Before You Invest In Affiliate Programs and
Online Products
If you're a newbie thinking of joining an
affiliate program or buying an online product, you'll discover that finding
the right one is pretty much like shopping for cereal!
Every package is professionally designed
to capture your attention. Every product claims to be the best. Everyone
claims to be THE marketing 'guru' who can show you the way to easy riches.
You only need to sign on the dotted line (or enter your credit card number)
and you're on your way to easy street.
Don't get me wrong. Everyone has the right
to succeed and to achieve financial freedom, but you've got to be careful.
I've been there and done that so I know that you can end up with a lot
of cereal boxes filled with empty marketing hype and savvy! After getting
cereal box number 10, you think to yourself hey I remember
this stuff from box number 2, 4 and 7! Get what I mean?
Many affiliate programs and online products
are re-hashed, re-packaged "junk" that feed on people's frustration, desperation
and greed. If you've ever had a hard day at the office, been chewed by
your boss or facing the threat of losing your job, you know what I mean.
As you sit feeling totally crappy and sorry for yourself, you think how
wonderful it must be to be able to work anytime, anywhere, anyway you want,
and voila! you suddenly see an ad on the Internet promising you just that
for a small payment of 97.90. What's a mere 97.90 you think to yourself,
if it's really a lifeline to save you from a dead-end job and a tyrannical
boss, but that's exactly what many (unscrupulous) internet marketers want
you to think!
You need to realize that this "lifeline"
you've just discovered to escape your "hopelessly dead end" job may just
be someone else's lifeline to escape theirs! There are thousands of sites
out there created by people just like you, ordinary folk caught in a desperate
situation and need a quick escape. They're just following a formula set
by their "mentor" to get people to buy into their program. Once they've
got your cash, you find you're on your own no support, no tools,
no knowledge and no million bucks in profit!
So, before you whip out that credit card
and hit enter, stop and consider the following:
Never jump in when you're emotional. Like
they say take a deep breath and count to ten. Remember, affiliate
marketers are counting on you to act on your emotions. Their websites are
peppered with phrases that work on your emotions - to take that all important
step and sign up!
Do your homework. Scour the internet. Find
as much information about the product or affiliate program that you're
thinking of buying into. Unless you're really hard up for a quickie-fix
(which is precisely what super sales letters are designed to do), don't
jump in blindly. There is no short cut to this step. For every genuine
affiliate program, there are ten others that are just a load of crap. If
you have doubts, contact the person running the program and clear your
doubts.
Beware of get-rich-quick promises! Never
join a program just because it promises you a 80% commission as you "sit-back
and let the system make money for you". There's no such thing as a free
lunch. If the offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Learn to walk before you run. Learn the
ropes by joining affiliate programs with a solid reputation for support
and that give you loads of resources to help you. If you don't know any,
then participate in discussion groups and forums. Get to know people. Build
relationships online. You'd be amazed at the lengths online folk will go
to help newbies, probably because they know what it's like themselves!
Remember it takes time and
effort to make it in this internet jungle of Affiliate Programs. Many venture
into it but many more get hopelessly lost in it. Statistics show that up
to sixty percent of people who join affiliate programs give up within the
first year. Most of these people will move on to the next "big thing".
You can avoid being a statistic. Do your homework. Keep your eye on your
goal, work systematically, diligently and you'll find your paradise in
the jungle! Cheers!
Author-Bio: Andrew Shim is the owner and
editor of http://www.PositiveMoneyIdeas.com
a website which offers FREE IDEAS for those interested in starting their
own freelance or home based business and http://www.PositiveTones.com a
FREE resource website for Positive Living. He and his wife run a successful
home catering business.
Resources:
Instant Download Ebook:
The
Super Affiliate Handbook - probably the very best ebook on
the market today for making thousands of dollars through affiliate marketing.
This is one I highly recommend.
Article: Affiliate
Motivation- How to keep your affiliates motivated to sell
Article: Affiliate
Manager Time Savers- A little time management can translate into
a lot of longevity for an affiliate program
|
