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Continuing from last month, here's a few more tips on making a success of your affilliate programs.

Worried About the Competition?

Last month's Feature gave you some tips on how to make a little bit of money from your affiliate programs, the main one being to stick with one of the recognised experts in your field.

This is all well and good, but some of you may have thought that, if you try to get behind a product from, say, Yanick Silver, you are going to be up against possibly thousands of other folks all pushing the same product. Would it not therefore be better to find something from a less well known author?

The first thing that springs to my mind when presented with this argument, is to compare it with what goes on in the world of popular music or fine art pictures. Two very different worlds, but both of them are full of folks trying to discover the next Rolling Stones or a new Vincent van Gogh before everybody else. I don't think I need to remind you about how many bands Sony go through before they hit paydirt. There have also been a large number of gallery owners who would advise you to stick to the known artists if you want to make money!

Get Established First

Sure you can take a chance now and then by trying to get behind a promising product nobody else is using, for how else would the Beatles have made it? Someone had to stick his neck out. But why not get established first with proven products from proven suppliers? It then won't hurt nearly so much if it doesn't work out. Bear in mind also that if you establish yourself as a reliable source of excellent products folks are more likely to take you seriously if you confront them with something they have never seen before.

Don't be Afraid

As far as the competition is concerned, you really never should be afraid of competition. Here are some very good reasons why.

First of all, look around your own area. How many places are there close by where you can do your grocery shopping? I bet there's more than one. Do you think Walmart or Tesco are likely to close down their local branch just because some competitor opens up across the street? I doubt it. I bet there's more than one place where you can grab a pizza or fill up your car. In general, unless you live half way up a mountain or in the middle of the desert, there is always room for a little competition unless you are working in a contracting market segment. There may not be many places you could get a typewriter repaired these days, but if your computer goes down, you'll have folks fighting on your front lawn!

Life on the internet can stand even more competition because, not only are their hundreds of millions of folks logging on out there, but new folks are joining by the second. There aren't many marketers out there with opt in mailing lists running to the millions yet, so you have plenty to go at.

But I'm Still Worried!

If the thoughts of a thousand or so competitors out there all pushing the same product still worries you, remember that almost anyone running an affiliate scheme will tell you that over 90% of their affiliates are selling very little. You are only really competing with the small handful that are making things work.

Let Your Personality Shine Through

You can narrow the odds even more in your favour by putting a little extra effort into things. Try designing your own web page for the product instead of just using the one supplied with it. Even if you use the same text, make the look and feel of the site more like your own. This will immediately set you apart from the competition.

Do the same with any adverts you run. You've probably noticed for yourself that adverts in e-zines can look very similar. It can be very difficult to tell one from another when a number of people are using the same ad from the same vendor. Make yourself stand out from the crowd. You will still need a riveting headline and carefully crafted text, but try to make it your own. Get your own personality in there. Remember that you are trying to make a name for yourself here, the product vendor should already have his reputation made so he doesn't need any help from you. If he hasn't, why are you bothering trying to sell his product?

Treat your self to a copy of Make Your Words Sell from Ken Evoy and you will soon have a web page and accompanying ads that will work for you.

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Copyright 2003 © Mike Pepper, http://www.yoyodynewebdesign.co.uk
All rights reserved.

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