Archive for the ‘Internet Marketing Experts’ Category

I came up with this week’s question as a way to get insight into the various techniques that successful affiliate marketers are using to generate hefty commissions in a short period of time.

Now I personally don’t support or encourage anyone to pursue shifty ”fast cash” business models, because it just doesn’t happen overnight. It takes hard work and time to get yourself into a place where it does becomes possible to make extra money fairly quickly.

But if you’re already building sites and mailing lists, then the strategies you’ll learn here today are completely doable, no doubt about it. Heck, I know I picked up some great ideas, so I’m pretty sure you will too :)

So let’s get to it! Here’s what I asked our group of experts this week:

“Let’s pretend you’re fairly new to affiliate marketing. Even though you’re kind of a newbie, you’re having some success and making a little money here and there. And then suddenly, you find yourself in a situation where you need to make some fast cash, but you can only use one technique to make enough affiliate sales to cover your needs. Based on your current knowledge and experience what would you do and why?”

To which they replied…

Josh Spaulding from Ethicalim.com says:

“This is hard to answer in a way that will benefit the masses because there are so many effective ways to execute affiliate marketing. For instance, some affiliate marketers make their money primarily from PPC, some primarily through mailing lists (like myself,) some primarily through organic traffic and those are only 3 of the more known affiliate marketing “models.

With that being said, the best answer for one person is probably not going to be the best answer for another. But, if I were mentoring someone who is in the exact situation you mentioned and followed the exact same path that I have, which consists primarily of email marketing, for fast affiliate cash I would recommend the following:

1. Find a product you REALLY believe in and benefit from.

2. Obviously sign up to their affiliate program.

3. Contact the product owner and request a discount for your list, which expires about 3 days later and try to get them to add a countdown timer for that sense of urgency (really increases conversion!)

4. Spend some time coming up with a good subject line for your email! The subject line can really “make or break” any promotion. Go back and look at your previous emails. Find what converted well and what didn’t convert well.

5. When writing your email, be sure to first describe the problem, then describe your search for a solution, reveal the solution then provide a good, solid call to action!

6. Come up with some kind of valuable bonus. This could be one of your own products or even some kind of service you can offer. Just come up with something that is free to all who purchase, which adds value to the overall offer.

7. Follow up with a second email about 24 hours before the offer expires (so two days later) with a reminder that they only have 24 hours to take advantage of the offer!

That little seven step process, in my experience, has improved promotions by as much as 300% and is my best advice for some quick affiliate cash if you have a list that has made you a little money in the past.”

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Lynn Terry from ClickNewz.com says:

“The absolute best way to earn fast cash, while also setting yourself up for long-term profit, is to create an info-product in your niche. A short low-cost report is an impulse buy, which will result in a good conversion rate.

Selling the report will earn money on the front end, while also building a list of buyers that you can follow up with long-term. In the actual report you can lead into specific affiliate recommendations, and earn commissions from any sales made.

This one method gives you three potential revenue sources. It also gives you extra options. You can set up an affiliate program for your info-product, or work with JV partners, to reach even more buyers and make even more sales. Authoring a high quality guide or report will boost your credibility in the niche, which you can leverage to land guest blogging or interview opportunities.

Initially you want to sell the product to earn your fast cash. But at the same time you can set yourself up to have a consistent stream of income from that one project, which will keep you from getting in that situation again.“

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Tiffany Dow from the Tiffany Dow Blog says:

“Oh it stinks that my first time here I have to be a Debbie Downer, but I’m not one to promote quick cash concepts. I see too many desperate people coming through this industry – maybe they’ve made 2-10 sales total but suddenly they’re losing the house, about to go to a shelter – and emailing me for a life raft.

In my personal experience, it just doesn’t work that way…UNLESS…you’ve taken time to build a list while you made those few trickles of sales. If this is the case, and it honestly doesn’t matter what the size of the list is – just how targeted it is for the product you’re about to promote, then you tap into that for a sudden influx of sales.

