AFFILIATE MARKETING GUIDE TO GETTING PROFITS: (Part- 1)

Developing a strong sales force is one way to expand a business. Building your own sales force used to be prohibitively expensive, posing a significant barrier to entry for product creators. Fortunately, thanks to the advancement of incredible online tracking technology, you can not only become a salesperson for a variety of different products and creators, but you can also create your own products to sell.

You can also use affiliate technology to build a sales force that can generate multiple six figures and even millions of dollars - all without hiring employees. You only pay your sales force (affiliates) when a sale is made. You only make money as an affiliate (salesperson) if you make a sale.

It appears simple, and it is. However, before you dive in, it's a good idea to learn everything you can about affiliate marketing. Learning about affiliate marketing and the various ways to maximize your earnings will propel your company to the next level and position you as the true CEO of your company.

To be profitable with affiliate marketing, you must first identify your niche, then find the right products to promote, then create your own products, find the right affiliates to market them, and keep your affiliates motivated. It all starts with identifying and comprehending your niche.

FINDING YOUR NICHE:

The very first thing you need to do if you want to make money as an affiliate marketer - whether you’re going to make money selling other people’s products or your own (best to do both) - is that you need to figure out who you want to work with and what niche you want to be part of.

· Who do you want to collaborate with?

Looking inside yourself to find your interests and passions is one way to determine the type of people you'd like to work with or help. If you enjoy being around certain people and are aware of their hopes, desires, and needs as a result of being a member of that audience, that is one way to go because you will already have insight.

However, don't let this be an excuse to avoid conducting research. Even as a member of your niche audience, your experiences are subjective, and the actual results may be quite different from what you expect. To help you move forward, try describing your ideal customer in one or two sentences.

• Who is now serving that audience?

Once you've identified a potential niche audience, it's always a good idea to check out the competition. Is this a profitable niche if there is no competition? Some will advise you to choose low-competition niches, but it is better to choose a niche with enough potential customers to meet your income goals if your conversion rate meets industry standards.

For example, if you have 1000 potential customers and your research shows a 4 to 7 percent conversion rate, and you know you can get your materials and information in front of those 1000 customers, a campaign may yield no more than 70 customers. Is your price point high enough to make you profitable with those 70 customers?

• What skills and solutions can you provide to this market?

Do you have specialized education, experience, or knowledge that qualifies you for this position? You don't have to be a member of the audience to succeed in a niche.

For example, if you have identified a niche that requires someone to advise them on products to use for their love of camping that are unique to what is available, you can still learn about it and serve the audience even if you have no camping experience or appreciation for camping. Instead of direct experience, you have resources to pay people with subject matter expertise to create your business.

• What distinguishes you?

Always take a look at yourself. What distinguishes you from your competitors? What abilities can you bring to this niche that others cannot? How can you distinguish yourself from the crowd? Will you approach the niche in a unique way than others? For example, if you're a business coach, are you formal or informal? Whatever you are, you will attract a completely different segment of your audience than someone who is not like you.

• Check an Affiliate Network for Products that cater to that demographic.

Another thing to consider is whether the niche you choose is profitable. It is critical to ask yourself if it is profitable. Just because you have the internet and a passion for something does not make it a profitable niche. What makes it profitable is that the target audience exists in sufficient numbers and has sufficient funds to purchase the solutions you create and offer.

Once you've narrowed down your options, the primary considerations are whether or not your niche idea is profitable, and whether or not you have the skills to proceed - either skills you learn or skills you buy from others. Choose a profitable niche that you are interested in and know how to serve.

SELECTING THE BEST PRODUCT OR SERVICE TO PROMOTE:

Now that you've identified your target audience and the niche you want to work in, it's time to find the right products and/or services to promote to them. There are numerous methods for locating products or services to present to your target audience.

• Issues and Solutions

Once you've determined who your target audience is, you can concentrate on determining their problems and then locating solutions to assist them. Based on the niche you've chosen; make a list of at least three problems you want to solve for the audience.

