Affiliate Sales on Your Personal and Authority Blog
I am learning that affiliate sales and marketing take a lot of time and energy. Or knowledge, in which I did not have when I began.
I have made my fair share of mistakes when it comes to trying to sell stuff on my blog- not finding the right audience, not writing about the right things, not even telling my readers I have products I use and sell.
But I can say I have learned lessons over the last couple of years. Lessons that I wish I had implemented long ago.
Here are some lessons I highly recommend you take into account when and if you decide to break into affiliate sales through blogging.
This article is for bloggers with personal blogs or authority blogs. They tend to be a bit more personal and take on the personality of the blogger herself. This article is not for use in niche blogs where their main author is never or rarely known and the idea of that blog is strictly anonymity and sales. For more about that visit my favorite post on authority blogging is by Chris G, big time authority blogger.
Dig Deep to Find a Niche
Your niche is the subject you will be talking and writing about, almost obsessively at times. So it is important to start by searching for what you enjoy in life. If your topic is not something you are interested in then I can guarantee you will not want to continue.
Make a list of your strengths, weaknesses, fears, and knowledge in anything. Write about them. People will relate and want more.
Be sure you would be able to write about this topic for years or at least in depth when you do write. Make it worth your audience’s time to visit.
Also, the better you know a subject, the more that will show through in your content and thus creating more trust from your audience in you. TRUST=SALES. People tend to buy stuff from people and shops they trust.
Build Trust
Building trust is the cornerstone to selling anything online. So how do you do it?
The best way is to always give content that is relevant and helpful to your audience. Never let your readers question whether or not you are lying or leading them astray. In other words, don’t lie or lead them astray. Building trust online is not that different that building trust offline. The same rules in morality apply.
Another great way to get people to trust you is to be that community leader. Be the person others quote and link to when a question needs answering. Be the person in charge of a forum or twitter chat. As always, refer to my first point, always be relevant and helpful.
Another way to build that trust is to tell them a little about you. Have an “About Us” page that says something about you, your company or both, depending of the point of view your site writes itself from. Mention how you can help them be better and solve their problems.
Never Sell
“But Allie, that is what I am trying to do. I want to make some money from what I do online.”
Yes, but your readers should not know you are trying to earn a living online. They come to your site to get answers to problems (in your content you give for free and the products they buy), find a community they can talk to or even find discounts on items. But they never want to feel you are only trying to sell to them. You are not a cars salesmen (sorry guys, your reputation precedes you); you are not pushy and unfeeling.
Do not look at your site as some way to gain something from your audience but a place you can give stuff to your readers like great content, help with problems or even freebies and discounts.
Keep the “honest” in “honest living”.
Note: never go into personal or authority blogging with only the intention to earn money. You must be in it to have the need to connect with others, build a community or simply assist others that may need it.
Sell Stuff You Trust
Do you see a recurring theme here? TRUST
Always sell products with a great reputation, a trusted brand. If you cannot, then get a hold of the product yourself, try it, use it and know that it works and you can stand behind it.
Don’t Give Too Many Choices
Be firm about what you sell and sell it well.
You are not Amazon, so don’t pretend to be. Sell just a few products you stand behind instead of 20 that you may like. If you sell 20 different books about Italian Cooking your audience will wonder which one to buy unless you specify which one you believe is the best.
That bacon recipe book was amazing. So sell that one book on bacon. Choose to only sell that one book on bacon loyally.
Places you can look for items to sell:
Other blogs in the niche or closely related. Hint: look at what they are selling.
Check to see if the tools and products you use online have affiliate programs. For instance, Pretty Link Pro plugin has their own affiliate program I have signed up for.
Make an Honest Living
It is very hard to write about how to sell stuff and still look honest. People view sales as a negative online. I did. But that is only because so-called gurus have messed things up around here.
An honest living online is possible with the right reasons and products behind you.