How Can I Promote My Affiliate Links Offline?
Q: How can I promote my affiliate links offline?
A: While most people promote their affiliate links online; depending on your target market you may be in for some stiff competition. Don’t stop your online promotion efforts and you can always add offline promotion to increase your commissions.
When promoting offline, you will need to redirect your affiliate links. This process is very simple. You can create a page on your domain that includes some HTML code that will automatically send your visitor your affiliate link. If you are promoting an auto responder, you may name the page www.yourdomain.com/autoreponder. All you have to do is add the following code:
It’s that simple.
Here are some suggestions that will help in your efforts in promoting your affiliate links offline:
* Try designing some flyers from home, and depending on the price of your printer’s ink cartridges it might be cheaper to print one at home, and then use a copy shop for the actual copying services. Take the flyers out with you wherever you go. Post them anywhere you see a bulletin board, whether it be at the local grocery store, the mall, post office, library or anywhere else. *Hint*- Using brightly colored paper will work best in grabbing the attention of people. Create a catchy headline and make sure the font is clear and legible.
* Get some car magnets made to stick to the side of you care. This will look as if a message has been painted on your car, and you can place them there when you are out and about running errands. This is a great form of advertisement and as your car is sitting in the parking lot at the local Wal-Mart, it will be generating traffic for you.
* Try doing a “free drawing” by taking a small cardboard box and decorating it with brightly colored wrapping paper. Put a sign on it that says, free drawing and offer some type of prize. You don’t have to offer anything of too much value. You can have some entry forms made at your local copy shop for a small price. Make sure they include a place for the registrant’s email address. Place a box in a variety of places such as convenience stores, grocery stores, salons and anywhere else you can think of. Let it sit for a week, and when you return, take the entry forms and email the contestants. Let the winner know they have won, and let the others people know they didn’t win, but always show your appreciation for their entry. In these emails, include links to your site and newsletter.
Depending on what you offer, you might also want to try a direct mail campaign. Mailing lists are available for purchases from companies that specialize in collecting and obtaining demographic information. Postcards may be purchased at a reasonable price from Vistaprint (www.vistaprint.com).
Affiliate Marketing Sweetie teaches you how to make the most of your affiliate marketing efforts.
How Can I Promote My Affiliate Links Online?
Q: What are some ways to promote my affiliate links online?
A: Affiliate marketing in fact was created for web promotion which makes it very easy to promote your affiliate links online.
Here are some basic tips for both free and paid promotion:
* Use your website and blog to advertise your links. These are some of the best ways to increase your earnings with affiliate marketing. You can also place graphic ads on both sides of your web pages. Most people will not even realize these are affiliate ads; and might think the company has purchased ad space from you.
* Post text links on your web pages. These can also take the form of ads placed on the sides of the web pages. You can also include links in articles and blog posts as well. For example, if your article is about wireless technology, include a link to a retailer that sells wireless products. Do the same with your blog.
* Mailing lists is also a tool you can use for affiliate marketing. Check with the affiliate program you belong to and make sure they allow you to send links through email. For instance, let’s pretend you are offering an e-course with travel tips for families. Each day, you include a tip and a link to a complimentary product. Make sure you coordinate the subject material. You don’t want to offer travel tips, and put a link to a website about hair coloring. Make sure your links are in sync with what you have offered.
* If you use a signature line with you email program, make sure you include an affiliate link. This can also be included when posting on message boards that allow signature lines. Whenever you post a message, your signature line will be displayed in your post. Make sure you check the forum rules, as you might be able to include affiliate links in those signature lines as well.
When paid advertising comes in to the picture, a pay per click can be a great option. You can use services such as Google Adwords to bid on keywords that your target market may use when searching for the type of product or service you are promoting. If the user searches for a term you are bidding on, your listing may show up in their search results. You only pay for the ad if the person actually clicks on your ad.
Another alternative is to buy ad space on websites, blogs or ezines that belong to other people. This can take the form of a sign-up form to your newsletter, an ad for a specific program, or a general ad for your website.
Affiliate Marketing Sweetie teaches you how to make the most of your affiliate marketing efforts.
How Do I Get Started with Affiliate Marketing?
Q: How do I get started with affiliate marketing
A: If you want to learn more about affiliate marketing, be sure to download your free 17-page started guide that shows you:
- What affiliate marketing is
- Why choose affiliate marketing
- How to start earning
- Creating content that recommends products
- Helpful tools
Click here to get your guide (PDF) and get started right away.
How Do I Choose between Affiliate Products?
Q. Hi Alice, my question is how do I choose which affiliate products or programs to promote?
A. This is something I’m asked over and over again and it’s no wonder people get confused. The list of products and programs available is huge and everywhere you turn someone is saying “try mine, it’s the best one”. Here are some tips to help you choose which ones are right for you:
Remember Your Target Market
When comparing affiliate products or programs make sure you consider your target market. What type of products do they want? If your ads are about baseball equipment but your target market is moms with infants, you probably aren’t going to get many sales.
Choose Products You Believe In
It doesn’t matter if everyone else says a product is great; if you think its crap, you shouldn’t be trying to sell it. Choose products that you would feel comfortable selling to your friends.
Earnings per Sale, Click or Lead
Some affiliate programs pay you a commission on the sale of an item and some pay per lead or per click. Make sure you know which you are getting paid for and do the math. You may think you will earn more with a pay per lead deal because it’s easier to get people to click ad vs. buy a product. However, you could actually earn more by promoting a product that pays per sale. For instance, if you earn $1 per lead, you will need 100 people to take action to earn $100. If you earn 10% commission on a $100 product, you only need 10 people to take action in order to make the same $100. Make sense?
Understand Your Commission Rates
Don’t be fooled when looking at commission rates. A commission of 20% on a $50 product is $10 while a commission of 50% on a $10 product is only $5. You will earn more by promoting the product that pays a lower commission.
Know When and How You Get Paid
Companies have different ways of paying you. Some require you to earn a certain amount before they will send you payment; others pay at certain times of the month. The same holds true about how they pay. Some will only mail a check through standard mail where others will have the option of paying via PayPal or other program. Know when and how the company pays and ensure it is right for you before signing up.
Further Resources
My Affiliate Marketing course teaches you how to find a profitable market for your affiliate marketing efforts.
How Do I Find Affiliate Marketing Programs?
Q. What’s the best way to find affiliate marketing programs?
A. One of the easiest ways is to join an affiliate network. Places like Commission Junction (www.cj.com) and Linkshare (www.linkshare.com) manage affiliate programs for a large group of companies. As an affiliate, you can search their database for products that will meet your visitor’s needs and once you find what you’re looking for, you simply create your links and everything is handled for you. So you can offer a lot of different products and you only have to go to one place for your links and one company cuts your paycheck.
You can also find programs simply by visiting the website of a company you would like to partner with as an affiliate. Look for a link or page that says affiliates or something similar; it will probably take you to where you can sign up.
If you visit a website and you cannot find any information about their affiliate program, send them an email and ask if they have one. If they have been considering it but haven’t gotten around to it, maybe your email will get them to take action.
Further Resources
My Affiliate Marketing Sweetie course teaches you how to make the most of your affiliate marketing efforts.
How Do I Use Affiliate Links Offline?
Q: Hello Alice, My question is the following one: I would like to do some flyers in my neighborhood for some affiliate programs. How do I publish the long affiliate URL so it doesn’t show? Is there a way to do this? Or should I make a special website and direct them there?
Greatly appreciate all the wonderful work that you do for WAHMS. Marie
A: First of all, thanks for the kudos. I really do appreciate it. For those who don’t know WAHM stands for work at home moms and that’s where I started teaching Internet marketing. As a mom in business myself, I always want to see other moms successful. Of course, my help expands beyond moms to Dads and people from all walks of life. There’s room for everyone to have a piece of the Internet pie and I love spreading the word about it.
Now, onto the question. It’s easy buy a domain and redirect it to the company site. Alternatively, you might want to develop the domain that offers a special offer, asks for an email address or offers a product review BEFORE you send them to the affiliate site.
You can buy a domain inexpensively here.
Redirected domains are invaluable. You can use them for printed media, PDF documents (that are often printed), emails, speaking events and articles for redistribution.
Imagine, the next time you’re on a teleseminar and you want to recommend a product, but you don’t want to spell out a complicated URL. Give them a domain name instead. That saves people the time (and confusion) of trying to type it out AND it looks like an honest recommendation (which it should be), instead of a blatant product promotion.
Or what about when you distribute articles and want to recommend a highly recommended product within the article. Many directories and website owners won’t accept an affiliate link, but if you place a domain in the article, it is more likely to be accepted.
If you have domains for your most commonly recommended products, it’s easier to reply quickly to people who ask for your recommendations. You don’t have to search for an affiliate link or feel guilty giving them the obvious affiliate link. Give them your domain name with confidence.
Another good thing about the redirect is you have control over the link. If the company goes out of business, changes their affiliate system or you just decide you don’t want to promote the product anymore you can change where the domain redirects very easily.
But what about the cost? Domains are cheap these days. Usually it takes only one sales (or maybe two) to recoup your costs. It’s a valuable investment into your online business.
Further Resources:
Affiliate Marketing Sweetie: This easy to follow course teaches you how to make the most of your affiliate marketing efforts.
Affiliate Marketing or My Own Product?
Q: Should I do affiliate marketing or sell my own product?
B: Honestly, I don’t think it’s a matter of one or the other. If you want to maximize your online income, you’re going to do both. There is absolutely no way you can personally offer your target market everything they’re going to buy…so you definitely want to include affiliate links, even if you sell your own products.
As one of my favorite Internet marketing teachers, John Reese, says - People are going to buy from your commission no matter what you do. You may as well make some money doing it.
Having your own products often allows you a higher profit margin and you’ll be building your own list of customers that will buy from you over and over again. But sticking with your own products can be limiting.
Let’s say you’re writing an ecourse about getting a better night’s sleep and you have an ebook on the topic. Obviously, you’ll promote your ebook in the course, but there are other products you can recommend too. Perhaps some more comfortable pillows, eye masks or even a special herbal tea that encourages a more restful sleep. The possibilities are endless if you open your business up to promoting all the products your target market needs and desires.
My Affiliate Marketing course teaches you how to make the most of your affiliate marketing efforts.
Can I Track Links with Commission Junction?
Q: I am really new with CJ (Commission Junction) and looking at my stats and wondering if there is a way to see which links are getting the clicks? I really am trying to track what is working and what isn’t. I did get a new sale which is GREAT but I want to learn more about CJ.
A: Good for you on trying to track things. Knowing exactly where your sales come from allows you to improve your offers to your website visitors and subscribers..and you can dramatically increase your profits by tracking.
CJ doesn’t specifically track where links are coming from, but you can definitely track with CJ. All you need to do is go into your account and click on “Account” in the top menu on the left
Then choose “Website Settings” and click “Add a New Website”. You can just put a descriptive name there that will help you track where your clicks and sales are coming from
To learn more about Affiliate Marketing, sign up for my Affiliate Marketing Sweetie course.
