Thread: Are these the 3 worst Mistakes?

I've just finished reading an article about the most common mistakes in affiliate marketing. The guy who wrote this is a guru (well that's what he claims). Now I can agree with #1 & may be #2 but #3? I'm not too sure.

1. Choosing the wrong affiliate.
2. Joining too many affiliate programs.
3. Not buying the product or using the service.

I can understand the logic in #1. it makes sense, wrong affiliate = no sales. # 2 well I purpose if you have to many that's not good but between 3 & 5?
And #3 is there really any need to buy every product you promote? Surely if you research them properly that should be enough?

I be interested to know what you guys think on this one.

I agree with Eric.
You do need to speak with some authority on the products you sell.
If you haven't used them yourself, you should get feedback from people who have used them. It's not wise to endorse something you have not used.

Choosing the wrong affiliate can definitely hamper your profits, especially if he/she does not value their affiliates. I hate affiliate programs that make it difficult for me to do business for them.

Joining too many affiliate programs can mean that you don't focus on any one program, but i personally don't like keeping all my eggs in one basket.

Personally I wouldn't ever recommend a product that I haven't used, seen, or knew someone who could give me an honest review.....otherwise it could lead to an embarrassing situation or two.

Regards

Chris

I've started promoting an affiliate product before and then decided to actually purchase it myself and found it to be so poor that I felt too embarrassed to promote it anymore. Lesson learnt!

If the products are fairly inexpensive and downloadable then trying them first isn't much of a problem.

I would agree with all three and also disagree with all three. Why? Because they are totally dependant on what you are selling, how you are selling them and who you are selling too.

1. An affiliate program is only wrong under two occasions. one - its rubbish - in which case a bit of research will show it for what it is.
Two - you have no idea who would buy this and are just chasing the big percentage. Don't pick things based on how much money you will make per sale, choose based on how you can sell it.

2. That really depends on your time and effort. Also depends on the life span of the product. some great products have a limited sell ability (Halloween in February)

3. Yes, No, Maybe. As Eric said if you want to be the expert of the product then yes. some products you probably wouldn't want to buy anyway.

I take it this "Guru" was aiming at getting people to promote 'His' products and thus uping his sales by telling people they must buy something to truly sell it.

I think it's impractical to buy ever product and service out there that you'll be an affiliate for.

That said, I buy/review 99% of the products and services I promote as an affiliate. For the ones I don't buy, I either request a review copy (doesn't always work) or read up on various independent reviews, plus the sales pitch and affiliate material. That way, you should have a pretty good handle on the product.

They might be common but difficult to decide if they are the worst.

It would be hard to decide if you are joining the wrong affiliate program or not. It is far easier to figure that you have joined the wrong affilaite program after you have joined up. Not to sound sily about this, but it is only your experience that counts toward figuring out if you have made a mistake or not. And if you do not have any experience, all you are doing is trying things out until you find something that works. If it does keep it, if it doesn't get rid of it.

With point number two, that is totally dependent on how much time you have in a dya and how you are marketing. If you are doing email marketing, I would think that you could easily manage a dozen or more programs in the same niche are just by talking them up in your emails.

Writing articles, a different story unless you are going for traffic to a main site with pages for each program that you alrady have I place ahead of time. I have heard that some affiliate programs do not allow you to have a review page where you promote numerous programs on the same page with a rating system.

Buying the products. Maybe. If you find you have a knack for marketing to new mothers, but you don't have a baby, you are going to have a tougher time relating to products for that market, even if you buy them all. Doesn't mean you can't buy them and give to your sister or your neighbor, just means you have a bit tougher time relating.

I am curious as to what this person's call to action was in the article or the site you were on, could be they had a particular purpose in listing those as the 3 most common mistakes. I don't know, just curious.

i also believe you have to use them or at least know and research about the product before you can promote them truthfully.



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Originally Posted by Eric Graudins
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Depends what you are trying to achieve.
If you are in the business of selling anything and everything that you can make a buck at, then there's no need to buy al the products.
A shopkeeper doesn't use everything he sells.

But if you are trying to establish yourself as an expert or an authority in some field, then I would consider it essential to have first hand knowledge of things that you recommend to other people to use.

regards,
Eric G.

I have to agree with Eric here; absolutely spot on!

