Affiliate Recruiting Questions

Originally Posted by Shannon Tani

1. Is it better to launch the product, test sales with AdSense and then recruit affiliates? Or try recruiting before the launch?

Originally Posted by Shannon Tani

2. Are there websites where you can announce the product to recruit affiliates? Do these sites automatically scan CB for new listings or do I have to do the work?

Originally Posted by Shannon Tani

3. I'm really interested in an affiliate contest. I've been a part of a few and I think it's cool...

Originally Posted by Shannon Tani

2. Are there websites where you can announce the product to recruit affiliates? Do these sites automatically scan CB for new listings or do I have to do the work?

Originally Posted by Shannon Tani

Hi all.

I'm getting close to finishing my first ebook. It's in a non-IM niche. As I understand it, once that's finished, it's smart to start recruiting affiliates to promote. I have a few questions about this process:

Actually I usually start recruiting affiliates well before I finish the book by getting them involved in reviewining the product and turning them into champions who want to promote my product as an affiliate or sometimes even working on a JV with them (if they are a subject matter expert) by recording a quick Skype interview and then turning them into an affiliate

1. Is it better to launch the product, test sales with AdWords and then recruit affiliates? Or try recruiting before the launch?

At some point you need to test your sales page - you don't want affiliates running out big campaigns into a site that doesn't convert, that's not good for either of you.

You can setup Adwords campaigns, use organic traffic or some small "test" affiliate campaigns to get initial traffic and do some early testing.

You can work on recruiting by 1) Finding key authority figures you want to pursue as affiliates 2) Establishing contact and having them review your product and 3) Working on an offer for them that they will use all while testing your site's conversion in the background.


2. Are there websites where you can announce the product to recruit affiliates? Do these sites automatically scan CB for new listings or do I have to do the work?

Some sites do automatically scan CB (Ex. CBEngine) which highlight new products appearing in the Marketplace (keep in mind your new CB product will not appear in Marketplace until you have 1 sale and then you need at least one sale each month for it to stay visible) otherwise it gets dropped and no longer appears in the Marketplace (where affiliates can find it)

But by far the best approach we have with our own affiliate programs and those of our clients is to proatively seek out super-affiliates and form these alliances - even 1 or 2 of these in a month can make a massive difference.

3. I'm really interested in an affiliate contest. I've been a part of a few and I think it's cool. Most recently, I was doing the one that Travis Sago had for MMU. If you weren't a part, he gave everyone a chance to win with a one-sale-one-entry type lottery. How can I do this? Is there some sort of legality that I need to look up because it's a raffle? Does this work better than a contest where the prizes go to the top-recruiting affiliates?

I appreciate any help I can get.

Love,
Shannon