Hey there! If you're new here, it'd be great to have you sign up for my RSS feed. If you need a feed reader, you can download one for free here. Thanks for visiting and your comments are welcome anytime.

In a recent discussion with a Email Marketing Reform School student (she’s also joining me for IM Copy Makeover) that I really enjoy working with (she listens, applies and keeps moving forward - good student!), she told me:

“As this isn’t IM I can’t really send offers other than for my own stuff. I don’t want to send them to competitors.”

I was kind of surprised, but not completely taken aback as a lot of people who have their own products think this way. Here’s what I told her:

Your readers are going to buy from all kinds of companies, competitors, etc..whether you like it or not. Why not get paid for it? Wise advice I first heard from John Reese.

It’s a great market research tool to figure out which products you might be able to develop yourself. If you offer other products that your readers readily buy, that’s powerful information.

Always remember, the Internet is so vast. You have so many people on your list that will never buy from you that it’s not like sending your brick and mortar customer to the store next door.

In fact, if you lead them to quality products from other companies, they will trust and appreciate your opinion and come back for more. Overall, there are so many ways to maximize our online income and convert more prospects to sales…even if it’s not always for our own products.

I must admit, in this market of selling to online business owners, I make fewer and fewer affiliate offers - but there’s a very good reason for that. I have more of my own products to offer, so I am able to fill more of my prospects’ and customers’ needs. However, I haven’t stopped and will never stop making affiliate offers…because I just can’t be everything to my target prospect.

Every year, just before tax time, the U.S.-based affiliate programs that I work with frantically email me to let me know that I need to fill out a W-9 Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification (PDF).

Each time, I let them know that I am not a U.S. taxpayer and that form doesn’t apply to me. I also say that I should likely be completing the W-8BEN Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Witholding (PDF).

Then they tell me that they’ll get back to me. I wait and then they email saying that I should complete the form. Then, after all that back and forth, I fill out the form and all is well.

But please, U.S. affiliate program owners, do your foreign affiliates a favor:

- Sort your affiliates to U.S. and non-U.S before emailing them and provide them the correct form.

- Or at the very least, please send out two forms to all your affiliates and tell them which one to complete.

I know I’m just Canadian (hee hee) and I’m asking a lot, but it’ll save a bit of time and we can all get our paperwork done.

For Non-US affiliates to save youself some time:

- Open the W-8BEN (PDF) on your computer.

- You can fill in most of your details and save the form to your computer, so you can use it over and over again.

- The only thing you can’t fill in on the computer is the date, your signature and your title. That you have to do in writing. You’ll also have to edit the date each time you send it out.

I know this is usually the type of thing that applies to the Internet Marketing to Internet Marketers Crowd, but since you are probably the recipient of these tactics now and then, I thought I’d ask a question brought up on a forum yesterday.

Here’s what the original poster wrote:

There’s a number of big launches going on. Big launches = big commissions.

Would you *ask* them to do it?

I posted my opinions on that thread and they’re summed as this:

I think it becomes unethical when the affiliate program is set up to be a first-in type of thing. In other words, Joe Marketer created an affiliate program and for whatever reason, he decided the rule is the first person to refer gets the sale. In that case, you are stealing sales.

So, in my mind it’s either unethical OR unnecessary, depending on the situation.

And then someone said that it becomes problematic when bonuses are offered and people want to order through your link, but are already cookied elsewhere, so I wrote:

Yes, it does happen, so if you’re part of a launch you should ask/insist the person running the program has a last-in referral policy. Then nobody has to resort to used car salesman tactics.

What do you think? And don’t let my opinionated self sway your opinion. Obviously, there’s more than one way of looking at a situation.

Stealing the wording from Nicole Dean, it’s really tough to find good pay-per-lead programs. Sure, you can earn $4 by giving away a free laptop or get $20 for a life insurance lead, but have you ever been on the other side of this process?

The free laptop (or Burberry bag or what have you) survey is a series of hoops (pages and pages of questions and the requirement to sign up for more offers) your readers have to go through…and most of them will probably be annoyed by the time they get to the prize. Unless, your readers signed up to take surveys for free stuff, you might wanna stay clear.

Is the high pressure and reselling of contact information that comes with the higher payouts of life insurance, etc…really worth it?

I’d like to be so bold as to suggest, that mine & Mila’s Moms Talk Network Affiliate Program is one pay-per-lead program that doesn’t suck. Basically, our affiliates refer others to sign up for one of our mailing lists or free guides. In return for each sign up they refer, the affiliate receives 25 cents. Sure, the payout is lower…but the conversions are generally higher AND you can feel good about the follow up your readers will receive.

Do you know of any PPL affiliate programs that DON’T suck?

Here’s a new staff review of Anik Singal’s Affiliate Classroom. This staff member was interested in honing her affiliate marketing skills and want to take a sneak peek on what was inside, so it was a perfect product for her to review. The site has recently been updated and upgraded and here’s what she had to say:

—– START STAFF REVIEW —-

Who’s it for: Beginner to intermediate marketers. It’s NOT for anyone who has been building successful affiliate sites.

