It's not just beginners who're prone to making mistakes in affiliate marketing; the experienced souls, too, sometimes fall prey to their wrong decisions and ruin their progress.
Mistake #1: Organizing Someone Else's List
Sending clients directly to your website without recording their information, is exactly what you're doing in creating someone else's list at your own expense.
This is the job of the squeeze page. A squeeze page records both the names and e-mail addresses of all those who've visited your website, thereby building you an invaluable opt-in list of interested (and pre-sold) individuals who you can contact in the future to sell other products and/or services you may have. Who better to approach about any offers you have, than to those who've already shown an interest?
Mistake #2: Not Taking Your Prospects Seriously.
How can you let go of people who purchased something from you? You MUST follow up with your contacts. After all, you've spent your precious time and put in effort in finding quality clients for your affiliate marketing site. You can't let that be the end of it.
A few smart ideas to follow up are posting newsletters, articles, free reports, or valuable and updated information on products to your prospects. But, remember, there's a difference between stalking your prospect and keeping in touch with them!
Mistake #3: Being Too Aggressive With Your Prospects.
The one thing you don't want to do is attempt to make a sale the first time. It's a nice thing to have happen, but statistically, the odds of you making a sale the very first time are not very good. It usually takes 3 to 5 (sometime more) exposures of your product or service for most people to respond to your offer. Why? One reason could be that people want to be sure you're a legitimate enterprise, because companies come and go all the time. Secondly, the more they're exposed to your product or service, the more confidence they'll have that this is not some sort of "fly-by-night," "here today, gone tomorrow", type of thing.
Patience is the key to building up a good clientele of loyal customers. Let the customer decide for himself/herself if your product or service is what the person needs or wants. If the person has any questions or problems with your product or service, they'll tell you. The last thing you want to do, is to be pushy by making the buying decision for them. Obviously you may feel that what you have to offer is exactly what that person needs, but let the person decide that for himself, don't you make that decision for him.
Mistake #4: Posting Multiple Offers In One Mailing.
The last thing you want to do is confuse -- and possibly alienate -- your clients by sending them multiple offers that they didn't ask for. Just stick to one program, product or service in the beginning. Then after you've established some credibility with them over time, you'll be in a better position to have them consider your other services or programs, provided they've been satisfied with your past offer(s).
Mistake #5: Promoting Several Affiliate Marketing Programs Simultaneously.
For the men reading this article, I ask you, "Can you date 5 women at the same time?" And for the women, I'd ask the same question, "Can you date 5 men at the same time?" It's a nice concept to think about, particularly in regard to who those 5 women and 5 men were. But in terms of marketing an affiliate program, you'd be well advised to stay with one program in the beginning. Before running off trying to promote 2 or 3 other programs, concentrate on the one you're already in by obtaining the experience, dexterity and money from it, before getting into something else.
If you're guilty of committing any one (or more) of these mistakes, there is indeed hope for you. As long as you take corrective action as quickly as possible before your business suffers from it.
Mistake #1: Organizing Someone Else's List
Sending clients directly to your website without recording their information, is exactly what you're doing in creating someone else's list at your own expense.
This is the job of the squeeze page. A squeeze page records both the names and e-mail addresses of all those who've visited your website, thereby building you an invaluable opt-in list of interested (and pre-sold) individuals who you can contact in the future to sell other products and/or services you may have. Who better to approach about any offers you have, than to those who've already shown an interest?
Mistake #2: Not Taking Your Prospects Seriously.
How can you let go of people who purchased something from you? You MUST follow up with your contacts. After all, you've spent your precious time and put in effort in finding quality clients for your affiliate marketing site. You can't let that be the end of it.
A few smart ideas to follow up are posting newsletters, articles, free reports, or valuable and updated information on products to your prospects. But, remember, there's a difference between stalking your prospect and keeping in touch with them!
Mistake #3: Being Too Aggressive With Your Prospects.
The one thing you don't want to do is attempt to make a sale the first time. It's a nice thing to have happen, but statistically, the odds of you making a sale the very first time are not very good. It usually takes 3 to 5 (sometime more) exposures of your product or service for most people to respond to your offer. Why? One reason could be that people want to be sure you're a legitimate enterprise, because companies come and go all the time. Secondly, the more they're exposed to your product or service, the more confidence they'll have that this is not some sort of "fly-by-night," "here today, gone tomorrow", type of thing.
Patience is the key to building up a good clientele of loyal customers. Let the customer decide for himself/herself if your product or service is what the person needs or wants. If the person has any questions or problems with your product or service, they'll tell you. The last thing you want to do, is to be pushy by making the buying decision for them. Obviously you may feel that what you have to offer is exactly what that person needs, but let the person decide that for himself, don't you make that decision for him.
Mistake #4: Posting Multiple Offers In One Mailing.
The last thing you want to do is confuse -- and possibly alienate -- your clients by sending them multiple offers that they didn't ask for. Just stick to one program, product or service in the beginning. Then after you've established some credibility with them over time, you'll be in a better position to have them consider your other services or programs, provided they've been satisfied with your past offer(s).
Mistake #5: Promoting Several Affiliate Marketing Programs Simultaneously.
For the men reading this article, I ask you, "Can you date 5 women at the same time?" And for the women, I'd ask the same question, "Can you date 5 men at the same time?" It's a nice concept to think about, particularly in regard to who those 5 women and 5 men were. But in terms of marketing an affiliate program, you'd be well advised to stay with one program in the beginning. Before running off trying to promote 2 or 3 other programs, concentrate on the one you're already in by obtaining the experience, dexterity and money from it, before getting into something else.
If you're guilty of committing any one (or more) of these mistakes, there is indeed hope for you. As long as you take corrective action as quickly as possible before your business suffers from it.
About the Author:
Chas. McDuffie has been in the Internet/Affiliate Marketing Industry for over a decade, and has been associated with numerous mail order, MLMand affiliate companies both on and offline. To learn more about the "One and Only" Internet Money Making System Of It's Kind, that can help you avoid the 5 Deadly Mistakes In Affiliate Marketing, click here.
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