How to Choose a Clickbank Product to Promote

Seasoned professional – or looking to get started selling other peoples stuff – Clickbank is a great place to get started.

So how do you cut to the chase – find a hot product and start making some sales?

Well first I’m going to break all the rules and send you elsewhere … to the Warrior Forum where there’s a great post by Alexa Smith (that flies against what many others would say) and explains the criteria she uses to find a Clickbank product to promote.

The Warrior Forum – Selecting the Product

It’s a great post and here’s a quick run-thru on what she recommends:

1. A niche where the customers are not affiliates (and buy through their own affiliate link)!
2. No leaks (visitors aren’t distracted from reading and buying by an opt-in form to join a list, Google Adwords and other crazy links).
3. No hype , no unethical practises (it’s FTC compliant and a legitimate product).
4. No pop-ups (again a distraction) and no discounts that take you away from the page you sent them to.
5. Gravity not too high.
6. Sales page that looks like it converts (check the offer and if something gets you excited … there’s a good change it’ll get your market excited too).
7. Good product (ie. buy it yourself or you’d be happy to recommend it to your best friend).
8. Vendor with good reputation.
9. Reasonably high earnings per sale (you can make $7 commission or you can make $47 commissions – if you made a sale a day – which would change your life quickest)?
10. It’s something you can write about (this is important if your main source of traffic is via articles … you gotta be able to write about the subject)!

Remember – this is specific to Clickbank and she makes her living as an Affiliate so listen!

One of my highest converting affiliate products flies against this wisdom … I send traffic to squeeze pages (not sales pages) and I don’t mind pop-ups and the niche is Internet Marketing so they could buy through their own link.

The reason is that the program is run on Infusionsoft – you get yearly (or lifetime) cookie tracking and if that person joins the vendors list and buys a product weeks or months later – I still get credited with the commissions.

If someone joins my list and then joins this guys list – I can make a sale and he can make a sale – both of which I get credited for.  Plus I know his sales funnel is tested, tweaked and improved for maximum conversions (nice)!

If I refer someone for a 50% of $47 product and they dont buy – but join his list and buy a $197 product – I get 50% of the $197.

Click HERE to Join Today.

Bill McRea’s Wordpress Exit Window … I like it a lot …

*** Get the FREE Wordpress Exit Window from Bill McRea HERE ***

I’ve just installed this on my blog (one down … two to go!).

Personally I know very little about Bill McRea although the one thing I do know is that he has a fantastic reputation and really over-delivers on his products.  When the people I rave about and look up to … rave about Bill then you know you need to take note.

My only problem was making sure I didn’t turn my attention over to his wonder ways and the Wordpress Exit Window before finishing anything else.

The Bill McRea Wordpress Exit Plugin Experience

First … what does it do?  Well it’s a simple Wordpress Plugin that means when someone is finished reading your blog post (or it’s a visitor that ‘bounces’) — when they try to close the tab or browser they are given the option of cancelling and seeing what else you have to offer or recommend.

Most of us are familiar with Exit Splash pages and Exit Pop Ups — the difference here is that it’s an Exit Window which could be one of your squeeze pages, one of your product pages or any affiliate offer you’re currently working with.

Is this good or irrating?  Well from the user’s perspective it could be a bit of a nuisance (a bit like we all hate pop-up windows) however — fact of the matter is — they work.  And I definately believe I’ll see good results from this too.

Not to mention the fact that you at least give your visitor the option of closing the window (click OK) or checking out what you have to share (click Cancel).

The end result … for every one visitor you have – you potentially get a minimum of two page views.  Both of which can make you money.

Installation and Useage of the Wordpress Exit Window

Easy peasy … Ok I had one problem using Wordpress.  You get a video with the plugin from Bill McRea that talks you through the installation and set-up.   Probably only a couple of minutes work even if you back up your Wordpress database first (recommended).

The problem I had was everytime I clicked on ‘Install’ my Wordpress page looked like it was stuck on ‘Unpacking’.  Not sure why … maybe it just needed some time but instead of sitting there messing about I did it manually.

Unzipping the files — I put them into a new folder called ‘Exit Window’ and then used Filezilla to upload them to the ‘Plugins’ folder on my blog.  Then it was a simple case of going back to the instructions from Bill and following them.

Still very easy.

