Seems like a lot of people that are successful with affiliate sales, also write bogus reviews to help sell their products. Sellers will admit (privately) that they haven't actually used the product. Bogus review format: "I was a skeptic at first, but then I tried...". Anyway, I was ready to jump on this bandwagon but then thought twice about it. I signed up with Clickbank a few weeks ago and I've made it a point to contact people before selling their product. Out of the ten plus vendors I've contacted, only ONE has gotten back to me and sent me an ebook he was selling. I'm guessing that most affiliates don't contact their vendors and vice versa, when using a middleman like CB. This must be the case if vendors don't bother replying to inquiries about their products. As an affiliate, I'm not asking for a whole copy, just a sample and some communication would be nice! There's NO-WAY I'm going to promote a product without at least viewing a sample. Back to the ebook that I got as a free sample, unfortunately I was not impressed with it and was glad I wasn't trying to sell it. It wasn't that the ebook was bad, just limited in information for the price. I would have felt ripped off if I would have paid the asking price. I don't want to push products that people feel jipped after the purchase! Am I alone here? "A lot of time spent and no money made", that's been my approach to affiliate marketing so far. Maybe in the long run it will pay off to be a more "ethical marketer", we'll see... With so many successful people faking it, it's hard not to want to join the bandwagon. Any thoughts on actually using the product before selling? Then providing honest reviews?
You shouldn't lie. If you're in the USA, that would actually be breaking federal law. There are strict laws on advertising in place. I bet 95% of the e-books out there are crap on a stick. That's because (and you can read DP forums to see this) people just "research" something, whip up pages and sell it. They try to write of other people's experiences. I haven't seen anything on CB that impresses me. If you're concerned, I'd buy the product first or request a copy at no charge.
I agree with you. I think most truely successful people would as well. I would recommend you go take a look at the FREE ebooks at worldwidebrands.com. It totally changed my outlook on online business. And although it is related to dropshipping/sales websites I think it can be related to any type of business you may want to persue online. There are more scammers than there are legitimate companies, but the legitimate companies probably have am uch higher success rate because if you believe in your products then your customers probably will too, which will turn into more customers. It may be hard starting out, but in the long run you will be 100X better for it.
I've definitely read that you should try out the products you are trying to sell. This way you can give more honest reviews about it. People tend to pick up on whether or not you have experience with the product you're selling.
In response to marketingjunction, I think your right about the 95% crap... Problem is that ebooks don't usually have to go through a publisher's acceptance process for quality control. Anyone can just whip up an ebook and start selling it online. I don't think I've seen an ebook yet that doesn't contain a bunch-o typos. With that in mind, maybe Amazon's affiliate program's worth looking into. Any thoughts on where to get good digital content that still pays well? I like the idea of a system where you can send a link after someone purchases. Instant digital download sort of thing. Thanks PHP Gator, I'll look into worldwidebrands.com
gloveless, Most stuff on clickbank is garbage, and really good products usually require some form of qualification as an affiliate. My suggestions are to try Paydotcom.com as a middleman affilaite program, you have some nice reputable products there. Also, when contacting a vendor don't ask for a free product for review before affiliating. I have been doing this for four years now, and I get about three emails a day asking for a free product because they want to review it... Generally I don't answer these emails, simply because I know thy won't bring me a lot of sales or they are lying to me. When askign for a review, explain the following: 1) Why you want to review it 2) How you are selling it 3) Where you are selling it 4) Possible revenue levels for them When i get an email like this, i already know this person is really interested and is going to sell my product legally and keep a good reputation for my name, so i answer and suply a review copy
I can honestly say, that I do, or have used everything on my site. I have Sirius Radio. I Use iTunes. I have an iPod, (waiting for the iPhone) I listen to Dance Music, and buy from my referring sources. and I travel. That's why I built the thing to sell the stuff I like
You shouldn't lie but there is nothing wrong with aggressive promotion as longas its domne withing bounds.
It's very easy to forget one of the simplest marketing lessons there is: selling to your old customers is much easier than selling to new customer. The time and effort you need to get a new customer is much higher than selling new stuff to old customer. Maybe you can lure somebody to buy crappy ebook, but where that leads you? In this case you haven't provided real value, and the word-of-mouth factor is defnitely going to help you. If on the other hand you get a list of people, and recommend them good products that they actually could use - then you've provided value and created trust. The next time you recommend some other product, your customers are more eager to believe you. As long as you are consistent with your actions, then you are going in the right direction: you attract more customers and can keep selling to your old customers. Trying to trick somebody to buy once is waste of time, effort and money - and won't get you the long term results you need.
Good post. I am also one of those guys. I have a finance related site and in this niche, there is TONS OF SHITTY SEMINARS, EBOOKS, etc... That's why I try to provide some quality content to my readers so they don't have to buy that crap
You can't forget what you don't know. I think many didn't even learn that to begin with. Another good reason why you shouldn't participate in the business world until you've educated yourself on the basics. That rule is taught to every business student in college and is echoed throughout countless good business books. Build trust, make money, live happy. It's a simple concept and yes, it works all day long.
True, it's easy to get thinking about "one sale" when you should be thinking "the 10th sale". Educating and learning every day - while focusing on serving others. That'll go a long way.
Affiliate Marketing has one huge downfall - ANYONE with an ounce of computer skills can get involved. Notice I wrote "get involved" instead of "earning real cash"... I said it that way simply because all you need to be an affiliate for most of the "crappy" ebooks out there, is to just grab an affiliate link, make a blog or site and start posting stuff. Depending on how talented and devoted you are, you will have varying degrees of success. Now, I've noticed that many people here have claimed that 95% of ebooks are crap. Well, that mightn't actually be the case. Take Clickbank's marketplace. I'm guessing there's hundreds of products in there all spun into maybe 30 categories or something. I don't know what your interests are and I don't care to be frank, but I'm thinking that most of the replies here are falling under one of the biggest mistakes in marketing: "If I don't like it - nobody will". There are books on CB for stuff like craftwork, childcare, government records and all different things. I am presuming that many of you are aware of the many marketing ebooks which get hyped out to oblivion and then fall back into the shadows. I've found those books to be "crap", with most of the info available free in other places. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you need to keep an open mind. Don't dismiss a whole income stream simply because "95% of ebooks are crap". Just my .02
peeq, makes a good point. A good salesman can sell Whiskey to Mormons, no matter what the marketing medium.
i have owned review sites before, and I actually purchased all the products I reviewed. But i took lots of pictures and even video sometimes. Probably made more sales bc I seemed more legit than those using the stock photos.