I’ve had a small list convert into $12,000 worth of sales in 48 hours – $6k for me, $6k for the product owner. There’s a reason it resulted in such a great cash flow and you can do the same steps when you need a quick injection of cash IF you have a list:

1.) Find a product new to your niche. Always be on the lookout for new items that everyone and his brother hasn’t already promoted.

2.) Buy a copy for yourself (or request a review copy) so that you’re not just rattling off sales copy bullet points, but truly giving a very personal review.

3.) Create a short personalized tutorial that can act as a viral element to reach those who aren’t even on your list yet – like a PDF or even a YouTube video.

I’ve had great success with affiliate sales just telling others about my excitement about what may be with a product – even when I haven’t tried it myself. It’s all about how honest you can be and how committed you are to finding products perfectly suited to your customers’ needs.

Look out for them…and they’ll look out for you when the time comes and you need a quick jolt of cash.”

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Alice Seba from Contentrix.com says:

“Assuming that I was smart enough newbie affiliate marketer to build my mailing list, I would put my focus there. Results from email are instant – you send a promotion and things start happening. I could spend my time distributing articles, guest blogging and the like, but results can take time to build. You get much more control out of promoting to your own list.

Truth be told, I would probably step out of the affiliate marketing box and quickly create an information product, so I would get all the profits and I’d get them right into my PayPal account. But the question is asking me to stick with affiliate marketing, so I will do that for my answer. I’d pick a product with a high conversion rate and a high payout…then I’d craft a promotion around that. I’d warm the audience up over a few days with information related to the product and then start selling. I might even offer a highly-relevant bonus/gift for those who purchased through my affiliate link.. If I want to make quick money, I can’t expect to send out an email and be done with it. The key here is follow-up and persistence.”

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Nicole Dean from NicoleOnTheNet.com says:

“If I were in this situation, I’d first ask myself the question:

“What product would I really like to try, that my blog readers would be fascinated by?”

By answering that question, you’ll have an idea of which affiliate program you’ll want to promote.

From there, it’s a matter of buying the program (assuming you can afford it) and then using it, while documenting the results, both good and bad.

Here’s an example. Last year, I purchased Scott Tousignant’s Fat Loss Quickie program and followed it for 30 days. You can see what happened during that time here:
Computer Butt Challenge.

I made plenty of sales during that month. Scott was a trooper, of course, because he was supportive during the good and the bad, so people didn’t feel like I was just blindly promoting a program to make money. They could see that it worked.

The only thing that I would do differently, would be to include a bonus for those who purchased the program through my affiliate link, which I didn’t do at the time. Next time, I will, though.

You could do this successfully in ANY niche. Budgeting, organization, healthy eating, parenting, marketing. You name it. It can be done.”

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Kelly McCausey from WahmTalkRadio.com says:

“Maaaaan, that’s a hard question! I’ll have to choose holding a special event like a teleseminar or an all day conference room webinar series where my guest speakers all have great products to offer and I can pepper my affiliate links into everything we do. It would take quite a bit of advance work to get it all together but the payoff should be excellent.

I would love it if some of my affiliates organized seminars that would allow me to come and share my passion for an hour or so! Something about reaching offline businesses to promote Become a Blog Consultant, another about getting started as a blogger to promote Blog Internship, etc.”

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Angela Wills from MarketersMojo.com says:

“I think the answer would depend on if I already have a list. I’m going to assume that since I’m a newbie my list is pretty teeny as most new people’s lists are. If I were in this situation and could use only one technique I would definitely look to leverage the lists and traffic that other marketers have already built.

Here’s what I would do:

1. Write a fantastic report that is highly targeted to the advantages and benefits of the product I wanted to promote. Say for example that I was going to promote Melissa’s Special Report Club. I would write a report about the advantages of using private label products and the benefits of not having to do everything yourself. Throughout the report would be my affiliate link.

2. Next I would contact highly targeted, popular bloggers about guest blogging on the exact same topic my report covers. The blog post would be a lead-in to the report and I would then invite them to come get the free report within the blog.

3. I would repeat this with as many bloggers as I could. I would also carefully watch how people were responding to the blog posts, reports and the calls to action within the report and tweak as necessary as I went along.”

