In the first two installments of this series, we found a product and then got a hold of it to review. In this installment, I’m going to go over the process that I call “finding the hook.” If this sounds a little strange, just hang in there. It comes from my many years of writing songs and it’s one of the few things that has carried over into my affiliate marketing. This article explains.

Let’s go to my days as a songwriter. The hook is that part of the song that people are going to sing over and over and over. Usually, it’s the chorus. Everything that leads up to that chorus is put together for the purpose of putting that chorus in the best light. Therefore, the supporting characters have to do their part as well or the chorus by itself can’t carry the song.

Okay, so what does this have to do with affiliate marketing? What exactly is the hook? The hook is the number one benefit of the product itself. It’s that ONE thing that makes the product a must have. Now, in some cases, that hook isn’t easy to pinpoint. Some products are just too generic to really find that killer hook. For example, a general “how to make money” ebook doesn’t have a strong hook. However, a book on how to run a killer AdWords campaign has a very specific and strong hook for those who want to learn the ropes of PPC marketing.

So what I do is look for that hook. That’s the first part of the process. The second part of the process is how to compliment that hook with supporting players. These supporting players come in the form of the ads you write and the bonuses you offer along with the main product. Yes, you heard me correctly. I look for products where I have a supporting product that makes buying the main product a no brainer.

For example, just recently I promoted Dean Shainin’s book on article marketing which primarily dealt with EzineArticles. I immediately saw that a book I had, that went into more depth as far as article marketing in general as well as the actual writing of articles, would have made a great complimentary product. So I offered it as a free bonus to anybody who bought Dean’s book from me. In a way, I actually created a second hook so that if the first one didn’t do the job, the second one would seal the deal.

Ultimately, the overall hook was dominating the article marketing arena, something that appeals to a lot of people because it’s low cost and quite effective if done correctly. By offering the bonus, one that was a perfect fit, I came in second in his affiliate contest.

Find that hook. Once you find it, find something that compliments it and you’ll have yourself a very successful affiliate marketing campaign.

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.