Affiliate
Marketing – My Best Decision
By: Elizabeth McGee
When I decided to quit my job and start an
internet business, I was clueless. I
researched and found several viable
opportunities however the more I read, the
more I realized how difficult this was going
to be. I did not have a product and was in
no position to create one. I had it in my
head I wanted to sell something so I started
out in the drop shipping business.
I researched wholesalers that were willing
to drop ship and found a few. I built a
simple yahoo! site, created a merchant
account, got my resellers license and voila,
I was in business. Did I get a sale? Nope,
because I did not know how the internet
worked with regards to website marketing. No
one could find my site and I was a marketing
failure.
Because my site didn’t sell anything, I gave
up and continued on the research path. I
slowly learned about how to market my site
but wasn’t sure I wanted to stick with drop
shipping. My site costs combined with credit
card merchant costs and plain old
competition didn’t really leave me with much
profit. I realized I still had much to
learn.
I went back to the research drawing board
and joined a few forums to learn what else I
might be able to do. At that time I learned
about affiliate programs. I met people I
trusted and admired who promoted affiliate
programs. I asked a lot of questions and
began my research. Affiliate marketing
appealed to me. I didn’t need a merchant
account, I didn’t need inventory, I didn’t
need my own product and I could even get
away without a website. Wow, how good is
that? So off I went.
As I began to research I found the best
selling products were informational products
and the best commissions were internet
marketing products. Because I was familiar
with setting up a website previously I
decided to set up another site to list of
all my affiliate sales products. I fell into
the trap that most new web business owners
fall into. Setting up a ‘How to Market on
the internet site’. I liked it because I was
familiar with it and I had purchased some of
the products through my research. So why
not? Well, simply put there is too much
competition in that category. I still have
my site today but my sales are minimal. I
offer only products that I trust and many of
them I use but it’s not a business path I’d
recommend to someone starting out,
particularly because many beginners tend to
gravitate there. There are lots of other
things that have good marketing potential.
Affiliate marketing can be successfully
applied to almost any product on the net.
If researched carefully and applied
correctly, affiliate sales can be a very
profitable internet business. The object is
to find something you can sell and promote
for merchants that will offer you a
commission to sell it. You don’t have to
carry inventory, collect money, worry about
delivery or even have a website (although a
website is a good idea), but you’re going to
have to think about what products best suit
you with regard to sales. I feel it’s best
to sell things that you like. Things you’re
interested in or have a fetish about. For
instance, let’s say you love crystal. If you
love it then you probably know something
about it, but more importantly you will
enjoy researching it and offering it to
someone else.
Next, research web businesses that sell
crystal and offer affiliate programs. I
recommend using Commission Junction or
Linkshare. Keep in mind that the sites you
select can sell other things, however you’re
focusing on just crystal. Find several sites
and apply to them all. Most affiliate
programs are free. A note to the wise, be
sure to read the affiliate agreements and
understand their rules. They are not all the
same.
Once you’ve signed up for the programs of
your choice, pay per click (PPC) search
engines are the best and easiest way to sell
your affiliate products. You can promote
each product individually or you can promote
them all by building a website and promoting
your website. Again, be sure to read the
agreements as some affiliate programs
restrict affiliates offering their
competition on the same website. This isn’t
true for all of them but you want to stay
aware.
To get started you’ll need to set up
accounts with PPC search engines such as
Google, Overture and Findwhat. Research how
they work and set up some simple ad
campaigns to start. You will also need to
research keywords and what words cost the
least and are the most effective. This is a
topic for another article, however time
spent and proper research tools such as
Overture’s view bids and search term
suggestion tools will help keep your costs
low and your profits high. By the way, use
each of the keyword tools provided by each
PPC search engine; this will help guide you
as to what keywords to use. Keywords entered
by users can differ from search engine to
search engine.
If you choose to build a website, keep your
sight on topic. Getting back to our crystal
example, keep your site focused on crystal
or glassware, don’t throw in pictures or
garden chairs. The worst mistake you can
make is being everything to everyone. I
know; I’ve made that mistake.
Offer information such as types of types of
crystal, how it’s made, textures, weight,
where it’s made, history of crystal, etc.
Concentrate on offering information. If you
give people valuable information on
something they’re more likely to buy it.
Of course crystal is just an example; you
can apply the same principles to sofas,
bicycles, computers, toys or whatever you
might take pleasure in. Give it some quality
thought, research carefully and take your
time. If it’s something you enjoy, you’ll
enjoy your business.
Elizabeth McGee is the owner of
Pro-Marketing-Online, the Expert Marketing
Tools site. If you wish to learn more about
how to market online from the experts and
find expert, trusted tools for promoting
your site then please visit
Pro-Marketing-Online or subscribe to her
newsletter found at
http://www.pro-marketing-online.com or
email Elizabeth at
webmaster@pro-marketing-online.com