Associate Programs Newsletter #323
I’m going back to basics today, to try to help a struggling affiliate who needs to boost his conversion rate and get more affiliate sales.
Also, affiliate blogger Yaro Starak has seven tips on how blog effectively.
CONTENTS:
1. Back to Basics: How to get more affiliate sales
2. Yaro’s highly effective blogging tips
3. Gems from our affiliate forum
4. Thought for today: Never give up
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1. Back to Basics: How to get more affiliate sales
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If you’re an experienced affiliate, feel free to skip this article.
I received a plea for help from a reader this week:
“Do you have any idea how we can improve our sales?” he asked. “This is a common problem in the affiliate world, and on the Internet we have found many people with the same problem.”
His niche website, which has been online for about a year, is getting 400 to 500 visitors a day but is averaging only about one sale for every 450 visitors.
Perhaps your site has similar problems.
First, the good things about the site. The affiliate has identified a specific niche and is keeping his focus tightly on that niche. That’s an excellent start. The site reviews products in its niche, using a wide variety of related keywords for the search engines to find. The reviews give useful, specific details. The site is professional looking, with clear navigation.
So what’s wrong with it?
I’m not showing you the site, because I don’t have permission to do so. However, the following comments apply to thousands upon thousands of struggling affiliate sites.
Here’s what’s wrong with it – and perhaps wrong with your site, too…
1) Your site is dull, boring, bland. Really bland. It has no life, no soul. In any niche you choose, you’ll probably have heaps of competitors. So you MUST work to make your site different. I had to search hard to find the faintest glimmer of personality anywhere on your site.
Remember, you’re selling to real people, not search engines. One of the best ways to achieve a sale is to connect with your readers, to form some sort of relationship with them.
Little guys CAN compete strongly with huge corporations, as long as you don’t make the mistake of trying to copy dull corporations. Show the reader there’s a real live human behind the website. People like buying from people they know, like and trust.
2) Your reviews are strictly factual, but lifeless. I saw only one review in the which you suggested that the product had helped you. If your review reads as though you’ve just swiped information from the affiliate merchant’s site, you won’t connect with your visitor in any meaningful way.
3) I can’t tell at a glance which product you think is best. My eye doesn’t know where to go. Your job as an affiliate is to help your visitor decide what to buy. You’re not helping. You’re just presenting a variety of choices. Help your visitor decide what to buy.
Here are some ways to draw attention to your favorite product:
* Use a larger heading for one product to make it stand out.
* Use a larger font in the description of one product.
* Use bold words.
* Use a larger graphic beside it.
* Give it five gold stars.
4) Your “About Us” contains a scrap of information, but no photos. Again, an opportunity to connect with your reader is lost. Give your readers reasons to trust you and trust your reviews.
5) Pretend you’re a stranger viewing your site for the first time. If you do this for about half a second, you’ll spot that your graphics are too small – your visitor can’t read what’s written on them. See how your reviews seem to dive straight into the middle of the review, with no eye-catching, intriguing, interesting introductory paragraph.
For example, you could test this enthusiastic opening: “This is the most helpful book I’ve read this year. I’ll tell you why…”
6) You don’t have a newsletter. A newsletter is one of your most valuable selling tools. It helps you form a relationship with your readers and builds trust. They’ll buy from someone they trust. If you do it right, they’ll not only buy from you, they’ll buy over and over again. Start a newsletter.
At the very least, you can collect people’s email addresses and tell them: “We’ll let you know when we update this site” or “We’ll let you know when we review a new book” or “We’ll keep you updated about ….. (your niche.” The perfect tool for this is Aweber. It’s versatile – you can use it for autoresponders and newsletters.
I use Aweber for several websites because it’s solid and very reliable. One subscription can be used over as many domains as you like. It’s a superb service, used by many professionals because they know they can trust it. Check it out here: https://www.associateprograms.com/aweber
7) You’re promoting products which pay pitifully small commissions. Look for related products which pay better. Add them to your site, if possible. Consider creating a new site promoting products with higher commissions. Also consider products which pay residual commissions or lifetime commissions, such as those reviewed at https://www.LifetimeCommissions.com .
It’s very nice doing the work once and then being paid over and over again.
8) Perhaps most important of all, I saw no enthusiasm on your site whatsoever. Big mistake.
Dale Carnegie said, “Act enthusiastic and you’ll be enthusiastic.” In marketing, the rule is, “Act enthusiastic and you’ll get more sales.” Get excited, and allow your excitement to enthuse your writing. (Warning: This can definitely be overdone.)
I’ve learned the importance of this stuff gradually over the 11 years I’ve been marketing online. I’m sure I could go back over many half-forgotten articles on our websites and improve the writing. It’s something we should all do now and again.
How many half-forgotten articles do you have on your sites? Articles that desperately need improving? It’s often much easier to improve the sales of an existing site than build a new site.
I’ve barely scratched the surface of this topic. If you want to increase your conversion rates, a good book to study is “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Dr Robert Cialdini. You can get it new at Amazon for under $12, or used for under $8. It would be an excellent investment.
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2. Yaro’s highly effective blogging tips
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Yaro Starak, who blogs at Entrepreneurs-Journey.com, makes about $2,000 USD a month in affiliate commissions. He has responded to my recent article, “Are you wasting time blogging?”
Yaro isn’t. Here are his seven tips on how to do it right…
The right way to use blogs for affiliate marketing
3. Gems from our affiliate forum
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Here’s an inspiring story of someone who refused to give up…
Read This If You Think You Are An Internet Marketing Failure
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Here’s a good answer to to this question:
“Can anyone recommend a good ebook compiler software?”
Ebook software
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4. Thought for today: Never give up
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“Never, never, never give up.” – Winston Churchill.
All the best
Allan Gardyne
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