You need to grab the attention of the people in your target audience segment. This is going to be hard given TikToks hold over people’s attention. You need to make noise, get and hold attention and then you can sell to people
B – Benefits
People want to know quickly what benefits they get. How does your product help them. Highlighting features and how they solve problems is how you do that.
C – Call To Action
You have less than 8 seconds to influence someone who interacts with your brand. You need to be calling them to take action using Shop Now, Buy Now, Pick a Colour type CTAs.
Store Branding Checklist
Here are the steps
Clearly Define your category of products
Clearly identify who your competitors are, we don’t want any confusion between our store and their store
Clarify your voice and use it throughout the branding
Before you can scale your advertising you have to have run viable tests. Without testing basics you risk burning ad dollars and with CPCs being so high right now its smart money to run test that you know lead to opportunities that impact your business.
Audience Targeting
I would suggest that you test the audiences that you want to target, run a small budget and target these segments for 2-3 weeks. Faster if you get the engagement.
Ad Creative
Test the ad creative you think works best to represent your product and Niche. Make yourself 4 variations to start with. If you have more budget then go wide and test to your hearts desire.
Ad Copy
I think this is the biggest part of the equation and needs to be tested regularly so give this one extra attention. Id suggest making 6 sets of ad copy and running it as if speaking direct to the winning 2-3 audience segments. Talk to them as if they were in your store.
You will see quickly if ad copy is working by click throughs.
Offers
Is your offer string enough? how do you know it is? have you looked around at other product offerings? well, you should.
Experiment with the offer, what can you do for discounts for first-time buyers, referrals and other levers that can be pulled for someone to see its a value-packed offer for them?
Product Bundles
Dont settle for offering 1 product get creative with bundles, give 2 for 1’s, try new offer types like 5 for the price of 4 and so on. You should see uplifts in engagement if you have a good fit for product value vs price.
Landing Page
Always test the landing page, does it make sense, can it be better? can it be clearer for a buyer? always. Get this sorted out fast this is your money maker.
Now when you have all of these really rocking then you can consider boosting ad budget. But Id wait if you have not had several sales before increasing ad budgets.
Social Media Advertising Strategies
Most channels are saturated with boring ads, but there is opportunity.
We face a challenge every time we start advertising new products. This problem is always around getting the fastest results for the lowest ad spend.
*Currently, in December 2023 Twitter (X) has had big brands leave the platform for what ever reason and the ad ML has dropped the CPC so ad clicks are running sub $0.70 for anyone wanting to arbitrage this and make a killing.
Here is where I would rank the social channel.
What Social Media Channels Give Fast Results
Pinterest
TikTok
Instagram
Twitter (X)
Google
Facebook
What Social Media Channels Are More Expensive
Facebook
Google
Instagram
TikTok
Pinterest
Twitter (X)
So now you have a benchmark you can assess what platform makes sense to use for your advertising. I like Pinterest and Google personally. Google still gets the bulk of my conversions and it’s quite fast for learning what works if you need to experiment.
Marketing Budgets for Brand New Products
If you have $0 marketing budget then build your organic social media following, post daily, connect with other types of brands and focus on your website and social profile SEO.
Use TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest.
If you have between $100-1000 marketing budget You can send out free samples to micro influencers develop your partnerships and create an affiliate program for your products. This is a good way to get some boost for your budget.
Use TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest. Maybe Twitter depending on Elons mood lol.
If you have $1500+ marketing budget then you should give Facebook and Google Shopping ads some focus. They require bigger budgets and can bring in higher yield based on platform traffic volumes.
Example Instagram Content Calendar
When building a brand you need to be on social to be heard and seen. It can be hard to get that first momentum but if you have a plan and can stick to it then you should be able to get the eyeballs you need on your products.