Here's an illustration:

1. Target audience: Married working mothers with school-aged children who thrive on structure.

2. Issues: Keeping a family calendar, meal planning, and organization

3. Potential Solutions: Digital calendars, do-it-yourself meal plans and shopping lists, organization tips and products

Once you've compiled a list of problems and solutions, search some well-known affiliate networks for the products you've identified as a good fit.

A quick search on ClickBank.com reveals several products that you might want to promote. ClickBank is a popular affiliate network where you can find products in any niche to market as well as use to promote your own products.

But don't start promoting it right away. Make a list of several items. Then, for each product, conduct some research. Learn about the creator, consider the product's conversion rate, and consider how the creator's values and style fit in with the brand voice you want to project.

If you don't know anyone who knows them and can vouch for their professionalism, test them out by purchasing the product yourself and evaluating the product's quality as well as the company's customer service. As an affiliate marketer, you are delegating customer service to someone else. You must ensure that they will take loving care of your customers in order for your audience to continue to value your recommendations.

• Various Programs

There are a plethora of affiliate networks that provide opportunities for you to promote to your target audience. Each has its own quirks and issues that you must become acquainted with as you join a network. Affiliate products can also be found through direct programs that are not listed in affiliate networks.

Many individual publishers, for example, prefer to use technology such as aMember.com to set up their program, in which case they will not be listed on affiliate platforms. Simply look up solutions using keywords that you believe will lead you to those products.

In the preceding example, we searched ClickBank for Household Organization. Search Google for Household Organization to see what comes up. In our case, the first result is a website called Getorganizedgal.com, which provides solutions that the audience would need and want.

However, there is no affiliate program visible, but further investigation reveals that she uses Teachable to deliver her courses. Teachable includes an affiliate module. You could send her an email explaining how much you enjoy her products (after purchasing some) and how your audience would appreciate it if they opened an affiliate program for you.

Another website that appears is Cozi.com, which is a family organizer. It has a calendar, shopping lists, to-do lists, recipes, and a meal planner, as well as a family journal. If you meet the requirements, you can promote Cozi and earn money through their affiliate program.

Here are a few programs to look into: 

4. JVZoo.com

5. www.affilorama.com

6. ClickBank

7. ShareASale.com

8. Associates with Amazon

9. eBay Partner Network

10. CJ Associate

11. Thrive Market

12. www.udemy.com

13. www.skillshare.net

Each network has advantages and disadvantages, and there are many more. By searching Google for "affiliate networks," you can find massive lists of affiliate networks, as well as specialized networks. For example, if you only want to sell organic goods, you'll have a lot of options.

You can also search for specific products to promote, find a link to their affiliate program, or email them for more information. Some business owners do not use affiliate networks, but so many do that you're bound to find a plethora of profitable products to promote. Even if you don't find one, you can always email the creator and offer your services by displaying your social proof.

• Establishing Profitability

Before you choose a product to promote, you must first determine whether or not the product is profitable. You can see the metrics listed on an affiliate network to help you determine how profitable the product is. If you are working with a product creator directly, you may need to test your assumptions after using the product.

Here are some things to consider.

14. High Commissions - For digital products, less than a 50% commission is a waste of time.

15. High Sales Price - If the commission is less than 50%, is the sale price high enough that you'd make a reasonable per-sale price?

16. Conversion Rate - Most affiliate programs will list something about the conversion rate, how many sales have been made, or other information to help you decide whether or not this is an excellent choice.

17. Sales Page - How does the sales page appear? While it may not be pleasant to learn, longer sales pages outperform shorter ones for many audiences. Is the sales page well-planned? Is it converting?

18. Purchase It - When you find a product that you believe you will want to promote to your audience, purchase it. If you have enough influence, you might be able to get it for free or at least a sample copy to evaluate. However, purchasing it as a customer is the best way to learn how they operate and whether the product is appropriate for your target audience.

19. Is There Competition? - It's a good thing if you do a search and find other products similar to the one you want to sell. If it's already something your market wants and is looking for, you won't have to educate them as much.

20. Can You Think of Any More Search Terms? - Once you've determined that a product is something you want to promote, can you come up with more search terms for it so you can start creating marketing content?

