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My Paradigm Shift With Affiliate Marketing

by jimvol
14 replies
I've done some soul searching on my affiliate business and how serious I am about making money online. I have come to realize that I have been doing most things wrong. Here is a brief list of a few things, in no particular order, that I have come to realize.

· I am not an expert at making a squeeze page
· SEO is a slow process... I need money sooner rather than later
· I need a TARGETED, MOTIVATED, list of subscribers who I can connect with.
· I know enough about HTML and web page editing to make something look ok from 1996.. well, it's 17 years later and I need better than that.
· I need to hire out some of the heavy lifting (squeeze page, opt in form, etc)

I have a new plan... Please bear with me and tell me if you think this is a better plan than the normal affiliate madness that a lot of us are stuck in right now.. You know, the one where we throw up a crappy website, write some blogs, pray for traffic and this allusive SEO magic and hopefully "change our lives" by make 1-2 sales a quarter..

Here is my plan for the next 30 days...Change my niche to one that I am already very familiar with (that is not IM) ... write a great eBook about my niche with great tips and content and give it away after Opt-In. This is something that I am intimently familar with so I am an expert in this niche.

1) Write a good e-book to give away
2) HIRE an expert to make two attractive, dedicated, high converting Opt-In squeeze Pages (for split testing)
3) Drive traffic to the squeeze pages with Solo Ads, PPC (Google, Bing, and Facebook), and my Warrior Forum Signature (just being honest,, it actually works)
4) Do Split Tests with each different traffic driver to determine which converts better.
5) Create a 7-10 automated email follow up system for my new subscribers.
6) Hopefully....Enjoy and profit from my new list.

Is there anything else I should include in this plan?

I think that this will probably be a $500-1000.00 commitment to drive traffic to my new squeeze page and FREE offer to start off with.

The difference for me is for the first time in IM I actually have a plan to work, not a "lets put up a blog and some squidoo lenses and hope to make a few sales" model.

Not throwing stones if Blogging and Squidoo actually work for you, I am going to try to do something different than everyone else.

Rooting for your success!

Jeremiah
#affiliate #marketing #paradigm #shift
  • Profile picture of the author butters
    You missed out the most important thing, well in my eyes anyway! Market Research! You need to find something which no one else is offering and make a product so dam good it would make people scared coming into that niche!
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  • Profile picture of the author jimvol
    Thanks! I'm not spending a dime on advertising until I have this squared away too!
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  • Profile picture of the author thatkeywordguy
    Originally Posted by jimvol View Post


    1) Write a good e-book to give away
    2) HIRE an expert to make two attractive, dedicated, high converting Opt-In squeeze Pages (for split testing)
    3) Drive traffic to the squeeze pages with Solo Ads, PPC (Google, Bing, and Facebook), and my Warrior Forum Signature (just being honest,, it actually works)
    4) Do Split Tests with each different traffic driver to determine which converts better.
    5) Create a 7-10 automated email follow up system for my new subscribers.
    6) [FONT=Calibri]
    So the plan is
    1. write ebook
    2. make an optin page and split test it
    3. Get traffic to come to the page
    4. make an email auto-responder

    Isn't this what we're all doing?
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Brief answer, from me ...

    Originally Posted by jimvol View Post

    Change my niche to one that I am already very familiar with (that is not IM)
    I think this is overwhelmingly likely to be a good decision for you, and I'm really happy (after a recent thread) that you've made it.

    Two other things ...

    1. You can get very good squeeze pages made cheaply. I was talking to someone a couple of weeks ago who had just bought what I thought was an outstanding one, done by someone on Fiverr (for $25, not for $5!).

    2. 7-10 emails in an autoresponder series isn't nearly enough, in my opinion. Ok, this perhaps varies with demographics (and maybe even with the niche?), but I have lists from which I earn more after the first 15 messages than during them. I think you should be thinking about keeping your email series going for much longer. As long as you can achieve and maintain open-rates. And there are thoughts/observations about doing so in these two posts, if they help ...
    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6123982
    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post7642288

    Good luck and good wishes!
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post


      7-10 emails in an autoresponder series isn't nearly enough, in my opinion. Ok, this perhaps varies with demographics (and maybe even with the niche?), but I have lists from which I earn more after the first 15 messages than during them. I think you should be thinking about keeping your email series going for much longer. As long as you can achieve and maintain open-rates. And there are thoughts/observations about doing so in these two posts, if they help ...
      http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6123982
      http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post7642288

      Good luck and good wishes!
      An e-mail sequence? I've bought after 22 e-mails. I've had customer finally buy after 25.
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  • Profile picture of the author jimvol
    Is it? I doubt everyone is actually doing it. Maybe here, but outside of WF there are probably thousands who are working hard and making no money.

