Affiliate Mistakes to Avoid
Because an affiliate marketing business is easy to start and many people are attracted to it's earning potential, they make lots of mistakes. I know, I've made a few of them myself.
Here are mistakes I've made plus several other mistake that I see affiliate marketers make all the time.
Having No Plan
Yes, planning takes time and I know everyone's in a hurry but not
having a plan is the surest way to failure.
Find out what you need to get started. Understand what investments you need to make. Then set a yearly goal and the outline the tasks you need to perform to meet those goals. Six figures is not impossible with affiliate marketing, just ask Rosalind Gardner, but goals come a lot faster if you have a plan and stick to it.
Not researching your
niche
Find out what people in your chosen niche really want to know. It's
not always what you think. For example, when I created my c-section site I just naturally
assumed that women wanted to know about the actual c-section surgery but it took me about 6 months
to realize that what they really wanted to know was how to recovery quickly. I would have
known that in the beginning if I'd taken the time to do my research.
Get on forums, run surveys, ask questions and find out what people in your niche really want to know, it will make a huge difference in the people you attract and in the product sales you make.
Not building your opt-in email
list
Start from the very beginning building an email list. This
means capturing the email addresses of your visitors. Once your visitors leave your site they
are virtually gone for good unless you can find a way to keep in contact with them. Once they are
on your email list you can continue to provide them with information, product specials, helpful
tips, etc. It's also a way to foster trust and friendship. A viewer that trusts you is
a viewer that is more likely to buy from you.
Not reading the affiliate
agreement
Not all affiliate programs are the same. There are devious affiliate
managers that would love for you to promote them and not have to pay you. One little
violation of the agreement may mean you won't get paid.
Be sure your site qualifies for the program, make
sure you understand how and when you will get paid. Some programs offer exclusivity which
means if you offer one merchant's program you may not offer merchants selling similar
products.
Read all the fine print and understand what you are agreeing
to.
Not keeping in close touch with your
affiliate manager
I try to get to know and keep
close contact with as many affiliate managers as I can, particularly the ones that I earn the most
with. Use them to ask your questions and get advice. They can provide you with some
very good tidbits of information that you may not otherwise get.
Too many affiliate links with no personal
endorsements
Don't send your visitors directly to
the merchant site. Instead create personal endorsement and review pages for your
products. The search engines will prefer this and so will your viewers.
Going only for the affiliate programs that
pay the most money
We all want to make the most
money but just because an affiliate program pays 60% doesn't mean it has the best product.
You won't be raking in the cash if the products get returned. Be sure the products you
promote sell well and are noted for good customer service.
Broken or expired
links
Always check your links, make sure they go
to the pages you think they are going to. If a publisher expires make sure you adjust your
links on your site. Too many broken or expired links will make your site look bad, not only
to your visitors but to the search engines as well.
Using pay per click ads without knowing what
you are doing
Pay per click ads like the ones used
with Google Adsense are a great way to get traffic and sales flowing quickly but it can be
dangerous to use this type of advertising without getting some knowledge under your belt
first. If you are thinking of using Google Adwords I highly recommend "The Ultimate Guide to
Google Adwords" by Perry Marshall. I bought the guide last year and it's helped me perfect my
Google Adwords campaigns and increase my sales over 30% for some products.
Not being focused and doing too many
things
When I began my online business I got involved in so many online
business ventures that I completely lost focus. I did a little wholesale dropshipping, some
affiliate marketing, sold things on ebay, developed information products and lots of
other things. I had no focus. I had so many things to do each day that I couldn't
possibly be productive.
Focus on one thing and absorb yourself in it completely before concentrating on anything else. Diverting your attention across too many things diminishes your level of success substantially.
Likewise, do what you do best and outsource the rest. Being an online business owner can mean wearing a lot of hats and it's impossible to do it all yourself. Instead, get other people to do the tedious work for you. If you simply don't know what can be outsourced or where to find quality outsourcing help check into Outsource Weekly, it will change the way you do business.
Don't Spam
Spam is unsolicited email and we all
get it. Don't be tempted to buy email lists and blast your links to them, that's spam and it
can hurt your business. People who get spam from you can contact your ISP or contact the
merchant for the product you are promoting and you can be banned from the affiliate program or
worse yet your ISP.
Develop your own email opt-in list by practicing permission based email marketing. You'll have more targeted, happy visitors and those are the ones that are most ready with wallet in hand.
Your Partner in Success,
Elizabeth