Automate Your Way To Affiliate Marketing Cash

If you want to make an ongoing internet based income with affiliate marketing, you'll have to automate both the front end and the back end processes.

Here are a few tried and true techniques to ensure that you'll be easily earning affiliate commissions while you count sheep...

1. Research and select the best affiliate products and associated affiliate programs which best fit your targetted market and that will allow you to make the most amount of money for the least amount of effort in the shortest amount of time.

You want to make sure that the "affiliate vendor" (if they offer their own program) or the affiliate network (who manages a variety of affiliate vendor products) has a reputation for paying affiliates on time with a simple method for affiliates to sign up (get their affiliate ID/link), track their progress (clicks, sales, etc), and get paid (ie: direct deposit into a paypal account versus receiving a check).

Choose products or services that offer high commissions and that have a high quality sales page that gets high conversion rates (turns lookers into buyers).

Always read the sales page to determine if it entices youto buy the product. If not, it probably won't entice others either. Keep in mind that downloadable products or services generate a much higher commission percentage than a physical product due to the fact that they cost less for the product owner to create, advertise, inventory, and deliver to the buyer. If you do chose a physical product, try combining it with a related digital product to boost your overall commissions. An example could be selling a gardening device with a related "how to grow the biggest, juiciest tomatoes" digital report.

Also keep in mind that an affiliate product or service with a monthly subscription fee (ie: a gardening club membership site)
ensures an ongoing steam of income for efforts you made once. For maximum income possibilities, you should have a mix of "one time cost" and "monthly recurring fee" products that relate to your targetted market.

Since you should also plan to promote additional products to those that have bought from you, be sure that the affiliate network you decided on has a variety of "complimentary" products you can sell. Since people usually buy more than one product on a topic they are excited about, this will ensure a continuing stream of income from your initial marketing efforts. Although you can transparently offer products to your market from a variety of affiliate programs at the same time, it will be less stressful on you and your ability to stay on top of your affiliate activities if you have as few affiliate vendors and/or affiliate networks to manage as possible.


2. Focus on ONE product or service at a time to avoid "activity overload".

You must know if your marketing efforts for a specific product or service are making you money or if you are just wasting your efforts. You need to observe and modify until you have a continous stream of money from your chosen product or service. If it doesn't happen, drop it and move on to another product.

Get all promotional and upsell tasks (ie: squeeze page, pre-sell page, free reports, autoresponder series, etc.) identified and ready to function on autopilot before moving on to selling a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.

Automation of each affiliate product or service's process allows you to turn your focus to developing additional streams of income without sacraficing your previous affiliate income stream.


3. In the know affiliates ALWAYS capture prospects name/emails for maximuming income potential

Since the affiliate product owner or affiliate network doesn't provide you with a prospect or buyer's name and/or email address, if you send your prospects directly to the affiliate vendor's webpage, you have lost them forever (even if they purchase, you won't know who they are only that you completed a sale). Therefore, you won't be able to leverage your initial marketing efforts by presenting other products or services to those who either expressed an interest or actually made a purchase.

Therefore, prior to sending your prospects to the affiliate product owner's webpage, you first want to send them to a page that you have developed to capture the prospects name and email address. This webpage is called a "squeeze page" or "opt-in" page. On that webpage you'll need to offer something for FREE (ie: a report, mini-ebook, software tool, newsletter subscription, etc.). Something with VALUE that will get them to give up their information.

Since it is a common fact that most people won't buy on their first exposure to a person or product or service, you also need to follow up with those that have downloaded your FREE item (your list). Since studies have proven that it usually takes 7 exposures before a prospect is comfortable enough to buy, you must have a process in place to ensure that you follow up in a timely manner.

Setting up an autoresponder with a series of emails that are automatically sent at predetermined intervals, is the best way to make it happen. This email series needs to be set up so that it helps you to establish a relationship as well as establish you as a trusted advisor in your targeted marketplace. This will make it easier for your propsects to purchase from you.

By continuing to offer FREE, valuable information to your prospects along with additional promotions built into your email series, it will ensure that your potential customers will continue to stay "subscribed". That they will want to open your messages and eventually purchase one or more of your affiliate offers.

4. Get maximum exposure to your affiliate offer

There are a number of ways to achieve exposure for your affiliate offer (both free and paid). In other words, traffic to your promotional offer. The major marketing effort is made upfront. After that, if done right, a "viral" effect happens and your marketing efforts will take on a life of their own.

Free ways:

Article writing - Write related articles and submit to article directories. Articles are then picked up by a number of website owners, ezine owners, and others looking for online articles. Your article's "resource box" should have a direct link to your promotional "squeeze or "opt-in" page (which can't be removed by the publisher). So, every time anyone publishes your article, you'll get free traffic.

Forum participation - Find related forums and particiapte in the discussions. Ask questions, offer feedback from your experience/educaton (not a sales pitch). Just set up your "signature" to route to your promotional "squeeze page" and Let your "signature" do your selling for you. Just make sure that the forum offers this type of signature (most do).

Blogging - locate related blogs and write comments, again with a link to your promotional "squeeze page" or "opt-in" page.

Joint Ventures - find like minded people in your target marketplace that have "lists" that you can promote to and vice versa. If they present your promotional link to their list, you'll introduce their product in your autoresponder series to your list.

Paid ways:

Google Adwords PPC (or other PPC Services) - Write & publish PPC (pay per click) ads. Whenever someone clicks your ad, you are charged a certain fee. Keep in mind that you are charged this fee when they "click" your link, not if they "buy" the product. So, if you aren't monitoring your PPC budget closely, you will spend way more money on "clicks" than you'll ever earn on affiliate commissions. Don't forget to read and understand the T&Cs of any PPC service before you attempt to use this advertising resource.

If you are too busy or simply don't want to do these activities yourself, you can always/could easily outsource them to be performed by others. But, make no mistake, they do need to be done. As usual, its a trade off of your time or your money.


5. Make more money than other affiliates promoting the same product or service

Once you have established a solid track record as an affiliate who can bring in the sales, you can request a higher than normal commission from the merchant. Just contact the affiliate merchant and negotiate a bigger percentage of the pie.

Since the affiliate vendor doesn't pay you anything unless you make a sale, they have a zero risk investment in you. If you have been a producer with them or can confirm your success with other affiliate promotions, many will work with you. Since only about 5% of their affiliates ever produce money for them, they surely don't want to lose an affiliate that does. Just be reasonable in your request.

Use these tips and you'll soon experience a HUGE increase in your affiliate earnings in no time flat.