Affiliate Business Tips

Presell like a pro

The most important thing you can do to increase your affiliate commissions is to presell properly.

Mike Talo Oil PaintingBefore we begin, we need to first define what preselling is. Preselling is both an art and a science.

The goal is to get your reader prepped to make a purchase. Then sending them to the product sales page to make the purchase. If you do it well, it's completely invisible.

The gist is that you give your reader some useful information. And give them a link to the product you're preselling.

In just a minute, I'll explain exactly how to presell. Before we get into that, you should understand what's in it for you. Here are a few benefits of preselling:

  • Preselling creates trust - And gaining the trust of your readers helps them want to click your links. And the more traffic you can send to the sale page, the more commissions you'll earn.
  • It disarms your reader - When you're not hyping or pitching a product, your reader lets their guard down. Unguarded reading means they're not filtering what you say. And your intention is conveyed more easily.
  • It puts them in a buying mood - Now they're open to hearing what you're telling them. So they become more receptive to other messages. Like the info on product sales page you've linked to. Sending them to the sales page in this state makes them more receptive to the actual pitch.
  • You make more money - You've prepped them and referred them in the right state of mind. With the guard down and trusting your recommendation. This dramatically boosts your sales rate!
  • Your customers are happier - People like to make their own buying decisions. Instead of being manipulated into buying. So they are happier with their purchase.
  • Your profits go up - Satisfied customers are less like to refund. And that translates to more commission staying in your affiliate business.

Obviously, it's important to presell. You increase your profits. Your customers are happier. Everybody wins!

Now, here's how preselling works:

OK, now you understand why it's so important. And hopefully you're convinced you need to start doing it. You're ready to learn how to do it properly. As I mentioned earlier, it's both an art and a science.

Mastering the art

First, you have to gain the trust of your reader, so they let their guard down. Honestly, the only way to do this is to provide real value in your content - your product.

Now, providing enough info to be useful, but still making them want more - that's the art of it.

That is, they have to be wanting more when you refer them to the product sales page for the product you’re trying to sell. And because you've gained trust, they’re more receptive to the sales message and more likely to buy.

Scientific preselling

There are also several key elements that need to be included.

The first is how you present the information. You have to have your end in mind. Your goal is to sell the product you're promoting. How can providing information accomplish this goal?

The first method is to provide enough info to get them started, but not enough to finish. The second way is to provide all the information and let your reader discover how hard it is to actually implement it. Either way, the product sales page solves the problem.

Next, you have to use "convert linking" methods. Instead, you use a direct link to the product website. This increases your clicks.

But how will you earn affiliate commissions if you don't use your affiliate link? There's a trick to make this work... You "pre-cookie" your reader before sending them to the sales page.

The next trick is to hyperlink specific words and phrases inside the content of the article you’re providing. Hyperlinked words are clicked more than anything else. And if the words you hyperlink relate, your reader will naturally click them for more information.

What you have now is a super powerful system for affiliate marketing success.

Unfortunately...

This process is not easy – at all! Let's look at the skills required to pull it off: Good content. First of all, you actually have to write great articles and give value to your readers. This means you have to be able to write well, and have enough knowledge to be useful, and be honest.  Take a look at how James Altucher writes.  He's completely open and honest.

Preselling skills. Yes, you must providing useful content. And you have to make the content accessible in order to provide value. And somehow also make them want to learn more. The other approach is to reveal a self-evident problem through the information.

Product selection. Next, you’ve got to pick the right product to presell. Even if you can pull off writing and great article. All your efforts are wasted if you send your reader to the wrong sales letter.

Technical skills. And finally, you need the technical know-how to embed your image tag and make sure you get credit for the sale. This is actually pretty simple – just embed a 1 pixel X 1 pixel image and set your affiliate link as the “source” of the image. (Just don't mess it up. Otherwise, you won't get credit for your sales.)

Summary:

Now you’re armed with the information needed to effectively presell. Preselling properly will boost your affiliate profits.  It’s absolutely critical to do this every time – and to do it correctly. Please don’t be lazy. Make the extra effort required to propel your affiliate business to the next level.

All the best,

Jack Folsgood

s2Member®