare this with how smart and open-minded your visitor feels when she finds you via a Search Engine!

2) What to Say to Your Visitor...

Don’t write a site purely devoted to “hard-selling” your merchants’ products. Imagine a visitor who hits your site and reads an immediate sales pitch.  That person will resist because she does not know you.  Then, if she clicks to your merchant, she gets another sales pitch on the site.

Never devote your site to one company’s product line.  No matter what you do, no matter how sincere you are, this kind of approach always ends up “smelling” like a sales pitch.  It simply makes no difference that you honestly love the products - your visitor will mistake your devotion for selling.  Remember, she doesn’t know you!

It’s far better to develop a concept that relates to that company’s products and to other products from other companies that are complementary.  Develop related content that PREsells.  Then “get the click” through “in-context” text links.

3) How to Refer Your Visitor to Your Merchant...

Banners, as we discussed earlier, are the best example of how not to refer your visitor to your merchant.  In plain and simple language, people feel “pitched” when they click on a banner.  And people who feel “pitched” are difficult to convert into a sale.

Now for a critical Action Step...

Review your site or whatever other means you are using to reach, talk to, and refer visitors to your merchants.  Put yourself in your customer’s brain.  What will she think, how will she feel, at each of the 3 major steps from above?

If you’re doing everything perfectly, congratulations!  You must have a high CR. If you don’t have a high CR, or if you see some big mindset mistakes, consider how much higher your CR would be if a visitor…

•  found you in a bona fide manner (ex., as a result of doing a search on a Search Engine),

•  became “your friend” (or your “trusting admirer” if you do a truly awesome job!) because you provided excellent content

• and finally was led to a context-appropriate recommendation.  (There will be more on recommendation vs. sales pitch shortly.)

Key learning point?

Always consider how these actions affect your visitor’s mindset...

1) HOW YOU REACH your visitor, and…

2) WHAT YOU SAY to her, and…

3) HOW YOU REFER her to your merchant.

Get inside your visitor’s head.  Realize how she will feel each step of the way. Whatever you do, consider the impact on your visitor - if it does not make her more “open to buy,” don’t do it.

PREselling is really all about selling yourself (i.e., your credibility) to your customer, every step of the way.  You reach your targeted traffic in a proper fashion, you deliver valuable, appropriate, editorial content, and you recommend merchants to your visitor after she has come to respect and like you.  Your CR will soar.

Why does PREselling work so well?

A sale via any affiliate program is really a two-step process.  It requires the delivery of two “Most Wanted Responses,” yours and your merchant’s.

As an affiliate, what is your Most Wanted Response (MWR)?  No, it’s not to get the sale.  That’s the second step and it's also your merchant’s MWR.  Your MWR is to “get the open-to-buy click” (i.e., your visitor clicks through to your merchant with an open-to-buy mindset).

Writing to PREsell does not require genetic talent. It’s not a “gift.”  Writing to PREsell is a skill you can acquire.  Make Your Content PREsell! (MYCPS!), the only book of its kind on the Net, shows you exactly how to do it.  Learn how to...

1) Write to communicate.

2) Develop your own “voice” with flair and substance.

3) Spin your site/biz/self into a unique position.

4) Honestly convince people to trust and like you.

Everyone, regardless of what they do online or offline, needs to know how to write effectively. For more information about this free, must-have resource, please visit…

http://mycps.sitesell.com/

Let your merchant’s site do its job and get the sale.  

It’s a two-step process that builds to the sale...

STEP 1  You PREsell to get an open-to-buy click-through to your merchant.

STEP 2  Your merchant gets the sale.

So, whatever you do, however you do it, it should always pull your visitor one step closer to delivering your MWR...

Get an open-to-buy click through to your income-generating source! Whoops!  I was just about to move on to the next point.  Good thing I heard you asking...

“Ken, if I leave it up to the merchant's site to get the sale, I still don’t see how I have any influence on the Conversion Rate.  I'd much rather sell the visitor on my own site.”

First, let’s make sure we have our terms straight by examining a real case study. Elad Shippony, from Israel, is an excellent example of an infopreneur.  He is creating fun and entertaining content to drive traffic from the Search Engines, and then monetizing that traffic, without selling a product or service.

http://case-studies.sitesell.com/infopreneur-elad.html

PREsell effectively, and your CR will zoom.  But if it reads like a “hard-sell sales pitch,” you’ll quickly lose credibility with your audience.

On the other hand, let’s say that you do not have a mega-content, ultra-high traffic site.  You really love SiteSell products and that's why you’re so proud to represent them.  After all, you’d never want to just “push stuff” on people, products that you do not believe represent true value-for-dollar.

Redundancy = Turned OFF customer = LOW CR.

But if you develop great content, it will lead to the click.  You become a friend making a recommendation rather than a stranger making a sales pitch.  And if you create a truly great site, you’ll actually become a trusted expert making an endorsement.

Recommendation = Turned ON customer = HIGH CR.

In other words, don’t push your visitor to the click.  Make her want to click.  It makes all the difference if your visitor feels that it’s her idea to deliver your MWR (the open-to-buy click).

Another question?  Geez, I was about to grab a coffee.  Fire away!

“Can you give me another example of using content to PREsell?"

Sure.  Let’s say that you love Make Your Words Sell! (MYWS!), the perfect bookend to Make Your Content PREsell!.  Your plan is to create a Net marketing site.

Whoa!  My first recommendation...

Do not create another Web marketing site.  There are zillions of them.

However, if you can develop a unique twist in the way you present high-value Web marketing information and build at least 30 quality content pages about this subject, then go for it.  But don’t limit your monetization efforts to PREselling Site Build It! exclusively.  Instead, diversify.