Here is an example Instagram content schedule
Monday
Your niche photo with fun caption
Motivation photo to start the week
Tuesday
Fun interesting facts related to your niche
Wednesday
Influencer with your niche product (get approval first obviously)
Thursday
Tips and tricks on how to use your product best
Friday
Photo of your niche products
Saturday
Promote your product be bold
Sunday
Share customer reviews with pictures of the product
*I suggest not posting daily, that type of behaviour for a business owner leads to burnout and unwanted stress.
Tactics for Print-on-Demand Clothing
You should already know your niche audience or at least relate to your niche.
If you want to introduce clothing as a new product into your business but you are not a clothing brand, that’s fine Print on demand works for this if you have a following or some creative thinking to put on shirts and hats.
If you have a clothing brand then here are some
Offer as many sizes as possible
Offer 5 colours no more than that. It’s confusing and takes the focus away from buying.
Always offer the colour black it’s timeless and everyone owns black clothing.
Bundle everything, 2 for 1s, 5 for 4 works and be creative with bundles
Allow customisations where they can print their name on things print their faces and other as the print on demand companies now have the ability to highly cuistomise clothing for you.
Cute animals work for most niches and they appeal to kids and women, sometimes to men. The design depends on your target audience.
How to grow an agency/services to 20K recurrent per month.
Let’s look at this as a startup digital agency looking to secure their first paying clients. But the good news is that it works for existing digital agencies as well, the pricing and deliverables just need to be reviewed to fit your specific business existing COGS.
This is a simple business model, it works, it can be frustrating but it’s highly lucrative. WARNING It is NOT SEXY, this is a dirty business model called cold email outreach. Ive seen this work time and time again where businesses double down on this and go from nothing to something, it works.
Fun Fact: I worked at an agency where we had a team of 4 cold callers and3 cold emailers who would gather, assess and then reach out to a database of potential customers. This team had to contact 1000 businesses per week as a KPI. They needed to sign 6/1000 as a KPI. They would average between 14-16 from 1000 successful conversions from cold calls and cold emails. I used to help them automate database scraping having a pool of over 6 million businesses for them to work through.
Here is the process of cold email outreach
You will be sending two types of emails
Email 1 is a value offer for your services that gets sent to a large number of businesses.
Email 2 is clever well researched and well crafted email dialled in for specific businesses that could be big clients.
We will look at email 1 where you send 300 individual emails per day. Period. (nothing else, nothing more)
Put the effort, put the hard work, 300 per day.
Warning: Boring, it sucks, not romantic, anti-sexy, literally a horrible experience for the sender and receiver.
Learn how to create email setups that can work and keep you safe when cold email blasting. Just firing emails all day can get domains blacklisted and you in some hot water with local spam laws. This method of using different domains keeps you safe.
Your goal is to get at least 6 answers that are saying “Maybe” per day so its 96% failure rate.
Your goal is to book 5 calls from those 30 weekly maybes per week.
From this pool of 30 potentials, you just need to close 2 clients to be a success per week.
That’s all.
The money: If you charge $2k per month minimum, in 1 month you have 8K recurrent revenue
This is where it gets interesting, In month 2 you should know what emails perform better, you can tweak the email copy, make the subject lines better and really start getting test data on open rates, feedback and have a good idea if your product sucks or just needs a small adjustment in the positioning of it to a cold contact.
This should help increase your conversion rate by 1% if you do better keep testing and tweaking it.
Also, you may land one of those Email 2 prospects as well to come in at whatever your rate is for bigger service packages let’s say $5-8k monthly retainers for the bigger clients. You now have some serious revenue coming in.
Rinse and repeat this.
Now to further improve this and what to do when not cold emailing. I believe in becoming the master of your craft in whatever you do even unsexy email outreach.
Start by studying the best salespeople in the business, and study the pricing models and hooks others use. Heck, my guys used to even study the mail-out catalogues from established brands looking for the language used, positioning of products and feature value.
