Win at Affiliate Marketing with No Listat+Affiliate+Marketing+with... · that you’re going to...
Transcript of Win at Affiliate Marketing with No Listat+Affiliate+Marketing+with... · that you’re going to...
Most affiliate marketing advice works great…
IF you have thousands of people already on your email list or a
MASSIVE amount of traffic to your website.
But most people aren’t born with an email list or website traffic
coming out of their ears.
So, what do you do to actually start making money NOW…even if
you have little or no following?
AND…how can you make that money passively, meaning you do
the work ONE time and continue to make money from it for years?
That’s what this guide is all about. I share two simple, proven
strategies to START making money now and continue long into the
future.
Now, before we continue, I want to make two things VERY clear:
1 - These are NOT “get-rich-quick” strategies - you WILL have to
put in some work, mostly on the front end.
2 - You SHOULD build an audience of your own - while these
strategies work well with little or no audience, they work even
BETTER when you have a much larger tribe.
So…what are those two strategies?
Here’s a quick overview of each strategy. We’ll dive deeper into
each one in the rest of this report.
RESOURCES PAGES
Pages on your site with a list of products, a quick synopsis, and, of
course, an affiliate link.
REVIEW POSTS
In-depth reviews of products, services, and courses that you
ultimately recommend and link to using an affiliate link.
RESOURCES PAGES
Last year, I made more than $10,000/month from a single page on
my site and it was all 100% passive.
All of this $10,000+ came from my resources page. This single page
hasn't been touched in more than six months (which is actually a
bad thing...I should be updating it more often).
All $10,000+, therefore, was completely passive income. Below, I'll
share how I did it and what's working on my resources page.
At this point you might be saying, “This is all well and good Matt,
but what IS a resources page?”
I’m glad you asked. :)
A resources page is simply a page on your site on which you list
your favorite or recommended tools.
If you are a writer, for example, you might list your favorite writing
tools and courses you’ve taken to help hone your craft.
Or, if you are a fitness instructor, you might list various products
that serve your audience, such as yoga mats, shoes, and
supplements.
Usually, the majority of links on your resources page will be affiliate
links, but probably not all of them. On my resources page, for
example, about 50% of the links are affiliate links. This makes these
pages a great source of passive income.
At its simplest, here’s how they work:
WHAT MAKES A GOOD RESOURCES PAGE?
After doing research and testing various things on my own
resources page, I’ve found five best practices for your resources
page.
The biggest mistake I see on resources pages is only listing tools
you personally use. While well-intentioned, it ends up backfiring.
As the expert, you are usually miles ahead of your followers. That
means you use different tools than they do.
For example, all of our programs are run on InfusionSoft using
a custom plugin we developed. We charge thousands of dollars to
use this plugin and that’s on top of the cost of InfusionSoft, so it’s
out of reach for most people looking at my resources page. So,
while I do list both InfusionSoft and our plugin, I also list a more
affordable option, iDev Affiliate.
Remember, you’re playing at a different level than most of your
audience. Pick your resources with that in mind.
No matter what your platform is about, odds are people come to
you for various resources.
Think about the fitness professional again. He might have:
• a nutrition section
• a gear section
• a supplements section.
• a section for other instructors
• a section for people looking to lose weight
• and so on…
To start with, think of the three most common topics people ask
for resources. Then create a list for each of those topics.
For me, I went with:
• Tools to Increase Affiliate Commissions. These are tools affiliates
can use to make their affiliate marketing efforts easier and more
lucrative.
• Tools to Recruit Affiliates. These are the specific tools we use
to find affiliates and get them to promote.
• Tools to Manage Affiliate Programs. These are our
recommendations for managing affiliates.
• Tools to Increase Product Sales. These are the non-affiliate
related tools we use to promote our own products.
• Tools to Build Your Product. One of the most common questions
I get is about how to build a product. But that is not something I
plan on being an expert on anytime soon. So, these tools are
perfect for a resources page.
• Tools to Build Your Brand. These are the tools we recommend for
things like list building, social media, email marketing, etc.
• Tools for Your Team. I am often asked about how I work with a
virtual team, so I listed the tools we use with our team.
