Newbie Product Owners Do Not Want to Read This

I have some very disturbing news for many newbie product developers who have spent months of hard work completing a product all the sales pages exact, thinking that there product will sell, and that an army of affiliates will promote that product. They won’t, you have been deluded. I will first tell you why, and then I will tell you what you can do about it.

Go to any affiliate marketing form, or any business internet marketing forum and you will see many newbie product owners politely asking for affiliates to promote their product. Every one I have seen has been sincere, yet you can read by the following comments they are greatly disappointed. In fact you can almost feel there pain. I know and relate to them because when I developed my first product, I spent so much time writing and putting it together in the forlorn hope that I would make money. I relate to all those hours of hard work away from the family, all those evenings after work, normally till 2 in the morning, every weekend in life for over six month glued to the computer, the neglect of the house hold chores which were forever building up, and the neglect of the family; for reasons that I was doing it for the family and not myself. Yes to all those newbie product creators I have been there and done it.

Poor me, yet there is worse, the product I created, “photofortune” contained far more than the asking price; and I am not just being clichéd here, it did contain far more. For example, instead of a 70 page eBook, I had 7 distinct chapters averaging 60+ pages; along with 9 appendixes of over a 100 pages; thousands of stock photographs; over 50 pieces of software; and many eBooks relating to the subject and others besides. What I am trying to say is that after all the hard work I was left with a top product that nobody knew existed.

So what did I do from there, I tried to approach affiliates to promote that product for me, and I was very surprised at the response. The answer was always garbled but always in the negative; that if they answered. If you have been in that position, this article will make perfect sense to you. If you do not expect to be in that position, then you are either a spoilt brat and have somebody to take you hand; or you are living in another planet. This is reality we are talking here, so to the newbie developers listen closely as you will face this barrier and it is huge; it is nothing in comparison to the problems you faced when you were developing your product and sales page.

Now let us get back to the forums where we see people advertising sincerely for affiliates to promote their product with no takers. What does the product owner do next? Well as far as advice is concerned, they are not short of it, but every bit of advice is in the positive, saying how easy it is to overcome. Rubbish, it is difficult and the quicker the newbie realizes this the better. Wise up, nobody, and I mean nobody is going to take your product and sell it for you regardless of how good it is, and regardless of how much you are prepared to give them.

What is lack, not a good product, but credibility; nobody knows you or your product. This is your starting point; the realization that you are on your own. Why should anyone buy a product, (or promote a product), from somebody that is totally unknown and untried? You may say, what if I were to SEO my sales page and get it to the top of the search engines, then I would say that would get you a better start, but if you think about it, this must be a must. Your sales page should be well SEO’d. You may think what about using adwords and paying good money to get it to the top of the search engines; that is even better, however you must remember that you pay for every click onto your site but I am hearing figures that only one person in 100 is likely to buy that way. You may decide to use this method but you have to offset your advertising costs with your profits. So this is a way forward but there are others.

I am now going back to the recruitment of affiliates but with a different approach, an approach that is going to appear drastic, but it is the best way forward, even when I say to you that I do not like it. I do not like the way it is done, and I do not like the philosophy behind it, but it is the only way to build your credibility and promote your product.

Ok, assuming like me you have created a brilliant product and your creditability is zero. Assume your product is to be sold for $50 and you are willing to part with $25 of them to your affiliate. Think about that for a minute, you have spent say, the last 6 months in hibernation from you family, from your own life, in order to create a product to make money from, and then give $25, half the value, to some affiliate who has done nothing. Now that is a bitter pill to swallow. Now I am not getting at affiliates here, just the system.

There are basically two types of affiliates: the first are the ones who will take your product, actively create sales pages for themselves and do everything they can to promote your product, including paying for adwords; the second are those with lists who can email their existing customers and promote your product. They in theory can promote your product for less than ten minutes work, and reap the same reward as you. This is even bitterer pill to swallow. Do you stand your ground and say no, I am not giving them the fruits of my efforts, or do you give it to them. I am sorry to say, there is no other way to do it, and you have to give them it. What are you buying? You are buying their customers loyalty; customers they have taken time to sweeten. The risk is for them to promote your product, at the expense of them loosing their customer base. That is why they can be reticent in taking you on.

If you manage to recruit newbie affiliates who need to work hard to promote your product, do not expect them to make as many sales, even though they are more sincere. So the best affiliates are those with established list, but do not underestimate the hard working affiliates, and certainly do not reject them.

You hear the terms affiliate marketing and joint ventures intertwined, but there are differences. The relationship in the joint venture partnership is more critical as the joint venture partner has their reputation to uphold. The hard working affiliate marketer does not have that same credibility at risk.

So I suggest you target the Joint Venture partner first as it is easier for them to get the ball rolling. Once the joint venture partners are on their way, you then need the affiliates to keep the momentum going.

How do you get a joint venture off the ground? The first step it to target them individually. The best place to start with is those marketers whom you have already subscribed to, the once who already email you. Secondly, you could possibly target people by watching their movements within the forums. This is easier than you may think, but what you need is a good list of email addresses of possible partners.

Now once you have that list, you have all the work to do. First of all you have to create an email to sell your self and your product. I that email you must mention you product in detail and the benefits to the customer and the partner as well as the commission you decide to give them. It is also necessary to write an email in plain text for them to pass out to their existing customers. (Have you ever received two emails from two different people with the same contents? Well it is not the partner who writes the email but you the product owner). The partner may decide to reject the email you wrote, but at least you have given them the choice. You also need to be clear as to how payment is to be made, normally though a hop link to an affiliate marketing site such as clickbank. You may also give them bonuses, yes you give them bonuses, for them to give to their customers when they buy your product through them. Yes it all seems one way, especially as you then have to give them your download page, yes your product for free. Now I suggest you give them the download page without links at first, and then if they are serious, give them the full product. You are thereby showing that you have a good product for sales, and you are not begging their services. That way you are appearing to take control, saying that you have a good product and that you want to give them the opportunity to be part of it, along with a select few other partners; as opposed to saying, “please promote my product for little old me”.

Now I suggest you target at least ten possible partners, and sent you emails to those partners one after another. That way, if you have done your work properly, they may want to send out your advertisement that same day before the others. You are now in a much better position to be taken seriously, and if you are taken seriously, then your product will be taken seriously. Now if those ten possible partners do not respond: sent out ten more; and ten more again. If there is still no response, examine your approach, rewrite you emails, and target partners in a different manner. That should get the ball going.

Now I must mention the fact that you are doing this in order to make money. That’s what’s driving you, well not all. You see if your product is as good as you think, you only want to get the ball rolling. After an initial sales boost, word of mouth and good reputation will help your product sells itself. When that happens you can throw away your crutches and take charge yourself.

This next thing you do is recruit affiliates to keep the momentum going and again you will need to work at this. Affiliates need to be motivated and nothing is better to motivate them than a good product, with good established sales, and a good commission. The forum will then have affiliates wanting to work with your product.

No I mentioned these affiliates need trained and they need tools, and I will now tell you what they are. You will need to give them eMail promotions, banner ads, maybe articles relating to your product to get them started, ppc ads, signature files, 404 error page, bonuses, keywords and possible product reviews as well the same information you gave to the Joint Venture Partners above.

It is a big barrier, and it needs a big solution. I don’t like how it is done, but it works well. There is one consolation to all this, and that is, when you are successful, other newbie product owners will approach you. Grit you your teeth and go for it, and include me as one of you future partners.

All the best and good luck with your endeavours.
Gordon McCulloch