I am not the sales master by any longshot, but there are some absolute masters of craft on YouTube:
– The Futur (Chris Do) YouTube Channel
– Jeremy Miner (this guy is a machine) – Instagram account
– Kévin Moënne-Loccoz content on Linkedin
That’s the crux of it. Stop posting on social media, stop replying in Facebook groups and stop overthinking, Nike said just do it. Do it so much that you wear the letters on your keyboard out. Thats how you grow. This is a grind.
Recipe for Success by Hustling
One of my buddies has a secret recipe just like the KFC Herbs and Spices. It goes like this
He often helps new startup service providers learn how to go from zero to 10k revenue per month fast.
Here is a breakdown of his teachings:
Decide on what service you can offer that both 8 years olds and 70-year-olds can understand its value
This product / service can be yours or something a competitor does that you can replicate
Productise it so it’s repeatable and scalable
Know your COGS inside and out
Price this service so its affordable but still profitable
Buy a domain name
Setup a landing page
Option A go to Y Combinator – find startup founders and contact details
Option B Scour Yellow Pages or business directories – find contacts and emails
Prepare your value offer email template that you will be sending to these contact database
Know that you will have 98% failure rate from email, sending 50-60 emails per day
Your goal is to make contact with 300 people per week and to automate the funnel as much as possible
You will get 298 declined offers this is a standard in cold email outreach
You just need to close the 2 potential contacts, if you do 10-12 of these a month its momentum
Do this for 6 months and start presenting upsells to the clients that you have signed up
Thats your playbook from zero to $10k that anyone can do from right now. Cold email outreach is NOT SEXY at all its gross, its rude and you will be insulted more than once if you do it right. But it works and businesses book millions of dollars from cold outreach.
Its not that difficult but it requires persistence. Just do the maths saying that your service is cheap at $1000 per month, you get 10 clients a month that’s $120,000 per year business for a 1 person business with no complex skills required to get started.
NOW the real interesting part is what if you take your digital agency skills, your team, your resources and back the method with account managers, call center, trained to upsell sales people and a full delivery of the service. This becomes a powerful product.
*Your COGS will change having a larger workforce but like I said know your COGS. You just built a business that can scale.
Types of Digital Agency Leaders
In business, it doesn’t take long to build a successful business. But it does take a long time to be the person that decides to do it.
There is so much I would, I should do in the online business space, hustle separates the men from boys (figure of speech).
The ones in business crushing it are those who are obsessed with the game that they play in. The ones who are not crushing it is the ones making videos on TikTok, and YouTube, the ones posting all the time on social platforms. The hustle goes in and the deals get done quietly away from the spotlight of social media.
I see 3 types of Online Digital Agency Owners
The: I do this because I hate working for someone else and need freedom
The: I do this because I want to build special work with my partners and build a real team of talented people
The: I do this because they are trying to prove their abilities and eventually status to friends, family and circle of peers
The first is the hustler, always prowling for deals and opportunities
The second is usually the conference whore at every event, trying their hardest to get speaking gigs, trying to get their way into any deal to build their portfolio of associated businesses.
The third is so determined to succeed that they wouldn’t be reading this, messing about on social media and likely to be securing a deal right now and is booked into another deal-closing meeting in 40 minutes from now.
You get the picture. It takes all types to run the business and each type creates their own opportunities and dealflow by the natural personality.
Every agency leader is good raw talent, even if polished through courses, seminars, training and hours and hours of knowledge upskill they still need a second in charge behind them helping to push the team, helping to clean up the contracts in detail, and to help organise the rest of the team and work that needs to be done.
It isn’t hard to get deals that boost your agency book, not in today’s market. You just need to know how to find deals, put in the work and follow up and close those deals.
Best Affiliate Marketing Programs – Your Path to Profitable Partnerships
In the vast world of affiliate marketing, success often begins with choosing the right affiliate programs. Whether you’re new to affiliate marketing or looking to expand your portfolio, the best affiliate marketing programs can be your gateway to profitable partnerships. This comprehensive guide is designed to help you discover the top affiliate programs, encompassing both physical products and digital products or software, to boost your affiliate marketing journey.
