5 steps to winning the affiliate game

When you join an affiliate program, you join thousands of
other affiliates who are marketing the same product. So how
do you ensure that customers buy from you instead of one of
the other thousand affiliates? You do it like this.

1. Buy the product or service you want to sell. That's right,
buy it and use it. Become accustomed to all the features and
benefits associated with the product. How does it make you
feel? This is what you will be selling to YOUR customers.

Here's an example. I bought an email program that can send out
mail to all my lists. It has all the bells and whistles that
you can imagine, and I just love it. I became an affiliate of
the program and sell it more than any other mail program I
offer.

Why? Because in addition to having it on my website, I also
recommend it to anyone who is looking for a quality mail
program. If I didn't use it, how could I recommend it?
Ethically.

2. Design your own web page. It's no secret, there are some
pretty bad sales pages out there. Some of the most amazing
products on the net have some of the most customer unfriendly
sales pages. But this doesn't mean you can't sell the
products.

Design your own webpage and sell the customer on the product
first. Give them your own testimonial and the testimonial of
other customers who have bought the product. Tell them why
you bought it, how you use it, and what results it gives you.
Remember, buy it and use it.

3. Offer YOUR customers a bonus. That's right, these are
YOUR customers too. They are buying a product based on
information that you have given them or referred them to. So
give YOUR customers a bonus.

Offer them a bonus that they don't get from other affiliates
or from the company selling the product. Make the bonus
something unique to your site. Give away an exclusive eBook,
an electronic coupon for another product, or a FREE entry
into a bonus draw. Give anything that has a value and will
put you ahead of other affiliates.

4. Follow up with your prospects and customers. Statistics
show that it takes between 5 and 7 contacts before a
prospect becomes a customer. Ask your website visitors to
sign up for your ezine, fill out a survey, or register for
a freebie. Once you've captured their name and address, you
can contact them with different sales material promoting
your affiliate product.

5. Write your own promotional material. Using your own
fresh ads and website copy puts you ahead of other
affiliates.

The majority of affiliates use pre-written ads, supplied by
the company. Have you looked in the classified section of
any of the major eZines or classified sites? You see the
same ads again and again with a different URL. Stand out by
being different.

Affiliate marketing can be very profitable, if you know
how to stay ahead of the crowd. Dare to be different, give
it a shot and surprise yourself with your results.

Good luck with all your marketing and God Bless.