Karen Repoli — December 1, 2016 Follow @karenrepoliIn my last post, I discussed why you need to utilize affiliate marketing to promote your business. Now that you know you want an affiliate program, you need to find affiliates.
Finding affiliates is a combination of simply asking people and letting interested parties know about your program. In addition, you can encourage people to be an affiliate by offering excellent products, top-notch customer service, and a generous commission.
Direct Contact – Find competitors and others who market to your audience but don’t offer the exact products or services as you and approach them directly. Work first to build relationships with these people in online groups, via joint ventures, events, and more and you’ll be certain to get a percentage of them to sign up for your affiliate program and promote your products and services.
Customers – Your best affiliates can come from people who have purchased from you. Definitely, run an email series for your customers to encourage them to earn money by recommending your products to their friends and family. This is a great way to end up with a true fan as an affiliate.
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Colleagues – Even if you work from home, you are likely part of a group of like-minded individuals online or offline. Ensure that you let these people know that you have an affiliate program so that they can choose to join if they want to. You can also give special commission percentages to people you know.
Movers & Shakers – You’ve seen them on Twitter, Facebook groups, and probably on numerous webinars, etc. These big earners shake things up. Work toward building a relationship with them, then make it super simple for them to promote your products. Offer to set it all up for them so that all they have to do is collect the money when they make sales.
Conferences – You can also meet potential affiliates at live events and conferences. Whether you’re a speaker or an attendee, you can meet people who want to offer your products to their audience. Make it worth their while to promote you, by also promoting them.
Print Publications – You can place ads in relevant print publicans such as work at home magazines and other magazines devoted to people who are interested in this type of income opportunity.
Social Media – If you join groups and friend people online, ensure that you also connect with potential affiliates. Take the time to get to know them. When it’s appropriate, let them know about your affiliate program. You can use social media also to talk about how excited you are about your affiliate program. The more enthusiastic you are about the program, the more they will want to join to earn money.
Blogging – Use your blog part of the time, to speak to potential affiliates. Your blog provides your audience with solutions to their problems. But, once you have an affiliate program, you can also mention how you want to help as many people as possible and your readers can help by becoming an affiliate.
Forums/Groups – Any groups you’re part of, online or off, can be great places to find affiliates. The best thing to do is to build relationships with people you think would like and promote your products. Offer to do things for them, make your program so inviting that they can’t resist.
Online Ads – Another way to attract affiliates is to advertise the program and its benefits. You can use Facebook, Twitter, or even Ad Words to market the program. This works very well, if you have a good product funnel, offer excellent commissions, and a wide range of products for your niche.
Your Website – Don’t forget that your website is the hub of your business. Keep reminder info and an affiliate program link in a prominent place on your site. This should be short and link to further information about the program details.
Word-of-Mouth – People like to talk, so if you do a good job taking care of your affiliates and offer really great products, then super affiliates will notice you and talk about you. Plus, when they start promoting your products, other people in their circle will notice and join too.
Cold Calls – If you already know people that promote other people’s products and you’re sure that your product fits in with their niche, go ahead and drop them an email, or even get them on the phone. Be ready to explain what is so great about your product and how it benefits their audience. Plus, explain how you’re going to make it super easy for them to be part of your program.
Hire an Affiliate Manager – Even if you’re just starting your program, hiring an affiliate manager can help you grow your affiliate program faster. Hire someone who is familiar with your niche, who has connections to promote to super affiliates and who understands the software you use.
Directories – There are directories where you can list your affiliate program. They do require a link back, but it’s free. More than likely, you won’t find as many affiliates this way since building relationships is very important. However, it does help direct potential candidates to your opportunity.
Affiliate Networks – Another great way to find affiliates is to list your products in affiliate networks such as Clickbank.com or JVZOO.com. Marketers who are looking for a product to promote often go there to search for them. Make sure you offer a great program and a lucrative commission. Include tools to make promoting easy. These could include articles, graphics, emails, etc.
Finding and recruiting affiliates is only part of starting an affiliate program. Now you need to make your affiliate offer worthy, appealing and timely. Plus, the more unique your offer is, the more affiliates you’ll recruit.
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