Is it Better to Be Your Own Affiliate?

Affiliate marketing is a multimillion dollar business. Many people pick out products, find a niche market, and optimize a website to drive traffic and customers to their door. If the customer clicks the link, hey presto, the webmaster makes a few pennies, if the customer signs up for something on the affiliate site, the webmaster makes a few bucks, and if the customer actually buys anything, the payout is a commission on the sale.

With all of the companies out there clamoring for you to sell their product for them, you may not feel the need to develop and market your own product. This is a mistake! the companies you are selling for could fold at any time; their product or service could be bad and you will get a bad reputation for promoting it, and at best you are making only half what the producer is and you are doing all the work.

Coming up with your own idea and becoming your own affiliate is the best plan. All you need is an eBook aimed at a specific niche – and you can sit back and rake in the dollars. How do you do this? It takes time to build a successful affiliate marketing business, but if you are patient you can make some serious money.

The first step is to write the eBook, or have a successful freelancer write it for you. This isn’t a freebie, so make sure it is high quality! Expect to pay for quality work, and ensure that the product is truly helpful to your audience. You want them to recommend it to others.

While the eBook is being written, narrow down your target demographic and optimize your site. Decide if you can spare any capital for advertising, and plan an Adwords program coupled with some paid ads on a few highly trafficked blogs in your niche. SEO your site for organic search, and your ads for paid search, and get ready for company!

Make sure the eBook is in an easily accessible form – not all writers will do the formatting for you, so decide ahead of time if you want this done . PDF files are the easiest to download and read – nearly anyone can access and use Adobe.

Once you are optimized, start inviting people to become your affiliate. Set a price you plan to sell you eBook for, and offer to cut others in at anywhere from 25% to 50%. Expect to have to sell some copies before you recoup your investment, but don’t give up hope – as your site gains traffic and links you will have more customers clicking through.

A good splash, or landing page, is very important; also one sales letter for direct email campaigns to potential customers and another for potential affiliates. use the blogging tips elsewhere on this site to grow an email list, and consider a weekly newsletter to remind people about you and a email series to encourage them to click through to the site and buy your book.

Being your own affiliate can be hugely rewarding! just stay on top of orders and customer service, and make sure you build a recognizable brand using press releases, social networks and bookmarking sites, and positive posts and comments on niche blogs and forums to excite interest in your product.