What’s Included:
Special deals/discounts
Forums
Blog
Keyword Estimator
Cloacked Link Coder
AC Magazine Archives
Training System
Expert Interviews
Case Studies
Tutorials

More Details:

Everything is nicely organized with the areas very easily accessible. You know exactly where to go when you log-in. The main attraction to this membership is the step-by-step program they have in place. For beginners, it won’t be overwhelming. They basically hold your hand through the whole process of building a new affiliate site.

They start you with what they call an SBS (Step-by-Step) Training. You enter a name for this project. It takes you to Step #1 – Research Niche Products. You have a guide and tutorials to review. Then you create an Affiliate Program Profile. Once you complete your assignments, you go on to Step #2.

This is the hand-holding you’ll get throughout the program. It’s also why it’s not for advanced marketers and those who have found success already. I believe it would be a little too ‘simple’.

I do believe it’s a great program for someone who wants a plan of what to do and how to do it. There isn’t any guesswork here. The forum is also a great way to connect with other affiliate marketers to bounce ideas off of.

—– END STAFF REVIEW —-

Sound like if you’re at the beginning of your Affiliate marketing journey and you really like to have everything laid out for you - at a more reasonable price than hiring a full-on coach/mentor - this might be worth checking out. Joining Affiliate Classroom is simply a $1 investment for your trial period and then $29.95 per month after that.

If so, here’s some great news for you. We’ve just put together a 17-page FREE guide with all the basics to get you started.

The guide covers:

- What affiliate marketing is
- The benefits of being an affiliate marketer
- How to start earning with affiliate programs
- Creating content
- Helpful tools and more

If you need a headstart, click here to download the guide.

If you are a seasoned marketer already and don’t need the guide, but know others who might…there’s an opportunity to brand the guide and get it out to your readers too.

It seems like so many affiliate marketers today are so worried about stolen commissions and try to cloak links and do whatever they can so customers can’t avoid their affiliate link. I’ve never understood this scarcity mentality. People who want to order through their own links will do so, no matter what kind of barriers you try to put up. Instead of trying to protect everything, why not just offer MORE?

I just got a private message from someone on a forum and it warmed my heart. Yeah, the commission is nice, but the feeling of doing something good for people AND earning a little cash at the same time is priceless. Here’s what he wrote:

“Hi Alice,

Just wanted to let you know that I bought Traffic Secrets through your affiliate link. I don’t know if you’ll get a commission since I got it for the blow-out price, but I figured it was worth a try.

Even though I didn’t learn about Traffic Secrets from you, you probably did more to convince me that it’s a worthwhile purchase than anyone else. I read your comments on here and on other forums, and I also read almost every blog post you made since 2004 that mentioned the course.

Of course, John helped too. I downloaded the transcripts to three of his recent free videos and read two of them. I thought ‘Hmmm, if his free stuff is this good, then the stuff that he charges for must be really good.’”

I think that’s so cool and a testament how offering value to your readers can help you clinch a sale. Who cares about those commission stealers, I’d rather give people a hand and make some money at the same time.

I agree that John had a lot to do with the sale…because ALL his information is value-packed and anyone can see that. But guess what? Those videos John put together with his brilliance were transcribed by mine and Mila’s All Custom Content (site coming later this week). Now, that’s a really nice coincidence.

But back to the point…what are you doing to make your readers WANT to buy through your affiliate links and take your product recommendations?

Yesterday we discussed 4 things affiliates should NOT do. Today, I want to talk about 4 things you should be doing to increase conversion rates on your affiliate products.

- Educate your readers.

To stick with the gardening example from yesterday, if you are recommending a product about growing flowers, you’ll do even better when you educate them on the topic and the benefit they can receive.

If you’re promoting an information product or book, you can give your readers ideas on what to do to solve a certain problem and then point them to the guide so they know HOW to do it.

- If you use pre-made marketing materials, make sure you modify them to suit your style and inject your own opinions and perspectives. A canned promotion looks like a canned promotion to people who know you – ex. your blog readers and mailing list subscribers.

- Be honest. Like I mentioned yesterday, not every product is for everyone and no product is perfect. Tell your readers, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Even the bad and ugly can be overcome when you mention other product benefits. Go the extra mile and tell your reader who the product is for (ex. advanced gardeners) and who it’s not for (ex. beginners).

- Don’t give too many choices. If you’re creating “how to” materials, you might want to recommend certain products for the job. For example, if you’re talking about how to set up an autoresponder, you’re more likely to sell more by just telling your reader which autoresponder to sign up with than if you give them choices.

Internet searchers don’t usually respond well when given too many choices, especially on products they aren’t that familiar with. If they’ve never set up an autoresponder series, they won’t know how to compare services. Tell them what you recommend and go with it.

Remember the way you present the product you are promoting will determine if they buy from you or another affiliate. Put some effort into it and you’ll see an increase in your conversion rates.