Affiliate Marketing – Sell What You Know

Mar 12, 2009 in Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Training

If you hope to be a successful affiliate marketer, it is important that you sell what you know. This entails not only using the product or service that you hope to sell yourself, but also being passionate about the products or services you are offering, as well as the niche that those products or services fall in.

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If you hate sports, don’t try to sell sports related items. If you hate cooking, don’t try to sell cooking related items. A customer’s passion and excitement about a product comes from the excitement and passion that is portrayed in the promotional materials. You can’t pretend to have passion that you don’t have effectively enough to make a lot of sales.

So, instead of looking to see what the popular affiliate marketing niches are, think first about what interests you, as a human being. Make a list, and then look to see if anything on your list is a market that has a lot of interest.

Don’t be put off if there are a lot of affiliates advertising products or services within your niche. This only means that there is money to be made in that market, and you can get right on in there and get your share of it, if you are passionate enough about the products and services that you are selling.

The more you know about a niche, or the more interest you have in it, the better you will do in your affiliate marketing. It’s just a proven fact that you would be wise to adhere to. It is also important to try the products or services yourself, before you recommend them to others. Again, this only serves to make you a more effective affiliate marketer.

To be successful in affiliate marketing, don’t try to fool the masses. If you try to pretend to have knowledge in a niche you know nothing about, those potential customers – who are passionate about this niche – will see that, and your credibility will be ruined. Stick instead with what you are passionate about, and simply sell what you know.

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10 comments

Ric Raftis - Follow this person as @RicRaftis on Twitter
on March 12, 2009 at 7:40 AM

Absolutely excellent advice Doug. If you sell what you know and focus on a niche, then you get known and respected for that. If you try and market everything, then you really are wasting your time and the time of your subscribers which will be dropping like nine pins!

Cheers,

Ron Barrett - Follow this person as @ronbarrett on Twitter
on March 12, 2009 at 8:11 AM

Great advice Doug…goes along nicely with creating your own products. If you don’t know cooking, don’t create a product about cooking. The more you know about the products you are promoting, the easier it is to do it.

Keep the great info coming.

Ron

Ron Barrett’s last blog post..Optimizing Your Optin

Fred Lotgering - Follow this person as @lotcon on Twitter
on March 12, 2009 at 9:10 AM

Another great one Doug!

It is becoming a daily routine to check your blog for the latest affiliate marketing posts.

Fred

Fred Lotgering’s last blog post..GiveAways for Building Traffic

Mike Paetzold - Follow this person as @mikepaetzold on Twitter
on March 12, 2009 at 9:24 AM

Definitely need to add this blog into my reader so I don’t miss any of the great information you have been adding here.

It is always easy to see those that don’t have passion for what they are promoting. Having that passion and knowledge of the topic come through even if you marketing skills aren’t first rate and build the trust necessary for people to buy the product from you because they trust you.

Mike Paetzold’s last blog post..Video Cash Explosion Review

Michael Roark - Follow this person as @michaelroark on Twitter
on March 12, 2009 at 9:28 AM

Great advice, especially for new folks who are banging their head against the wall looking for a “new” niche they can get into. Like Doug said, don’t worry about new go with what you know!

Michael Roark’s last blog post..World of Warcraft 1 to 450 Enchanting Guide

Earl Netwal - Follow this person as @EarlNetwal on Twitter
on March 12, 2009 at 11:29 AM

While it’s good to be interested in a topic, that doesn’t mean you need to be an expert in it. The best way to learn an area is to teach it. Just be careful when you start to not be too know it all-y.

Learn from others and build on your knowledge as you go. By continually posting and thus needing to be continually learning you will be that expert in no time.

Earl Netwal’s last blog post..What Is Home Staging And How Does It Help To Sell My House

Andre Arnett - Follow this person as @learningaffil on Twitter
on March 12, 2009 at 3:50 PM

That is a really good idea for what to promote. Passion with a product will come across so much better to your customers. And if they think you do not know what you are doing or selling you could be losing customers and don’y even know. I like the podcast a lot Doug.

Andre Arnett’s last blog post..Well Mr Twitter, Where Do We Go From Here?

Joel Osborne - Follow this person as @JoelOsborne on Twitter
on March 12, 2009 at 6:01 PM

Great points!

Not only will you like the market you are in if you choose one you have some ideas about, but you will also last longer in it.

If you are not passionate about the topic, you won’t last that long. You will get bored and move on. So just ‘move on’ to begin with, in a niche you like.

Joel Osborne’s last blog post..Affiliatenaire – How to Promote Any Affiliate Program In 5 Easy Steps

Brett McEllhiney - Follow this person as @bmcellhiney on Twitter
on March 12, 2009 at 7:37 PM

Very good point Doug.

I have noticed that myself, in that the products that I am passionate about have always sold better.

Thanks for putting this out to the masses.

I like the way this blog is shaping up. Looks like I am going to have to visit quite often.

Brett McEllhiney’s last blog post..Build a Niche Marketing Business – Summing It ALL Up!

Luca - Follow this person as @rsonline on Twitter
on March 12, 2009 at 8:13 PM

Hi Doug,
I’ve been following you since October of last year and I’m sure I bought stuff from you as well. I’ve learned that affiliate marketing is easier to do with products that you actually use or come from people you trust. It took me a while to figure that out because when you’re new you get turned around very easily with promotion after promotion.
I appreciate your emails and now this blog
Thanks,

Luca’s last blog post..Massive Traffic & Backlinks With Blog Carnival Submitter