All in all an good experience and something I’d recommend doing and using.  Of course I can’t comment on the results just yet but ‘doing’ is the best way to gain experience and in this instance a good reason to justify working on content to improve my blogs readership.

You can download the Wordpress Exit Window by Bill McRea right HERE and have it up and running in minutes.

~ Good luck!

Allen

P.S.  Not mentioned — but quite possibly a kicker in deciding whether or not to use it) is that this is FREE all you need is to share your email address.  A very clever trade given the amount of rubbish ebooks we all subscribe for.

Here you go: Wordpress Exit Window from Bill McRea

CRASH!! The sound of too many plates spinning …

*** FREE REPORT on Taking Instant Action HERE ***

Ever seen those crazy circus guys who spin plates for a living?  They’ll get a few, add some more and before you know it they’re running around trying to keep everything moving fast enough to stop them crashing back to earth.

Thanks gravity!

Internet marketing can be a little bit like that.  Actually it’s a lot like that.

Starting out you can quickly move from idea to idea, niche to niche and from one model to the next … and that’s without the distraction of the ‘next best’ thing being launched … it’s not easy and today it’s got the better of me!

Here’s what I got on the go:

1. This affiliate marketing blog which I rarely update.
2. Two affiliate marketing squeeze pages that build my list and need constant traffic generation (I’ve not yet managed to automate that!)
3. A new re-sale rights licence for a product to stick as a one -time-offer to put behind my squeeze pages.
4. A product in the hobby niche that sells a couple per month.
5. Forex website that reviews different products.
6. A variety of bum marketing efforts I’ve not touched for a couple of years but recently picked up (… what’s that all about?)
7. A desire to put an extra $10k on my income!

Too many plates and all with a full-time job (in my hobby niche … it’s great), a girlfriend and I’m training for a semi-professional fight (training seven times a week) that takes place this coming Sunday.

It’s hard work and last week I think it all made me ill (coming out both ends … too much info maybe?!)

So this morning when I sat down to my computer I didn’t know where to start, what to do and whether I should ignore my desire to start a new project.

Too many ideas — not enough time!

So how do you get round the procrastination and make a decision on what to do?  Mmm – well first I thought I’d tweak a few things, change a few of the offers my new subscribers are introduced to, add some messages to my auto-responder and play with my download pages.

Before reminding myself that the most important thing is to be selling, to be marketing.  Sure I could spend a couple of hours tweaking — and there is value to that — but deep down I know that getting more traffic to my squeeze pages, adding subscribers to my lists (or building lists in the areas I don’t) is where I’ll benefit most.

The places that will make me the most money, the systems that are making the most money and where my girlfriend will appreciate the work the most (ie. seeing commission cheques!)

And needless to say that’s where my focus will be today.  It’s the 80% on marketing and 20% on tweaking and improvement.  It’s about making a decision in 1 minute instead of thinking about it as I browse the forums.

It’s about asking myself what I SHOULD DO and not what I WANT TO DO.

We all want to eat cake … when we all know we should eat fruit and veg.  Deep down we all know what we should do and then it’s just the discipline of making ourselves crack on with it.  It really is that simple — we all seem to take joy in making life harder than it has to be.

~ A bit of an ego-centric email problems I know that plague us all (and will still come back to haunt me)!

Have a great week and stay focused on the selling!

Allen

P.S.  If you suffer with time management and procrastination check this free report on How to Take Instant Action.

My biggest affiliate marketing mistakes is to …

… not have a clear plan of what I’m going to do before I sit down at the computer.

Today I woke up, sat at the computer and thought to myself “What shall I crack on with today?”

Rubbish!

Cardinal sin number 1!

And the worse thing is I know it’s a crazy mistake to make, arguably one of the worst things you can do when it comes to productivity and actually making it (especially in an industry where so many fail) is to sit down and not have a gameplan of what you need to do.

I think it’s Tony Robbins who said something like – Most people overestimate when they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in 10.

Part of it has to be down to the fact that they don’t have a gameplan and know exactly what the next step.

So for the rest of the day I’ll be making sure I stick to my traffic generation system (even if I am a little bored of it) and only then start to look around for something new and cool to try and add to the system.

Moral of the story – start the day with a plan.  Finish today with tomorrows plan prepared and ready to go.

Then stick to it.