21. How Will You Promote This Product? - Another question you should consider is how you will promote the product. Will you launch a full-fledged campaign, or will you incorporate it as an in-content link on your blog? Will you promote it to people on your mailing list? Which section? The more precisely you can plan how, when, and where you will promote the product, the more likely it will be profitable.

Finding a profitable product isn't all that difficult if you've chosen a good niche with a healthy audience clamoring for the solutions, they require to improve their lives. It is your responsibility to determine your niche, the products your target audience requires, and how you will present them to them.

You can also create your own niche products. Let's take a look at that next.

DEVELOPING YOUR OWN GOODS OR SERVICES:

Another way to make money as an affiliate marketer is to start developing your own products and/or services to sell to your target audience. Working with your audience and gaining customers as a result of the products you promote and the content you publish may provide you with insight into the audience that inspires you to create a brand-new product for them. Depending on how you intend to use your product, it may be free or chargeable.

• Providing Bonuses

You can add your own products to the mix by offering a bonus for purchasing another product for which you are an affiliate. The bonus product allows you to add them to your list, increase your revenue, and demonstrate more of what you can do for the audience in terms of their problems.

If the product creator allows it, some affiliate systems allow you to add your bonus product directly to their funnel on the affiliate platform (such as aMember.com or JVZoo.com). In other cases, you may have to be inventive and send the bonus in a different manner. However, there is a lot of technology that will do it for you automatically.

• Creating a List

As an affiliate marketer, you can create your own products for the sole purpose of building your list. A good example would be a checklist to assist your audience in selecting the best affiliate marketing software or in setting up their first online seminar. Anything that your audience truly requires and desires that is simple to create makes an excellent list builder.

• An additional source of income

Furthermore, as a product creator, you can create products as a separate income stream in addition to your affiliate income. You can create a more effective cleaning organization calendar than the one you've been promoting. You’ve created a course on keeping your home organized that you'd like to sell. Once you've created the product, you can hire affiliates to sell it for you.

As a product creator, you'll want to make sure you have the right software, such as aMember.com, to help you set up a shopping cart and even a membership site to distribute your digital products and services to your target audience. You can also use any of the affiliate networks mentioned above to list your products and attract affiliates in order to increase your income.

FINDING THE RIGHT AFFILIATES  (AND ONES TO AVOID):

Once you've created your own products for sale, it's time to set up your own affiliate program to maximize your reach. Having your own affiliate program is like having an army of salespeople on your site every day, building your business. However, finding the right affiliates requires some thought and consideration.

• Value over quantity

If your affiliates aren't good salespeople, having 1000 of them won't help you. If the people who want to promote your product use unethical methods to make sales, this can also have a negative impact on you. By prioritizing quality affiliates over quantity, you can avoid the majority of the issues that can arise with affiliates, namely fraud and spam.

• Their official website

Examine the websites of any applicants. Do they maintain a blog? Is the content appropriate for your target audience? Is the website safe to use? Are they abiding by all applicable laws in their country and yours regarding spam, privacy, and other issues? Based on the information on the website, do they appear honest and confident?

• Their Web Address

A "Who Is" search is one way to learn more about the person behind the website. The information will be hidden on some of the websites. If this occurs, conduct additional research to ensure that the people behind the site are trustworthy individuals with whom you would want to deal in person.

• Their information and content

Does the content and information on the site speak to your target audience in such a way that they will choose to buy from them? What keywords do they employ? Is the content and information straightforward and truthful? Would you feel comfortable sending your mother to that website for information?

• Financial Verification

Another thing you should do when you get an affiliate is make sure they fill out all of the necessary legal forms. Even if you are not going to send out 1099s because you pay through a third party such as PayPal, obtaining that information is important because it establishes their legality and validates them in a way that helps you keep your customers safe. Furthermore, have they demonstrated their ability to be effective affiliate marketers?

You may not be able to be too picky about who becomes an affiliate when you first start out as a product seller, but at the very least ensure that they are who they say they are, that they are not criminals, and that they serve their customers honestly and transparently. Just keep in mind that if you choose people who are new to affiliate marketing, you will need to provide them with training and encouragement in order for them to make more sales.