TimScullin.com » Affiliate Marketing

3 Steps To Writing An Affiliate Post That Sells

Tim Scullin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:51:21 +0000

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?

How To Choose Affiliate Products That Will Actually Sell

Tim Scullin — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:28:10 +0000

This is the first 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.

Anyone can put an affiliate link on their blog, anyone can promote them, but only a few actually make money.

One of the keys for making money selling affiliate products is promoting the right stuff. Here are 5 things you should take into consideration before choosing an affiliate product to market on your site.

1. Relevance

You should be promoting products that are either strongly related to your website content or your visitors. The affiliate products may be quite different to your site content as long as they are relevant to the reader. For example, a blog about healthy food should be able to sell fitness programs as well as healthy food affiliate products.

Don’t limit yourself to your niche, but think about what your readers would buy.

2. Quality

There are so many affiliate products out there that you shouldn’t need to settle for a poor product. Also pick products with good advertising material. Having great banners and an excellent landing page will go a long way in generating more sales.

Check out the stats on your affiliate to see whether it is performing well for other affiliate marketers.

3. Would You Buy It

A great way to find products to promote is look at the ones you have already bought, or the ones you were tempted too! Buy the product (or at least test it) before you promote it. Not only will your personal testimony boost your sales but you can also share some useful insights to the product and maybe even some tips for use (note: good tips make people buy).

If you are really proactive you can even create a product to go with the affiliate product you are selling. Then you can give this away to make sure people buy through your affiliate link. More on this in another post :)

4. Hot Products

Selling products that are 5 years old is stupid, no matter how good they are. 70% of your audience either has it, or has decided they don’t want it. You need to focus on new prodects that are hot right now.

A product with a good buzz is easier to sell but bear in mind it will also have more competition!

5. Commision

You want to aim for products that pay a commission of 25% or greater (ideally 50%), and make at least $25 per sale.

Lifetime commission is another atractive option. When you sign a a customer up and all future purchases give you a commission. For example, hosting providers often pay a lifetime commission for affiliate sales. Lifetime commission usually pay monthly, and you can build up quite a significant constant cash flow with enough lifetime customers.

Often signing up other affiliate marketers to a product will give you a lifetime commission based on a percentage of their sales.

Make Money From Your Blog Affiliate Style – The Introduction

Tim Scullin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:03:38 +0000

This is an introduction post to a mini series I am putting together on affiliate marketing. Sign up to the RSS feed or subscribe via email (top right..) and stay tuned for the rest of the series. Proposed series topics are at the bottom.

So you have a blog, you are starting to get your traffic up or maybe you don’t even have any traffic yet, but you want to know what to do once you have some traffic. Affiliate marketing is a great way to draw some cash out of your blog while also helping others at the same time. I have bought some great products which I may have never known existed if another affiliate marketer hadn’t pointed them out to me.

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Basically it’s selling someone elses stuff. You promote their products on your blog and if you generate sales you get a commission from everyone you send their way. Some rates are better than others. For example some will pay you 50% per sale while others will only pay 5%. Some will pay you only when you make the sale, others will pay you a commission for the life of that customer. So every time they make a purchase or a pay a monthly membership you get a percentage.

How Does It Work?

You simply sign up to the affiliate program of choice and they will give you a unique link. The link will redirect to the actual site and place a tracking cookie on the persons computer. The cookie will remember that user for the next 60 days or so depending on the affiliate site and will attribute any sales to you. This means that even if a person doesn’t buy straight away you will still get the sale if they return later.

Once the sale goes through the affiliate program will credit your account to the value of your commission and you usually get paid monthly.

Why Are Blogs Good For Affiliate Marketing?

You know when someone comes to your door and tries to sell you something, lets say restaurant vouchers. They always end up trying to sell to you based on how much money you’ll “save”, because you can’t trust them when they say the food is great. However if a friend recommended the same restaurant, and told you the good was great you’d instantly add it to your mental list of restaurants to try. Blogs are kinda the same when it comes to affiliate marketing.

To some degree you have a relationship with your readers, and if you are constantly sharing good information and promoting valuable products people will trust your suggestions. Even better if you actually use the product yourself. When you tell them about a product you found useful they might just go and buy it too.

Stay Tuned

As mentioned at the top this is an introduction post to a mini series on affiliate marketing. Make sure you subscribe and check out the posts as the are published:

Choosing Affiliate Products
How to choose the right affiliate networks and products to get the best results.

How To Write A Successful Affiliate Post
Covers the ins and outs of writing a post about an affiliate product. What annoys people and what makes people trust you.

Sell Affiliate Products Without Destroying Your Reputation
Having a good reputation is powerful online and too many damage it with their attempts at affiliate marketing.

Add Value And Increase Affiliate Sales
If you can add extra value to your readers they WILL be more likely to buy from you.

Using CPC To Drive Affiliate Sales
Using CPC can be an easy way to drive quality leads to your affiliate post, but make sure you do the math.

How To Get The Scoop On New Affiliate Products
Selling new products is much easier than selling products that everyone already has.

How To Write Titles That Don’t Sell
Why people don’t like clicking on links that look like a sales pitch and how you can use this to your advantage.

Any More Topics That Come Up Along The Way
I am more than open to write extra posts to cover any questions people have. Add me on twitter and send me a tweet with any q’s!