    There was a post yesterday from a man who has been writing two blogs and getting very little conversions.

    You must understand that I am still very new to this and despite all of the "programs" out there very little actually puts all the pieces together.

    From my eyes and what I have learned

    1) you have to have a market
    2) you have to have an appealing offer to get people on your list
    3) you have to have a sales funnel set up effectively to engage your list after they opt in.
    4) you have to get your offer in front of a crowd
    5) after that let the plan work

    If they like the offer, they will opt in. Of not, they will click off.

    This may sound elementary to you, but to a newb to IM this is often missed.

    Thanks!

    Jeremiah
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    • Profile picture of the author PvPGuy
      Originally Posted by jimvol View Post

      You must understand that I am still very new to this
      This answers many questions I had after reading your OP.

      Originally Posted by jimvol

      despite all of the "programs" out there very little actually puts all the pieces together.
      This is a common perception, and it is completely understandable that you would draw this conclusion (even though its completely wrong). Unfortunately, the real power of the warrior forum doesn't come into focus until you become focused, which often requires knowledge and/or experience you don't yet have. But it sounds like you are reaching that point, so kudos for trying to dial in and get focused.

      "From my eyes and what I have learned

      1) you have to know your market
      2) you have to give people what they want to get people on your list
      3) you have to have a mechanism to communicate value to engage your list after they opt in.
      4) you have to get your offer in front of qualified consumers
       5) after that work your butt off to continually add value to your subscribers"

      Fixed!

      Best regards
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      • Profile picture of the author Mary Davis
        I think Market Research and finding a HUNGRY market are the most important things. People who NEED a product vs. only wanting a product are much more inclined to buy.

        Additionally, what YOU think they need and what THEY actually need may be two entirely different things. Many a marketer has been done in by operating on assumptions. Don't be one of them!
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  • Profile picture of the author konakid
    You should aim for a longer email sequence then 7-10 emails. The more you build up the more content and promotions you can keep feeding your list. Something to work on over time I guess, but 10 is a decent start.
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  • Profile picture of the author jimvol
    Ok. Thanks for the tip on longer email sequences! I'm gonna work on longer email sequences!
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    • Profile picture of the author butters
      Originally Posted by jimvol View Post

      Ok. Thanks for the tip on longer email sequences! I'm gonna work on longer email sequences!
      Don't forget to vary the content between videos, downloadable e-books, interesting blog posts etc...
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  • Profile picture of the author seobuzz
    Its good to know that you have found out your mistakes and you are trying to improve on those. To me it is the biggest positive step that you have taken to make money. And I am quite sure this time you won't fail.
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  • Profile picture of the author jbsmith
    I would change the process to this...

    - Build your platform
    - Turn content into products (write ebook)
    - make an optin page and split test it
    - Get traffic to come to the page
    - make an email auto-responder
    - continue to release content

    By building a platform I mean produce content...go with your strength (writing, video, audio, etc...) and build content that gets you publicity, traffic, branding...) This is how you both build a sustained traffic source and make yourself stand out in your marketplace.

    As many other big-name bloggers have done, produce paid content from the more popular free content you amass - works extremely well as your market is telling you exactly what they value most.

    Jeff
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    Turn Your Knowledge Into High-Paying Digital Products To Sell Online
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  • Profile picture of the author BethHewitt
    So glad you realized you need to figure out your niche and get a targeted subscriber base.

    People go around in circles for ever trying to work that jigsaw puzzle out. I would also work on building your brand and reputation in your area of specialism.

    Become the go to guy in your niche. Someone who is always ahead of the game, one step ahead. Build a buzz and tribe around that, offer value consistently and forever, not just in your free e-book which has little or no value to most people anyway.

    Good Luck

    What is your niche by the way?
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