Avoid going the wrong way in your affiliate promotions

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Note: The mistakes below are what most affiliates make when they try to target a market “from scratch” - it’s not for those who are fortunate enough to have a mega-traffic website or an optin email list with a million names on it ;-)

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Mistake #1: Their keywords don’t attract buyers.

Many affiliates will choose keywords like:

panic attack causes
panic attack symptoms
panic attack disorder

True, many people look for them. But how many of those people have already decided that they need a solution and are actively looking for one? The conversions for the above keywords would be dismal. Especially if you are doing Pay Per Click, you would have a really hard time making any profits.

Some terms that would be better to target, would be terms like:

panic attack cure
panic attack treatment
Panic Away (name of a popular product in this market)

We only have so much time, energy and resources - so it’s good to make sure that we use them wisely.

Mistake #2: Trying too hard to “convince” their visitors:

If the affiliate has to do a lot of “hard selling” or “convincing” on the website, then something is already seriously wrong (see mistake #1 above for keyword selection).

At some point in your affiliate career, you will have to decide whether you will be targeting “information seekers” or “buyers.” Don’t worry about information seekers for now. Let other affiliates  “educate” the market. Your average prospect may search for a few hours or days with terms like “panic attack causes.”

Then, they will read forum posts and articles (some written by other affiliates). After your prospect has already become “hotter” and they are convinced that they need to find a solution, they will start searching for “panic attack treatment” or “Panic Away.” Then, you will just appear out of nowhere like a Ninja - and close the easy sale.

Remember: You are NOT a door-to-door salesman - you just “match” hot prospects with the right merchants - and get paid for it.

Mistake #3: They try to be too “original.”

Many affiliates “figure everything out” INSIDE THEIR HEADS and then they think “Hey, I will retire rich in 2 weeks.” After they test their “original idea”, they get frustrated because it didn’t work.

Sure, originality is a “novel” concept - but, in this business, you don’t get paid for being original. You get paid for results.

So, get an idea of what works by SPYING on other affiliates first. Type your terms on Google. See what sites come up. What products do they promote? What do their websites look like? What idea cam you uswe for your site? Do they use screenshots? Reviews? A personal story? What are some of the “common themes” that you on many of the top affiliate sites. Take note of them.

If you want to promote a specific program, you can search on your favorite marketing forum for that product name. You may be surprised that you will find some affiliates talking about the product saying things like: “yeah, it converted when I did his but then I tried this other thing and sales tanked.” Or, you can type on google something like:

“product name” affiliate forum clickbank

For example:

“panic away” affiliate forum clickbank

Go through the top Google results and you are guaranteed to find at least one forum where there is a DISCUSSION about that product - and probably by affiliates.

The above is obviously just an example, off the top of my head but you get the idea.

Mistake #4: Not using the tools provided by the merchant PROPERLY

Every time a merchant creates a page with affiliate tools on it, it’s because it will help the merchant make money. But will those resources and “tips” help the affiliate?

As stated above, you don’t want to “work too hard” when setting up your affiliate promotion. That’s why you should always check the merchant’s affiliate page. The trick is to be able to FILTER what to use and what not to use.

Here are some examples of affiliates tools that you MAY WANT to use:

- A cool video of the merchant with a preview of the product
- An audio interview that ads more value to the process
- An article that offers value and also presells the product
- Graphics of the product or website screenshots

Here are some examples of affiliates tools that you MAY *NOT* WANT to use:

- A list of very generic keywords that have a slim chance of converting to a sale: The merchant may not care because he will only pay you if a sale is made. But if you lose your shirt by bidding on untargeted terms, you are hosed!

- A list of “cool advertising resources” that they probably never tested but that instead found on some website. Sure, the more exposure the program gets, the better for the merchant. But you should not be the guinea pig for the merchant or even believe everythng they say.

So, use some common sense. First FILTER the resources of the merchant and then LEVERAGE them.

Mistake #5: Not making the order EASY for the visitor

Many affiliate websites have a mile-long “review” and then they provide the affiliate link at the bottom of the page. Sure, there are some people who will scroll - but there are even more who won’t!

You want to use a long review with an affiliate link at the bottom? Fine, do it. But for Christ’s sake, DO have a link very high on the page. It should be visible without the visitor scrolling down (the lik should be “above the fold”).

Also, keep in mind that different people like different things. Have several calls to action (links to the merchant) above the fold. You can do it in a way that doesn’t confuse the visitor.

For example, if you are bidding on the brand name of a product and getting visitors to your website who search for that, you can have ALL of these calls to action above the fold:

- An image of the product
- A screenshot of the website
- A LINK that says “buy from the official website”
- A BUTTON that says “order now”

Many times, the visitor will just want to visit the merchants website and buy right then and there. Don’t delay the sale - especially if you are targeting “money terms” (as you should be doing anyway).

Also, use what I call the  “Affiliate Chameleon Method.” Your website should have a similar feel to the merchant you promote, so that your visitors don’t go through a “cultural shock” when they click through.

You can even save the merchant’s salesletter on your hard drive, open it in your favorite WYSIWYG HTML editor (like Dreamweaver for example) and then create your affiliate website based on that. You basically keep the same background color and “design.”

The merchant won’t mind a bit, especially if you are promoting them and making them a bunch of money.

You basically need to create a “smooth experience” for your visitors.

Post your opinions below… and stay tuned for part 2…

George