Affiliate Marketing – The SMART Way

If you’ve purchased “Confessions of a Lazy Super-Affiliate“, then you already know my preferred, most desirable traffic profile: Desperate visitors in markets with major demand.

People desperate for solutions to a problem, for whom an entry fee or credit card payment is trivial – they’ll do whatever it takes to fix whatever it is that needs to be fixed.

And your job, my good marketing friend, is to either provide that solution, or own the property that points to it – for a commission.

Beautiful.

However, these types of visitors need to be handled with care, because they’re volatile, and sometimes very emotional. And though they may be desperate, what they need is someone who ISN’T desperate.

Let me explain…

At the time of writing this, Sarah and I are in Egypt, checking out Cairo after spending a week or so in Sharm El Sheikh. Very interesting place. (The pyramids and ancient ruins are nothing short of phenomonal – mind blowing. They’re not even a fraction as impressive as they would’ve been 4600 years ago, but that says a lot, because even now, in 2008 they’re incredibly impressive due to their massive scale and historical significance…)

However, being a tourist in Egypt goes hand in hand with something that’s a nuisance at best, and potentially dangerous at worst – husslers, hawkers and desperate salesmen trying to get your money so that they can survive.

Everywhere you go, everything you do – you’ll be asked for tips in return for someone’s “help”, hussled for camel-rides, and barraged by sales attempts by people selling China’s finest egyptian souvenirs. There’s no escaping it – the pyramid sites, the city streets, resort areas, and on and on.

And it’s not just Egypt that’s like this. Any country where money is scarce and average incomes are low, there is (understandably) an overall desperation to survive. To somehow make it till next month, next week – or shorter. In fact, the majority of the world’s population lives within this mindset.

Make it – somehow.

Strive to survive.

And you can see it a mile away. The moment you’re approached by street vendors trying to hussle you for a sale, or by children trying to guilt you into a purchase – or even by some of the more “excitable” beggars – it never fails to shine through…

DESPERATION

Now, take a moment to recall some of the times that you’ve been “hussled”, or otherwise pushed to do something by someone in a desperate mindset.

What was your reaction?

Close your eyes and recall what you felt – what you thought…

If you’re like me, you likely felt an instant surge of repulsion. Repelled. You were instantly uncomfortable, wanting to LEAVE and ESCAPE the situation as fast as possible.

The same thing happens online.

So many people have written salesletters, pitch pages, affiliate reviews and copy in general that will practically NEVER sell because of this inaliable rule – everyone is repelled by desperation.

Desperation implies that somebody wants something, from you – regardless of any value you might incur from your purchase – because they truly need it to survive.

And this is subtle stuff, folks.

If someone writes a salesletter, knowing full-well that it HAS to sell well enough to pay for their rent that’s due next week, that MIND-SET is going to come through crystal-clear in the copy, in the unwritten tone of the writing. And it’s very difficult to fabricate confidence.

People will instantly “see” desperation, regardless if the writer tried their very best to write a compelling, “mouth-watering” offer.

They need some help. More specifically, money. Yours.

Now, desperate visitors will still be more likely to respond, even to a desperate seller, but the conversion rates will be abysmal. But the more likely response is that when desperate visitors meet “desperate” copy, it’s just going to make their problem worse. They’ll be exasperated.

An example of this is right here in our own little niche, “internet marketing”.

A lot of newbies are desperate for money, and it seems that several try to make their big internet “break” by becoming the next John Reese. The problem is that they have nothing to offer, and they’re desperate – which is also who they’re targeting – others who are desperate, just like them.

The result is widespread mistrust and exasperation – evident in the thousands of people who see the niche as nothing more than a shark-pit full of scammers that hussle their re-hashed ebooks, courses, etc. Either they’ve been burned in the past, or more commonly, they’re simply sick and tired of the hype and desperate selling attempts that pervade the market.

The problem worsens as the “would-be” internet millionaires trying to sell their “get rich secrets” and discover that their product simply doesn’t sell, that they don’t get the big JV endorsements, and that it didn’t work – for them. As a result, they become exasperated, angry, discouraged – and even more desperate.

And that’s just one niche of many – this happens in every marketplace, every industry.

Okay, so now we’ve seen how desperation will directly and indirectly determine the success of an offer – affiliate or otherwise. Your visitors can see right through the hype – make no mistake. If your tone comes across as confident, then they’ll be drawn to you. If you’re desperate, they’ll be repelled – subliminally, instantly.

Desperation – the double-edged sword.

You want the desperate visitor, but you can’t be desperate yourself.

As they say - “opposites attract”.

So with that in mind – here’s how to inspire confidence in your visitors, instantly earning their subliminal trust – being seen as an authority whose recommendations are practically mandatory…

Turning Your “Desperate Traffic” Into Gold:

I could easily write a short book about how to do this (in fact, I basically did with Confessions), but I’ll summarize it for you in one, simple statement…

Don’t Sell – Point

Believe it or not, this goes for salesletters as well as affiliate recommendations. Where “pointing” differs from “selling” is that it removes the obvious vested element of telling someone where and how to fix their problem. People sell things to get money. But pointing is more just a factual statement.

Selling: “RegCure is absolutely the BEST registry cleaner you’ll ever find! It completely fixes your PC in seconds! Why not try it out right now – you have nothing to lose!”

Pointing: “Realistically, any reputable registry cleaner will fix your PC’s registry – they all do the same thing. Most even have a free demo that repairs up to five problems free of charge, or something similar. For example, RegCure has a free demo, allowing you to ‘test drive’ it before making a purchase. And if that doesn’t work – there’s literally hundreds of other programs out there, just Google ‘registry cleaner’”

The “selling” example is full of hype. It doesn’t sound believable. The “pointing” example comes across as more of a statement – and desperation element is removed by telling the user that “basically all the registry cleaners do the same thing”, and that if RegCure doesn’t work, then just “Google registry cleaner”. The pointing example comes across as being objective, detached, confident.

This gives it an air of believability. The visitor doesn’t seem pushed. They’re already desperate – you just need to point them to the solution.

Now – what about salesletters that directly sell something? How can you “point”, instead of trying to sell?

This comes down to your delivery of the pitch. Remember, you need to establish that subliminal trust as fast as possible – and the best way to do that is by delivering value, FAST.

It’s okay to sell something – people expect it. Be clear about it. Don’t “feel bad” about it.

But instead of trying to convince someone – just give them a sample of what they want, up-front. If you’re selling information, than give away one of your BEST, most provoking secrets directly on your sales page. This will satisfy your visitor, but leave them hungry for more.

Just like a baking shop with a basket of their best, small brownie samples on a “try me” plate – it makes for an easy sale if what you’ve got is GOOD.

If you’re selling software, make a demo version and push the free download.

Don’t convince – prove. And then point to your order link.

Make this one simple shift from selling to pointing, and you’ll be amazed at the results that follow. Your visitors will actually start responding to your sites, because you’ll be attracting them submlinally – instilling confidence and encouraging action.

Profitable actions, for you and them.

Your traffic will climb naturally due to word of mouth, and your style will attract others effortlessly. People are drawn to confidence – to someone who’s almost reluctant to share something – rather than some who’s trying to “convince” them into doing something.

Harness the power of desperation by pointing with authority, with confidence.

Stop ’selling’ – and you’ll sell more than you ever thought possible.

Try and prove me wrong – you’ll be pleasantly surprised

Cheers,

-Chris