Archive | November, 2018

If you want to know anything, ask someone who’s already been doing it for awhile. In other words, someone who actually walks the walk instead of just running their mouth.

So who better to ask what new affiliates should do than seasoned affiliates? Here are some suggestions from the pros themselves:

Provide lots of value. The key to getting visitors to return to your website time and time again (and buy from you time and time again) is to provide useful content they need and / or want.

So what’s “useful?” That depends on the topic. If you’ve got a website on how to drive web traffic, then naturally giving them lots of great info they can use on how to get more traffic is going to be useful. However, if you run a humor site, then providing content that is genuinely funny might not be “useful” in the traditional sense of the word, but it’s what your visitors want.

Bottom line: Give them what they want and they’ll come back for more.

Here’s a little trick: Instead of focusing on “making money,” focus on creating value and the money will come.

If you wait until you’re ready, you’ll be waiting for the rest of your life. Are you still “getting ready” to be an affiliate? Make the decision to just do it. So what if your website isn’t perfect or your emails aren’t perfect? I’ll let you in on a little secret: They never will be, no matter how long you wait. So just jump in and start swimming – the water’s fine!

Do it with passion. You can be an affiliate in ANY niche – so why not choose a niche you’re passionate about? It’s far more fun to review a product or write a blog post on a topic you love, rather than one you feel complete and total ambivalence for.

Watch out for the picture in your head. You imagine sending out one email and getting a 50% response rate, or doing one PPC campaign and raking in $10,000. Then it doesn’t happen. Then you get discouraged. Then you procrastinate. And pretty soon you’re out of the business entirely. Why? Because reality didn’t match the picture in your head.

Here’s the news: That picture in your head is what you’re shooting for – it’s not what’s going to happen the first day or maybe even the first year out of the gate. Like anything else, you work your way up in affiliate marketing. You get better. Your list gets bigger. Your website gets more traffic. You become more attuned to what works and what flops like a dead mackerel. And one day, you finally match that picture in your head. But it doesn’t happen overnight.

Worrying won’t change the outcome. You write an email to your list and you worry you’re saying the wrong thing, you worry you’ll make a stupid typo, you worry no one will open it, you worry no one will buy the product you’re promoting, you worry you’ll get hate mail or everyone will unsubscribe… etc.

What a colossal waste. I can tell you from experience that worry has never once changed the outcome. Worry is a useless emotion that will drive you bonkers if you let it, so just let it go.

Thinking you’re too late. There are affiliates out there making six figures a month – maybe seven figures. You should have jumped on the affiliate wagon 10 years ago, now it’s too late. Right?

Wrong. You have to start somewhere and sometime. Right here and right now is absolutely the best place – it always is. And if you think that just because you’re starting from scratch, you can’t be effective as an affiliate – bear this in mind:

“If you think you are too small or too new to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito.” That’s a quote from Betty Reese.

Mosquitoes only live for two weeks – guaranteed they don’t worry that they’re “too late” to bite the bejeebers out of you – they just DO it.

Think of it this way – Those who went before you have laid the ground work for you to be successful.

Comparing yourself. This goes right along with thinking you’re “too late.” If you’re trying to compare yourself to the mega-watt affiliate who pulls down six figures a month, you’re just hurting yourself.

“Comparison is the thief of joy.” -Theodore Roosevelt

Knowing and doing are two different things. Getting your first affiliate payment is like getting your driver’s license – you’ve only just begun to become a great affiliate or driver. It’s when you’re driving your car every day, or getting paid every day, that you’ll find you know what you’re doing and you’re actually DOING it.

Know your partners. Before you sign up with a network or an affiliate program, do your research. See if someone has had a problem with them, if their products are good, if their customer service is stellar, and if they treat their affiliates well.

Focus focus focus. You’ve got 5 different niches and 7 outstanding ideas and you’re going in 12 different directions at once. Know what happens when you pull someone 12 different directions, or even just TWO different directions? They either don’t move, or they get pulled off balance.

Build one website at a time. Make it profitable. Work on it some more. Once you have a very firm foundation, then and only then should you consider going in a second direction.

Optimize for ONE search engine. If SEO is your method of traffic generation and you optimize your website for Google, don’t get smart and then optimize your website for Yahoo or Bing – you’ll get penalized for this by Google. No, it’s not fair, but it is fact.

