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Here you will find affiliate tips and techniques for choosing and promoting referral programs.
You might also want to check the "Roadmap" in the left hand column for other information on
affiliate programs.
Quality Is Always #1
When assessing affiliate programs do not simply rely on the sales hype provided by the program.
Throughly check out the program and the product(s). If possible purchase the product yourself
for evaluation. The better the product, the easier it will be to recommended it to others, and
the chances of people purchasing the product will be far better as well. Also keep in mind
that your reputation is on the line if your promoting products that are of poor quality.
Hot Affiliate Tip #1 - Beware the hype! Read the article here:
http://www.ebookcrossroads.com/marketing-hype.html
Select Your Target Audience
The first question to be answered is, "who is your target audience?". Once this is established
it will be much easier for you to select the products that will sell. Do some research. Find
magazines, ezines, forums and websites targeted for this group. Now you know where to focus
your advertising efforts.
Find Your Niche
Choose a topic that is of great interest to you and build your website around that theme. You will
be far more passionate in your content writing and far more believable in your marketing if you
really care about your topic. Learn all you can about your chosen topic - become an expert. This
will provide name recognition, credibility, and make selling the products you choose easier.
Hot Affiliate Tip #2 - If you enjoy your topic, running your business will also be fun - and in
the end more profitable!
Get Your Own Domain Name
You can promote affiliate programs from a free site, but free sites are easy to detect, and you
won't be taken seriously. If you are serious about building a business you need your own domain
name and website. To build credibility, name recognition, repeat traffic and an overall
professional appearance you really do need your own domain name.
Sell High Demand Products
Selling things that people want is an easy way to get those dollars rolling in. Information
products are number one. Digital products are in great demand and often provide high commissions.
Bargains always get customers excited. A good affiliate tip: Quickly jumping on new
products or the latest fads can provide good rewards.
Hot Affiliate Tip #3 - One quick way to find hot products is by checking the
top selling programs at
Clickbank.
Traffic, Traffic, Traffic!
Building traffic to your website is the name of the game. If you have a targeted audience, you
will need about 500 unique visitors a day to make reasonable money. The best thing you can do to
bring in lots of traffic is to provide good content and build trust and credibility with your
customers.
Hot Affiliate Tip #4 - The best information I have found on this subject is Ken Evoy's
Make Your Site Sell! Go ahead and click, it's one of the best free reads you'll find on
the Internet.
Residual Income
Finding affiliate programs that provide residual income will provide an ongoing income for as
long as a customer continues using a service or membership site. One sale can provide income
for several months or years. One really good program is the
GetResponse Autoresponder. You can find other quality residual income programs
here
Lifetime Commissions
As with residual income, programs that have lifetime commissions will provide commissions long after
the initial sale. If one of "your" customers buys another product, even years later, you will
receive the commission. You can find some good programs with lifetime commsions
here
Good Salesmanship
Having a good product with a high commission rate will do you no good unless you also have good
salesmanship. Here are some excellnt products that are designed to sell.
Site Build It! by Ken Evoy
The Amazing Formula by Marlan Saunders
1st Search Ranking by Sumantra Roy
Internet Marketing Course by Cory Rudl
Increase Sales With Personal Endorsements
An excellent way to promote products is by writing a personal endorsement. The best way to do
this is to purchase the product and write an honest review. Don't be afraid to point out
slight flaws in the product either. If the product is a good one (and you shouldn't promote
it if it isn't) pointing out small deficiencies will not detract from the salability, but
rather show that you are making an honest evaluation.
Just Say No To Spam
The worst way to promote a product is using bulk, unsolicited email (Spam). Reputable programs
do not permit their affiliates to use spam, so you may forfiet any commissions you have
earned, and could even be billed for damages. You can lose your internet connection and ruin
your hard earned reputation.
Hot Affiliate Tip #5 - Always, Always Say No To Spam!
Banners or Content?
Using banners is the easiest, most popular and the least effective way to promote affiliate programs.
Content is still king! Write endorsements, offer helpful advice, provide useful content - be
creative!
Choose Wisely
Look for quality affiliate programs that provide useful information, sales tools and tips, articles
and newsletters. They are the product experts and can provide you with promotional ideas, product
information and the like that you ordinarily wouldn't know. Many provide samples of emails,
articles, reviews that you can change and customize for yourself. You can find some excellent
programs here.
Your Own Newsletter
A newsletter is a must have for any Internet business today. It is by far one of the best
promotional tools you can use. It will assist in name recognition, is a superb promotional
tool and a great money making tool. Most successful marketers place a lot of importance
on their opt-in lists as a way to make repeat sales. To learn about publishing a newsletter
click here.
Hot Affiliate Tip #6 - Build Your List! The best way to succeed in affiliate marketing
is by continually growing your list. You know the drill - The Money is in the List!
How To Hide Your Affiliate Links
Commissions are lost daily because people do not like to click on affiliate links. To disguise
your links simply cut and paste this code into your affiliate links:
a href="Your Affiliate URL here" onmouseover="window.status='Start Your Very Own eBook Today!';return true;" onmouseout="window.status=' ';return true;"
Program Name Here
Make eMail AOL User Friendly
There are approximately 34 million AOL users out there. The chances that some of them subscribe
to your newsletter are pretty high, so why not provide two URL formats! Just cut and paste this
code (and insert your information) to your text emails:
AOL users
http://www.XXXXXX.com
click here
Signature Files
A great way to promote affiliate programs is by using a "Sig File". This is the space below
your eMail address. The sig file shouldn't be a long advertisement, simple a line of advertising
the name of the program and the URL. Here is an example:
Don't just build a website - Build a Business
Site Build It!
http://www.sitebuildit.com/YourAffiliateNoHere.html
Hot Affiliate Tip #7 - Go to http://www.tinyurl.com and get a url for your affiliate program that is
inrecognizable as an affiliate link. For your article marketing read
"Create A Profit Pulling Resource Box" for ideas.
Sticky Notes Instead of Pop-Ups
Instead of using Pop-Ups, use Sticky Notes. They're not as annoying to customers and not
affected by Pop-up Blockers. You can customize the script as to how often it should appear on
the page, for how long, and whether a fade-in affect should be used. Click here
to pick up and customize this JavaScript. It's really a lot more customer friendly than Pop-Ups.
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