I’ve worked with a lot of smart marketers and infopreneurs over the years.  They sell their own information products, but not only that, they base a percentage of their business on affiliates sales.  They often recommend products that are complementary to their own product offering.  Some of them go a little overboard with their affiliate marketing – sending out two or more offers a day!  But the majority are respectful of their readers and only send them offers when they find something truly valuable.  By studying their tactics, you can pick up a few tips that will increase your own affiliate sales.

1. Understand the offer: You can only do this buy reading the salespage – every word of it, from top to bottom.  Understand how the marketer is positioning their product.  Pay attention to the types of words they are using and then think about whether those words would appeal to your audience of if you need to use a different set of words to help them understand the product.  Know what bonuses are being offered and if there are any special promos during the launch period.

2. Personally review the product: While it’s not always necessary to have personally purchased the product yourself, I find that your ability to recommend the product is better when you have experienced the product yourself. You’ll have a greater understanding of exactly what you’re selling because you’ll have used it. You’ll be more authentic in your marketing because you can tell your tribe that you’ve used the product yourself. Think of those old Hair Club for Men commercials where Sy Sperling would attest: I’m not just the president, I’m also a client.  As hokey as that statement seems two decades later, you can’t deny the impact a personal endorsement has.  If financial considerations keep you from purchasing the product, earmark a portion of your future affiliate earnings to the purchase so you can do a personal review. It will be worth the endorsement.

3. Interview the creator: This may always be possible but it’s worth a try. Most product creators are more than happy to discuss the benefits of their product and no one understands the product better than the person who created it. Contact them to see if you could schedule a 15 minute interview. If you run a podcast, invite them to be a guest. Or host a teleclass. If you attend an event at which you know they’ll be speaking or attending, bring your flip or other portable camera and approach them for a quick video interview. Don’t be intimidated. Have a few key pieces of information ready when you approach them: the size of your list or how many people will be on the call or listening to the replay (if it’s a teleclass) and the topic or product you’d like to speak about. It may not always be possible to secure an interview due to travel schedules, etc. — but you won’t know until you ask.

4. Create a product or service that complements the affiliate product: This will take work but it will increase your chances of making an affiliate sale. If you can create a product or service that enhances the product you’re promoting, you will have a better chance of increasing your sales. For example, if it’s a software product that you’ve used yourself, create your own training materials. Maybe host a one-on-one training session or a group webinar. Be creative.