This is a quick guide on how you can earn a full time income with affiliate programs without even a web site. With this guide, all you have to do is create a free autoresponder series, then advertise it directly with ezines and other simple methods that I will show you.
Select 3 Affiliate Programs
To make this work and not be a one hit wonder, you will need to select three affiliate programs to join. The criteria to select these affiliate programs is a little different then going out and selecting the affiliate program with the biggest commission, even though this does play a role.
Of course, all the affiliate programs you promote will have to be on one subject. For instance, say your first affiliate program is an ebook on Mini Sites, then your second affiliate program you sell could be a members only site based on Mini Sites and your third affiliate program could be a service where someone creates a network of Mini Sites for your customers. I will talk more about this later, and how the pricing is crucial.
The first affiliate program you promote will want to be one which pays a larger then normal commission on the first sale. Do not accept anything less then 40% commission for your first affiliate program. This is because we want to make a profit on the first affiliate program and by selling a product that has a high commission will help you profit right away.
The main purpose of this technique is really to build up your opt-in mailing list. If you break even, don’t be discouraged. Breaking even is an amazing result. And if you have built a list, then you will be profiting for years to come.
The second affiliate program you join will be in the category of what we call “residual income.” This is an affiliate program that pays you every month someone stays signed up for their product or service. For example, if you were to promote a web hosting company, and they charged $25 a month, you would get around $10 a month for as long as that person stays signed up for web hosting. You can find a large list of Residual Income affiliate programs at LifeTimeCommissions.com.
Your third affiliate program will also be a program that you will promote to your current subscriber list. This program should pay you a large lump sum of money. This type of program will have a lower conversion rate, but you should be making $80 to $150 commission per sale. A good directory of affiliate programs is AssociatePrograms.com
Create A Free Report Series
I’m going to keep this step very simple and to the point, but remember, this step is vital to your affiliate success. I will go as far as saying that if you create a responsive Opt-In list, 75% of your work is done for you already. That goes for anything you’re doing online. This free report will be promoting the first affiliate program you chose from step 1. It should be priced around $40 or $50 and pay you around $20 to $25 per sale.
Creating your free report is easy. Either find 5 articles on your subject that you’re allowed to use, or create 5 articles yourself. They don’t have to be long, only around 500 words. Then send them out to your prospects over 5 days using your autoresponder. Make sure these reports are full of useful information, not just blatant advertising. You do however get a chance to advertise to them directly later.
Put your web site address and special offers throughout the report. Tell people to go to your website. If you don’t have a web site, you would put a little advertisement for your affiliate program at the start and at the end of your reports. You can put your affiliate links throughout the report as long as it’s in context, not blatant plugging of your affiliate program.
If your prospect hasn’t purchased from you after your free reports have been sent out, don’t worry. The next part is where you will get most of your sales. Considering there are so many other affiliates promoting the same or similar product you are, you have to make them want to buy from you. How do you do this? Easy, you over deliver. You give them more then what they expected, and you distance yourself from being a no name affiliate and turn yourself into a trusted friend.
A great way to do this is by giving away something else if they purchase from the affiliate program you’re promoting. For instance, give away free consultations, where you help them with any problems they might have. The options are limitless.
Of course this would not be the end of your contact with them. If the prospect still hasn’t purchased the first affiliate program you’re promoting that’s fine. Don’t go breathing down their necks telling them to purchase from you or else. The lifetime value of a prospect is a lot more then just a single sale.
That’s why for this very reason, you selected three affiliate programs to promote. Instead of trying to get the prospect to buy the one product over and over again, offer them something fresh. With this in mind, you should recommend a residual income affiliate program, like a membership site.
Create another report and start all over again. An opt-in list is a continuous funnel of money.
Of course, when people purchase from you, they should be taken off the prospect list, and added to your customer list. This list is your most important asset. It’s 10 times as important then your prospects list because these people showed they were willing to buy from you.
Some affiliate programs don’t allow you to see the email addresses of people who buy from you, so that’s why when you give away your special offer in conjunction with your affiliate program, you ask them to send you an email when they have purchased, then you will give them what ever bonus you were offering.
With these people, you will want to give them other special deals not available to your prospect list. The first email sent to them should be thanking them for their purchase, and letting them know how they can receive their free bonus and how they can contact you anytime.
The second email you send to them should be a few days later giving them another free bonus they were not expecting. The third email you send to them should be sent out about 7 days after they purchased from you. This email should offer them a backend product like your residual income affiliate program. If you can, see if you can talk to the affiliate program manager and get a special discount rate on the product, or maybe the first month for $1, just for your customers. I doubt any affiliate program manager would reject a sure fire way to make even more money.
About 7 days after your third email was sent, send them another discount product, but make sure this product is in the high commission range. This is where you will make the largest chunk of your income. You will earn a decent income with smaller sized commissions, but when you start selling larger priced affiliate programs to a list of customers, it becomes an automated income.
Make sure you keep in contact with your customer base and offer them free reports and other special offers every month or two. Just make sure you don’t over do it.
If you really want to keep generating income constantly, you could produce free reports every month and advertise them to your current list while still advertising your first affiliate program report. Imagine having an around-the-clock sales machine sending out free reports to thousands, while promoting your affiliate programs and building a name for yourself.
Advertise Your First Affiliate Program Via Your Free Report
Creating an excellent free report is much harder then advertising your free report. It’s just a matter of coming up with a list of good ezines and discussion boards to advertise on. Here’s two ezine directories to begin: TopEzineAds.com and Directoryofezines.com. There is a cost to use these, but they will be your lifeline until you generate a list of ezines yourself.
The whole aim of this advertising campaign is to generate leads for your free report, so you really want to advertise anywhere you think people might be interested in your report. Since your not going for a direct sale straight off the bat, this allows you to be a little less worried about how targeted your audience is.
Have a look around any ezines you’ve subscribed to, and try and remember if you read any of the ads. If so, which ones and why? Did you sign up for what they were offering? If no, Why? This is the best way to find ezine ads that work. If you read the ad and signed up for what they were offering, other people probably did the same.
Another method of free advertising is discussion board posting. Discussion board posting is free and very effective, especially if the message board is inside a members only site where you pay to join.
The idea here is not to spam the message board, but to actually add some content. Only answer questions you know a lot about. Don’t try and be an expert if you’re not. Help people with basic questions. Include a signature file in your forum profile that promotes your free report.
I have one final resources for you. If you’re not interested in writing articles, consider ghostwriting. You don’t need to spend weeks, months, or years writing your own articles when you can just hire a ghostwriter! Believe me, that’s what the pros are doing. Find out more about Ghostwriters From The Inside Out!