AM "programs" and bypassing merchant product pages?

[dmalk]

Hey everyone!
I'm another newbie looking to toss my hat into the affiliate marketing arena. I've been researching this topic for quite some time now and have truly enjoyed reading the valuable advice dispensed here at 5 Star.

I've found answers to the bulk of my questions, which exception to these two:

1.) What is an AM "program"? Is this just referring to the reselling of a product offered by a merchant? For example, if I log onto Commission Junction, find a product, and sign on as an affiliate to sell this product... is that what's meant by an affiliate marketing "program"?

2.) I don't know the term people use for these, but frequently when I land at a merchant's product sales page, I'm presented with this 20-foot long page of testimonials, bold print headers saying customers are making $10k/month, bank account screen-shots, and more testimonials. Perhaps it's just me, but this form of hard selling is an immediate turn off and I would prefer if my prospects didn't have to see them. Anyway, my question is... is it the norm to lead prospects back to this merchant's product sales page, or are there ways to bypass this, perhaps taking them directly to a shopping cart, etc?

Thanks for your time and insight!
Damon

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Damon,

Welcome to 5 Star.

1) Yes, correct.

2) The sales pages your are talking about ARE offensive to many HOWEVER if the sales page is like that, why would you want to sell it - the product will like not be great (hence the hard sale tactics) or the product may be very hype filled too.

MOS IMPORTANT - If you are a newbie yourself you should not be trying to sell the get rich quick/here's how to make money online ebooks any way. If you don't know how, how can you try to sell others on HOW TO? Those type products are super competitive, the marketers that sell them are super experienced and aggressive.

IMHO most are sharks trying to take advantage of newbies just like you. "I'll show you the easy way to make 10K a month online" is a lie, there is no easy way. So I don't think you want to con other newbies into buying stuff like that.

Notice that if you are selling luggage or computers or most "real" products NONE use those long hype filled sales pages. So bottom line, if the sales page turns you off and you are afraid it will turn off your users, it's probably not a product you should be selling.

If you are selling "real" products, you'll be sending visitors to a page like this.
Product pic, description - maybe a benefit statement or testimonial - but no big sales pitch and no long sales letter.

Irv's Luggage - Abbi New York Caroline Computer Case Wine

It may be really helpful for you to stop, before going any further and read all the stickies in the newbie forum, then some in the niche forum. Find a not too competitive niche to start with that
is not about making money online.

Hope this helps!

[dmalk]

Hi Linda,
Thank you -- your response was really helpful!! This one line in particular is just golden:

So bottom line, if the sales page turns you off and you are afraid it will turn off your users, it's probably not a product you should be selling.

Thanks also for the Irv's Luggage sample. Wow, quite an improvement over most other affiliate merchant sites I've been seeing lately. It's great having some frame of reference now for what a "real" quality affiliate or product looks like.

On that same notion, are there any AM sites you or others have come upon which are just good, solid examples of affiliate marketing done right? "done right" is obviously subjective, especially as I'm seeing there's countless ways of approaching AM; however, it'd be equally helpful seeing a site or two that's got a good implementation of these principles and techniques discussed around here.

Thanks again!
Damon

PS - I'll also be certain to check out the stickies on your other forums (I've been spending all my time here in the newbie area and almost forgot about the rest )

[Linda Buquet]

You're very welcome.

It isn't ethical for me to share any affiliate sites as they are confidential information that many affiliates don't want to publicly broadcast.

Here are some that are publicly listed and that affiliates have said it was OK to share. Scroll down and you'll see a bunch of different designs. These are mainly for retail products and they are big affiliate stores, not single product sites. View All Sample Stores at GoldenCAN

This is a totally different but well executed idea. Shawn Collins & Missy Ward, co-founders of Affiliate Summit and built this affiliate site filled with video reviews of products they have actually used. I can share it because it's publicly known and he talks openly about it. WeViews.tv — Reviews of products and services from Shawn Collins and Missy Ward

If there is a particular type of product or niche you are interested in, just Google the main keywords and drill down til you find affiliate sites. Usually, not always, the sites near the top may be pretty good ones, so you can get some idea of what other affiliates in that niche are doing.

Don't ever copy anyones site or unique idea, just get a feel for whats out there and come up with something better.

[Rob_TID]

Don't forget, promoting lead programs is often easier for newbies than promoting sales programs.

Get a bit of success under your belt and you will stay motivated.

[dmalk]

Linda, thanks once again for the great examples!!

Also, sorry to tread close to an ethical issue. It's really not my intent to copy sites or ideas (I'm not that type of person; plus I'll likely lose interest here if I don't pursue a topic of interest). As any newb would probably agree, it's easy to get overwhelmed with information initially. I find that actually seeing this stuff in action helps it sink in better.

Rob, lead programs are those where you're compensated for ushering targeted traffic to an affiliate's site, correct? AdSense would be an example of this, right?

Thanks again!
Damon

[Rob_TID]

No, it's where all the prospect has to do is fill out a form. They do NOT have to take out their credit card.

[Linda Buquet]

"It's really not my intent to copy sites or ideas"

Sorry my ethical issue about not sharing affiliate's site and the warning about copying was not leveled at you personally. 100 other affiliates and/or even some scammers could read this thread and some of them would steal ideas or copy sites, so that's why I said that.

Rob is right - lead programs are paid based on actions, usually filling out a form.
Mainstream examples are insurance leads, education/college leads and mortgage leads. The person doesn't need to buy a thing, they just need to be interested enough to fill out a form with contact info.