Hardly a week goes by that someone doesn’t contact me to ask me about their website. They generally state that they have just started with affiliate marketing and they’re wondering why they aren’t seeing any sales. Usually after a brief glance at their website I can tell them exactly why they’re not seeing any income from their affiliate programs.
Almost without a fault, I see the same mistakes being made over and over. It’s not because these newbies do it on purpose, they’re just listening to the same so called “Guru’s”. Well folks, those Guru’s don’t know how to make money with affiliate marketing. They’re just selling you stuff because they don’t know how to do it their self.
You’ll find helpful advice about affiliate marketing mistakes below and thoughts on how to correct them.
First, take a long hard look at the affiliate program you’re pushing. Is it really something that the masses will want? If you pushing a specialty item, you have to know that many people may not want to buy your new and improved Chia pet.
Another mistake I see is Newbies trying to out sell major companies. Sure, the Internet is a great equalizer, but you have to have the experience and resources if you plan on taking on a big corporation with a nearly unlimited advertising budget. You’ll be better off targeted something that isn’t being sold 24/7 over radio, TV, print media and Cable outlets.
Be patient. This is one thing I see newcomers do all the time. They quit before their marketing promotions really take hold. Many quit just about the time they would otherwise be bringing in money. Whenever I start a new website in a competitive market, I plan on it taking a year before I see any real money. Sometimes I plan on 18 months. It takes time to get the traffic to your site unless you have deep pockets and are using PPC.
A common mistake that many beginners make, or don’t understand, is how to get the right type of traffic to your sales page. Just because you get traffic, doesn’t mean you’ll sell anything. They have to be looking to buy what you’re selling or you just wasted time and money getting them to your site. Organic search traffic is the best converting traffic on the Internet…as long as it’s targeted to your offer!
One last thing I see beginners fail to do is pre-sell their products and offers. What will make someone buy from you rather than them continue to shop for the best deals on the Internet? You have to convince the traffic that you get that they need to buy right then. If you’re unsure of how to do this, read several books on copywriting or have it done for you.