Between 1925 and 1975, nightclubs were abundant along across the United States. It was possible back then to walk out of one club and have five more in a block staring you in the face. Each one claiming to have the best entertainment, best food and drink or best anything else a customer desired. Today this comparison perfectly fits affiliate marketing on the internet.

Many affiliate companies will have you believing there hype. All you have to do is put a link back to their main web page or drive traffic to a link they give you and presto instant cash into your account. Well… NOT!

Now to be fair this does apply to some affiliates but in the case of the overwhelming majority of affiliate marketers it is a completely different outcome but I am here to assure you it does not have to be.

According to a internet marketing study:

“100% use email “88% use text messaging and SMS “71% use message boards and forums “63% use blogs “36% use podcasting “28% subscribe to RSS feeds

This is why it is so important to build your own list. Even with spam complaints and new email filters coming out almost weekly, we all still communicate by email. For you and your affiliate marketing business this is a chance to break away from the group of Ninety Five percenters and use this to your advantage. 95% is the percentage of affiliate marketers who make little or no money with their programs.

Your potential prospects do not know you. Therefore it is important that you establish your integrity. Offer quality, whether it is in the form of a gift, or more importantly your own value rich content. Also make it easy for them to connect with you by including a picture or even better a video of yourself in the email. There are few things worse than a customer trying to connect you, only to find out they are now trapped in a faceless sales funnel.

When you are putting together your email campaign or newsletter, focus on wetting the appetite of the customer. How? Give them value content and a snippet of your amazing product or service. A short summary (include a photo of your self and the product if possible- video is even better and gives the highest return) or just add the first few sentences of your sales copy if your new to this whole thing. The point is to provide just enough value and create just enough curiosity to get your customer to click the link over to the sales funnel page where you offer value and more information in exchange for there opting in to your data base. The added benefit of this is your customer is now added to your data base for future offers and is forwarded to your website where they can also check out any other offers and information you provide and eventually MORE SALES.

Many online affiliate marketers use the exact same main affiliate sign up page in an attempt to get customers. Notice I said attempt. Promoting the same webpage as everyone else can be like gambling on the roulette wheel in Vegas. You might have a system but it really comes down to pure luck. Having your own website puts some of those odds in your favor. This is where you can stretch out a little bit since you are not confined to the exact copy of the main affiliate page. Some replicated affiliate webpages offer you the ability to put your own video in the site. I highly recommend it if you have that feature. Not only can you show additional information related or semi related to your product, it also gives you a chance to really introduce yourself to your potential customers.

Make sure when people opt in that the data base you are building is not part of your affiliate company. What happens if the company goes out of business? Your entire data base which is the most valuable part of your business, is lost forever! Your email campaign data base allows you to send customers follow up emails on autopilot and generate many sales over time and remember dare to be original and you will be rewarded.

Are you in a direct sales company. Think you can generate big time sales? Contact the affiliate company and see if you can negotiate an arrangement more to your liking. If they are paying on average 35 percent commission, see if you can get 50 percent. Now understand that in all likelihood, you are going to have to show them the money first. That means you are going to have to produce before they decide to negotiate a new agreement with you. Would be affiliates brag to these companies on a regular basis that they can make it rain customers and sales. As you can imagine most do not. If you want to go this route be prepared to go the extra mile. Study online affiliate marketing techniques, join an online marketing mastermind group and learn from the experts and then apply what you learn. Once you prove yourself, the company will definitely give you a second look.

Now do not expect overnight success. If you do and it does not come to pass, then it can really take the wind out of your momentum, to the point you might want to quit a few months after you put up the link. Most online advertising will not give you instant results. Just do some tracking to find out what is working and what is not. Do not hesitate to contact your affiliate company when you need help. It is a major plus if they have a forum you can go to and ask questions. Many affiliates have been there and done that so they can save you a lot of trial and error.

It all comes down to committing. You are going to encounter many disappointments. That is all part of the business. If customers bought from an affiliate or signed up in an opportunity the first time around, we would all be billionaires before the next holiday. Affiliate marketing is a challenge. Face up to it and always expect success and remember learn from the experts because you will never learn it all your self in a constantly evolving market place. I will tell you this my friend when you do catch on and start understanding the techniques and systems that work, it is the most unbelievable feeling waking up and seeing email after email with “new sales commission” in the subject line. I wish you all the success in the World!