You're own passion and feeling for the product is conveyed when you speak and write. Think about how you feel about your product and ask yourself if you want others to feel that way too. Because that is how they will feel. If you love the product then it will be easier for them to feel that as they read and visit your site. If you don't, then don't count on it.

I also think that to gain credibility with the reviews or the writing you’re doing for a particular product, it’s necessary to experience it first. And if you’re not capable, have a trusted person to try it for you.

You do not need to buy the product at all. In fact, I have a site reviewing high expensive products....and I can't fork out $500 every time I want do a review on just one product.

Just read reviews on various sources. Read several reviews of the product, the good points, the bad points. Then create a review of those other reviews!

If anything, you're reviewing product hoping to make a sales right? Whether you're reviewing a product you experience yourself or writing a review based on the opinion of hundreds of reviews, the review end up the same.

Copy from one = plagiarism.
Copy from many = research.

the very least you need to do is review it there are ususally really good reviews out there of products but I have to be honest and say in most cases I prefer to buy the product and have a look first as at the end of the day its my reputations if its garbage and ive not ahd a clue

Excellent point made by Eric.

If you truly want to become a "guru" (I prefer the word authority), purchasing the product yourself and providing in-depth, honest reviews will often set you on that path.

Cheers,
Pam

You're own passion and feeling for the product is conveyed when you speak and write. Think about how you feel about your product and ask yourself if you want others to feel that way too. Because that is how they will feel. If you love the product then it will be easier for them to feel that as they read and visit your site. If you don't, then don't count on it.

I absolutely agree with this statement because whenever you're promoting anything it's always best to have first hand knowledge of the product so that the reader can actually feel that you're being authentic and honest in what you're saying about the product.

Nowadays, there are a lot of products that turn out to be total "scams" and "rip-offs" (I've had my fair share of these unfortunate experiences). The only way to get your reader from thinking you're promoting some "scam" product is to be brutally honest with them and give your first hand experience with the product. And this would mean actually buying the product.

You see, after 2 years of internet marketing I've promoted some of these "scams" that I thought were legit. But after I realized they were just that, "scams", I felt embarrassed and horrible.
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So, now what I've come to believe is that if you can't look someone in the eye and tell them straight up that the product can definitely help them, then I say don't promote it. Simple as that.

But, to answer your question of whether or not you really need to buy every product you promote, I say that if you've done your research effectively or know someone (who you know very well) that's had a good experience with the product, then I say go for it and promote it.

But at the end of the day it all comes down to you feeling comfortable enough and confident enough to promote whatever product you choose to promote.

Wish you the best,

Sonam

Hi Paul,

Personally, I always like to try the affiliate product I am marketing. I feel that in order to give my honest opinion about it, I must know about it! To me, being honest about what you are promoting is the best way to build your list and establish a relationship with your customers.

Kindest
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I definitely believe that in most cases (such as if you are selling info products) you should purchase the product. Why? Because your reputation may quickly be ruined if you sell products that are pure junk.

Knowing your products inside and out helps you give an honest review, providing both the good and bad points (which is much more believable to your visitor.)

What works for me is asking the vendor for a free copy of the product, and explaining to them than I won't promote it unless I know it's legitimate. 99% of the time, if the vendor wants me to sell his product he will send a free review copy.

Just MHO!

The single biggest mistake an affiliate can make (in my opinion) is to go with a product that has an opt-in form without first going through their autoresponder to see how they are pushing the product and whether they are doing something fishy to delete your cookie.

Personally, if given the choice between two offers with one having weaker ad copy and the other having an opt-in, I will choose the weak ad copy.

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Originally Posted by paulmc
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[*]Not buying the product or using the service.[/LIST][FONT=Calibri][FONT=Verdana]
And #3 is there really any need to buy every product you promote? Surely if you research them properly that should be enough?

Actually owning the product can give you some insight over what the product does. For instance, I have sold quite a few products by discovering an out of the box strategy to use it that someone may not have thought about.

You have to look at selling this way. A person wants to buy something but has built up walls to prevent them from buying. Your job is to break down those walls until they have no reason NOT to buy. Sometimes the ad copy of the offer is enough. But showing how to do something can be very powerful, especially if that something is the difference maker.

hi,
I want to start my career as an affiliate marketer. I want to know whether these are the only mistakes or there are other mistakes as well which need to be taken care of. Please advice.

Thanks in advance.