Affiliate Success Checklist
( c) Charlie Page
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If you are not yet making a full time living online,
and want to, then you will like what this article
offers - practical advice to help you build a rock
solid foundation for success.
It all starts with something you have heard about, but
might not have yet mastered ... affiliate marketing.
Do you understand affiliate marketing?
Do you know what is required to succeed as an
affiliate?
Most people don't, which is a shame because this method
of making money online is very powerful indeed.
The reality is this - making money as an affiliate is
the easiest way to get started making money online.
After 10 years of working online I believe that
affiliate marketing is the foundation of most true
success stories, and can quite easily create a full
time income with little or no overhead or technical
skills.
And that is just too good a situation to pass up!
So let's look together at what affiliate marketing is,
and then I will share my own "affiliate marketing
checklist" and provide a few resources to help
you.
Sound good? Then let's get started.
WHAT IS AFFILIATE MARKETING ANYWAY?
Being an affiliate simply means that you sell someone
else's product and earn a commission when you do so.
Webster's Dictionary defines the word 'affiliate' this
way...
Affiliate: [verb] To associate as a member "affiliates
herself with the local club"
That's exactly correct. When you become an affiliate
you are associating with the product or service you
will be selling.
You are loaning them your reputation.
Please don't forget that.
Every email you send, every contact you make, reflects
on you. And the company's action will reflect on you as
well, so choose wisely.
So, being an affiliate is simply a fancy Internet way
of saying that you are going to be a commissioned
salesperson.
DOES IT REALLY WORK?
Yes, it does. It is true that you can make very good
money with affiliate programs, but it is not automatic.
You must still understand the PROCESS of marketing and
do the work.
But if you choose great programs, do some of the work
(and take advantage of the tools they offer) you can
grow a powerful income in a short period of time.
It's equally true that you can waste tons of time and
money on them and your reputation can suffer if you
don't choose carefully.
That is why it is vitally important that you understand
as much as you can about any program you join online.
If it makes sense to you, it will make sense to others
to whom you offer the product or program.
If it does not make sense to you (and especially if you
are confused) the by all means *wait* until you fully
understand what they are offering.
Over the years I have developed a checklist of 10
things people need to know before taking the plunge
into the world of affiliate marketing.
This checklist has proven invaluable to my clients and
friends, and I hope it helps you as well.
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MY AFFILIATE SUCCESS CHECKLIST
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1. MAKE SURE THE PRODUCT BEING OFFERED MATCHES YOU
If your passion is embroidery, you probably won't do
too well with car parts sites. Stick with what you know
at first and, once you learn how to promote on the
Internet, move on to different products.
2. CHECK IT OUT
Don't just jump in because it's easy. Ask yourself this
question; is the product or service you are affiliating
with something you would bring to your best friend? If
not, you may want to keep looking.
3. TALK TO CURRENT AFFILIATES
Ask for a list of happy affiliates. Ask them some key
questions such as did they get the help and support
promised? Are they being paid on time? You get the
idea.
4. THINK LONG TERM
If your first arrangement doesn't pan out, don't give
up. Many people on the net are making excellent incomes
with affiliate programs. You can too.
5. GO FOR QUALITY
Make a checklist of everything you want, find two who
meet the criteria, and go all out with those two.
Remember that it will be your reputation on the line.
6. HOW WELL DO THEY SELL?
You need to ask how well the product or service you
will be promoting 'converts'. Conversion is simply the
number of people per 100 who buy something.
For example, at the Directory of Ezines we convert 8 of
every 100 visitors to buyers. We know this because we
do the hard work of analyzing our traffic and sales,
and have for 10 years now.
This is the hard work that affiliates never have to do,
which is why being an affiliate is so much fun! You
make the money but don't have to do the copy writing or
figure out conversions or any of the back-office stuff.
For most established products you will promote you can
expect this number to range from .5% to about 10%.
Anything higher or lower and you need to be careful
about them telling you the truth.
Also, be aware that 'hot' products convert well while
they are hot but conversion drops with time. So be sure
to get *current* conversion figures.
7. WHAT IS THE COOKIE DURATION?
Most affiliate programs track using 'cookies' that are
set on the visitor's machine. You need to know how long
this cookie lasts and if it can be overwritten.
The reason this is important is that it will change how
you market.
If a company has a short cookie duration then you want
to focus on ads that make the sale now. If they have a
long duration you can use other methods (like banners)
that are more passive.
You also want to know if the cookie can be overwritten.
If it can, then someone who first learned about product
X from you, but clicks another link to buy, will not
earn you the commission you deserve.
Neither of these factors are good or bad (Amazon has an
incredibly short cookie but people still make fortunes
as affiliates for them) but are worth knowing.
