Here’s one thing the super affiliates do differently than everyone else: they know how to pick a good product to sell.
You see, choosing the wrong affiliate offer can ruin your entire business by destroying your reputation. Do you think your subscribers will still trust you if you recommend a shoddy product or a scamming vendor? Not a chance. That’s why you’ll want to protect your reputation and your business by only promoting high-quality products put out by reputable vendors.
Here’s how to do it…
Review the Product
It doesn’t matter if every other affiliate in the niche is raving about the product. It doesn’t matter if you have to buy the product yourself (hey, it’s tax deductible in most places). It doesn’t matter if the sales page is as slick as a whistle and the commissions are eye-popping…
Simply put, don’t recommend it if you haven’t first reviewed and used the product.
See, here’s the thing…
All those other affiliates raving about the product may not have used the product either. They’re all just looking for something profitable to promote. So if you simply follow the herd, they may just lead you off a cliff.
Imagine if the product actually turns out to be complete junk. What do you think that will do to your reputation if you recommend the product to your readers? That’s right, they may never trust you again if you hype up a pile of junk.
It’s not worth it to promote a big-commission product if it turns out to be junk. You may get a pile of cash today, but you’ll be hard-pressed to ever sell anything to your list again. So the only products you should be recommending are those you’d recommend to your mother or your best friend.
Next up…
Check Out the Sales Page
The large majority of product vendors want to do everything they can to make sure their affiliates are happy. But then there is this minority of vendors who’re sneaky as hell. These guys are so shady they’d steal commissions from their own mother. And that’s why you need to watch your back. After all, if they’d steal from you, just imagine how they’ll treat your customers.
So what you want to do is check out the sales page and order form. Go through every link. Go through the entire process. Watch for these things:
• Unnecessary sales page leaks, such as links leading off the page. In particular, look for ads to other products.
• Alternative payment methods on the order form that don’t give you affiliate credit. This could be another payment processor, or even a number for telephone orders.
• Hijacked commissions. The most nefarious vendors will actually overwrite your affiliate link with their own. Go through the ordering process to ensure you get credit for sales.
In short, look for anything that could stifle sales or hijack your commissions.
Finally…
Research the Vendor
The product looks great, the sales page looks good. Time to promote?
Not quite.
Now you need to research the vendor to be sure he’s not going to treat your customers (or you) poorly. So drop his name into your favorite search engine and do some research. Look for a pattern of complaints such as:
• Slow or otherwise poor customer service.
• Not honoring a guarantee/refund policy.
• Doesn’t pay business partners (or pays them slowly).
Just look for anything that might suggest your vendor may try to rip off you or your customers – and if you see even one tiny red flag, move on.
Bottom Line…
When you’re an affiliate, you’re linking your reputation to the reputation of the product and vendor. That’s why you want to be sure your hitch your business to good, honest people and products.
Now this may all seem like common sense, but plenty of people overlook these steps. In fact, there are a whole lot of steps aspiring affiliates overlook when they’re setting up their business – and then they wonder why they can’t seem to sell more than one or two products a month.
