Between 1924 and 1967, nightclubs dominated the American landscape. It was possible back then to walk out of one club and have ten more in one block staring you in the face. Each one claiming to have the best entertainment, best food and drink or best anything else a patron desired. Today that analogy perfectly fits affiliate marketing online. Many affiliate programs will have you believing the hype. All you have to do is put a link back to their main web page and presto instant bling flows into your bank account. NOT! Now to be fair this does apply to some affiliates but in the case of the overwhelming majority of affiliate marketers it is a totally different story but it does not have to be so one sided. According to a recent study of online users --100% use email --88% use text messaging and SMS --71% use message boards and forums --63% use blogs --36% use podcasting --28% subscribe to RSS feeds This is why it is important to build your own list (and website). Even with spam complaints and new spam filters coming out almost daily, all of us still communicate by email. For you and your affiliate marketing business this is a chance to break away from the group of Ninety Five. That is the percentage of affiliate marketers who make little or no money with their programs. Your potential customers do not know you. Therefore it is important that you establish your integrity. Offer quality, whether it is in the form of a gift, or more importantly your own content rich website. Also make it easy for them to contact you. There are few things worse than a customer trying to contact you, only to find out they are now trapped in a Kafka novel. When you are putting together your email, focus on wetting the appetite of the customer. How? Give them a snippet of your product. A short summary (include a photo of the product if possible) or just add the first few sentences of your sales copy. The point is to provide just enough of a teaser to get your customer to click the link over to the complete offer. The added benefit of this is your customer is now at your website where they can also check out any other offers and information you provide. Many affiliate marketers use the exact same main affiliate sign up page in an attempt to get customers. Notice I said attempt. Promoting the same webpage as everyone else is like gambling on the roulette wheel in Vegas. You might have a system but it really comes down to pure luck. Having your own website puts some of those odds in your favor. This is where you can stretch out a little bit since you are not confined to the exact copy of the main affiliate page. Not only can you show additional information related or semi related to your product, it also gives you a chance to really introduce yourself to your potential customers. Dare to be original. Think you can generate big time sales? Contact the affiliate company and see if you can negotiate an arrangement more to your liking. If they are paying on average 30 percent commission, see if you can get 50 percent. Now understand that in all likelihood, you are going to have to show them the money first. That means you are going to have to produce before they decide to negotiate a new agreement with you. Would be affiliates brag to these companies on a regular basis that they can make it rain customers and sales. As you can imagine most do not. If you want to go this route (and truthfully if you can produce there is no reason why you should not) be prepared to go the extra mile. Study different affiliate marketing techniques and apply them. Once you prove yourself, the company will definitely give you a second look. Now do not expect overnight success. If you do and it does not come to pass, then it can really take the wind out of your momentum, to the point you might want to quit one month after you put up the link. Most advertising will not give you instant results. Just do some tracking to find out what is working and what is not. Do not hesitate to contact your affiliate company when you need help. It is a major plus if they have a forum you can go to and ask questions. Many affiliates have been there and done that so they can be very valuable in giving you feedback and suggestions. It all comes down to hanging in there. You are going to encounter many disappointments. That is all part of the game. If customers bought from an affiliate the first time around, we would all be gazillionaires before the final round of American Idol was broadcast. Affiliate marketing is a challenge. Face up to it and always expect success.
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