8. DO YOU EARN 'BACKEND' COMMISSIONS?
This means do you get paid when someone you refer buys
a second product? This is vitally important. People
often buy two, three or more products from one site.
You should earn commissions for every product they buy.
9. DO YOU EARN RENEWAL COMMISSIONS?
If you send someone to a site where they pay a monthly
or quarterly fee, do you get paid every time or just
once? You should get paid every time.
10. DO THEY SUPPORT YOU?
Most people don't know, or have the time, to write ads
and create banners or graphics. You should expect the
program you join to provide these tools as well as some
training on how to sell their products.
>>> WHERE TO FIND GOOD AFFILIATE PROGRAMS <<<
My favorite tool for finding great products to sell as
an affiliate is Affiliates Alert.
They offer a free version, which does an excellent job.
As soon as you've earned some affiliate income, you
might want to consider the Pro version, as I did.
You can get the free version here ...
http://www.directoryofezines.com/affalert.html
Forums are excellent resources to learn what really
works. Here are my top three forum choices.
1. Anthony Blake's Marketing Forum
http://www.ablake.net/forum/
2. The Warriors of Internet Marketing.
http://www.warriorforum.com/
3. Michael Green's Marketing Forum
http://www.howtocorphelp.com/forum/
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Here are THREE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES that will help you
succeed as an affiliate fast.
Allan Gardyne of Associate Programs.com. Great advice
from a guy who has been there.
http://www.associateprograms.com
A great site to learn and earn is Ken McArthur's site.
http://www.affiliateshowcase.com
Without a doubt, using ClickBank to find products is
the smart choice for a serious affiliate.
It costs nothing to become an affiliate and they offer
over 11,000 products. Many a real-life fortune has been
made promoting ClickBank products.
http://www.clickbank.com
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If you are committed to quality, and only offer your
people quality resources, time will become your ally
and your affiliate commissions alone can quite
literally pay for the lifestyle of your dreams.
The best way to start is to choose three programs that
meet your criteria, and let them teach you how to be
successful with their program.
After all, when you win, they win.
And that's a beautiful way to make a living online.
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Charlie Page helps people succeed online with products
that educate combined with personal support. To see all
that Charlie offers, including a chance to work with
Charlie personally, visit ...
http://www.RealWorldTactics.com
JON OLSON SPEAKS OUT
September 7 2010
Jon Olson the Te Guy really fires up as he tells it like it is. Today in Jon Olson's Blog, "Hit Exchange News" affectionately called HEN by everyone, Jon held no punches, hitting Internet Marketers and the Big Boys right between the eyes. When he said that people are too quick in Rushing the offers put out by the Big Boys of which much of it was just a rehash of Older material>
Jon Had plenty More To Say Too, so why not quickly head over there and have a read, take it to heart because I for one agree with Jon, leave a comment and then come straight back here to see more about Easy Marketers and Internet Marketing, See Jon's Blog Here.
THE DANGERS OF BECOMING COMPLACENT
September 3-2010
Today I want to explain to you how the next chapter in
your business or rather the next important step to
working at home online improving and growing your
business and Income potential can be vital.
During every business a time can eventuate where if little is done the in a correct manner, to move on to the next marketing level, then your online business could start to stand still, neither going forward nor backwards. When things are going reasonably well, a human attitude or trait can creep in. That trait can be in the form of complacency or a she'll be right mate. (My Aussie Coming out). This can become evident if we start finding ourselves sitting back a little and virtually allowing our business stand still for a while.
The danger that's involved here can be likened to a frog sitting in cold water, that is warmed ever so slowly. The frog gets comfortable falls asleep then dies! WHY? The frog became so comfortable in his warm easy surroundings that he failed to realize the water was soon hot enough for him to dehydrate.
As with the frog, the she'll be right attitude of being warm and comfortable, sitting back not going forward, provides two probable ('business suicidal') problems.
If your business is not going forward with the internet your actually being left behind, simply because the face of the Internet changes so quickly, it becomes hard to catch up and even harder to forge ahead. The other problem is we may not notice a backward slide and our business may be suffering due to our period of inactivity. Our customers and prospects may now be going elsewhere, so that all your hard work is has been rendered useless. This can be very hard to over come and if it's gone on too long, there may be nothing left to save.
We at Easy Marketers are aware of this problem and continue pushing ourselves to lift our business to the next level. We are constantly networking, asking pertinent questions to other more successful people and even brainstorming among ourselves.
We found that we needed more than just another product! Why? Well, there have been so many new and so called wonderful things appear on the Internet and with that in mind, we believe it to be a pointless exercise at this time to introduce another one. We considered and tried promoting existing products that were new to us, so as to test the waters to see if that was what people were looking for or even wanted. Finally after much research including many trials, including the successes and failures we came to the conclusion that what is really needed is a whole new way of marketing efficiency! A complete new way of doing things without re-inventing the wheel.
