Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to earn money online with your blog. If done correctly, you won’t need to join another ad-network again. Indeed, there are many examples of bloggers who have completely swapped out other ads in favour of affiliate ads, because that’s what they do now – affiliate marketing. But there’s a reason why such ads don’t work with everyone. Many become prey to some pitfalls which a pro-blogger knows how to avoid. Here are some of the common affiliate marketing mistakes you must avoid.
Selling yourself short
There’s one thing that you actually have to keep in mind before starting off with affiliate marketing. It is the exact opposite of mass marketing with respect to size and dimension. You are not trying to sell to the masses out there. Instead, you just want to target that one customer out of a thousand potentials that come to visit your site. You can’t afford to blow away that one customer by faking features in a product, or hiding the flaws.
Never lie about product features on your website. Marketing a product ruthlessly will only push away your products. Give them a positive and a useful review, highlight the features, mentions the flaws, and give them a complete picture before moving on.
Don’t try to sell
You might be asking,if we’re not here to sell, then what the heck are we supposed to be doing? Well, in actuality, selling directly is a very wrong affiliate marketing approach. Your duty as an affiliate marketer is not to sell, but to educate and inform potential buyers.
I like to think of affiliate content as a final knock-out punch. Suppose a customer wants to buy a product, and is looking for reviews. Now as an affiliate marketer, it is my duty to supply him with the best possible review, so that when he lands on my website, BAM – knock-out! He is forced to make an intelligent decision after reading the content on my website. If I achieve this, I have been successful in my venture. Otherwise, I am doing something wrong.
Don’t hard sell your subscribers
I know a lot of affiliate marketers who send new products every week to their subscribers. This can be irritating and I advise you don’t do it.
The email list is a vital component of your blogging business. You should nurture your subscribers and get them to trust you.
Once you can achieve that, it’d be a lot easier to monetize the list and make more money.
Bear in mind that sending an affiliate offer that you know would be helpful to your list isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it’s one of the reasons why you should collect leads in the first place.
What I’m saying is that you should minimize promotional email blasts. Balance the free information you share with premium offers. That’s how to build a reputation online, which money can’t buy.
Don’t stuff your blog with banners
The sidebar is a viable spot to add affiliate banners. But don’t overdo things and confuse your readers.
You’ve got to understand that people came to your blog because they’ve got needs in their lives. Every day, millions of people search the web, looking for answers…
Quality content is the only answer you should provide. Yes, with quality content you could easily recommend a helpful affiliate product and make money too.
If you do place advertisements on your sidebar, there is no need to have more than four banners of your favorite affiliate products – keep the sidebar clean.
Preferably, promote offers you currently use to run your business, or promote products you would try yourself. It’s the easiest way to persuade readers to purchase and share with others.
And when they buy through your link, you’ll earn a commission and who knows how much that’s going to be.
Did you understand the content explained in this article? Have you got any questions? Please feel free to ask in the comments section below.