The POWER OF FREE In Affiliate Marketing – Part Two

©2009 Doug Champigny, http://Captain-Affiliate.com. All Rights Reserved.

In Part One of The POWER OF FREE, we looked at how the recession spawned a sudden change in affiliate marketing and how the Resell Rights Fortunes launch was the first to capitalize on the changes. Today let’s look at how smart online businesses are using The POWER OF FREE to their benefit on an on-going basis…

While I’m a pro-blogger with a number of blogs I author, no one can keep right up to speed on every aspect of every area of online marketing, so for advice and a heads-up on WordPress issues I rely on two close friends who specialize in the technology, Alex Sysoef & Mike Paetzold. Both are close friends I first met at JVAlert Live events and have developed a deep respect for over the years.

Neither being shy about freely sharing their expertise, Mike runs an excellent free WordPress Q&A on BlogTalkRadio each month, while Alex is letting you download his free Expert WordPress blog installer, which he provides along with the training videos on how to use them.

This fits right in with one of the important points we made in Part One – the ‘free line’ has been moved, and today your free gift HAS to be something that’s of obvious value, something that proves you’re an expert in your field, and something you could easily be selling for a good buck if you had chosen to.

Do these two qualify? Of course they do! In Mike’s case, he’s giving you direct one-on-one access to his encyclopedic knowledge of WordPress – and his experience in using blogs to further develop his own Internet marketing and niche marketing efforts. Access to that level of expertise is often restricted to high-end coaching programs, yet Mike fields your questions for free through his show.

Alex’s Expert WordPress fills the bill too – plus has the added bonus of being unique! I’m not aware of another blog installer available, free or paid, that also installs the plugins you need for the full search engine optimization (SEO) effects for each of your blogs. Alex could easily charge $97 to $197 for the installer, with a $100 upsell for the SEO package – yet he lets you download the software for free!

Like the free incentives we discussed yesterday, both Alex and Mike have helped move the free line by giving away resources you’d have had to buy before the recession. But what’s more important is the differences between today’s examples and yesterday’s. While the Resell Rights Fortunes gifts were set up specifically for a big launch, Mike & Alex have created free resources that draw in targeted prospects day after day and will continue to do so for months, or even years, to come.

The upside to them is obvious – building their opt-in lists, branding themselves worldwide as WordPress experts and having the opportunity to pitch their wares to a growing circle of influence. And unlike launch bonuses, these gifts work their magic long-term.

But that comes at a price… When it’s just for a launch you create your gift and it’s done. Ongoing traffic-generating gifts aren’t usually that simple, as these cases in point demonstrate. Mike has to stay on top of every WordPress update and give of himself and his time every month to prepare for the call and actually host it, and Alex has to monitor changes to WordPress and the plugins and be sure he updates both the software and the instructional videos as often as necessary to keep it effective and cutting edge.

If you’ve used WordPress for more than the last 15 minutes you’ve probably already had at least one update to attend to – so you can imagine how much time goes into maintaining those two free resources. Not a problem when you’re being paid to keep up, but to do all that to maintain something your give away for free takes a special dedication and a true desire to help as many people as they possibly can. Kudos to them both – from me, and on your behalf as well!

The benefits to those availing themselves of these free resources is immediately obvious to all, and now you see how it helps Mike & Alex and what’s involved in maintaining their free resources. But what’s in it for you, the affiliate?

Most importantly, by promoting products from marketers like Mike and Alex you know you’re promoting true experts in the field. And not just experts – but DEMONSTRATED experts your readers will have no trouble identifying as experts. And you benefit too, by association with the best in their field.

Secondly, you know that customer service before and after the sale will never be an issue – no one puts that much effort into attracting quality targeted traffic just to blow them off with bad service. Not having to wonder about how many refunds will come after the sale is a big plus for ANY affiliate promotion… In affiliate marketing we work too hard for our commissions to sit back and watch them evaporate after the fact!

And third benefit is more intrinsic, but no less important… Big Dog Marketers like Alex & Mike who put that much into products & services they simply give away aren’t fools – they test & track everything they do to be sure they make the most of their time online – and FROM their time online. Think they put any less effort into testing, tracking and tweaking their products and salespages?

Obviously not… So while that doesn’t guarantee you’ll make a fortune in commissions every time they launch a product, or even that every product will be a hit, it DOES mean chances are you’ll make as many sales as possible for their products, given your prowess at driving targeted traffic and how tightly focused your prospects are to the products you promote.

And finally, have you considered creating a high-valued resource like these in support of one of your best ongoing affiliate marketing opportunities? Pick ones with recurring income potential that won’t go out of style or become outdated – say hosting or a membership site – and create a service or product like these to keep a steady stream of targeted prospects seeking YOU out for a change!

So to sum it up, in Part One you learned how The POWER OF FREE makes you more in JVs and affiliate promotions during site launches, and today you’ve seen two simple ways to use The POWER OF FREE as ongoing tools for your own sites or as affiliates.

Next Up: In The POWER OF FREE In Affiliate Marketing – Part Three we’ll look at a couple of sites that have added a viral component to their POWER OF FREE resources to make them even more valuable – see you then!

To your Profitable Affiliate Marketing…

Doug Champigny
http://Captain-Affiliate.com

PS – Before leaving today (but after hitting the Retweet button above ;-) )be sure to download Alex’s free Expert WordPress installer and bookmark Mike’s BlogTalkRadio show. After all, might as well get as much benefit as you can from being here today, right?

And speaking of which, be sure to leave your comments as well – both to help me be sure you’re getting all the info you need for your successful affiliate marketing, and to get yourself the one-way backlinks to your site. Naturally, this IS a ‘DoFollow’ blog! :)

Enjoy! DC.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Related posts:

  1. The POWER OF FREE In Affiliate Marketing – Part One
  2. Affiliatenaire – Why I Love Affiliate Marketing – Part Five
  3. Affiliate Marketing with Jimmy D Brown – Part Three
  4. Affiliate Marketing with Jimmy D Brown – Part One
  5. Super-Affiliate Tactics Of Mike Paetzold And Joel Osborne

Doug Champigny - The Success Lifestylist
Doug Champigny, The Success Lifestylist, is a world-famous author, speaker and mentor who has been helping corporations, companies, retailers, entrepreneurs and other individuals and organizations to achieve true success for over 30 years so far...

Keep up with Doug Champigny online by following him on Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, FriendFeed, and EzineArticles. For any media enquiries, to have Doug speak at your event or to find out about having Doug mentor you directly, follow the links from the DougChampigny.com homepage. Be sure to bookmark this blog and return often for more helpful tips & insights!


 

Follow Captain Affiliate On Twitter!

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!