Day 1 - What affiliate marketing is and how to get started with my “oppo site” method (Affiliate Marketing Launch Plan)

Welcome to day 1 of my Affiliate Marketing Launch Plan! I’m so excited and grateful you’ve joined me for this series.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Hey {NAME}, Welcome to day 1 of my Affiliate Marketing Launch Plan! I’m so excited and grateful you’ve joined me for this series. To get started, let’s ground ourselves with a shared understanding of what affiliate marketing is. Here’s my definition: Affiliate marketing is the process of earning a commission by promoting another company's product or service to your audience. If someone from your audience makes a purchase through your affiliate link to that product or service, then you’ll earn a piece of that sale. Affiliate marketing is a great monetization strategy for busy entrepreneurs like you because you don’t have to invest the time and energy to create, sell, and support the thing being sold. That savings allows you to channel more of your time and energy into building your audience. To get that awesome affiliate commission flywheel going, all you have to do is send traffic through your link to that product or service, and the rest takes care of itself . . . right? Not so fast. Although simple in concept, affiliate marketing requires a disciplined and thoughtful approach to get right. In my experience, most entrepreneurs who attempt affiliate marketing struggle to find “fit” with their audience and, thus, only see a few dollars trickling in from their efforts. That’s not a steady way to monetize your brand nor a successful way to grow your business. I don’t want you to experience that same struggle. Instead, I want you to find genuine “fit” with your audience so that you can unlock the full potential that affiliate marketing can provide. This series aims to help you build toward that “fit’ and position you to unleash that potential. The process starts with flipping the script on the methodology. To get ready for the flip, let’s first look at the affiliate marketing process recommended by others: It usually goes something like this: - Find a company and product you want to promote. - Sign up as an affiliate. - Get your unique affiliate link and add it to your site. - A visitor to your website clicks the link, which takes them to a third-party page. - If the visitor makes a purchase, you receive a commission based on the value of the item purchased. ​ Are these steps accurate? Technically, yes. But it’s usually not that effective. The big problem is that this approach prioritizes the product first and puts the audience last. That’s a big no-no in my book. My approach is different. In fact, I call my approach the “opposite” method because it completely flips that structure. Instead of starting with the product, I start with the audience. Why? Because you shouldn’t be affiliate marketing without first establishing trust with your audience. Here’s how my methodology works, top to bottom: - First, build a relationship with your audience. - Then, identify a product that might fit your audience’s needs. - Next, use and test the product yourself, to ensure it’s truly something worth recommending to your audience, so you don’t risk taking advantage of their trust. - Show your audience tangible proof that the product does what it promises via a blog post or case study on your website or YouTube channel. - Then—and only then!—you can start to promote the product to your audience and hopefully start earning some affiliate revenue when they purchase it. ​ If you use my “opposite” methodology, you’ll end up building remarkable levels of trust with your audience in part because you’re recommending the right product(s) and service(s) to them—ones that meet them where they are in their skill development and, thus, deliver actual value to them. That match between person and product/service is what we call “fit”. It’s a beautiful and mutually prosperous thing when you get it right. How do you find the right products to recommend (as an affiliate) to your audience? Simple: you ask them! Specifically, send out a brief email, or post a short message to your social media feed, that expresses curiosity about what products or services your followers are already spending money on that add value to their work or life. Here’s my template to get you started: ​ “Hey, (insert your name) here! Thank you so much for (following me, being a subscriber), your support means the world and I’m always thinking of ways I can bring you value and help make your life better. On that note, I have a few questions that I’d love for you to answer! What’s the most recent purchase you made that has helped you the most related to (insert your niche)? Why did you buy it and what was your experience like? Are you still using the product or service? Your answer will help me understand your situation and serve you better in the future. Thanks! (Insert your name)” By asking for your audience’s input first, you’re already miles ahead of most affiliate marketers. With this “opposite” approach, you position yourself as someone people can continue to trust and look to for guidance to solve their problems and benefit their pursuits. This approach works—like, really works. I used it years ago to generate over $200,000 from an exam software product in the architecture industry that I promoted via my first niche website, GreenExamAcademy.com. More recently, it’s the same method we use in the SPI business with key affiliate relationships like ConvertKit—which is built to serve the unique needs of emerging creators, which is why we recommended it. To date, we’ve generated over $400,000 in affiliate commissions from ConvertKit. You won’t reach those figures overnight. No one can. But if you stay true to this method over time, your results will compound. Now you know the first step in how to get there: find out what your audience is already buying. Next, you’ll need to outline your first “soft pitch” affiliate campaign, which we’ll talk about tomorrow. See you then! Pat P.S. I’m going live next Tuesday, May 25th at 11am Pacific, to teach a FREE workshop on monetizing your audience through affiliate marketing, and I’d love for you to be there! I’ll go deeper into important topics like finding the exact right product for your audience, the affiliate marketer’s secret weapon, and what rules you need to follow so you don’t get into trouble. ​[Click here to sign up!]( (You’ll be automatically registered.) ​ ​ [Unsubscribe]( | [Update your profile]( | 10531 4S Commons Drive, Suite 524, San Diego, CA 92127