Introduction
Imagine a world where your passion for products and your online presence could translate into substantial income. That world is the realm of affiliate marketing. As you learn the principles of affiliate marketing you will start to associate specific networks with niches.
Affiliate marketing programs serve as the backbone of this industry, connecting marketers with products and services they can promote. You can’t get far without joining one of the affiliate programs in your niche. You take products that you want to promote and create an array of content in text video or another format to help and guide buyers to a purchase where you are paid a commission in return.
In this article, we’ll explore a carefully curated list of the best affiliate marketing programs, ranging from those dealing in physical products to those offering digital products and software.
Affiliate Programs for Physical Products
1. Amazon Associates
Overview: Amazon Associates is a juggernaut in the affiliate marketing world, renowned for its vast array of physical products. As an affiliate, you can promote products ranging from electronics and fashion to home decor and more.
Pros:
Reliability: Amazon’s reputation and reliability make it a trusted choice for affiliates.
High Conversion Rates: With its vast product catalogue, Amazon often boasts high conversion rates.
Ease of Integration: Integration is straightforward, thanks to a wide range of tools and plugins.
Cons:
Fee Structure: While the program is free to join, commission rates can vary based on product categories, and they might be lower than some competitors.
Strict AF: The associate’s program is governed with an iron fist, they don’t care for anyone who steps out of line even by a smidge. Make a mistake and your account could be frozen or disabled. Good luck trying to get it back.
Personally, I’ve not been amazed at this program for the work I put in. The low commission rates, the constant changing of these payout rates and the super strict rules make it a difficult program to be on top of.
The potential earnings are huge, everyone buys from Amazon and there’s a high chance your buyer will purchase multiple things in one visit, meaning you get the commission on everything that they buy.
This affiliate network is good for beginners starting out or those who like the upside Amazon as a brand brings to products that they promote.
I attended a Amazon sellers group visit to Yiwu China to get a first hand look at manufacturers and logistics for my brand at the time. I met a handful of people at various stages of their journey. My focus was more on e-commerce for this trip but well worth it.
2. ShareASale
Overview: ShareASale is a versatile platform known for its diverse selection of affiliate programs in various niches, offering a broad spectrum of physical products for promotion.
Pros:
Diversity: ShareASale provides access to an extensive network of merchants spanning numerous industries.
User-Friendly: The platform is user-friendly, making it an attractive choice for both beginners and seasoned affiliates.
Hidden Gems: You can find some really hot products when you know what to look for, Has something for everyone.
Cons:
Fees: ShareASale charges a $550 network access fee, which may be a hurdle for some newcomers.
Contact: There are active brands using the platform and their are a lot of brands that fail to contact you or communicate at all.
One of my favourite platforms for finding solid products. Share A Sale provides an easy-to-use, easy-to-navigate no fuss affiliate platform. Excellent for beginners and intermediates.
3. CJ Affiliate (formerly Commission Junction)
Overview: CJ Affiliate is a platform that connects affiliates with reputable brands, offering a wide range of physical products for promotion.
Pros:
Diverse Product Selection: CJ Affiliate boasts a vast array of products across various niches.
Robust Reporting: The program provides robust reporting and tracking features to help affiliates monitor their performance.
Weekly Reporting: I enjoy seeing my weekly affiliate snapshot it helps drive me to do more and focus on my work. Nothing better than gamifying the affiliate payout report.
Cons:
Quality Varies: The quality of affiliate programs can vary, so due diligence in product selection is necessary. Some products are stinkers.
Learning Curve: Newcomers might face a learning curve in navigating the platform and understanding its features.
Sidenote: CJ also has a new program called CJ Dropshipping that is a pretty reliable option for anyone who wants to dropship products from CJ’s database of vendors.