After a lot of head banging and over an extended period of time looking, searching and Testing many different ideas and methods, that many owners were calling New, we hit Gold!
At first we thought that things must be wrong because results like these, only happen to the Guru's. How could a few simple marketers making only enough money to get by each week find something this lucrative? While it was hard to believe we could not contain our excitement.
We had happened on a complete New idea, using similar methods that every Marketer is told to use but it has very little setting up and converts with an almost machine style precision and at an amazing level of 10%. This new method has the ability to earn cash within 10 minutes of set up but being practical the average takes about 48 hours.
We know how that sounds but we have no other way to describe it without going Over Top or being Over Hyped which is never our intention.
I would love to discuss this right down to the last detail with you but it is easier for you to try it yourself. So here is how you get to your new er um Wonder Machine..!? er.. I guess you could call it... Only from The Easy Marketers. Well almost.
Traffic Exchange View Point
January 15-2010
reaction from many of his readers. In essence he
was asking what do members want or prefer to get
from
Traffic Exchanges. The three points he asked
about was
After reading the many responses I was a little
surprised at some of the replies. So I thought I would
make an additional comment here because it is News.
more, nothing less! Its job is to deliver quality
Traffic on demand! That's it!
Members join for that
Traffic in order to show there
wares. Members ambitions are to sell there products
and get sign ups for there promotions.
Tim highlighted that last year, offering money as a
reward for surfing seemed to be the motivating
force behind many Owners and there response from
surfers doing what they do best, surfing, went
through the roof.
This gave the impression that surfers liked to be
rewarded for what they do. However an unanticipated
thing happened. Surfers would come to the
Traffic
Exchange for the money and not the ads, credits were
use so quickly that they were gone by the time you
finished surfing. No one was signing up to other offers.
Virtually 95% of surfers surfed all day for 50 cents!
Real Marketers were at a disadvantage so most of
them move to places that did not use money as a lure.
So is or should money be a motivating factor to use a
Traffic Exchange? In my opinion a resounding NO
should be the reply.
We know
Traffic should be the motivating force behind
every
Traffic Exchange member and owner alike. So
not much more needs being said on that.
Loyalty? What about Loyalty? Should
Traffic
Exchange owners reward loyalty from there members?
Firstly I would like to ask why should they? They are
already doing what the members want and are also
giving the upgraded members what they paid for!
paid or free. They have come to me for a service which
I supply and I am great full that they do. Members are
the life blood to any
Traffic Exchange and at Volcano
Hits we always reward loyal members for there efforts
also for the length of time being with us. Loyalty is a
two way street! Our members show loyalty and we
show it back by being prepared to assist them one on
one with anything they need help with. I look for the
best quality products and promotions I can find, I have
spoken with the owners to get a better deal for the
members. We try to get as many free product as we
can and always test them out before we recommend
them. We have even returned our commissions to some
loyal members.
All that being said and at the end of the story, we at
Volcano Hits believe it to be a balance of all three. We
run competitions with money as a reward, occasionally
throw money onto the surf bar, place top priority on high
quality
Traffic delivery to your sites and also we like to
reward for loyalty as we know loyalty begets loyalty.
INTERNET MARKETING AND YOUR GROWTH
January 13-2010
assistance every year? 100? er no, 50? Sadly not even
that many. In the last 12 months it has been an out
standing 2 that's no misprint folks! Two People wanted
to learn how to market online and they asked us to
assist because both of them have a full 5 months
experience Total..
I must remark how impressed I am at the realization
that our work is all but finished! It seems everybody on
the internet has now retired from there day job and are
now making an income online.
Sorry guys that was my attempt not to belittle people
but to endeavor to make a point of... When your working
at home online trying to build a business we tend to get
wrapped up in our own little ways and battle on by
ourselves even when an assist is only a contact request
away.
I know how some may feel though! Some will probably
have had a similar experience to me. When I first started
I had an assist from an upline member who explained a
few thing and I felt because I use to be very successful in
the sales industry that I did not need to be told too much.
The first place I joined was a small site that presented
you with about 8 companies to sign up to. How your
upline made money was from the 8 sites when you
upgraded. Well, as I new how good I was at selling I
signed to all and upgraded immediately to every site. I
planned on big things.
From memory the cost was $20 a month for 7 sites and
the 8th was a little under $60 all US$. I then started
referring my brains out and after 3 months I had over 30
referrals but no one upgraded. Suddenly $600 down and
at the time in Australia the currency rate for the US$ was
quite poor, about 0.63 cents AUS to the US$, meant I
had blown about $1000 Australian. All of a sudden I
wanted to listen to advice!
