3 Affiliate Marketing Mistakes Most Beginners (and Veterans) Make

Affiliate programs will become important to you as soon as you venture into online marketing. There’s no better way to generate leads, gain exposure and attract traffic.

When you create your first information product to sell online, you will need to be ready with an affiliate program. You will need to understand how these programs work — before you need them,

Affiliate programs aren’t complicated, but you do have to learn a few tips. Even experienced internet marketers make these mistakes.

Of course, your biggest mistake is having no affiliate program at all. I’m always surprised how many business owners skip this step, even after developing several high-quality information products and classes that others would love to promote.

For example, I subscribe to a lot of ezines. Sometimes I see an article I really like — something that would be really valuable to my opt-in list. I want to reproduce the article in my own ezine.

When I use someone else’s article, I want to use my affiliate link, of course. If the author doesn’t have an affiliate link, I rarely use the article. After all, I have many other articles that I can use instead.

Motivating other ezines to use your articles is a great way to attract traffic. You can always set your affiliate link to attract subscribers to your own opt-in list — the ultimate way to generate qualified leads.

Sure, I want the commission. But there are other considerations, too. When I deal with someone who has an affiliate program, I know they’re serious about their online business. They’ve invested in software to create the program, as well as time to create affiliate marketing materials.

Marketers who have built a list will be careful about what they promote. They want to be sure they are recommending products and services from businesses that plan to be around awhile.

Your second mistake involves not maximizing the value of your affiliate program. You need to tell your affiliates about every product or campaign.

Recently someone came out with a new info product that carries a 4-figure price tag. I knew the product would be valuable to the right buyer, so I asked about affiliate commission. The business owner hadn’t really thought about affiliates. He was leaving money on the table (and alienating affiliates he might need to sell another product in the future).

Finally, you have to offer your affiliates a realistic commission. We all have many products and services we can promote and naturally we’ll invest energy in those with a bigger price tag.

A few days ago I received an invitation to promote a product paying a whopping five dollar commission. You heard me. Five dollars. Can I get excited about this? I don’t think so.

You can offer some very small products to introduce yourself to a new audience. But your top affiliates will wait for the big-impact, big-ticket items.