Affiliate Tip: How to Find Unique & Profitable Niche Markets Quickly

Ok two slants to use this method to find profitable niche markets – the first can be used by most people to evaluate a hot niche.  The second is a cool way to find out more about your buyers, their needs and maybe their niches if you’re already selling something through PayPal.  This is a truely unique way to find total unique niche markets.

• Check out PayPal shops where there are lists of online shops that accept PayPal.  So what?  Well all the shops are listed by sales volume and next to the names is a number in brackets showing how many PayPal users have bought from them…. the higher the number, the hottet the niche.

• When someone buys something from you and the payment is through PayPal you obviously see have access to your online invoice/receipt that shows the name and email address of who bought from you.  Now say that your create (or sell affiliate) products and are paid through PayPal.  All of a sudden you can see if your customer has an online presence and if so… the exact niche which might be something you can go into or market more towards.

If you’re struggling wth finding a profitable niche then I highly recommend this amazing video and audio product that’s cheaper than a DVD from Blockbuster.  I bought it, loved it and listen to it all the time.

Check out the Niche Invasion System

Back to Front Marketing… Writing your Sales Copy first

Hand on my heart… I make most of my online income through affilate marketing and that’s what this blog and list is all about.  It’s the perfect way to inject a bit more enthusiasm and document my journey, my thoughts and share them with other marketers.  Anyway… wrong tangent – bad habbit.

When I created my first product in a proper, random niche I know tons about – I created the product first (seemed logical) before moving onto the sales copy.   Whilst I’d done my research, knew the hotish topics I needed to cover in the ebook – the sales copy was a bit tough.

My biggest concern was that I’d big up my book so much that the product would never deliver (even at a meagre $17) and I’d have a ton of complaints, refunds and customer support to deal with.   So after writing the sales copy – I had to go back an amend my ebook to make sure the two were pretty consistent and I wasn’t misleading anybody.  More work when it was hard enough just getting started!

The perfect solution – do the sale copy first.

It sounds a bit back to front, a bit wrong — until you think about it for a moment.

Writing your sales copy forces you ask the right questions about what your visitors want.  What benefits do they need to see and experience to buy your product?  What objections do you need to overcome in your sales copy to make this a success.  When you construct a sales page.  When your write sales copy you focus your writing on the solutions that will trigger your readers hot buttons and get them to whip out their wallet in an instant.

Essentially – the sales copy outlines the perfect product for your customers (and not some information you rambled on about for 30 pages and thought might be useful).

Write the sales page first and when you create your product – you have an agenda all outlined for you.  The problem you wish to solve has been clearly laid out and the expectations your product has to meet are plain for you to see.   Your ebook has a clear path, the writer a clear goal and the end result — meets expectations, does exactly what the sales page says and customer support is minimal (apart from the glowing testimonials of course).

Another good reason to do the sales copy first – it’s often the bit that everyone else procrastinates over – get it done and you’re half way there.

Good luck writing that sales copy… for squeeze pages, for products, for anyone who hires you.

Finding secrets in sales letters…. and it’s nothing to do with copywriting

Here’s a cool tip I learnt from an audio by product creator and copywriter, Jason Fladlien.  It’s a cool tip you can use to write your own copy or I actually use it the other way around – as an affiliate marketer to get information that can be used to pre-sell new promotions.  It’s pretty simple, takes seconds and satisfies every information junkie out there.

Imagine a top selling music artist who wants to release a new album and make some serious sales.   What song do they release first?  Yep you got it – it’s the big hit (or at least the one they think will be).   Fans love the song, buy the album and fingers crossed the rest of the album is equally good.

Great copywriters do the exact same when they want to sell high ticket products.  In the sales letter they trigger an “Ah-ha” moment by showing some of their biggest guns.  You like the information, say “This guy’s good” and buy the product.

It’s more obvious in the bigger affiliate launches nowadays – for weeks on end, high quality, free information is being given away to entice people to buy.   And it works.

Here’s a slight twist – I’m into affiliate email marketing and push to earn some big bucks.  What’s the best kind of product to sell for hefty commissions?  A high ticket product right? What’s the best way to pre-sell it?

Yep read the sales letter and look for the information designed to trigger that “Ah ha” moment (check out the competitors too) and base your posts, your articles and your emails around it.  Great information for a great pre-sell that will actually help your readers.

Resources: Internet Marketing Millionaire

Credit where credit is due…