In the next section, we’ll explore affiliate programs tailored to digital products and software, including ClickBank, PartnerStack, and JVZoo, and delve into their respective pros, cons, and associated fees.
Affiliate Programs for Digital Products and Software
4. ClickBank
Overview: ClickBank is a leading platform in the digital product affiliate marketing realm. It offers an extensive range of digital products, from e-books and online courses to software tools and digital downloads.
Pros:
Vast Product Selection: ClickBank boasts a diverse product catalogue, making it suitable for affiliates in various niches.
Lucrative Commissions: The platform is known for its high commission rates, often exceeding 50% or even 75% of the product’s price.
Ease of Use: ClickBank’s user-friendly interface simplifies the process of finding, promoting, and tracking digital products.
Education centre: They really put a lot of effort into educating the affiliates with several free and paid courses designed to help train a new wave of affiliate marketers.
Cons:
Quality Varies: While ClickBank offers a plethora of products, the quality and value of some may not meet your expectations. Due diligence is essential.
Refund Rates: Some products may have high refund rates, affecting your commissions.
Vendor Credibility: Tied to the above point some vendors are serial pests who release product after product with little care factor for customers
If you want to sell digital products then ClickBank is the one-stop shop. The biggest marketplace for digital products for affiliates and most likely the place everyone starts their affiliate journey.
5. PartnerStack (formerly GrowSumo)
Overview: PartnerStack specializes in software and SaaS products, making it an ideal choice for affiliates looking to promote digital solutions and software tools.
Pros:
Recurring Commissions: PartnerStack often features software products with subscription models, allowing affiliates to earn recurring commissions.
Growth Opportunities: As the software industry continues to expand, PartnerStack provides opportunities for affiliates to grow alongside it.
Cons:
Specific Niche: PartnerStack primarily caters to the software niche, so it may not be suitable for affiliates in other industries.
Competition: Given the software niche’s popularity, competition among affiliates can be fierce.
6. Rakuten Advertising
Overview: Rakuten Advertising offers a mix of physical and digital products across diverse categories.
Advantages: Discover the program’s global reach and its ability to cater to affiliates seeking a variety of products.
I found their sign up process overwhelming and clunky as heck, I also found the continual developer updates to links a real headache.
Saying that once I was setup and had the latest links and API ready to go this was a breeze to use. I like that there’s a few plugins and apps out there that automate the product listings and can pull in the products for you.
7. JVZoo
Overview: JVZoo is a renowned platform in the digital product and software affiliate marketing landscape, catering to affiliates primarily in the online marketing niche.
Pros:
Diverse Product Range: JVZoo offers a wide array of digital products, including software, e-books, and online courses.
Timely Payments: Affiliates appreciate JVZoo’s prompt and reliable payment system.
Active Affiliate Community: The platform fosters an active affiliate community, offering opportunities for networking and collaboration.
Cons:
Product Quality: The quality of products on JVZoo can vary, so careful product selection is crucial.
Learning Curve: New affiliates may encounter a learning curve when navigating JVZoo’s platform and features.
Fees: JVZoo may charge fees for certain transactions, impacting your overall earnings.
In the next section, we’ll delve into essential considerations for choosing the right affiliate programs, share tips for success in affiliate marketing, and emphasize the importance of compliance and ethics in your affiliate marketing endeavors.
How to Choose the Right Affiliate Programs
Choosing the right affiliate programs is a pivotal decision in your affiliate marketing journey. Here are key factors to consider:
Factors to Consider:
Niche Relevance: Opt for programs that align with your niche or area of expertise, ensuring that you can genuinely connect with your target audience.
Commission Rates: Evaluate commission rates offered by different programs. While high rates can be attractive, also consider the program’s overall reputation and conversion potential.
Tracking Capabilities: Look for programs with robust tracking and reporting tools that allow you to monitor your performance effectively.
Research Tips:
Read Reviews: Explore affiliate program reviews and testimonials to gain insights into the experiences of other affiliates.
