The Importance of Pre-Selling in Affiliate Marketing
If you want to find true success in affiliate marketing, you must learn and practice the art of pre-selling. Pre-selling essentially means that by the time your prospect clicks on your affiliate link, they have their credit card in hand, ready to make a purchase. In affiliate marketing, this means that they must be ready to make a purchase before they even see the affiliate sales page that is provided by the company that owns the product.
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Pre-selling can be done in a variety of ways, but the majority of pre-selling is done from the affiliates own website. While you will most likely have affiliate banners on your site, linked to the affiliate sales page for the product, this alone won’t pre-sell your visitors. You need content to pre-sell!
You need good, reliable information that not only relates well to the product or service being sold, but also relates to your potential customers problem or desire. The content should lead to a sales page for the product or service you want to sell. This sales page should be one of your own making, where you can let potential customers know the real value of the product or service, from your personal standpoint.
You might also offer additional free information, such as free ebooks or reports, which will include your affiliate link. Teleseminars are also a great way to pre-sell a product or service. Selling products and services takes work. Never doubt that for one second, no matter what anyone else might tell you.
When you find a product or service that you want to market, make a sales plan for it. You will need articles, content for your site, ads, sales letters, and give-a-ways. Start producing or gathering these things, and plan how you are going to pre-sell the product or service.
You have to be willing to get out there and convince your affiliate marketing prospects to buy the product or service, by pre-selling them. Make a pre-sell plan and put it into operation. You will be pleasantly surprised at the positive results you achieve, when you compare it to the results you were getting with your affiliate marketing promotions before you started trying to pre-sell products or services.
For more extensive information/instruction on pre-selling for affiliate marketing, see this free guide on Pre-Selling For Affiliate Marketing.
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9 comments
Mike Paetzold - Follow this person as @mikepaetzold on Twitter
on April 7, 2009 at 12:39 PM
Great points about pre-selling Doug. It really is the key to have the prospect already sold on why this widget will solve their problem or ease their pain before they ever hit the actual sales page.
Very few people take the time to set up a pre-sell process and then they wonder why they aren’t making money.
It really is simple because they aren’t putting in the effort. Appreciate the great content here.
Mike Paetzold’s last blog post..Scared to look at your 401 K statement?
Andre Arnett - Follow this person as @learningaffil on Twitter
on April 7, 2009 at 2:26 PM
This is something that I am still trying to get a handle on. This is some valuable information which kind of clears the picture a little bit more. Thanks.
Andre Arnett’s last blog post..Blogging For Seniors Released From Mike Paetzold
Earl Netwal - Follow this person as @EarlNetwal on Twitter
on April 7, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Wow, Just what I need. A bit blown away by how big the free book is. But As I mentioned to you recently on another post, I’ve been having some dismal results with one of my ppc campaigns. This looks like just the ticket to start the retooling process with.
Earl Netwal’s last blog post..A niche blog launched with Niche Profits Classroom
Ric Raftis - Follow this person as @RicRaftis on Twitter
on April 7, 2009 at 11:58 PM
Great points on affiliate marketing Doug. Personally I find a review on a product one of the best ways to do this. In this way you are “giving” to your readers and there’s more reason for them to sign up to your list to get information on other products as well.
Cheers,
Ric Raftis’s last blog post..Jeff Kennett and Six Degrees Of Separation
Joel Osborne - Follow this person as @JoelOsborne on Twitter
on April 8, 2009 at 3:53 AM
Great information Doug.
Your visitors most likely will not buy from you (directly or from an affiliate link) on their first visit… but you can increase those chances by pre-selling them.
Help them to understand what their need is for the product and why you believe the product is worth it. Even just a little bit of this information can go a long way in securing a sale.
Joel Osborne’s last blog post..How to Become an Authority in Your Market – Authority Site Blueprint
Fred Lotgering - Follow this person as @lotcon on Twitter
on April 8, 2009 at 12:02 PM
Nice to see an audio version available!
Pre-selling is a good strategy and not well done by most (including myself…).
Fred
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Ron Barrett - Follow this person as @ronbarrett on Twitter
on April 8, 2009 at 4:20 PM
Doug,
You are absolutely right. You need to get the excitement level and desire up before you release a package, no matter what it is.
Case in point, Mike Filsaime’s BFM a couple of weeks ago. How early did you start to hear rumblings about it?
I think it sold out in a matter of days.
This ebook should be very helpful for people to grasp the concept of pre selling. And it’s Free.
Unbelievable.
Thanks for the resource Doug.
Ron
Ron Barrett’s last blog post..Twitter Success Stories — Do You Have One?
Lonnie Minton - Follow this person as @AffiliateBus on Twitter
on April 9, 2009 at 11:18 AM
Doug, you have provide great information here.
It is really necessary that people know what you think about the products, affiliate or not, that you are selling.
That’s why your advice about having your own web site so that you can “… let potential customers know the real value of the product or service, from your personal standpoint.” is so important.
If you just send them to the affiliate sales page, they will read what the affiliate owner says but they will not know what you think. They will not have that trust that they have placed in you and will have to make their decision without input from you.
As you noted the pre-selling also provides you will the opportunity to continue to build your relationship with your potential customers.
Lonnie Minton’s last blog post..Blogging For Seniors
DTs Flash Drive Blog - Follow this person as @FlashDriveDT on Twitter
on April 21, 2009 at 11:15 AM
Good points. I agree that personalization is important, especially when you’re running a blog. However it’s kinda difficult to always have a personal experience or insightful view on a specific product or item. How would one do this without losing credibility?
DTs Flash Drive Blog’s last blog post..Burger Bytes