I hope you’ve been enjoying my “Inside The Mind Of A Top Affiliate” series. We’ve had four installments so far. In this one, I’m going to show you how I go about deciding what promotional methods to use for the affiliate product I choose. There are many methods out there but they don’t all work the same for every niche. This article explains why.

First thing I try to do is actually get into the head of somebody who has the problem the product is looking to solve. Where are these people hanging out online? Is there one place in particular that they go? See, a lot of marketers get wrapped up in their own little world and don’t realize that the Internet is HUGE. There are places out there that you can’t even imagine.

A common type of place is a forum. A forum is where like minded individuals get together to discuss their common interests. There are forums for just about every topic you can think of from online gaming to marketing to health to volleyball. As a matter of fact, if you take any keyword at all that’s a noun and type it into a search engine with the word “forum” after it, you’re likely to come up with at least one major forum for that keyword. This is the first thing I do…look for forums.

Now, most forums don’t allow you to advertise, especially if you’re selling affiliate products. So what you want to do is go there, sign up and then participate in the discussions. Offer advice, tips, support or whatever, but do NOT advertise. Eventually, after you’ve been there long enough, you’ll have gained enough respect from the other members that they will actually come to you asking if you know of any product that will help them with their problem.

Naturally, this form of promotion takes a while to get going as it isn’t direct advertising. However, it is important to place forums in your marketing mix because with a big following, you can make a lot of sales. The same thing holds true with discussion groups and other social sites. You want to let people get to know YOU first and then the product second.

In the next installment, I’m going to continue our little journey through my mind and how I think of places to advertise.

See you then.

To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim

Tired of being an affiliate failure? Want to turn yourself into an affiliate assassin like I am? Want to land in the top 20 of every affiliate promotion you tackle just like I do? Check out my site at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/affiliateassassin/index.html and start earning a solid income as an affiliate marketer.