Seek Recommendations: Don’t hesitate to seek recommendations from fellow marketers who may have valuable insights into profitable affiliate programs.
Achieving success in affiliate marketing involves strategic efforts and effective practices. There are many ways to monetize a blog or video and you are just getting started.
Here are some tips to guide you:
Content Creation:
Quality over Quantity: Prioritize creating high-quality, informative, and engaging content that genuinely adds value to your audience.
Product Relevance: Ensure that the products you promote align with your content and resonate with your audience’s needs and interests.
Receive valuable tips on crafting high-quality, persuasive content that effectively promotes affiliate products.
Promotion Strategies:
Explore various promotion strategies, from SEO optimization to email marketing and social media tactics, to boost your affiliate marketing endeavors.
Email Marketing: Utilize email marketing to build a loyal subscriber base and nurture relationships with your audience.
Social Media: Leverage social media platforms to expand your reach and engage with potential customers.
Compliance and Ethics:
Understand the importance of adhering to ethical practices and legal guidelines in the world of affiliate marketing.
Disclose Your Affiliation: Maintain transparency by disclosing your affiliate relationships to your audience. Compliance with legal guidelines, such as FTC regulations, is essential.
Ethical Marketing: Uphold ethical marketing practices, ensuring that your promotions are honest, accurate, and fair.
Conclusion
In closing, affiliate marketing programs are the foundation upon which your affiliate marketing success is built. Whether you’re promoting physical products or digital offerings, choosing the right programs sets the stage for profitable partnerships. With the insights provided in this guide, you now have a roadmap to navigate the world of affiliate marketing.
Believe in your potential to build fruitful partnerships and earn commissions through these carefully curated programs. As you embark on your affiliate marketing journey, remember that success lies in a combination of smart choices, high-quality content, effective promotion, and ethical conduct.
Your path to profitable partnerships begins with informed decisions and a commitment to ethical marketing practices. As you explore the affiliate programs mentioned here, conduct thorough research, and apply the tips for success, you’re well on your way to carving your niche in the ever-evolving landscape of affiliate marketing. Happy affiliate marketing!
Affiliate marketing is a world of opportunity, and the best affiliate marketing programs are your stepping stones to a profitable venture where you smash your business goals. Start exploring, building partnerships, and watching your affiliate marketing efforts transform into tangible results. Your path to profitable partnerships begins now.
In a digital landscape inundated with product recommendations and affiliate marketers selling the dream, trust is a commodity that’s becoming increasingly rare. As consumers, we rely on reviews to make informed purchasing decisions, and affiliate marketers play a pivotal role in shaping our choices. I never ever want to come across as a fake, that to me is against my personal values of not being honest. Consider your values upfront and if a quick $50 commission is worth you telling fake stories.
However, with the temptation of commissions, some have strayed from the path of objectivity, casting doubt over the authenticity of product reviews. Faking reviews, hijacking other people’s work and claiming it as their own. The bad actors cast negative views on the ones who create and put in the work. Its the same in every industry.
But fear not! In this guide, we dive deep into the art of crafting unbiased affiliate product reviews, unravel the threads of ethical affiliate marketing, shed light on the importance of transparency, and provide you with practical strategies for maintaining integrity in a world where bias often lurks in the shadows.
If you’re committed to delivering honest, valuable content to your audience while optimizing your SEO game, read on to discover how to avoid bias and stand out as a beacon of trustworthiness in the realm of affiliate marketing.
Unbiased Affiliate Product Reviews:
In the world of affiliate marketing, the cornerstone of building trust and credibility with your audience lies in crafting unbiased product reviews. Unbiased affiliate product reviews are those that provide a balanced, honest assessment of the products you’re promoting.
To achieve this, it’s crucial to adopt strategies that ensure objectivity and impartiality.
This might involve thorough research, hands-on testing, and a commitment to highlighting both the pros and cons of the products. By prioritizing the needs and interests of your audience above all else, you can create reviews that stand out as reliable sources of information in a sea of biased recommendations.