Every time someone asks you for a recommended resource, that is
probably a good thing to add to your page.
I initially did not have a category for how to increase product sales.
It’s not something I talk about that much outside of affiliates, after
all. But shortly after releasing my resources page, I got multiple
emails asking specifically about this topic. So I added it to the
resources page.
Always be on the lookout for new topics and products to add. If
you discover something new, either replace something on your
resources page or add it to the page.
To start, think of the three most common topics people ask you for
resources. Then create a list for each of those topics.
A resources page should list your best recommendations, not just
products you get an affiliate commission on.
My resources page, for example, breaks down like this:
Affiliate Links: 16 | My Own Products: 3 | Non-Affiliate Links: 14
It’s almost evenly split between links that make me money and
links that do not.
There is a simple reason for this: My #1 goal is to provide the best
recommendations to my audience.
As much as I enjoy making money from this page (and there is
absolutely nothing wrong with that), hearing from readers who
discovered a new helpful tool is what I love the most.
In the past month, I received three emails from readers:
“Matt, thank you SO much for recommending Groove. Just
started trying it and it’s a gamechanger for my business.”
Groove was not an affiliate link, but this person officially loves me
for the recommendation.
“…just installed Rapportive because of your
recommendation. Already, it’s helped a bunch. Thanks!”
Rapportive is not an affiliate link, but the recommendation is
helping a reader.
“I cannot thank you enough for introducing me to iDev. I’m
just getting started, but already we have our first 7 affiliates
on board.”
iDev is an affiliate link, but this email is worth more than the
commissions I make.
Focus on helping your audience and if a product has an affiliate
link, that’s a bonus!
A good resources page isn’t just a list of links. A good resources
page will at least have the following:
• Topical headlines to separate content.
• A description of the product.
• A personal recommendation (why you recommend it).
You could additionally use:
• Images (we chose to include the logo).
• A link to a full review (we did this on a few products).
• A quote from an article or other review.
Just make sure that it’s not just a list of links and it’s super easy to
navigate.
TIME FOR ACTION
What would you do with an extra $10,000 next month in passive
income?
How would that change your life?
Heck, what would you do with an extra $100 or $500 extra in
passive income?
That is the power of having a good resources page on your
website.
Now it’s up to you. Will you create a resources page for your
business?
REVIEW POSTS
A product review is a great way to make money online without
having a single subscriber or any existing traffic.
In the past year alone, I’ve made more than $150,000 from product
reviews. Before I even had any following online, I made nearly
$30,000 in affiliate commissions…all from product reviews. Not bad
for NO following or email list, right?
At its core, a product review serves two main purposes:
1 - It helps undecided buyers decide to buy.
2 - It helps the product creator to overcome objections using a
third party opinion.
SO HOW DO YOU WRITE A REVIEW POST?
When you are first starting out, I recommend selecting products
that have as little competition as possible. The reason for this is
that you’re going to rely almost exclusively on Search Engine
Optimization (SEO), so your success depends on where you fall in
the search rankings. The higher you rank, the more money you
make. The more competition, the harder it is to rank high.
The review posts I’ve written that performed poorly were almost
always due to there being too much competition. So, take a
moment to search for the product and see if there are many other
reviews. If not, proceed with the step-by-step instructions below.
If there is a LOT of competition, I’m not suggesting you can NEVER
write a product review about it…just not now.
REVIEW POSTS: STEP-BY-STEP
The goal here is to write a post that:
A. Ranks high in Google
B. People actually want to read (not just a bunch of keyword
stuffing and poorly written crap)
So, here are the criteria and a step-by-step breakdown of how to
do a review post.
1. Aim for 2,000-4,000 words. Anything less than 2,000 words
and it’s hard to rank high. Anything more than 4,000 words and
no one reads it.
2. Break up the text often. When you write a 2,000+ word post,
you can’t just have 500-word blocks of text. Write paragraphs
that are three sentences max. and insert images and other
graphics to break up the text. Aim for breaking up the text
every 100-200 words. Like this:
3. Name your images well. Speaking of images, don’t waste the
SEO value of the images. Make sure the file name AND the alt
tags are keyword optimized.
