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Did
you begin your affiliate marketing business like this? You surf the internet looking
for an internet marketing product you can affiliate with and sell (even though
you know nothing about internet marketing), sign up for the program and get your
link, and then visit traffic exchanges and safelists, advertising your affiliate
site. At the end of the day, week, or month, you wonder why you didnt sell one
product.
That is not the way to run an affiliate business. You need to
treat it like a business. This is what you should have done: 1) Get your own website
and autoresponder; 2) Build an opt-in list that sells your first affiliate product
via an email course; 3) Continue marketing more affiliate programs to your list;
4) Drive traffic to your site (which is nothing but a lead-capture page).
1.
Get your own website and autoresponder.
It looks cheap and unprofessional
to post a long affiliate link in your ads. With domain names as inexpensive as
they are now you can purchase your own domain name and web hosting. Check out
doteasy.com for free hosting when you buy a domain name. What you need to do next
is write a strong lead-capture page on the topic of the product you are selling
as an affiliate. Describe benefits and offer a free email course to get subscriptions.
Only sell your affiliate product in your email course and through email messages.
2.
Build your own list.
Stop relying on one-shot ads to make you money. Real
businesses have repeat customers that they cultivate in order to make more profits.
You must do the same. Make a commitment to establish relationships with your customers
and especially with visitors to your site. Create an email list to keep in touch.
Send out periodic tips or articles and focus on helping your customers. Only promote
your affiliate links in unobtrusive ways; dont make your emails one big ad.
One
of the best ways to build traffic to your list is to write a short report that
describes the benefits of your affiliate program. Make this report available only
by email. When someone sends for your report, they are added to your list and
you can continue to communicate with them.
3. Continue marketing to your
list.
Once someone is on your list, continue marketing to them. They may
not buy your first affiliate product, but they may buy the third or fourth product
you promote. Keep on the lookout for solid products you can promote to your list,
but make sure the products you promote are the same type of products you began
promoting. And when you market to your list, do so by sending out quality content
like an article instead of an annoying ad.
4. Build traffic to your own
site and list.
This is where you really make your affiliate links your
own business. By having your own site and building your own list you are building
your own business, not just marketing someone elses. By doing this, you can market
to your own customers over and over again. Do not overlook this point: When your
ad redirects a customer to your affiliate link, you have lost that person as your
own customer because you lost the ability to communicate with them on a repeat
basis. When you direct customers to your own site and list, they build a relationship
with you.
These four strategies will help you build and grow your affiliate
marketing business. Jeremy
M. Hoover gives away FREE marketing information at his website. Go there NOW and
get your free marketing information as a "thank you" gift for reading this article. |