Only promote products you are familiar with. If just one time you promote a product you haven’t tried yourself, and it turns out to be a lousy product, you’ve just ruined your reputation with everyone on your list who either bought that product or already knows it’s junk. Why risk it? Only promote products you can whole-heartedly recommend.

Test everything. Even if the biggest guru gives you what sounds like the best advice, it still might not work for your niche / website / audience. So never assume and always test.

Establish trust. This runs throughout everything you do, whether it’s the information you impart, the products you offer, etc. The more transparent and trustworthy you are, the more people will trust you when you suggest they make a purchase.

Become an authority in your niche. Whether you do it by creating your own products or by surrounding yourself with authorities is up to you. Best scenario – do both.

Affiliate marketing is one of the fastest ways to make money online because most of the work is already done for you. Apply these secrets and start getting paid like the pros. 😀

There may be no faster way to create a great product than by interviewing an expert in your niche. You set a time for the interview, prepare a few questions, record it, and possibly get it transcribed. Total time? Maybe 2 hours, tops.

But exactly what is it that you, as the interviewer, need to do to make the interview great?

To put it another way, how do you ensure that your listeners are going stay riveted by the interview and be thrilled that they took the time to listen to it?

Here’s 17 indispensable tips for conducting a memorable podcast interview:

1. Have fun with it. If you’re all stressed out about doing this interview, odds are it’s not going to turn out well. You’ve got to relax and have a good time. Laugh. Joke a little. Smile. Did you know people can HEAR if you’re smiling? It’s true. And the more at ease you are, the more comfortable your guest will be, too.

2. Do some research. Know the person you’re interviewing, and by all means know something about the topic.

3. Confirm the details with the person you’re interviewing. This includes time and date, length of the interview and how they will be communicating (phone, skype, etc.)

4. Forget the umms, errs and ahhs. Please. If it takes you a second to think of the word you’re looking for, so be it. Don’t fill that time with incoherent sounds.

5. Do use the highest quality equipment possible. You can have the greatest interview ever, but if the sound quality is terrible then no one is going to listen.

6. Don’t ask yes or no questions. “Do you like to play tennis?” “Yes.” Have you been playing for long? “Yes.” Do you win every tournament?” “No.” How dull can you get? Always ask open ended questions that cannot be answered with simple yes’s and no’s.

7. Listen. I mean really LISTEN to the answers your expert is giving you. Your audience can tell if you’re just playing along rather than being fully engaged. So engage. Be prepared to ask spontaneous questions based on what you’re hearing. The best interviewers aren’t afraid to pursue new avenues and unearth new discoveries.

8. Don’t just ask “what,” also ask “why” and “how.” Learn everything you can from the person you’re interviewing. Go in depth and find out the reasons behind the reasons.

9. Remember that you are the interviewer. Don’t try to steal the show and don’t talk over your guest. You are there to elicit information, they are there to share their expertise. Don’t try to fill both roles yourself. If you do, you’ll annoy your guest and irritate your audience.

10. Don’t ask more than one question at a time. “How do you propose to do project A, and while you’re doing it do you also run the xyz program, and how do the two integrate into your discombobulator?” Sheesh. Think of your poor interview subject and just ask one question at a time.

11. Don’t say anything like, “I wanted to ask you…” or “My next question is…” Or even, “How are you?” Get to the topic at hand and keep the interview moving. Please.

12. Prepare your questions ahead of time. This will ensure you don’t get stuck for something to ask. Prepare follow up questions for each question. Or if the purpose of the interview is to teach a task, you and your guest might prepare an outline of the steps you’ll cover. In either case, this is a guide to help you along, not something written in stone. Be flexible.

13. Don’t keep your guest in the dark. Let them know before hand what to expect and any pertinent details they should know. Offer to send them the questions you plan on asking. Thank them for participating. You should thank them when they agree to the interview and again in any conversations or correspondence you have both prior to the interview and after the interview.

14. Show your enthusiasm for both your topic and your expert guest. Enthusiasm is contagious, so share yours liberally. Your guest will appreciate your enthusiasm, and your audience will be more engaged.

15. Remember who your real VIP is – it’s not your guest and it’s not you, it’s your audience. You are doing this interview for them, so your first priority is to get your audience great content they want or need.

