Tips for recruiting affiliates...

Thanks a lot Mike - do you think it would be clever (instead of offering more as I have a clickbank product set up at 50% commission) I should create a contest, for example 200 sales = $300 extra?

1) Set up a squeeze page that bribes your subscribers with a quality short report on the subject of your niche (in your case, 'dating'), in exchange for opting in to your list. Make sure your squeeze page looks really nice, and uses proven copywriting techniques, in order to get a high opt-in rate.

2) Drive quality, targeted traffic to your squeeze page (targeted PPC, banner/text ads on popular dating forums & blogs, solo ads in popular dating ezines, etc).

3) Send out a handful of autoresponder emails that provide nothing but valuable content about your subject. NO selling in these emails - at this point you just want to establish yourself as someone who is a credible and trustworthy expert in your niche.

4) When your launch gets close, send out 2-3 emails that provide more valuable content, and that also "presell" your paid course. Tell your valued subscribers that you will offer them a special discount on your course during launch week, along with some other cool bonuses, and that anyone who is interested should sign up to your "VIP" list (which is a *different* list).

5) At this point you will have a somewhat targeted list (your original list), AND also a smaller but extremely targeted list (your "VIP" list). If you've done everything correctly, then you can assume that a significant percentage of the people on your VIP list are interested in buying your product.

6) When it comes time to launch, send a few launch emails to your VIP list, spaced a few days apart. Throw in some scarcity too (purchase by midnight tonight to get the best price, bonuses, etc.). Because this is an extremely targeted list, your conversion rate should be way up there (assuming of course that the sales page for your product also does its job).

When you have a really good sales conversion rate, you will not have to recruit a single affiliate -- they will come to YOU! And the higher your conversion rate is, the more "better" affiliates you will attract.

It should go without saying that in order for this to work, you will need to use an affiliate network that lets affiliates keep an eye on the conversion rates of new product launches. But that's pretty much the jist of it.

Also, affiliates like to see a nice sales funnel in place (OTO's, etc.), and of course a high commission rate. Affiliate contests with prizes, etc, can be effective too. The more you can do to maximize their earnings, the better.

Wow, thanks Brandon - really appreciate it :=)

So, what specifically should I do during launch week - send valuable content (through broadcast emails) that also 'presells' my product? And should I do the same before launch week through autoresponder messages or just start during launch week?

And do I mention the VIP list during launch week or before?

Thanks

Zak

What's worked for me over the years, and built my network of over 2,000 affiliates at ShareASale, is this:

1) An affiliate link in the footer of the site, obviously

2) Mentioning the program to customers; your happiest customers can become your best sources of referrals

3) Going out and finding individual sites to advertise the products on where I think I might reach the right audience.

When I find a site that's generating sales with a borderline ROI (usually because the owner is charging too high a CPM rate for direct ad sales), I talk to the owner about the affiliate program. If I can get him on as an affiliate, I don't have to spend my money on advertising, and any sales his ad space generates become recurring revenue for him instead of a one-time payment.

It takes work, lots of direct discussions with individuals, and it takes time to build up a base of good affiliates.

P.S. Please don't make multiple threads asking the same thing. It just splits the discussion for no reason.

I go for Brandon's answer (post 4) (that's the basis even for a WSO on how to sell your product.)

Your affiliates basically care about the conversion rate, so that they may see how many people they have to send to your website to make a sale. You have to do everything you can to improve the conversion rate if you want to convince your affiliates to promote your products, and clearly explain/prove that this information is real. Since you will launch the product and you cannot prove the conversion rate, recruiting affiliates is very difficult.

Here is a training session I did on recruiting affiliates a few months ago. It will help you a lot...


Cheers,
Coby