So, why do most affiliate marketers never make nearly what they could? Anyone has the potential to make HUGE money in affiliate marketing, yet 90% or more of affiliates make a pittance (I’ll wager the number is closer to 98%, in fact.)
Think about this: If you earn an average of $50 on each sale in a sales funnel you promote, and you make six sales, you’ve made $300. Sounds good, right?
But guaranteed, someone else made 600 sales and walked away with $30,000.
Why did they make 600 sales when you made just 6?
There are reasons why a handful of affiliate marketers do amazingly well, and everyone else barely makes a profit.
And marketers who understand this will always have a tremendous advantage over marketers who don’t.
1: Build a Relationship
I know you’ve heard it before, but are you doing it? People buy people, not products.
If you want them to open your email and click your link or visit your Facebook Group and click a link, you’ve got to have a RELATIONSHIP with your people.
This is so simple to do, yet few marketers take the time.
Start with a blog post about you, and then send new opt-ins to the center so they can get to know you. Make the post silly, funny, and, most of all, REAL. Talk about the stupid stuff you’ve done, your mistakes, where you live, etc.
Do you have a strange hobby or unusual taste in food? Include that. Do you have 17 pets? Talk about them. Do you work until 3 in the morning and sleep until noon? Mention that.
Reveal the real you. Not the details people don’t want, but the ones that amuse and interest. You’re looking to make a real connection, not give a resume.
And above all else, don’t make your life seem like a series of magnificent accomplishments. No one will relate to someone who turns everything they touch into gold.
But they will relate to the time you bought Bitcoin when it was worthless and sold it just before it took off or the time you thought you could fly and jumped off your uncle’s barn into the manure pile.
And don’t stop with your ‘about me’ page, either. Use this relationship-building in your lead magnet, emails, other blog posts, etc.
Always inject a little bit about yourself. Not so much that you bore people, of course, or make everything seem about you. But just enough to keep it accurate.
Think about relating an event to a friend. Aren’t you going to give your perceptions of what happened and describe how you got out of your car and stepped in the mud puddle just before your big presentation?
Use this same personal, one-on-one friend communication method with your readers.
Please post on your blog as often as possible, and we will talk every day or two. Encourage your list to subscribe to Feedburner or the equivalent, so they know when you add a new post.
Your readers will realize you’re a natural person who isn’t out to pitch them a new product every 5 minutes. And they’ll gladly read your sales emails much more readily when they know a live human is sending them these messages.
2: Use Your Voice
How many emails do you receive that says, “Buy this product – This product is the greatest product ever – you will be sorry if you miss this – so rush right over and buy it now.”
Yeah. Same old stuff, over and over again.
There is a marketer (or maybe several, but I’m thinking of one in particular) who sells MASSIVE quantities of this exact type of email as a swipe file to new marketers.
A brand-new marketer couldn’t write their 25-word email saying, “GO BUY THIS NOW!”
People are TIRED of getting these emails. You’re tired of getting these emails. I’m tired of getting these emails.
Exact phrases, same message, same B.S.
If you don’t stand apart from the crowd, you must share the same crumbs they’re getting.
Instead, take 30 minutes and write your promotional email in your voice.
Forget hype. Be sincere. Be honest. “Hey, this product isn’t for everyone. I don’t even know if it’s for you. But if you have this problem, then maybe this is your solution. Check it out and decide if it’s right for you because I know it’s worked like crazy for some people. And it’s on sale right now, too.”
I’ve written emails telling people not to buy something unless they want it or need it. “Don’t buy this if you already know how to do XYZ.” “Don’t buy this if you’re not going to be doing this type of marketing.” This is only for people who want (fill in the blank.) It’s like I’m trying to talk them out of it, which paradoxically often results in more sales, not fewer.
But the point isn’t tricking them into buying; it’s, to be honest. Because you know what? That latest, most excellent product you’re promoting ISN’T what everyone on your list needs. Some of them, sure. The rest of them, no.
Do you know how refreshing it is to open an email that says, “Here’s a new product; I thought you might want to know, but please don’t buy it if you’re not going to use it?”
The first time I got an email like that, I bought the product without reading the sales letter. True story. I was so happy that someone wasn’t ramming a sale down my throat that I jumped to buy it.
Weird but true.
My point is, be you. Be honest. Talk to your readers as though they are your best friends, and you don’t want to lose them by acting like a carnival barker who is here today and pulled up stakes (vanished) tomorrow with their money.
3: Email a LOT
This is where people like to argue with me, and I understand that.
You’ve heard repeatedly that you shouldn’t email too often, or you’ll upset your subscribers, right?
After all, every time you email, there is the potential that a subscriber will hit the unsubscribe button.
Do you know what the potential is when you DON’T email? Nothing. No opens, clicks, sales… not even any relationship building.
Do you want people to open and read your emails? Then send out those emails EVERY DAY.
Here’s why:
First, almost no one will see every email you send out. Let’s say you’ve got a sale on one of your products. Don’t you think your readers might like to know about it? But if they miss the only email you send that lets them know, they’ve missed out on the discount, and you LOST a sale.
Second, send emails at different times. I opened someone’s email just yesterday, decided I was VERY interested in the new membership he was selling, clicked the link, and discovered it was no longer available.
What happened? This particular marketer only sends out emails at 1:00 a.m. my time, so I don’t even see most of his emails in the avalanche of mail I get before I wake up.
Third, if you send emails once a week or once a month, your readers forget who you are. And when you finally send an email, they think it’s spam.
Fourth, if you mail more often, you will make more money. Please don’t take my word on this; do it for one month. Send out one email per day, every day, for 30 days. Put a promotion in each one. See if you haven’t made more – a LOT more – money during that period than during the previous month.
And by the way, I’m not saying send out a promotion in each email. Ensure you have some content in there, even if it’s just an amusing anecdote.
4: Think of affiliate marketing as a BUSINESS
This isn’t a hobby nor an add-on for an additional income stream.
Even if you go on vacation, be prepared to email every day. Schedule them in advance or write them on vacation. Either way, affiliate marketing to your list is a business you can’t just jump into when you need cash and forget about the rest of the time.
Since the product owners handle this, you don’t have many support issues. You don’t have to worry about creating products, sales pages, etc. You don’t have to drive traffic unless it’s to build your list bigger.
With so much you don’t have to do, there’s no reason not to focus your time and energy on building relationships with your list and promoting to them daily.
Affiliate marketing can be some of the most accessible money you’ve ever made if you put in the time and effort to make it a real business.
