New future publisher, what do affiliates want?

Hello,

I am working on an audio series for 1st Qtr 2008 that you would call a sales training course that is not based on Internet sales per se but could be applied there as well.

I have a good handful of questions for affiliates in particular because I want them to be successful for my success. Experienced publisher comments are very welcome and I could use a hand from personal experience as well.

Quickly my background included a lot of sales and sales training in corporate America working with well-known US based companies. As a side I have read (since 1998) about making money online and have dabbled as an affiliate but never really dug in but I am way above average in the computer arena so technical people do not have to dumb down for me and I will get my hands dirty.

The course will probably be 6–10 hours (many 20min segments) in total length. An outline will be included and most probably several supplemental worksheets.

I am also considering additional supplemental material along with a lifetime or year long membership to a membership based area where additional material may be added and a forum that is private.

I would think the course would run about $100 and quality all around will be professional.

1. What do affiliates want to see from the publisher, I see comments about helping the affiliates but what do they need and what do they want that I can provide to make their lives easier and my project more successful?

2.Assuming my project feels worthy of an affiliate’s time, what is the life expectancy of a project that doesn’t have to be updated? In theory my project could live in perpetuim until I needed to refresh for more sales, any best practices with this type of project, should I update yearly to boost profile and keep the product selling? Weird question and hard to put in words, how long can a good product sell and how do you keep it selling?

3.My product would be better mailed as a CD but it seems ClickBank product focus is solely on download/membership. I am concerned about bandwidth and have several ideas from a single (300-400mb) download to a download page in a membership based area with smaller downloads in each section for those who never really use the entire course, to save bandwidth.

4.Would this concept be better as a one-time buy or a monthly membership site, both could work for me?

5.What am I not sharing to help you answer my questions?

No domain, no site, no host (suggestions?), have testimonials from previous employees with large sales under their belt, video series down the road if this is successful. Will begin soon but focusing on gatheing info now.

Thanks

 

SOunds like you've got a plan for a great product.

I'm a publisher of a small product and I am also an affiliate for several clickbank products in my particular niche.... I'm not making millions (as many on these forums claim to be).... but I feel I'm doing alright.

My thoughts--

1. As an affiliate, I like publishers to keep their price constant. I want them to have a REALLY good pitch page that sells the product well. And I want a good commission (50% or more).

2. Also, speaking as an affiliate, I don't like it when CLickbank pitch pages push visiotrs for their email address. I know it's a popular marketing tool, but I think a lot of people click the hoplink, then hit "go back" because they don't want to enter information.

3. Speaking as a publisher, I think customers and affiliates appreciate really good customer service. I check my email every day to answer questions... send out regular emails to affiliates I've communicated with... If customers have a problem downloading my ebook, I offer to send them a printed copy in the mail (it takes extra time and I have to swallow the postage...but I think they appreciate it.) My email is printed clearly on the pitch page, within my product, and on the thank you page so people can get ahold of me easily.

4. How long can a good product sell? Indefinitely, I guess. If the product is good, people will keep buying it. SImple answer, but true IMO.

5. Large downloads -- Definitely break it up into smaller files. You CAN have lots of small files on your thank you page. Also, maybe give customers access to a web page with downloadable files on it. I don't think clickbank will let you sell CDs.

6. Monthly or membership? It depends on your product... Personally, I think one-time purchases are easier to sell. I don't try to sell monthly membership-based clickbank products. That's just my preference, though.

I hope this helps. GOod luck to you.

- Tim

 

Here are a few off the top of my head:

1. Great marketing tools, including the usual banners, emails, and text ads.
2. Rebrandable PDFs that do a great job of pre-selling and can be branded with the affiliate's links and distributed for free.
3. Tracking tools that go beyond what ClickBank offers.
4. Conversion figures for your site, including analysis of what kinds of targeted traffic convert best.

CB is considering physical products in the future, but right now is accepting only digital downloads. They won't host the files, but that doesn't mean that you have to. There are several 3rd-party services that can integrate with the CB payment system that will host your downloadable files and probably do a better job of protecting them from pirates than you're likely to achieve on your own server. The one I use is E-junkie. Their prices are extremely reasonable compared to the others I researched, and their system works really well. (PM me for my affiliate link, please, if you're going to sign up with them.)

I hope this helps.