One Surefire Way
NOT to Make Money as an Affiliate
(c) 2003 by Bruno Carlson
When I first started up in the affiliate marketing business
several months ago I made a classic newbie mistake. And
because of this mistake I ended up turning what could have been a
decent start into a big disappointment.
That disappointment almost caused me to throw in the towel
and give up on ever making money on the Web.
Here's what happened:
I wanted to make money FAST. Like yesterday. I wanted to
have it all RIGHT NOW.
I had heard that the Web was a big "numbers game" and that
the more numbers you could pull in, the better your chances
were for making money.
I had also heard a lot about affiliate programs. And how
anybody (even a guy like me with limited business
experience) could make a potful of money just by selling
other people's stuff.
After all, the commissions are great and the overhead cost
is practically nil. All I needed to do was figure out a way
to get the word out there to a huge number of the right people
and they'd be beating a path to my affiliate sites.
I had read a few things by some of the super-affiliates
and they made it sound so easy. This was going to be a
piece of cake if ever there was one.
Not!
CATCHING "PROGRAM FEVER"
You see, I figured that since it was a numbers game, I
needed big numbers.
As in big numbers of PROGRAMS.
I ran across several "ezine-in-a-box" type deals, where
you sign up for a ton of programs all under one roof and
then just watch the profits roll in (in theory anyway). One
of these deals even had a free website that went along with
it, a sort of shopping mall with ads for a bunch of the
programs I had joined.
Now my thinking at this time was sort of, what the heck,
the more the merrier! By signing up for a whole slew of
programs I would end up making a whole slew of money.
Wrong again!
I don't need to tell you that it didn't work out nearly as
well as I'd hoped.
SPREADING MYSELF TOO THIN
I had WAY too many brands in the fire.
At that time, with my experience being so limited, I
needed to concentrate my energies on ONE specific program.
The reason for this was that I didn't really know much about
affiliate marketing yet. I needed to learn about it.
I also needed to learn how to market a program and its
products. I needed to do some real get-down nitty-gritty
WORK.
Like research.
I needed to learn about WHAT it was I was selling. And
then HOW to do that selling.
By having so many different programs going at the same
time there was no way I could give each the attention it
deserved. Actually, most of the emails which my programs
sent me for training went unread, filed away in a folder to
be read someday in the future.
Meaning never...
The solo ads I sent out were faceless, voiceless and
boring. Mass-produced by somebody (me) who knew VERY
little about writing ad copy. Sure, I knew something about
formal business correspondence. But this was a horse of a
different color.
SO REMEMBER:
By focusing on just one program at a time in the beginning
you'll learn a LOT about the whole affiliate marketing
business. You'll also have the opportunity to learn about
sales writing and how to put your whole self into your ad
presentations.
In other words, you'll be learning how to create
enthusiasm for a product.
And as we all know, enthusiasm is catching! People will
feel that enthusiasm coming from you and they'll become
interested in what you're selling, as long as you've
targeted the right customers.
When I signed up for a jillion programs all at once there
was no way I could possibly be enthusiastic about even one
of them. All I could be was LAME.
Ho hum. No wonder nobody bought anything!
So find a program you believe in and follow through with
it. Learn all you can about it and its products. Stick with
it and continue to find new ways to market it. It may take
a little while, but before you know it you'll be making
sales. And with each sale your confidence will rise!
And then maybe you can start to look for another program
or two to promote...
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Online home biz and writing coach Bruno
Carlson would seriously love to help YOU
get an attitude for online success. Sign
up for his Attitude Marketer newsletter
today at http://www.BrunoBiz.com
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