Building the Foundation in your Affiliate Program

Copyright © Mario Carini
http://www.entrepreneurcircle.com/



So you decided to join an affiliate program?

Congratulations! You’ve taken your first big step toward financial independence! But before you expect the money to start rolling in, you need to realize that simply signing up for a program isn’t enough.

Ever try to build a house without a foundation?

The sad fact is that most people who sign up simply have the wrong impression of how affiliate programs work. They know that most everything is taken care of for them. All that’s necessary is market the product. Yet most affiliates are reluctant to do even that!

If you have any intention of realizing an income with your affiliate program, you need to approach it professionally. It’s a fact that only 5% of affiliates ever make any money from the programs they are in. The other 95% either do nothing beyond signing up or simply don’t realize that they ARE IN BUSINESS but never treat it that way.

In order to succeed, you need to build a foundation BEFORE you even begin advertising.

So what do you need to do to establish that foundation? Let’s look at some things you should do before you sponsor your first affiliate:

1. Learn about the company. If you don’t know anything about the products and services being offered, you simply can’t sell. You should take the time to learn about what the company offers, it’s compensation plan and more before you post ads everywhere. Any professional salesman goes through a learning phase. If the program you want to promote has a starter course, take it! Don’t even think of talking to your future affiliates unless you’ve taken this first step.
2. Contact your upline. That means your sponsor. You need to do this for two reasons: First, the support they can (or should) provide you and Second: getting answers to your important questions. You WILL have questions. Ask them! Offer to work with them in a team effort.
3. Use the products. You can’t convince anyone you have the greatest products if you’ve never tried them. When it comes to putting up money, most new affiliates shy away from spending either for products or promotion. But they’re quite willing to pay for cigarettes and cappuccino!
4. Prepare an advertising budget. You have to know how much you can spend to attract sales and new affiliates. A few free ads won’t attract anyone.
5. Create a website. Affiliate programs provide you with gateway pages and splash pages, but you can’t hope to attract anyone if your site looks the same as a million others. A website gives you a professional appearance. It stands out. Or get a capture page. Either way this will take some time to do. But you’ll get better results when you get your marketing campaign in full gear.
6. Study marketing avenues. There are hundreds of ways to advertise your program. Before you start posting, find out the best places to advertise for your marketing dollar. Selecting the right kind of advertising medium will save you hundreds of dollars in the long run. Don’t forget community sites like AdlandPro, Ecademy and DirectMatches. They are great places to strike up friendships that can lead to future sales. Get involved! Let people know what you are doing including your friends. Get involved with forums and chat rooms.
7. Budget your time. You have to PROMOTE your program and that can’t be done in one evening. If you’re like most people, you have a job. But you have a weekend which likely is used standing around on the sidewalk sipping beer with Hank Hill. Do something every day.
8. Position yourself. What products attract you most? You can’t promote the hundreds of products your marketing company has, but you can focus on a few of them and make them the main products you promote.
9. Sacrifice. No business gets off to a fast start unless you are a super salesman. Forget about all the hype about those who made quick money. They are not YOU! You need to be WILLING to put forth the effort required to achieve success. Nothing comes easy.
10. Be flexible. Running a business does not lock you into a system in doing things a certain way. In the online world things change, sometimes rapidly. Yesterday, setting up a site with text and graphics worked well. Now, with YouTube, MySpace and other new marketing mediums you’ll need audio and video capabilities on your site. Social networks are becoming the next big promoters.

All this and we haven’t talked about getting into promotion. Building a foundation will get you on the road to prosperity. You’ll be among the top 3% that succeed.

END



About the Author
Mario Carini lives near Ottawa, Canada and is currently promoting 3 of the best affiliate programs on the Net. With his experience he stands ready to coach and mentor anyone to financial independence.

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