There have been some issues with getting the emails for my Free CPA Marketing Course, so I thought it would be good to not just give a “teaser” but to give an outline of what it will be covering. And if you don’t want to sign up, that’s cool too. You should learn a few things from the info below.

Question: How can I be more effective in CPA/Affiliate marketing?

A:

Step 1: Find Your Passion.

To find a product that you will be motivated to promote or market you must first find your passion. If you find your passion, you will be more likely to spend time on your business and want to do it. As Pud says, “Ask yourself, if you could do ANYTHING in the world, what would it be?”

Once you have your “WHAT” ask yourself “WHY.”

What are your underlying desires or goals? There may be various things, more tangible things, which can satisfy the “why.” Get your business journal out and write your “what” and “why.” Doing this may give you the product or service that is perfect for you.

By the way, this isn’t the last you’ll be hearing about Pud, his company AdBrite, is one of the ways I test my campaigns before going all out with Google.

Step 2: Find a Product.

After you have found your passion, if the product is not staring you in the face, you need to find a product that matches. For ideas, be sure to check out the following places:

a. eBay Pulse
b. Yahoo Buzz
c. Google News
d. Technorati Pop
e. Technorati Tag
f. Amazon
g. ClickBank
h. Other Recognized eCommerce Sites in the space

The above will help you gain some insight into what is hot right now.

Step 3: Survey.

Why would the consumer buy your product/service? What is their “headache” or the problem are they are looking to get rid of? Don’t guess.

Example: A company comes out with an amazing new shampoo. After a test group uses the product for a number of months, they are examined and it is discovered that they all have stronger, more healthy hair. Amazing, right? So the product launches and flops completely. Why?

Company’s Guess: Customer wants stronger, healthy hair.
Consumer’s Reality: I want that too, but I expect a full, rich lather so I know it is working.
Problem: Harmful chemicals are often used to produce the “rich lather”, thus they were left out. The customers misconception caused them to not to want the product.

It is not enough to solve a problem, you have to solve THE problem(s). And often you must EDUCATE the prospect to the truth. A survey is how you go about finding out what THE problem(s) is.

A survey takes a lot of time and effort to prepare, present and review. At this point you don’t want to invest a lot of time and money in a market you haven’t fully tested. So review other information, such as:

a. Forums and blogs having to do with your product/solution
b. Other informational websites about your product and services

The above are like forced surveys as you can quickly see the trend of the market through comments made and the focus of the informational sites. Don’t get caught into analysis paralysis, spend about 1-3 hours reviewing various sites and write your findings in your Business Journal.

Step 4: Quick Market Math.

Don’t get into a market without doing a little of “quick math” and a few searches to determine if the market will be profitable. You can apply the following steps to any CPA/Affiliate program or network.

1. Write down the industry and exact product.
2. Write down the commission per lead/sale.
3. Based on a conversion ratio of 3%, project the revenue.
4. Determine the “break even” point for CPC.
5. Open the Keyword Tool in Google AdWords.
6. Enter “main keyword.”
7. Add all keywords.
8. Click “Estimate Traffic.”
9. Highlight Keywords in List.
10. Open the Traffic Estimator tool.
11. Sort by Estimated Clicks Per Day (highest first).
12. Look for keywords in the range of the “break even” point but have at least ten estimated clicks per day.
13. Verify that at least 100 clicks per day can be had for the “break even” CPC point.
14. Re-run “Traffic Estimator” and target the actual product name and the author’s name and look for traffic estimates of 10+ clicks.

Step 5: Test via PPC.

Once you have determined whether or not the market is profitable, you must test to see if it will be profitable for you. Take your keywords and the target problem(s) you found in the market and create a PPC campaign. My preference is Google AdWords.

You may find that the market doesn’t convert well for you. That is ok, in fact, it is best to know that it is a dud and get out quickly.

Note: Google AdWords has changed their policy on allowing PPC ads to go direct from the ad to the Merchant’s site, as a result you may need to have a Landing Page. See Step 9.

Step 6: Find a Provider.

Finding a provider may be as easy as deciding what CPA/Affiliate Network to join. You may also be able to go direct with a few providers and search out the best product/offer with the best conversion rate.

Step 7: Sign Up.

You may or may not have to wait for approval. If you need a Landing Page created to request approval, see Step Nine.

Once you are approved, you are ready to start promoting. There are a few things to remember about CPA/Affiliate agreements with merchants:

• never sign a long-term deal unless you get significant cash up-front
• read the terms, understand what you are being paid for
• understand the restrictions, if any
• make sure there is not a “do not compete” clause

Never feel that you MUST do a deal with a company as the competition’s product is usually just as good.

Focus on building a relationship with the Affiliate Manager or Merchant. Whenever possible, pick up the phone and contact them. This will help them to trust you and also help you to stand out amongst their other affiliates and possibly gain better commission rates.

Step 8: Buy & Use the Product/Fill Out the Lead Form.