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Well, there you have it! Like I said, there’s some fantastic information here. But if there’s one thing that you take away from here today, it’s the importance of building a mailing list. And don’t be afraid to promote to them either (remember, you’re running a business not a charity).

All my best,

 P.S. I love affiliate marketing, not only because it’s profitable, but because it’s fun and challenging too. While I now know how to be successful at it, it wasn’t always that way. In fact, just a few short years ago it was a real struggle for me to get going and make money at it. Talk about frustrating!

But I don’t want it to be like that for you. Which is why I put together my Affiliate Marketing Guide (use coupon code: 06F90B8 to save 20%), so I can help you bypass those tricky hurdles and see results a lot faster than I ever did.

Every Thursday I ask a few experts to contribute their thoughts on questions related to Internet marketing and online business. Some of my contributors will be regulars, while others will just pop in from time to time.

So this week I posed this question to the group: “Do you think that traditional information products, like the single ebook/report being sold, is enough in today’s market to satisfy consumers, or do you believe they’re looking for more than ever before?”

To which they replied…

Alice Seba from Contentrix.com says:

“I don’t think there is a cut-and-dry answer because everybody wants different things. Some want in-depth audio, video, etc. Some just want it quick and simple. Budget is also a concern and people will more willingly spend money on a inexpensive report than a full-fledged course. On the other hand, as a business owner, you need fewer sales of an expensive product…so it may be easier to make more money with more complex products. Ultimately, I think there is room to do either…you just have to package it so it’s appealing to your target customer.

At Contentrix.com, for example, we sell cheap $6.50 “Blueprints”on specific topics. We don’t call them “reports” because “blueprint” sounds sexier and they aren’t exactly what one thinks of when they say the word “report”. Our customers get easy-to-reference help on targeted topics and they can start applying what they learn right away. There’s no monster of a course just wasting space on their hard drive. That’s how we package it for our target customer. You have to come up with just the right way to package your product, whatever it may be, for your market.

Ultimately, you need to decide what you are willing and able to put together. If you don’t feel you have the resources or time to put together a giant course, then don’t do it…but don’t let that keep you from getting in on the information product business. There’s a market for all kinds of products. Start testing the waters to find out what will work for you and your customers.

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Nicole Dean from NicoleOnTheNet.com says:

I think there’ll always be a place for traditional “quick” solutions to problems, which is what the ebook is so good for.

“However, there will always be customers who want more and more and more, so providing them with additional content is always smart, whether it’s included in the product or offered as an upsell during the order process.

The important things, in my opinion, to remember are…

1. To create the product in the method that’s least intimidating to you, whether that be writing or recording an audio.
2. Then, expand your offering so that the customers who want more have that option.”

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Kelly McCausey from WahmTalkRadio.com says:

They sure are looking for more. I’m seeing it in every area of my business. People are interested in interactive learning resources. They’re willing to pay more for a personal touch. I’ve been doing well with products that fall somewhere in between the traditional info product and one on one coaching – my WordPress Orientation course for example.

My WO customers pay once to access to live Q&A sessions where the answers are demonstrated before their eyes in a web conference room. They also receive access to some basic videos for common issues but most tell me that it’s the live demo that attracted them.

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Angela Wills from MarketersMojo.com says:

In the information product industry I think there are a few things to consider:

1. How the consumer prefers to learn.
2. How much the consumer is willing to pay.
3. If a simple format is enough to teach the material properly.

There’s no doubt that social media, coaching programs, video and other advanced methods of product delivery are pretty big deals in today’s market but that doesn’t mean that the traditional methods are no longer effective. I believe it’s not a matter of following the trends but following your market.

For example I bought the Super Affiliate Handbook about a year and a half ago. It is simply an ebook but it is exactly what I needed. I would buy it again today. I prefer the ebook format over videos, teleseminars or a coaching program because I can print it out and sit it on my desk for handy reference.

Is the traditional format enough for everything? For some markets and topics I believe it is. For others, like say teaching advanced methods or video marketing, you’re going to have to use some of the fantastic formats and technology available on the internet.

Again, it all comes down to your market and their needs. Listen to what they tell you and you can’t go wrong.

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