Affiliate Business Tips
July 27, 2010 by Team101
Presell like a pro
If you want to make more money as an affiliate, you must presell.
Before we begin, we need to first define what preselling is. There are two components to it – art & science. The goal is to get your reader prepped to make a purchase. Then when they’re ready, refer them to the product website so they can buy it. And if it’s done properly, the process is completely sub-conscious.
The gist is that you give your reader some useful information. And give them a link to the product you’re preselling. In a second we’ll talk about how to do actually it. Before we get into that, you should understand what’s in it for you. Some major benefits of this process:
- It builds trust – Readers who trust you are more likely to click your links. And the more traffic you can send to the sale page, the more commissions you’ll earn.
- It disarms your reader – When you’re not hyping or pitching a product, your reader lets their guard down. And in turn they read to understand what you’re saying. So your message gets across.
- It preps them to buy – Now they trust you and feel open to your message. Being open means, they are open to everything you give them. For example, the sales message on the page you’re linking to. And being open to the information there means they are much more likely to buy.
- It increases your sales – You’ve prepped them and referred them in the right state of mind. Open to the sales message and feeling safe. The only thing that can result is increased sales!
- It increases customer satisfaction – People like to make their own buying decisions. Instead of feeling pressured or “sold”. And this leads to greater satisfaction with the product.
- Preselling increases your bottom line – Happy customers ask for refunds much less often. Less refunds means more affiliate money stays in your pocket.
The need to presell is clear. You make more money. And produce happier customers. Everybody wins!
OK, so how do you do it?
OK, now you understand why it’s so important. And hopefully you’re convinced you need to start doing it. You’re ready to learn how to do it properly. Remember, there are two components – art and science.
Becoming an artist
The first step is in getting your readers to trust you and open up. This can only be accomplished by providing actual value in the information you’re presenting. But you can’t give them so much that they think they have everything they could need, and that’s what makes it an art. The idea is that they want more and the sales page you send them to gives them more. Plus they’re not guarded, so they’re more open and likely to purchase the product.
Part 2 – the Science
There’s also a specific formula you need to follow.
One of these key elements is the presentation of the information. You need to know where you’re going before you begin. In the end, you want to sell a specific product. There are two ways to accomplish this with great content. One way is to give them enough info to whet the appetite, but not enough to satisfy it. The other method is to explain all the details and expose how difficult it is to do what you’re explaining. Either way, the product sales page solves the problem.
But you can’t link to your affiliate link. You have directly to the home page of the product. That’s because nobody likes to click on affiliate links. But, without your affiliate link, how do you get credit? This is all part of the science of preselling. You “pre-cookie” your reader before sending them to the sales page.
The next trick is to hyperlink specific words and phrases inside the content of the article you’re providing. Hyperlinked words are clicked more than anything else. Plus, if you link on relevant words, it only makes sense to click on there.
What you have now is a super powerful system for affiliate marketing success.
Unfortunately…
Doing all of this right is really hard! Let’s talk about everything required to put this plan into action: Great content. First and foremost, you have to be able to write a great article that provides valuable information. This means you have to be able to write well, and have enough knowledge to be useful. Preselling skills. First, you have to give good information. And you have to make the content accessible in order to provide value. And still leave them wanting more. Or provide so much information that they see how hard it will be to implement.
Choosing your products. Next, you’ve got to pick the right product to presell. Even if you can pull off writing and great article. You’ve wasted all your effort if the product doesn’t sell well.
Techy stuff. One of the keys to this system is using “covert cookies” for the tracking. This is pretty easy – you just make a 1 pixel X 1 pixel image with no border and make the “source” of the image your affiliate link. (But if you mess it up, your referrals won’t be tracked.)
Summary:
Now you know exactly how to presell effectively. Preselling properly will boost your affiliate profits up to 500%! So, start now and develop preselling content for all your affiliate promotions. Don’t wait another minute. Make the extra effort required to propel your affiliate business to the next level.