If your review is about Bob Smith’s Stress Reduction Formula,
for example, name the images on the page like this:
bob-smith-stress-reduction-formula.jpg
review-bob-smith-stress-supplements.jpg
stress-reduction-formula-review.jpg
Give it some variety but focus on the keywords you want to
optimize for.
And the alt tags (in Wordpress, just click on the image and you
can edit the alt tags in the properties)…you’ll want to do the
same thing:
“Review of Bob Smith’s Stress Reduction Formula”
“Is Bob Smith’s Stress Reduction Formula Any Good?”
“Bob Smith Stress Reduction Formula Bonus Offer”
4. Link often to the product. Make sure that you give people
multiple opportunities to click over to the product throughout
the review. And when you do…
5. Use proper anchor text. Anchor text is simply the text that the
link appears in. Such as this. This text should be optimized for
the product name and other keywords. But make sure to mix it
up throughout the review (meaning, don’t use the EXACT same
anchor text every time).
6. Link to your review often. On your own site (and from other
sites if possible), make sure you link to your review as often as
you can. Again, make sure you use slightly different anchor text.
7. Get personal. A great way to make yourself relatable and show
how something can help others is to share your own personal
story. Transformation stories are powerful. So share your
before-and-after experience. Here’s an example from an update
to a review I first wrote way back in 2014:
8. Share the pros AND the cons. You’re not trying to make this just
a glowing review. People are coming here looking for clarity.
They want to know, “Is this right for me?”. So tell them, “Here
are some of the issues with this product.”
9. Make sure the page loads fast. The faster your page loads, the
higher you will rank. 9 times out of 10, the problem is images
that are TOO high-resolution. You can easily cut your page load
speed in half by reducing the quality of the images by even just
1-2% (crazy, but it works!).
10. Make it clear the product is not a magic pill. One of the phrases
that I like to use when I am selling courses “you’re going to have
to work your butt off” for this product to work. You can use this
as a positive by almost issuing a challenge to the person.“Oh,
you don’t think I’m going to work my butt off, Matt? Watch me.
I’m going to work my butt off and I’m going to take this course!”
11. Give them ways to contact you. Use LiveChat, Facebook, or
even a phone number (use Google Voice) so people can contact
you. Even if the people don’t use any of the methods you
provide, it builds trust and they are more likely to buy online.
And get this…when you have a phone number on the page it
actually increases your online conversions!
12. Sweeten the post with bonuses. One of the best ways to attract
people AND close sales is to offer compelling bonuses for
people who purchase through your link. This helps drive more
traffic to your review because many people “bonus shop,”
meaning they search for the best affiliate bonuses. And it closes
sales by adding extra value for purchasing through your link.
13. Use paid advertising to drive traffic to your review. Don’t
worry…this is going to be extremely profitable if done right.
When people search for a review, they are a VERY qualified
prospect, so the cost is low. Plus, you’re sending them to a
high-converting review of the product. So even if you spend
$2-3 per click, you stand to profit big-time.
OK, so you know how to start making money online…no matter
how big or small your list or audience is…now what?
STEP ONE: WRITE YOUR FIRST REVIEW OR SET UP YOUR RESOURCES PAGE Do not wait…take action now! Don’t try to do both, though. Pick
one and commit to taking this one, simple action.
STEP TWO: WATCH THE TRAINING VIDEO In the accompanying video, I take a deep dive into my SCALE
method for scaling your online business with affiliate marketing…
no matter your audience size.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
STEP THREE: ATTEND MY FREE MASTERCLASS
Make sure to register for my free masterclass on exploding your
online business with affiliate marketing.
It’s called, “How I Currently Make $3,874 a Week Without Creating a
Single Product...And How You Can Ethically Steal My Exact
Playbook to Do The Same Thing!” (Long title…great results!)
REGISTER NOW
STEP FOUR: JOIN THE COMMUNITY
You don’t have to do this alone! Join our free No Product No
Problem Workshop Group and ask questions, get support, and
learn from others!
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO