This is the second post in a mini series on affiliate marketing. Sign up to the RSS feed or subscribe via email (top right..) and stay tuned for the rest of the series or check the home page for previous posts.

So I am sure you have experienced writing an affiliate post only to realise that most people didn’t click through to the sales page, even though it was so well targeted to your niche! Here’s a few tips on writing an affiliate post that will convert:

Don’t Right A Glowing Review

Nothing is really that good, and everybody knows it. The secret to selling affiliate products through your blog is to be honest and talk about shaded side of the product as well as it’s glowing side. An honest “It does what I need but be warned, it has whatever problem” will gain a lot more trust with your readers, especially if you share how you resolved the issues “… good thing their support forum answers almost any question you can think of”.

Add Value

I will talk more about this in a post to come. But lets just say if you can sell affiliate links on your blog without adding value, you can sell a lot more by adding value! You could offer reprint rights products, your own products, free consultations, ebooks, video tutorials, and DVDs, etc. Just make sure it’s something relevant. Tell them to send you their receipt and they will receive the $X value freebie.

People know an affiliate link when they see one, so what are you doing to make sure they click yours and don’t just google it?

Share Your Tips And Tricks

This is one that many people seem to overlook but works a charm. If you are selling a program, giving away a few tips and tricks on how to use the program is a great technique to boost sales. Not only does it help the reader imagine themselves using the product, but it also adds weight to your personal recommendation because it’s obvious that you have used it more than once!

Even better is adding a video to the post. The readers can see how the program works and actually see how to apply your tricks.

These are just a few ideas, anyone else have something to share?