My 12 Biggest Affiliate Marketing Mistakes in 12 Years
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My 12 Biggest Mitsakes in 12 Years Nadeem Azam
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Learn from affiliate marketing guru to boost your revenues as an affiliate. Presentation given at A4U Expo London. (c) Nadeem Azam, Azam Marketing, www.azam.net
Transcript of My 12 Biggest Affiliate Marketing Mistakes in 12 Years
My 12 Biggest Mitsakes in 12 Years
Nadeem Azam
Nadeem Azam
“Nadeem Azam has been involved in Affiliate Marketing since before the Internet was invented. He’s actually 75 years old but only looks about 14. He’ll be sharing his secrets to eternal youth as well as some amazing insights into the AM. This is a must-see session, learn from someone who has been there, seen it, done it and bought the t-shirt.”
Kieron Donoghue, here.org.uk, 16 September, 2009
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Azam Marketing
affiliate marketing
email marketing
search marketing
business development
web design
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Aim
Save you 50,000 hours
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Azam Marketing Revenue
Revenue from Internet Marketing
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Will save you having to resort to this . . .
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Successful people learn from mistakes.
If we learn from other people’s mistakes, even better!
Recently started in the affiliate game? . . .
Don’t be a plonker
Like this guy
Or this guy
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Even the best of us make mistakes…
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Lack of Clear Vision
“I’ll set-up beautiful websites, link to books on Amazon.com and Books.com and make money.”
1997 - MISTAKE 1
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- Determine what the Core Purpose of your business is
- Remind yourself of that Core Purpose every single week
- Don’t let anything get in the way of pursuing your aims- Stick to your Core Values and retain your integrity- Be willing to adapt to changing circumstances
“Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies” by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras
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1998 - MISTAKE 2
Doing Too Many Different Things
Umpteen websites: books, computer games, videos, CDs
Too many marketing strategies: SEO, PPC, email, offline
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“A jack of all trades is master of none”
1. Specialise in no more than three marketing disciplines
SEM is now no longer something that can be picked up in a week. PPC is becoming more complex by the day and it takes years to become proficient
Become an expert on SEO, PPC, social media, m-commerce, email marketing, domaining?
2. If build websites, then specialise in one or two types of websites or subject areas
Your competitors have spent thousands of hours building cashback and comparison shopping scripts
Specialise in voucher codes, cashback or content? If content, build the UK’s leading site on hatha yoga or what to do in Colchester?
Hard enough to succeed in one of the most ruthlessly competitive arenas in the history of humankind; don’t make harder by fighting battle on too many fronts like this poor strategist . . .
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1999 - MISTAKE 3
Promoting Advertisers Paying Low Commissions
3% on the sale of a £9 CD or DVD is 27p! And it’s not easy to sell one CD or DVD.
One of these costs 50p
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Focus on high ticket items: broadband internet, mobile phones, insurance, utility supplies
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Digital products and services usually pay higher CPAs: software downloads, eBooks, dating
Networks with digital products: oneNetworkDirect, RevenueWire, Clickbank and Click2Sell. Also traditional networks like CJ, TD and AW
Registry Mechanic via oneNetworkDirect paying 50% commission on £30 sale = £15.
To earn £15 on the Play.com affiliate program, which pays 2% commission, you’d have to sell over 30 DVDs!
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Prioritise companies that pay residual income
Residual income v. linear income: www.azam.net/residual-income
Paid on Results UK network has several ‘Customer Base’ programs which pay recurring commissions
USA networks paying recurring commissions include the likes of Commission River
Also many independent web hosting, dating and telecoms programs
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2000 - MISTAKE 4
Not having the right tools
No internet connection at home, used free subdomain services, relied upon free web hosting
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Just like a plumber or carpenter, the superior the tools, the easier and quicker it will be for you to produce the best results
Sell your TV, cooker and your washing machine if you have to; they are less important than having the best tools for your business
- Powerful PC
- Superfast internet connection
- Two monitors
- Quality webhosting
- Top notch software
- Memorable domain names
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2001 - MISTAKE 5
Lack of Automation and Delegation
Not make sufficient use of tools and software to save time
Doing everything myself
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Time is money
Automate your websites as much as possible
Buy the best scripts, tools and subscriptions you can afford
Freeware at Downloads.com and Tucows.com
Scripts at ResourceIndex.com, Hotscripts.com, ScriptSearch.com
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2002 - MISTAKE 6
Communications Overload
Spending half the day answering emails, helping people on IM and chatting on the phone
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Developing a reputation for always being available for everybody will not make you succeed in business
Focus on ROI generating communications
Use autoresponders, canned responses, voicemail
Set-up detailed FAQs on your websites to help your customers
Refer your website visitors to customer support of the merchant(s) you are promoting
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Biggest time-waster is email
Auto-receive emails in Outlook once every three hours
Set Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin to send notifications once a day
‘Bells & Whistles for Outlook’
ww.emailaddressmanager.com/outlook-bells.html
‘Phrase Express’
www.phraseexpress.com
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2003 – MISTAKE 7
Pfaffing about on non-work related websites
Wasting time on unproductive sites
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Watching funny YouTube videos, looking at pictures of people’s parties on Facebook or telling friends what you had for breakfast via Twitter will not help your succeed in business
Avoid playing games. Internet marketing is essentially playing games with real money!
Monitor your activity online with software such as TimeSprite.com
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2004 - MISTAKE 8
Believing and trusting everybody
Affiliate Managers: “Content sites are the way to go”
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Have to step back from the situation and make an independent evaluation
The most effective to make money in affiliate marketing are usually not discussed on the forums, in magazines or at mainstream conferences!
Cut through the rubbish
Find a mentor
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2005 – MISTAKE 9
Not being quick off the mark
Evolve or die
Small businesses have massive disadvantages over big businesses; the major advantage they have is ability to react quickly to changing circumstances
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Read obsessively about your areas of expertise
Attend industry conferences
Study what the Americans are up to – they are often ahead
Keep an eagle eye on others in your field
If you spot any potential opportunities (a) mull over it (b) strategise
If the opportunity is a good one, go into it all guns ablazing
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2006 – MISTAKE 10
Not Publicising Websites or Business
Quietly getting on with the job without making a song and dance about things
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Most affiliates are too web-obsessed
Get exposure for your websites and business in newspapers, magazines, radio and TV
Local newspapers and radio are hungry for content
Find contact details at www.mediauk.com
Dragons’ Den Online: www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/pitches
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2007 – MISTAKE 11
Not Asking and Looking for More
Not asking for higher commissions, voucher codes, competition prizes, etc.
Focusing on mainstream UK networks
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Advertisers often see affiliates as a “cheap” way to generate sales.
Sometimes significant mark-ups on many products, yet affiliates receive measly commissions
MediaPost.com, 28 July, 2009: “Big online ad networks have an average profit margin of 45%”
Affiliate networks typically earn 20% to 30% of the commission value on sales you generate.
Insist on higher commissions!
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Many programs are on multiple networks. Seek network with:
- highest commission - most reliable tracking- longest cookie period- fastest payment- best service
You can increase your income by 20% + for delivering the same number of leads/sales
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Ask for higher tiers, tenancy fees, CPC, CPM
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FINALLY…
Never let anybody video you without your permission when you are with AffiliateFuture in Barbados . . .
MY BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER
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Any questions?
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Tomorrow
The Affiliate Sales Kit - Writing Killer Proposals and Selling Yourself To Merchants
Time: 17:15 – 18:00Room: Platinum 4
