Aside from those who do well and those who don't, there are basically two kinds of affiliates... The first group of individuals has no private website that they personally own and maintain. They merely promote other people's products and services using whatever pre-made sales page is given to them. The second group of affiliates does in fact have their own separate website(s) which may or may not be associated with the other programs they choose to promote. Right off the bat, the second group has a distinct advantage. Why? Because unlike the first group, they can simply create specific pages that pre-sell their affiliate programs, products, and/or services. Or, at the very least, they can include one or more paragraphs of promotion copy (with or without corresponding graphics or banners). Naturally, there's nothing wrong with promoting a pre-made sales page. Most product owners have gone to great lengths to create solid copy that is intended to generate income. The only problem is, the results for the *average* affiliate are generally less than adequate, let alone in the category of making them rich beyond their wildest dreams. In most instances, the average affiliate promotes several (if not dozens) of products and services. And although they might receive lesser amounts of revenue from individual areas, they wind up maintaining a larger sum of income collectively. That's great, but as any affiliate knows, promoting even one particular product, service, or program is hard enough without having to duplicate that work effort in numerous different ventures. Yes, multiple streams of income is a good thing overall. But not if you're spreading yourself so thin that you can't do any one product justice. In order to raise your affiliate power, you need to concentrate on one or two products, services, or programs to begin with. Then, once you've mastered the art of selling, promoting, advertising, marketing, etc., you can simply add more endeavors to your list of affiliate ventures. If you attempt to get too many things going at one time (and more specifically, before you're capable of handling that kind of juggling act), there's a good chance each and every one of your efforts will either fall far short of your expectations or fail entirely. How do you know which programs, products, or services are right for you personally? Well, there are several criteria that come into play... - your level of Internet experience - your personal interests - your firsthand knowledge of the program, product, or service - how many work/promotion hours you have available - what expenditures (if any) are required - how committed you are to success - how much work/effort you're willing to invest Recognize a pattern here? In most instances, it all comes down to not only what you yourself are capable of but how much time and effort (and possibly money) you're willing and/or able to invest in order to succeed. The difficulty that most affiliates face is the fact that they enter this arena expecting to get rich (or make a considerable amount of income) within a relatively short period of time. They believe that simply because someone else has done all the preparation (supplying the product, sales page, and promotional banners and graphics), they, as the affiliate, merely need to scatter their referral link here, there, and everywhere, and voila! Instant success. If it was really that easy, we'd all be rich simply pushing other people's products, services, and programs. But the truth is, affiliate promotion requires as much (if not more) work and dedication. At least, it does if you intend to make a good deal of money through referral sales. So the important thing is to choose wisely. And to do that, you need to make absolutely certain that whatever you're promoting carries your own personal seal of approval. If it doesn't, if you're only promoting some product in hopes of gaining a quick buck, you're doomed to fail. Can people make money promoting an inferior product? You bet they can. BUT... if you plan on making your living (or a good portion of it) through referral sales, you have to consider the entire picture. Unless you happen to actually be getting rich off that inferior product (in which case, why are you even reading this?), you'll want to have the ability to promote other programs, products, and services to the same people who took advantage of the first offer you promoted. In other words, the people who became your referrals. After all, those referrals are the best source of future sales, right? Right. So naturally, the moment you have some other product, service, or program that you're associated with, you'll be contacting those individuals ASAP. Of course, if you "sold" them on an inferior product the first time, what are the odds they'll follow you blindly into yet another venture? In most cases, they won't. In fact, they'll hold it against you that you made money as the result of promoting something with the sole intent of accumulating "x" amount of dollars. Needless to say, that's not exactly the best way to win friends and influence people. And most importantly, get them to send even more of their hard-earned money your way. Whatever you do, always think about the big picture, the overall scheme of things. True Internet success depends on building relationships rather than making money. Oh sure, making a bundle of cash is the ultimate goal, but you'll gain more in the long run by concentrating on building relationships first and making money second. Without a doubt, one automatically leads to the other. And even more important is the fact that you're establishing a solid base of operation. Once people trust and come to depend on you for advice and/or recommendations, they'll be much more likely to purchase something (anything) from you repeatedly over a period of time. How To Raise Your Affiliate Power - Part 2 http://www.sites500.com/articles/affiliate-power-part2.html How To Raise Your Affiliate Power - Part 3 http://www.sites500.com/articles/affiliate-power-part3.html |
