I had a couple of questions about affiliate marketing recently so I have chosen to address them in two RocketResponder blog posts.
The first question I got was: “How do I know what affiliate products to promote?”
This is a great question because there must be hundreds of thousands of potential products out there from which you could potentially earn good affiliate commissions.
It is really tempting to think along the following terms – well if I choose products which have relatively high price tags and large affiliate payouts then this is the quickest way for me to make a lot of money.
I think there are many people who think exactly like this but I am not sure it is producing particularly good results.
The problem is that this approach looks at things from the wrong perspective…you are looking at the problem from your own perspective and not thinking at all about the point of view of your customer.
Instead focus on the product or service you are thinking of promoting and fully investigate what it has to offer a buyer.
Here are some questions I would ask myself when looking for affiliate products to promote:
- what does the product actually do?
- does it deliver what it says it will deliver?
- would I use it myself?
- would I be happy recommending this product to a close family member or friend?
- is it good value for money?
- do I feel good about myself promoting it?
- can I get excited about this product?
- does the company or person behind it have any proven track record?
- what do existing customers say about the person or company behind this product?
- is this product likely to be here for the long term?
These are just some of the questions that I came up with off the top of my head but they are all important questions which need to be addressed.
Notice that the entire focus is on the product or service…ie what benefits it could have to the end user, because this is what you are selling.
Satisfy yourself that the product is good, then learn how to use it and you will be best placed to sell it to your customers.
The commission structure…well that should be the last thing on your mind.