Here is an example whereI like the product and am not crazy about the company but I like how they market their product.
Ethical Affiliate Marketing:
Maintaining ethical standards in affiliate marketing content is not just a choice; it’s an obligation that should be at the forefront of every affiliate marketer’s mind. Dont sell out your values for a quick buck, if you don’t use something be honest and say you haven’t used it, being genuine will make you a successful affiliate marketer over the fakes.
Ethical affiliate marketing goes beyond the pursuit of commissions—it’s about building lasting relationships with your audience based on trust and transparency.
This theme underscores the importance of conducting business with integrity, avoiding deceptive practices, and always putting the well-being of your audience first.
It’s a reminder that the path to long-term success in affiliate marketing is paved with ethical choices that resonate with your audience and elevate your reputation.
Transparency in Affiliate Reviews:
In the digital age, transparency is the currency of trust. When it comes to affiliate reviews, being transparent about your relationships with product providers can be the key to building trust with your audience.
This theme explores how transparency can serve as a powerful tool in your affiliate marketing arsenal. It’s not just about disclosing your affiliate links; it’s also about being upfront about your affiliations, motivations, and potential conflicts of interest.
By openly sharing this information, you not only comply with legal requirements but also foster a sense of honesty and reliability that resonates with your readers or viewers.
Disclosure in Affiliate Marketing:
The significance of clear disclosure practices in affiliate product reviews cannot be overstated. Disclosure isn’t just a legal requirement in many jurisdictions; it’s a moral imperative in the world of affiliate marketing.
This theme delves into the nuances of effective disclosure, emphasizing that it’s not merely a box to check but an opportunity to build credibility.
We’ll explore best practices for disclosure, including where and how to include disclaimers in your content. By mastering the art of disclosure, you not only stay on the right side of the law but also demonstrate your commitment to transparency and trustworthiness in affiliate marketing.
I believe its best to say upfront that you are being paid on any successful purchase of a product, this helps the reader see your incentive for saying its a good product. But I always suggest that they do their own research and advise if there is some negative features or performance of the product in review.
Core Themes For Providing Accurate Product Reviews:
Objective Review Practices
Emphasize the importance of conducting thorough research, unbiased testing, and fair evaluation of products to provide your audience with honest reviews.
Maintaining Ethical Standards
Discuss the ethical responsibilities of affiliate marketers, including disclosing affiliate relationships, avoiding conflicts of interest, and prioritizing the best interests of the audience.
Building Trust and Credibility
Explore how transparency, honesty, and consistency in affiliate product reviews can help you build trust and credibility with your readers or viewers.
In this review I have provided screenshots of my dashboard and account, this helps show I actually use it
I also reach ed out to the founder for an interview where we talked about product, growth, roadmap and customer success.
Best Practices for Disclosure
Offer guidelines and examples for effectively disclosing affiliate relationships in a way that is clear, honest, and compliant with legal requirements.
Key Takeaway
In affiliate marketing, your success hinges on a few key principles.
First, strive to create unbiased product reviews by thoroughly testing and evaluating the products you promote.
Second, maintain your ethical standards by being honest with your audience, disclosing your affiliations, and always putting their interests first.
Third, build trust by consistently delivering transparent and honest content.
Finally, follow best practices for disclosure, ensuring that you clearly explain your affiliate relationships. By adhering to these core themes, you’ll not only provide value to your audience but also establish yourself as a trustworthy affiliate marketer who can thrive in this competitive industry
Taking the viewpoint of a business owner. Ive owned many businesses and I consult with hundreds more businesses. Ive picked up a lot from my time helping solve problems in business for myself and others.
Here are my Business Tips for Building a Successful Business
Hiding Your Success: This might sound like a strange tip for an article about how to be a successful business owner. Trust me when I say people are clueless and will grab onto anything and anyone that shows signs of success. This is more of a strategic play than anything else.