I am a big advocate of buying the product/service and using it before you begin to promote it. If it i is a lead form, fill it out and see what transpires. Doing so will not only give you intimate knowledge about the product and its points of difference, but it will also allow you to test the sales process and your affiliate link. Be sure that the sales process is smooth and you get credit for the sale/lead. If you don’t, contact the merchant to fix the issues before continuing your promotion.

Some affiliates would ask the merchant for a free product to evaluate. As the merchant, I get asked for this quite often. In my experience, the affiliate who asks for the free product free up front is looking for just that – free product. If they claim they are good and they are as good as they claim, buying the product, recording the checkout process (via Camtasia) and verifying that their affiliate code and cookie work are more vital that simply asking for free product. Plus, you are going to have a return policy, so they are going to test that too.

If you are a Merchant, I would be wary of an affiliate asking for free product. That would be a red flag for me. However, if the affiliate is good with a good reputation, that might invite a relationship. Go with your gut feeling, it is usually right.

Step 9: Create a Landing Page.

The landing page is the weapon of choice for most affiliate marketers. It gives you more control over your client base and allows you to test and track what works and what doesn’t.

You will need to create a Landing Page that -

• is professional
• matches the intent of the buyer
• lures them further into the page with the use of headlines
• calls to action
• does not distract them.

My Kitchen Table Copy Method (which I will be releasing as part of the CPA Course – the Lite version) which shows you how to use your competition’s work and research for your gain is a good one to follow too.

When creating a landing page, it isn’t always necessary to get the merchant’s approval. Don’t operate out of fear. Know that you are the better marketer and also realize the merchant is not the only game in town.

Step 10: Keyword Research.

Keywords are important in CPA/Affiliate Marketing. There are various tools available for Keyword Research. Whichever you use, always test keywords via PPC to see if they will convert before you do any SEO. I use the Google External Keyword Tool, WordTracker, NicheBot, Keyword Secret and Keyword Discovery.

Step 11: Drive Traffic.

Be sure to drive traffic in a number of different ways so if you lose one, it isn’t the end of your business. Brad Fallon of StomperNet once had his wedding favor site disappear from Google due to a fluke in the index. His entire business was in jeopardy of going under. However, he had the tools (including Dan Thies), including various methods of driving traffic, to succeed.

A few ways to drive traffic to your sites are:

a. PPC: Create compelling ads that answer the demographic’s pain and send them to your Landing Page. If you are answering more than one pain, you may want to create more than one ad and Landing Page.

b. SEO: Use SEO to bring organic qualified traffic to your site, but only for the keyword terms which proved to be good money makers in PPC.

c. Email Marketing: To use this method, you must first have a list to mail to. It takes a while to gain the trust of a consumer, email marketing or newsletters make it possible for you to keep in contact with the prospect to build the relationship of trust and get the customer to buy from you.

d. Blog: Blogging is an effective way to “frame the offer” and pass the visitor to another site for “more information.” Pay attention to make sure the “pass through” is smooth and fall-out is minimal.

Step 12. Test , Track and Tweak.

Be sure to use tracking code, including Google Analytics and Crazy Egg, to see where and how often people are clicking different areas of your pages.

Google’s Website Optimizer (GWO) is also a great testing and tracking tool for CPA/Affiliate websites. GWO will test variations of your Landing Pages to see which headlines, graphics, colors, etc. are most appealing to your audience. You may be surprised at what is most effective. Make adjustments to your page based on the data you receive.

Helpful Hint: Keep a back-up in case you make a mistake and need to reload the old version of the page. Always look for ways to increase the flow of qualified traffic coming to your site. If you do this, then conversions may also increase.

Step 13. Monetize Your Site.

If allowed, add AdSense to your web pages to monetize the traffic that may click on your ads. Generally, you will earn about $27.00 for every 1000 visitors to your page. So to earn $2,700.00 a month you need roughly 100,000 visitors.

Translation: Focus first on driving qualified traffic to your site to purchase the products you promote and then add AdSense later once you have consistent conversions numbers. If you add AdSense and your conversions go down, you may want to remove AdSense or change the position of the ads.

Step 14. Renegotiate Terms with Merchant.

This is where the relationship with the merchant that you started to build in Step 8 will come into play. The one constant truth in CPA/Affiliate marketing is the marketer who drives the most sales to a merchant’s site generally makes the rules. Merchants count on the revenue brought in by their affiliates and if you are a top affiliate, then you have more pull with the merchant, because they do not want to lose your sales.

Step 15. Get Other Affiliates/Marketers to Work for You.

Very few take this step, but it is something that can greatly increase your EPC.

Step 16. Lather, Rinse and Repeat.

Once you find what works for you as a CPA/Affiliate marketer, follow the directions found on the back of your shampoo bottle: Lather, Rinse and Repeat.

Find what works for you and do it over and over and over until it doesn’t work anymore.

More detail on the above is available on in the Free CPA Course and it is delivered by email on a “drip system.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 5:21 pm and is filed under Affiliate Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.