Affiliate Marketing Mistakes
We’ve been talking about affiliate marketing lately. Several years ago it was predicted that at
least $280 billion in e-commerce sales would be reached. Even if the numbers aren’t that high,
it’s still a great area to cash in on. Maybe you’ve tried it without any luck. Maybe you think the
super affiliates have secrets that you don’t. That
may very well be true.
Here are some tips to keep you from avoiding
the worst mistakes in affiliate marketing. The
most important thing to remember is that sleazy
tactics are out. Yes, some people still make
some quick cash with those kinds of methods,
but it’s short lived. If you want to create a nice
long-term affiliate marketing business, do it
with integrity.
Pre-Sell
It’s important to learn the art of pre-selling a
product without sounding like a sales pitch. The
best way to do this is to share personal
information. Use the product so you have
bragging rights to it. People will appreciate it
more and buy more if you’re honest.
Also, don’t be shy about explaining things you don’t particularly like about the product. No
product is absolutely perfect. Share with your readers what you think is missing or where it falls
a little short. This will let your audience know that you did use the product, you did see results
from the product and even though it’s not perfect you still think it’s a great deal and can be
valuable to them.
Be Human
This also falls under writing from your heart. You don’t need sales copy to get a sale; that’s the
job of the sales copy. You simply need to have the reader ready to buy before they click your
link. You do this with being human, being honest and truly caring about people.
Most sales pages have testimonials. A lot of people rely on these to help them make their
decision. When you pre-sell a product, use YOUR testimony.
Build a List
You need a way to capture an audience. The best way to do this is by building your email list.
People who sign up for your free report, ecourse or newsletter already want to hear from you.
They are already starting to trust you. The emails you send out is simply a way to build more
trust. This results in having people who are willing to buy on your recommendations.
Make a connection
If people are leaving comments on your blog posts, you need to reply to them. You don’t have to
answer every single one if you get a lot of comments, but do make a connection with people.
They’ve taken the time to say something, be courteous and reply to them.
Social media is another great way to make connections. You need to do it in the same manner
as blog comments. Never just promote your own stuff on social sites. Get involved with
conversations and engage people, share their tweets and status updates too.
Share valuable information
When you share information with your readers, only about 20% of it needs to contain a sales
pitch. For example: If you post to your blog five days per week, only one of those five posts
should be about trying to promote an affiliate product. However, that post should be just as
valuable and informative as the other four posts.
You can hint at reminders once in awhile, but as far as trying to get a sale every time you write
something, that gets old and will cause you to lose readers.