There are two simple keys to a successful affiliate business. One is a website which can attract visitors; ideally visitors with something in common. The other key is a product, or perhaps a service of some kind, which will motivate them to request further information or make a purchase.
The first question you have to address is demographics, especially if you have a website that does not attract an easy to define visitors base. But, even if your visitors can be pretty well defined, there are important demographic questions to be asked and answered. Are your visitors men or women? How old are most of them? Do they have significant disposable income? Do they often make purchases online? What are their interests? What are their needs? Their buying habits?
Most important of all, why do they come to your website? What do they hope to do there? Are they looking for advice, entertainment, the solution to a medical problem, or something else?
By finding out as much as you can about your visitors, you’ll be able to more quickly and accurately learn what kinds of products and services they will find most compelling. Generating lots of traffic to your site is, as we’ve said, very important. But, for your website to be more than a hobby, you must provide your visitors with appropriate services and/or products. Luckily, and this is great news, you don’t have to pick the right products/services the first, second, or even the third time. Just keep learning, keep thinking, and (most of all) keep trying until you’re right.
Be sure to consider lead generation programs as well as programs which pay you on a per sale basis. Depending on the content of your site and the demographics of your visitors, they may be more interested in receiving car insurance quotes, for instance, than in buying auto accessories. Some programs pay you very well just to help them identify prospects for whatever it is they sell.
Because all sorts of companies want to build their mailing lists, you can even earn a commission when someone signs up for a coupon, a free restaurant meal, a few trial issues of a magazine, or countless other freebies.
Remember, the commission you are offered may not be the whole story. If a program will compensate you both for the revenue you bring in directly and the revenue brought in by those you influence to join the program, your net earnings may ultimately be far higher.
Don’t succomb to the hype. My advice is that you choose only programs that:
1. offer you good online tracking and statistics so that you can see how you’re doing and what you may need to tweak. You need hard statistical information to make good marketing decisions.
2. provide you with well written advertising copy and well designed, attention getting banners.
3. offer you advice, assistance, and payment in a timely manner.
4. meet your website visitors’ needs with a high quality product or service at a fair and competitive price.
Be sure you offer your visitors a newletter, a small gift, or some other incentive to obtain their email addresses. That way, you can invite them back to your site when it changes or offer them opportunities to purchase products you believe may be of interest to them. But, do not send emails without permission, and do not send them excessively…the goal is to create trust and longterm customers.
Finally, follow the great advice I once got from an extremely successful businessperson. Track and analyze everything that moves.