Automate Your Way To Affiliate Marketing Wealth

If you want to generate an ongoing internet based income with affiliate marketing, you'll need to automate both the front end and the back end processes.
Following are a few tried and true techniques to ensure that you'll be effortlessly making affiliate commissions while visions of sugar plums dance in your head...
1. Research and choose the most desireable affiliate products and related affiliate programs which best fit your target market and that will allow you to earn the most amount of money for the least amount of effort in the shortest amount of time.
You want to ensure that the "affiliate vendor" (if they offer their own program) or the affiliate network (who manages a variety of affiliate vendor products/services) has a reputation for paying affiliates on time with a simple method for affiliates to sign up (get their affiliate ID/link), keep track of their progress (clicks, sales, etc), and get paid (ie: direct deposit into a paypal account versus receiving a check).
Find products or services that pay out high commissions and that have a top notch sales page to ensure high conversion rates (from lookers to buyers).
Be sure to read the sales page to determine if it excites you enoughto buy the product. If not, it probably won't interest others either. Keep in mind that digital products or services pay a much higher commission percentage than a physical product due to the fact that they cost less for the product owner to create, advertise, stock, and deliver to the buyer. If you do chose a physical product, try mixing it with a related downloadable product to increase your overall payouts. An example would be marketing a gardening implement with an associated "how to grow the fattest, juiciest watermelons" downloadable ebook.
And don't forget that an affiliate product or service with a monthly recurring fee (ie: a gardening club membership site)
ensures an ongoing steam of income for work you did once. For maximum income possibilities, you should have a mix of "one time fee" and "monthly recurring charge" products that relate to your targetted market.
You should also plan to promote additional products to those that have bought from you, be sure that the affiliate network you chose has a variety of "related" products you can sell. Since people usually get more than one product on a subject they are excited about, this will lock in a continuing stream of money from your initial marketing workd. Although you can transparently offer products to your customers from a variety of affiliate programs at the same time, it will be less stressful on you and your ability to efficiently handle your affiliate tasks if you have as few affiliate vendors and/or affiliate networks to manage as possible.

2. Concentrate on ONE product or service at a time to avoid "activity overload".
You must know if your promotional efforts for a specific product or service are making you money or if you are just wasting your time. You need to monitor and adjust until you have a continous stream of income from your selected product or service. If it doesn't happen, drop it and move on to another product.
Get all marketing and upsell tasks (ie: squeeze page, pre-sell page, free reports, autoresponder series, etc.) determined and ready to function automatically before moving on to selling a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.
Automation of each affiliate product or service's process enables you to turn your efforts to developing additional streams of income without sacraficing your previous affiliate income stream.

3. SMART affiliates ALWAYS capture prospects name/emails for maximuming profit potential
Since the affiliate vendor or affiliate network doesn't provide you with a visitor or buyer's name and/or email address, if you route your prospects right to the affiliate product owner's webpage, you have lost them forever (even if they purchase, you won't know who bought, only that you made a sale). Therefore, you won't be able to leverage your initial promotional efforts by selling other products or services to those who either expressed an interest or actually made a purchase.
Therefore, prior to sending your visitor to the affiliate vendor's webpage, you first want to send them to a webpage that you have developed to capture their name and email address. This webpage is referred to as a "squeeze page" or "opt-in" page. On that page you'll need to give something for FREE (ie: a report, mini-ebook, software tool, newsletter subscription, etc.). Something with VALUE that will get them to give up the information you want.
Since it is a common fact that a majority of people won't purchase on their first introduction to an individual or product or service, you also have to follow up with the people that have downloaded your FREE item (your list). Since statistics have proven that it usually takes 7 exposures before a prospect feels comfortable enough to purchase, you need to have a process in place to ensure that you follow up in a timely manner.
Setting up an autoresponder with a series of messages that are automatically delivered at set intervals, is the best way to make it happen. This email series should be structured so that it helps you to start a relationship as well as position you as a trusted consultant in your targeted marketplace. This will make it easier for your visitors to buy from you.
By continuing to provide FREE, valuable information to your prospects along with additional promotions built into your email series, it will ensure that your readers will continue to stay "subscribed". That they will continue to open your messages and eventually purchase one or more of your affiliate promotions.
4. Get the most exposure to your affiliate promotion
There are a number of ways to achieve exposure for your affiliate promotion (both free and paid). In other words, traffic to your promotional offer. The major marketing effort is made upfront. After that, if done right, a "viral" effect takes place and your marketing efforts will take on a life of their own.
Free ways:
Article writing - Write associated articles and send to article directories. Articles are then picked up by numerous website webmasters, ezine publishers, and others looking for online articles. Your article's "resource box" should have a direct link to your promotional "squeeze or "opt-in" page (which can't be removed by the publisher). So, each time someone publishes your article, you'll get free traffic.
Forum participation - look for related forums and particiapte in the discussions. Ask questions, offer solutions from your experience/educaton (not a sales pitch). Just set up your "signature" to route to your promotional "squeeze page" and Let your "signature" do your marketing for you. Just be sure that the forum OKs this type of signature (most do).
Blogging - find related blogs and write comments, again with a link to your promotional "squeeze page" or "opt-in" page.
Joint Ventures - seek out others in your target market that have "lists" that you can promote to and vice versa. If they present your promotional link to their list, you'll present their product in your autoresponder messages to your list.
Paid ways:
Google Adwords PPC (or other PPC Services) - Write & publish PPC (pay per click) ads. Each time someone clicks your ad, you are charged a certain fee. Keep in mind that you are charged this fee when they "click" your link, not if they "buy" the product. So, if you aren't monitoring your PPC allowance closely, you may spend lots more money on "clicks" than you'll ever earn on affiliate commissions. Be sure to read and understand the terms and conditions of any PPC service before you attempt to use this advertising resource.
If you are too busy or simply don't want to do these activities yourself, you can always/could easily outsource them to be performed by others. But, make no mistake, they do need to be done. As always, its a trade off of your time or your money.

5. Make more money than other affiliates promoting the same product or service
Once you have established a solid reputation as an affiliate who can bring in the sales, you can ask for a higher than normal commission from the merchant. Just contact the affiliate product owner and negotiate a larger percentage of the pie.
Since the affiliate vendor doesn't pay you anything unless you make a sale, they have a zero risk investment in you. If you have been a producer with them or can confirm your success with other affiliate efforts, most will work with you. Since only about 5% of their affiliates ever produce revenue for them, they surely don't want to lose one that does. Just be reasonable in your request.
Use these tips and you'll soon experience a HUGE increase in your affiliate commissioins in no time flat.

Article Source: http://www.christian-community-chapel.com/article

Cleo Craig is the founder of Internet Marketing Scout, a research group dedicated to helping newbies find proven, low cost, and easy to implement stratagies for generating an online income. See her latest recommendation at www.internetmarketingscout.com

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated