If the title of this article seems a little odd to you, you might
want to take just a few minutes to give it a read. It isn't overly long
but it WILL give you some insight into why I believe that being yourself
is important to being a successful affiliate marketer. And of course if
you don't know what being yourself even means, you're definitely going
to want to check out what follows.
Okay, so let's start with that much. What exactly do I mean by "being yourself" as an affiliate marketer? After all, it's not like we're trying to imitate some other famous affiliate marketer with the way we promote things, right? Or are we? Well, that seems to be the main issue. There are a lot of clones in this world, in case you haven't noticed. And while that isn't by itself a bad thing (look at all the knockoffs that are successful) it can be if you fall into "the trap."
Ah, what is "the trap?" It's going about doing things mindlessly because John Doe marketer does it. I see this all the time, like when so and so came out with the "add to cart" buttons instead of the "buy now" buttons that we used to use. Suddenly, everybody and their grandmother was using add to cart buttons. And again, in and of itself, this isn't a bad thing. It becomes bad when you do it just BECAUSE somebody else is doing it. In other words, you didn't test, you don't currently test, you have no intention of testing and you just run your sales letters with an add to cart button not even considering if doing so is actually HURTING your sales.
Well, it's the same thing with affiliate marketing. Sure, there are a lot of tactics that affiliate marketers use that, on the surface, appear to be solid. And maybe for them they ARE solid. But did you ever stop to think that the reason these methods work for them is because of WHO they are? One marketer I know has a very clever way of promoting other people's products. He does it within the context of his newsletter and ties it in to the content itself and how the product can help you within that context.
Sure, lot's of people do that. I do that. But many just do it BECAUSE Paul or somebody like Paul is doing it. They don't test the method out against other methods to see what works. You know, sometimes just sending a person an email saying "Hey, I found this really great product. Check it out!" can work wonders if THAT'S what your particular list responds to. Some people join a list because they WANT to be pitched to. Others want information. Do you KNOW what YOUR list responds to? Have you ever even bothered to try various methods or are you just doing ONE thing because that's what you saw John Doe affiliate marketer doing?
One thing I have learned, not just as an affiliate marketer but as a marketer in general, is that it's very hard to be something you're not and not screw up doing it. Why? Because when you're being yourself, you don't have to think about it, just like I don't have to think about what I'm writing in this article. It just flows out of me because this is who I am. Imagine John Doe Internet marketer trying to write like Steven Wagenheim. Think he'll pull it off? He might. But he'll have to think about what he's doing a lot more than I do simply because he's not me.
There are many ways to promote affiliate products. You can do product reviews, send emails, use Adwords or even just use word of mouth. But if you're TRULY going to have success with your affiliate marketing campaign, the best method is to be yourself.
Okay, so let's start with that much. What exactly do I mean by "being yourself" as an affiliate marketer? After all, it's not like we're trying to imitate some other famous affiliate marketer with the way we promote things, right? Or are we? Well, that seems to be the main issue. There are a lot of clones in this world, in case you haven't noticed. And while that isn't by itself a bad thing (look at all the knockoffs that are successful) it can be if you fall into "the trap."
Ah, what is "the trap?" It's going about doing things mindlessly because John Doe marketer does it. I see this all the time, like when so and so came out with the "add to cart" buttons instead of the "buy now" buttons that we used to use. Suddenly, everybody and their grandmother was using add to cart buttons. And again, in and of itself, this isn't a bad thing. It becomes bad when you do it just BECAUSE somebody else is doing it. In other words, you didn't test, you don't currently test, you have no intention of testing and you just run your sales letters with an add to cart button not even considering if doing so is actually HURTING your sales.
Well, it's the same thing with affiliate marketing. Sure, there are a lot of tactics that affiliate marketers use that, on the surface, appear to be solid. And maybe for them they ARE solid. But did you ever stop to think that the reason these methods work for them is because of WHO they are? One marketer I know has a very clever way of promoting other people's products. He does it within the context of his newsletter and ties it in to the content itself and how the product can help you within that context.
Sure, lot's of people do that. I do that. But many just do it BECAUSE Paul or somebody like Paul is doing it. They don't test the method out against other methods to see what works. You know, sometimes just sending a person an email saying "Hey, I found this really great product. Check it out!" can work wonders if THAT'S what your particular list responds to. Some people join a list because they WANT to be pitched to. Others want information. Do you KNOW what YOUR list responds to? Have you ever even bothered to try various methods or are you just doing ONE thing because that's what you saw John Doe affiliate marketer doing?
One thing I have learned, not just as an affiliate marketer but as a marketer in general, is that it's very hard to be something you're not and not screw up doing it. Why? Because when you're being yourself, you don't have to think about it, just like I don't have to think about what I'm writing in this article. It just flows out of me because this is who I am. Imagine John Doe Internet marketer trying to write like Steven Wagenheim. Think he'll pull it off? He might. But he'll have to think about what he's doing a lot more than I do simply because he's not me.
There are many ways to promote affiliate products. You can do product reviews, send emails, use Adwords or even just use word of mouth. But if you're TRULY going to have success with your affiliate marketing campaign, the best method is to be yourself.
1 comments:
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