Following advice for another 2 months and another
$400 US and with over 50 referrals, still with no paying
upgrades, everyone was a free member to everything. I
never made a penny but money went to my upline. So
what happened? What went wrong? Was I being
scammed? Was I being taken advantage of?
Simple answer to some of those questions were NO!
These companies were no scams. They were well known.
Places like Traffic Swarm and others. I was not taken advantage of simply because I am a big boy capable of making my own decisions. I new my referrer had not upgraded in everything.
The mistake was right in front of me! The big problem was
Ray Casey. That dude thought he knew it all and initially,
was not going to be told or shown. I allowed my pride get in
the way and suffered for it. (BTW) Just in case it is not clear
my name is Ray Casey, and yes all my fault.
So what about the 2 months where I had some assistance?
Well for sure I can say my immediate up line referrer was
not ripping me off because he was not getting all the
commissions as he was only upgraded in about 3 places so
he was making $30. He most certainly tried to help but
looking back on it, while he was doing the absolute best he
could, he himself lacked the experience to realize or see
what it was I needed. Now that's not his fault because he
did try hard and I know for sure most of you at what ever
experience level you are at would certainly do your best to
try to help a newbie! Why? because if they make money so
to do you!
What should have happened?? If you were me at that
time I would have gently tried to encourage you not to
be in such a rush to spend the money. However, being
head strong I would not have listened, I know that! After
trying a little more persuasion with a poor result I would
then hit you between the eyes with the plain and simple
truth and at risk of having you dislike me. I would have
warned you that the internet is not like others make it
out to be and people are not like you, willing to spend
$200 at the drop of a hat. I would say your no where near
the experience level you need to be at, to run off on your
own! You Will Lose Your Money! You plainly and simply do
not know what you are doing!
That is the way I would have handle me at the time. I
personally would rather have someone dislike me and
have them keep there money than to simply allow them
to run off and blow it like that. If they still do after my
warning then my conscience is clear.
Why did he not take that approach with me? He had only
been marketing a few months himself and I don't care who
you are when you first start you want to make money
instantly. Quite possibly too his up line would have
been congratulating him and suggesting to him to continue
working with me, give me lots of encouragement. I know
that for a fact I would have done the same as he did
because when I look back at myself at that time, I was
writing my down line encouraging them to upgrade and
get involved. So at that time I would have been no different
than him.
Thank goodness for Internet Marketing Maturity. Maturity
in anything helps you to do things a little more responsibly
than say being youth like, (Internet Marketing Newbie)
where there is a genuine lack of experience
So what is my point? Why am I writing this experience? For
two reasons actually!
- Hopefully to inspire you to see we all need an assist
and if you were to ask me I would consider it to be
a privilege and even watch how you were spending.
Yes I may make some money from you but be
certain you will be making it first. I care! I do not like
that 97% failure rate that faces all Internet
Marketers! You do not have to ask me but find
someone to assist you if you need it! Don't be too
proud not to at least ask someone!
- Be certain the person who is assisting you is not a
Newbie (new person To marketing) or inexperienced
by that I mean it would include someone who could
have been marketing online for 10 years and still
has not created some sort of an income!
I would be asking questions to work out if they new what
they were talking about.
- Questions such as what is your main business?
- How long have you been involved with it for?
- How large is your first level down line? 3a. How
many paid down line total?
- How many are upgraded?
- Do you have a secondary Business? Then ask
Q2 to 4 again!
- Do you have a day job?
- Do you have a major Website? (such as one like
this site)
- What is your targeted niche market? Tell me
about it? You may be able to think of more questions yourself.
These questions are designed to work out if your mentor
really is who you think they are or who they say they are
or not.
I do not know too many successful people who do not
have an official website. If they can't tell you there
target
niche for there website or do not seem to know much
about it I would start to reconsider who this person was. As
for unpaid down line members the best I have done is 8
for every 100 unpaid and on average I get 6 for every 100.
This gives you an idea of how much this person is earning.
Most people I found, like to be earning $4000 to $5000 a
month before the stop there day job. If they still have a day
job, then what time will they have to spend with you and
get there own online work done for themselves. Even worse
if they live on the other side of the world!
There you have it! We all want to work at home building
a business online but like everything to do with work,
you need to learn how to do your job first! You won't find
any builders who taught themselves without assistance.
Why even young store workers who move boxes are
shown where or how to do it. So to every marketer needs
to understand the principals of internet marketing. Learn
what tools are needed and how to use them effectively.
If your not experienced as a business owner how could
you possibly run an effective business with solid growth
every month of every year? Yes! Every one needs to
learn how to be an internet marketer before they can
become an internet marketer, being a truly successful
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