Guys and ladies, You can make more money with affiliate programs. Here's how 1. Only Promote programs that pay you recurring monthly commissions. 2. Only Promote programs that have a few upsells. Instead of making one sale and earning lets say a $30 one time commission, you can promote a program that can earn you anywhere between $200-$300 depending on the product being sold. If you are not doing both, you are leaving money on the table and are throwing down the drain instead into your bank accounts.
Hi talfighel, Yes, good goals, at least in theory. But in theory also, I'd rather make ten 30 dollar commissions per month than one 300 dollar commission every two months. Granted, its hard to beat recurring commissions that average, say, 3 to 6 months per customer, though it depends on how many sales one makes as to whether it is worthwhile. Your post reminds me of Michael Hill's successful model: recurring charges of 5 dollars per month for a monthly online newsletter. The average "recurring" length is very long apparently because of the psychology that says, "it's only 5 dollars per month and I don't want to cancel because I might miss something (even though I don't use the newsletter much)." The model for Hill attracts a lot of customers.
Tal and Stephen each highlight marketing approaches that get results. Personally I would use both models in my marketing mix to get the maximum benefit out of each. However, if I had to pick just one model, I'd go with Tal's recurring monthly income programs with the added upsell feature, simply because it represents a better potential return for the same (or less) effort. I am basing that on the recurring element as well as studies that show that 10-30 percent of purchasers will take the upsell offer. So, all things being equal, using Stephen's example, I need to sell 10 NEW buyers each and every month to earn $300. Using Tal's model, if I sold 10 NEW buyers the first month and 2 of those buyers took the upsell, I would make $300 plus whatever the commission was for the upsell. Let's say one upsell earns me an extra $30, then I would make $360 on the same 10 sales. In month #2, while Stephen has to find 10 brand new buyers to match his first month's earnings of $300, Tal doesn't... theoretically, speaking of course. If he decided to get lazy and do nothing, he could potentially earn his second month's $300 on the recurring income from the previous month's sales. Recurring income programs with upsell features offer a great opportunity to literally "do the work once and get paid over and over and over." Hermas
I use both methods successfully now and think this is a good point for beginners to take note of. It is something you don't really look at when you are starting out.
It's also a good idea to only promote affiliate products that your familiar with, and have maybe bought yourself, as trying to convince people to buy products that you have no real detailed knowledge of can be tricky. Also, do not try to promote multiple affiliate products at the same time, and just concentrate of the one that pays the most, and when you start earning regular commissions from it, then start looking at other high paying affiliate products to promote. The payout on each refered sale should be at least 40% to really make it worth while you promoting it.
A8ch makes a good point Although it may be harder to sell products with the recurring element as some people are put off with the idea of paying $x amount each month.