For example, let’s say you create a content page about “how to write persuasive sales copy on the Net.”  Within that page, include in-context text links to your Top 3 books about copywriting.

Add Make Your Words Sell! (a free book)

… and include a #2 and a #3 recommendation.  Why?

First, this approach gives your page extra content value -- it shows visitors that you have their best interests at heart.  Second, it adds extra credibility to the #1 choice (ahem!).  And third, it gives you three possible links for your visitor to click upon.

Include your favorite book about writing “offline” copy, too.  Naturally, it’s an affiliate link to one of the online bookstores!

It’s a WIN-WIN-WIN situation for you, your visitors, and your merchants. Now, please think about the following for a moment...

Why would I, a merchant, recommend that you not create “yet another Web marketing site,” and especially not one that is dedicated to selling Site Build It!?

It’s because I know you’ll waste your time.  The two-step SELL-SELL does not work.  Period.  Sure, you’ll get a few sales.  But you won’t make enough money to stay motivated to build your business.  I’d rather give you a far more powerful, successful approach…

http://affiliatemarketing.sitesell.com/

…and have a smaller piece of your larger and more successful attention!

Bottom line?...

If you want to create and build a site that is related to Net marketing, take your time and do your homework.  Find a new concept, or a unique twist, or a trend that you think will become important, and be the first one to do it.  Do not be a “me too.”

Better yet, find your own unique concept.

And where do you find a great concept for your site?  Inside you!

You do know stuff other people don’t... things people would pay to know.  You might have learned it “on the job” or through your hobby.  There’s a good chance that you don’t even realize what you know.  It’s often right under your nose.  But, as you’ll see in DAY 2, everyone is an expert about something.

Here’s a real concrete, non-Web-marketing example that will succeed...

It’s all about creating a Theme-Based Content Site that is loaded with Keyword- Focused Content-Rich Pages.  Your theme?...

You love concrete.  Yes, cement!  It’s been your hobby, your passion, for years... Concrete statues.  Concrete painting.  Decorative concrete. Concrete in the garden.  Repairing concrete.  The various types of concrete.  Hand trowels. Things to do with cement blocks.  Concrete trade shows.  Concrete and swimming pools. Concrete molds.  Cleaning concrete.  Ready mixed concrete. Concrete counter tops.

For this example, I had to brainstorm topics for concrete. I know nothing about it.  I chose “concrete” because it was the first thing to enter my head.  But I could develop topics about concrete forever.  (There is more about brainstorming and developing high-profitability topics later in the course.)

Anyway, let’s say that you decide to create a Theme-Based Content Site that is all about concrete.  Your home page explains how your site is the site for everything concrete, from structural to esthetic.

Of course, you create high-value, content-jammed Keyword-Focused Content Pages.  For example, your page about concrete statues explains all about how to make striking statues for the home and garden.  You could even expand it into an entire “Statue Section,” with a page on the history of concrete statues and another one about how to market and sell the statues that the visitor makes.

The main point, though, is that you create truly excellent, high-value content that attracts and delivers what your readers sought at the Search Engines, “warms them up” and increases your credibility…

C  T  P

You also weave relevant, “in-context” text links right into the content (i.e., your recommendations

•  Books about the topic (ex., concrete statues if that's what the page was about)

•  A garden supplier for concrete molds, trowels, etc.

•  A concrete supplier

•  Consulting services -- your own, of course!

See what’s happening?  When you write about a niche that you know and love, the content is easy.  I’ll show you how to attract even more targeted traffic by ranking well for the Search Engines (Search Engine Optimization) later on.

By providing great content, you PREsell your reader, increasing your click throughs and your CR.  And by monetizing through related and excellent affiliate programs, and other appropriate monetization models, you develop multiple streams of income from one site.

This brings us to the bottom line of this DAY...

If you’re drawing targeted traffic to your site... and if your site is getting a great Click-Through Rate (CTR) to the merchants that you represent (and your other monetization sources)... and if you are converting a high percentage of them into sales...

You are following the roadmap to becoming a high-earning affiliate champion!

Let’s summarize the whole point of PREselling with this question...

Which would you respond to?...

A stranger with a sales pitch?

Or… A knowledgeable friend making a recommendation?

Before proceeding to DAY 2, please complete your DAY 1 Goal-of-the-DAY, and take note of your Ongoing Goal...

Deepen and focus your understanding of this material.  Re-read it once per week for the next eight weeks, monthly after that.  As you progress through DAYS 2 through 10, it’s going to be easy to lose sight of the “big picture” presented today. And there’s another reason to re-read regularly.  It will mean more and more to you as you gain each DAY’s new perspective.

And with that, it’s on to DAY 2….

Time to begin the blueprint for your Web site.  Take the first step by brainstorming your Site Concept…

Introduction to Affiliate masters trend (NEW!!!)

An affiliate business is one of the easiest ways to get your feet wet in e-business. You send visitors (i.e., potential customers) to a merchant’s Web site that you are representing.  If they buy or complete a required action (for example, fill in a form), the merchant pays you a commission.  No fuss, no muss!

That, in essence, is the beauty of the affiliate concept.  You can be up and building an online business in record time, at minimal risk.  Top-notch merchants supply everything (i.e., excellent products, ordering, credit card processing, and delivery).  All you need to do is to put yourself in the path between customers and quality merchants... and earn a commission for your efforts.

So what’s the best way to put you on that critical pathway?

Follow the natural, proven CONTENT -TRAFFIC - PRESELL – MONETIZE  process…