So you want to promote affiliate products? You hear about all the money that is being made from affiliate programs and you decide that you want a little some of that? I don’t blame you, it’s easy and relatively risk free. It’s easy to start and easy to maintain. Affiliate marketing is a dream business for many. But the road to affiliate marketing riches is by no means short and smooth. There are some key elements you absolutely must consider before you even think about promoting your next (or first) affiliate product. Let’s take a look at what these are so you don’t fall into affiliate hell.
1. Pick products that convert
If you want to cut out the most work, why bother promoting products that don’t already sell? If you select products that are new to the market and haven’t built up enough sales history to determine whether they are top sellers, or maybe you are looking at a product that has been knocking around for a while but hasn’t sold too well, you will find the entire process much harder than if you were to promote a “sells itself” product.
2. Pick products that pay
So it’s selling well right? Well so what, it’s only paying you £3 commission! Is it really worth the effort? Some of you might think it is, but you must consider that most products have a limited shelf life. Therefore, you will not always be making £3 commissions indefinitely- in other words, the product sales will eventually die off, leaving a limited window of opportunity for you to earn money from it. I am not sure about you, but if a product had a 12 month lifespan I would want to be certain that I can make the maximum amount of commission % per sale. Makes sense right?
3. Don’t waste your initial efforts
In reality, the websites, articles and other marketing materials you create around your chosen affiliate products take a considerable amount of time to develop and fine –tune. All this work should be designed to last as long as possible – so that your initial efforts are not put to waste just because the affiliate products disappear or sales drop off. Instead, ensure that every single one of your visitors is captured via an opt in form.
4. Think bigger and longer
Just like you shouldn’t waste your efforts by not capturing email addresses, you should also think carefully about the subject/niche that the affiliate products are based in. Successful online businesses are built up around a specific type of business and heavily pivoted around a particular subject/niche. If you are affiliate marketing to get your feet wet and ultimately trying to obtain lift off, don’t waste all of your efforts by having no long term business in mind.
In other words, build your customer base whilst promoting affiliate products, but aim to build your own products or services in the same niche in the future – this makes the most sense and requires the least efforts as your customer will already be at hand ready for your own business pitch, not some £3 affiliate product.