I’m often in rooms with CEO’s, C-Suite and advisor and the like. Big brains very successful and what I pick up is everyone is out big naming and bragging of success very vocal. I often don’t say much in the first meetings I listen and learn, make my notes and hypothesise on solutions.
Confidence & Insecurity: Everyone feels insecure at some point in their journey, this is natural. It’s the learning curve where you feel overwhelmed. Even now there’s times I feel imposter syndrome about what I do, I’ve done it a million times over, but that feeling creeps in the moment something didn’t go to plan. This happens and I go through a reassurance process to ground myself and get back on track.
The journey:
Starting out you feel overwhelmed but get by on your energy.
Operating for a couple of months now and understanding the market landscape.
With some success, you feel more confident and start to get the hang of it.
First ding where you take a hit and lose confidence, feeling those insecure feelings again.
Rebound success is where you overcome the problem you really understand the market now.
Success becomes business as usual, but you keep an open mind to problem-solving as a boss.
If you feel overwhelmed, seek out a coach, mentor or other business owners in your area or category. You are not the only one having these thoughts, everyone has them. Opening up about these insecurities, rather than trying to mask them with a brave face, is the key to managing those feelings.
Create your productivity space: Your environment is everything in getting things done. I try to keep a clean desk, with minimal items on my main working desk. You want to have good energy in your workspace, uncluttered and comfortable for you to do deep focus work.
There are a couple of ways for this
Create your space for deep focus work
Create a space for work that’s not your main space if you have space to do so
Find a cafe, co working space or public space for times when you need to get out
I still get energized every morning as I get up and head into my office space at my home. Theres some electric about knowing what you will tackle for the day and having a space you enjoy that allows you to get things done. I love what I do and there’s no better feeling than that.
Build Owned Distribution Channels: Successful business time and time again are the ones that own their distribution channels and do not rely on the Googles, Facebooks and TikToks of the world. Owning your traffic source is vital to long term success, creating email lists, databases, and stores that you own.
Building your reliance on a platform that can lock you out, shut you down and feeds on your data is a risk.
Instead of selling on Amazon build your own store and keep the customer data, use Amazon as an ease of purchase channel only! do not push people to Amazon if you do not have to. The same with Facebook and Google, understand this and focus on your own channels of customer acquisition and you will be building a valuable business.
Create Lenses: You will need to wear multiple hats as a business owner. This also allows you the super power of seeing things from different perspectives. I tackle super challenging things in my job and I have so many “a-ha!” moments throughout the work week. Solutions may not seem simple when you are in the weeds, but switching perspective and using the lense of xx helps me see the solution options available to me. Try it yourself when you get stuck.
Effective Research: research & planning leads to success. Map out the journey A to Z of how you will get to the end goal. Note milestones and key events that will help propel you forwards. If you do not plan then you are planning to fail. I stumbled with this a bit when starting out, how do you know what the end looks like when you are just starting out. Its like asking a kid what they want to be when they grow up they do not know.
Truth is, no one has everything figured out. You do not need to have everything figured out, you can learn as you go. I would bet that once you are knee-deep in that pathway you will pick up some insights that you would never of been able to predict some of these things.
My advice:
Embrace curiosity
Test – Learn and Refine
Hire people who are culturally aligned (if needed)
Surround yourself with people of similar interests
Without an open mind as a business owner you will become stuck real fast. Its going to take a while for you to know where to point the compass and follow the path in that direction.
Know your goals: Freedom is the real goal. Once you’ve achieved a certain level of financial success, everything becomes about a quest for freedom. Being able to do what you want, when you want, with who you want is what everyone prizes above all else, but few have it.
Create Value Without an Ask: I believe if you create value without expecting anything in return that’s when you have the creator’s freedom and voice that people will recognise and follow. The money follows, as long as you are helpful and authentic, people will gravitate towards you if they vibe with you and your style.
