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How to Promote Your Affiliate Program

The hottest way to do business on the Internet is with affiliate programs. A firm has other web site owners send customers to them via a link or banner. When the customer buys, a portion of sales is sent to the web site owner.

This referral arrangement takes advantage of many of the Internet's natural qualities. Several mammoth companies like Amazon.com are built upon this strategy. Many companies have made big money through their affiliate programs.

Unfortunately, it is often hard for an individual affiliate to earn a big take from making referrals. Many rarely get a check. Others, through good marketing efforts, earn several hundred to several thousand dollars per month. This can be a significant boost to your overall web site profits and be welcome extra cash on a regular basis.

The best way to boost affiliate program sales is to use the product yourself and give readers your own personal recommendation. My site tells people that I was one of the first people to buy Jim Daniels' marketing book, think it is the "Boy Scout Manual of Internet marketing," and never work without it. That honest, personal recommendation sells lots of copies of Jim's book (giving me a referral check at the end of each month).

Put your most profitable one or two affiliate programs in prominent places on your site and on multiple pages. Be sure to promote them in classified ads on web sites, e-zines, and on AOL.

Kevin Nunley provides marketing and copy writing. Read all his free tips at http://DrNunley.com Reach Kevin at kevin@drnunley.com or (801)253-4536.

Lots of Visitors But No Sales?

The most common problem people send me is, "I get lots of hits on my website, but I'm not selling anything."

Fortunately, the answer is often simple. Newspapers have long known that anything "above the fold" gets far more reader attention than articles "below the fold." When an important story gets placed below the fold on the front page, it is considered a slap in the face. The editor doesn't think the topic is important or doesn't want to offend an important advertiser by giving the story a more noticed position.

Web sites work much the same. The top of your opening page gets by far the most attention. A headline will always get more attention than plain copy. I find that if I list five small linked headlines at the top of my opening page, visitors click the links in the order they appear from top to bottom.

This presents a problem for sites that have a doorway page visitors see first. Doorway pages generally include only a logo and graphic. A number of sites are now including a few links to their most important pages on the doorway page. This insures those important products and service are right up front, seen from the first moment the reader clicks to the site.

Kevin Nunley provides marketing and copy writing. Read all his free tips at http://DrNunley.com Reach Kevin at kevin@drnunley.com or (801)253-4536.

Promote Your Meat and Potatoes

In a recent issue of USA Today, a Wall Street analyst expressed a concern about the way investors are buying Internet stocks: "I'm afraid investors are going for clever names and not looking at the financial qualities of the company."

The Internet is sizzling right now. It's the hot new thing. People are enthusiastic and ready to believe just about anything. As a result, hype is king.

Many corporate sites greet you with colorful copy devised by a professional writer. The copy sounds great, but it is hard to figure out what the company does. The site is all sizzle with no meat and potatoes.

This is one of the oldest problems in marketing. Sizzle looks good, especially in boom times, but it is the detailed, plain talk that makes most customers buy.

Make sure your marketing clearly tells customers what you are offering, what benefits it will give them, what it costs, and how to buy from you. Make your copy simple enough for anyone to understand even when they are reading in a hurry. It's ok to have bright, clever copy that is fun to read.

Kevin Nunley provides marketing and copy writing. Read all his free tips at http://DrNunley.com Reach Kevin at kevin@drnunley.com or (801)253-4536.

Be a Spy

Spy constantly on your competitors, your industry, and yourself. Keep an open mind. Look for things you may not have expected or rather not see.

Why is this important? Most of us tend to develop beliefs about ourselves, our products, and our businesses. We have strong feelings about why we are good, why people should buy from us, and why our customers find us important.

Believing in yourself and your products and services is very important. It is hard to be successful if you don't believe with confidence.

Beliefs can also blind us to reality or new conditions. Believing in a false reality can bring unpleasant surprises down the road when a competitor suddenly surges or customers begin to stay away.

The best cure is to spy. Watch yourself, your biz, and others with open eyes. Look for solid indicators that your view of things may need an adjustment. If someone disagrees with your view, listen to them. There may be some valuable grains of truth in what they think.

Kevin Nunley provides marketing and copy writing. Read all his free tips at http://DrNunley.com Reach Kevin at kevin@drnunley.com or (801)253-4536.

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