AboutChristine Milot Expertise I can answer questions pertaining to web design, graphic design, e-marketing, social
marketing, search engine management and optimization, pay per click, affiliate marketing,
landing pages, content management systems, shopping cart systems, email marketing,
online video marketing, podcasting, list purchasing, link development, web analytics and
almost anything related to building an internet marketing strategy to effectively grow an
e-commerce or web business with success.
Experience Online and offline marketing. Web design, graphic design and e-marketing.
Education/Credentials MA in Design and MFA in Interactive Computer Design
Question I am starting an business selling only ebooks, I created a website with an ebook but I am finding hard trying to recruit affiliates to sell it for me. I signed up to Tradedoubler and Paydotcom, Commission Junction and Shareasale rejected me as I don't have enough traffic (sure I don’t, I just set it up ! ). Clickbank is a bit expensive, is it worth it? Are there good alternatives to Clickbank? what's the best way or network to recruit affiliates? I even considered emailing them one by one, but that'll take ages.
Thank you for your time
Answer This is quite an involved question as it really pertains to answering the bigger question about marketing your e-book(s) and to answer it thoroughly I would need to understand the content and concept of the actual book or books or site itself to give a more in-depth answer, but I will provide as much as possible for you to get started.
1. Affiliate Marketing can be useful but you really need to do your research. Does the Affiliate service provide qualified visitors with the product(s) that I am selling? What guarantees of increased traffic do they provide and at what cost? As you have discovered, there are various financial obligations and fees involved with each of the Affiliate Marketing services you have described. Do they provide what you need? I would start by examining their offerings and doing a comparison. Which ones will send you the most qualified visitors and are the most reasonable? Then I would suggest testing the service for a short term. You will need the ability to capture the results of the sales and where they came from. If you can capture which Affiliate sites send you visitors that actually purchase, then you can evaluate the cost and fees associated with working with them. You need to have the ability to not only know where the visitors are "coming from" (click through rate) but the ability to see if they are actually purchasing.
2. I would suggest a multi-faceted marketing plan. A plan that includes Affiliate Marketing but also includes some Social Marketing such as the use of Twitter, or FaceBook plus some E-mail Marketing (if targeted properly e-mail works well), plus make sure that your pages are optimized for SEO and then consider some PayPer Click and even an Offline Marketing Program. Of course, you will want to track the results of each program, test and compare, and then move efforts and dollars toward the one that is working the best. It really is important to use various channels and to understand where your clients are so you can gain their attention and ultimately sales.
3. Again, the most important thing is to understand where your clients exist and then select the best Marketing Channel to attract their interest.
4. Yes, emailing individual Affiliates might be time consuming, but you also need to consider that this is a much more targeted solution and your results could be better then using an Affiliate Network. My suggestion would be to do the above and add this into the mix on a regular basis as well. Again, you will need to follow your sales results. If you get higher results with a targeted effort, this might be where you spend your time.
5. There is no "one" Marketing solutions for any situation. The best approach is to mix it up, test it and then focus, focus, focus based on the results.
Yes, it will take time and effort but you will then have the ability to make sure that your time and dollars are well spent.