16. Relax. It’s not Mars-landing science, it’s just an interview. Don’t get stressed – think of it as an adventure.

17. Make mistakes. Look, you’re going to make them regardless, so why not put it on this list? You’re going to trip over your tongue, forget what you were about to say, or mispronounce a word you use all the time. It’s okay. Fix your mistake, smile, laugh, and move on. Your audience will love you MORE for the mistakes you make.

You’ve heard of Elevator Speeches – those short ‘blurbs’ we offer when someone says, “What do you do for a living?” The online version is the words we place inside our website’s header. It should be short enough that if you were on an elevator with someone, you could spit it out before the doors open.

It should be meaningful enough that your listener hears and understands what you’re saying. And it should be intriguing enough that they want to know more. And that, as you know, is a tall order for something that lasts under 30 seconds.

Regardless if you’re sales prospecting, speaking, asking for money or simply networking, your audience makes up it’s mind about you in the first few minutes.

And because the time allotted to give an Elevator Speech is short, and you’ve got to grab your prospect’s attention fast, every word counts. That’s why I’ve compiled the top 9 tips to make your Elevator Speech rock. You pick and choose which of these tips is right for you:

1. Don’t overload it with information. Instead, stick to 3 main points: What, why and how.

The “What” of your Elevator Speech explains what you do in basic terms. Don’t get fancy here and don’t use technical terms. Saying, “We are a software company” works. Giving a 2 minute dissertation on base band cross platform scalable default configuration doesn’t. (BTW, I have no idea what I just said there.)

The “Why” of your Elevator Speech explains why you exist. What problem do you solve? What bad thing do you prevent or what good thing do you make possible? “We send kids to college who otherwise couldn’t go” works. “We make widgets because we love making widgets” doesn’t.

The “How” of your Elevator Speech is how you do what you do. Simple, right? How do you send kids to college who otherwise couldn’t go? By matching them with grants, loan programs and affordable colleges.

Here’s the ultimate test: If you gave your elevator speech to someone over 70 and someone else under 12, would they understand it? If not, try again.

Here is Guy Kawasaki’s elevator speech for his Alltop website – and while it’s a little longer than I would prefer, it definitely hits the mark: [Alltop] is a website where we aggregate news for all the topics. Think of it as an “online magazine rack.” We enable you to find the most relevant and recent news instead of the 30,000,000 matches that Google shows you. We do this by aggregating all the best news sources onto one page and displaying the five most recent stories from each one.

2. Open your Elevator Speech with the name of your company and follow it with your products and services you provide. Don’t speak in generalizations – this is your chance to show how different you are. Assume your listener doesn’t know your area of business, so don’t use jargon and acronyms.

Next, outline why your product is needed and what problems it solves. This makes your business real to your listener and shows how it makes life easier or more productive for your customers. Practice your speech over and over again, and deliver it with confidence and enthusiasm.

3. To make your pitch persuasive, you’ll want to be clear, credible and compelling.

We’ve already covered being clear – if the average person who isn’t in your industry can easily understand what you’re saying, then you’re on the right track.

So how can you add to your credibility? It’s not by comparing your business to someone else’s – it’s by telling what your business has accomplished. Even if it’s that you’ve signed your first 2 clients or you’ve held your first class, state your achievements rather than trying to tear down any perceived competition.

To be compelling, your solution should represent a dramatic improvement in your niche. Being a dollar cheaper or 2% faster isn’t enough, but showing a 2x improvement may make anyone sit up and take notice.

4. Don’t talk about yourself – talk about what you accomplish for the customer – how you provide the customer with value, solve the customer’s problem or give the customer opportunities.

5. Anticipate objections and head them off before they happen. Let’s say your company is doing what others have tried and failed at. “Why have all previous attempts to achieve ___ failed? Because they didn’t ____ (What you are doing.)

6. Avoid adjectives and phrases that have been done to death. “Proprietary, revolutionary, next-generation, state-of-the-art, synergistic, etc.” Words like these have been used so often that we no longer believe them.

7. When delivering your elevator speech, keep your body open. Don’t cross your arms, hold your hands in front of or behind you, or do anything that takes up less space. If anything, you want to be more expansive which shows you’re confident in what you say. For example, arms out to the side, or hands on hips, or gesturing are all fine.

8. To generate enthusiasm in your listener, all you have to do is show your own passion for your product, service or company.

9. Once you’ve made your Elevator Speech, exchange contact info and follow up with a phone call, email or some kind of communication the next day. Don’t wait – people soon forget.