Getting Your Affiliate Links Clicked
Once you have your site created and you're starting to generate some traffic, you can start to work on getting your affiliate links clicked and making some sales.
There are several ways to generate traffic to your website, which are covered in the Traffic Generation section. For the purposes of this section, we'll assume that you will be creating a content rich website focused around the theme you chose that relates to the products you're selling. This is really the best way to go when you're starting out in affiliate marketing and you don't want to spend a ton of money because it generates free organic traffic from the search engines.
This method requires a bit of a budget and may not be a good option for people starting out with limited funds. However, it is an alternate means to generate traffic for a brand-new website, or a site that is too small to be listed in the search engines. More on this in the Traffic Generation section.
Use a Pre-Sell, not a Sell
You want to pre-sell the visitor on a particular product before sending them to the sales page. Do not try to sell them the product, that's the job of the merchant. People tend to resist sales letters, so all you want to do is build up the visitor's expectations and get them excited about the product before they get to the actual sales page.
Another reason to not try selling the product on your website is the fact that if you do, your sales copy will likely contain a lot of the same statements and features the merchant's copy has. Not many readers will be too happy to read the same information they just saw on your site when they get the merchant's website. This will often turn them away and you will have lost a possible sale.
There are many methods used to pre-sell a product and can include:
- Writing about a personal experience you had while using the product
- A review of the product
- A report about how the product can help solve a problem the reader may have
- A comparison of the product with others that are similar (sort of like a review)
- You can generate a buzz about the product by writing about what you've heard it can do and that it can finally solve some problem associated with the niche of your website. This technique usually works well for new products when they're being launched.
It is important when writing a pre-sell that you communicate your message as if you were talking to a single person. This type of personal touch is effective in delivering your message to your readers without sounding like you're trying to sell them something.
To pre-sell, you don't even have to talk directly about a particular product. You can write one or more articles for your site related to the subject the product deals with; then at the end of the article mention the product and give a brief summary about it (along with your affiliate link) and how it can help the reader with the subject matter the article was written about.
This has the benefit of creating valuable content for your website, which helps drive more visitors to the site, plus it also acts as a pre-sell. If the reader is interested in the subject matter enough to read the entire article, they are likely a qualified prospect that is willing to click your affiliate link; especially if the product can help with a problem the article was written about.
