Scale Your Commissions With Additional Niches

So how can you scale and earn extra commissions?

Remember, the fundamental principle of the Affiliate Marketing business model is:

Step 1: Collect Email Addresses

Step 2: Send them Relevant Offers and Collect Commissions as an Affiliate

You may be promoting an opportunity to make money through Digital Marketing.

But there are many other products, courses, and software that help people increase their wealth you can promote:

-Stock Trading 

-Social Media Marketing Agencies

-Software that helps you create and edit ebooks or videos

-Cryptocurrency

….the list goes on and you can find more of these products at Clickbank.com, a free affiliate network with loads of products to promote.

But why stop there?

Think about a skill set you already have or are interested in…

Maybe you’re skilled at training puppies or dogs.

Or maybe you’re pretty good at baking and want to help people find healthier recipes.

There’s plenty of products around those niches that you can promote as an affiliate.

Simply apply the strategies and techniques you’re learning while promoting products in your current niche, like building a landing page, growing your email list, running FB Ads…

And use them to grow an email list around a niche you’re interested in, and find products on Clickbank or JVZOO around those interests to promote.

Ultimately, building an online business should be about YOU. It should be about your interests, passions, and skillset and what you learn in your core niche can apply to just about any business you’d like to build online.

So my challenge for you this week:

First...

Think about what other types of products you’ll be able to promote to your email list.

Remember, your email list will be filled with people interested in starting an online business or building a side income…

Think outside the box about what may pique your audience’s interests. This kind of thinking will ultimately help you grow.

Second...

Think about other niches you may be interested in and products to promote.

Think about your passions or skill set. If there’s something you know or are good at, there’s usually a way to build a business around it. You don’t have to start here. Learn the ropes first and get your feet wet, THEN move on to other niches.

Keeping strategies like these top of mind will help you scale your commissions beyond even what we show you in the program.

Have a great day!

To Your Success!

Steve.

Master Online Entrepreneur

   

Lead Magnets done right!

Somebody told me this story the other day.

Back in the day, when Tinder wasn't a thing, a man with no eyebrows walks into one of those dating places.

You know, the ones who promised they'd get you a match no matter what, that sort of thing. Now this man, he...

complains he couldn't get a date to save his life!

No worries, says the matchmaker. Calls in the makeup artist or whatever the official title of the person who does eyebrows is, bada bing, bada boom, the guy now has eyebrows to die for.

The man is over the moon, obviously, pulls out his wallet, and asks “how much”?

The matchmaker says - “No worries, pal. They’re on the house.”

The man is surprised, but obviously, very happy.

The matchmaker then adds…

“When it’s time for you to get married, be sure you come to us!”

He probably didn’t even have to say that. The matchmaker has probably generated enough goodwill that given the circumstances, the man would’ve returned anyway.

I don’t know what happens next, but if the matchmaker was smart, he’d make this a thing. “Free eyebrows, and when it’s time for you to get married, come to us”.

Now how would this idea of “free eyebrows” look in online marketing?

Can you guess?

It’s the good old concept of having a lead magnet that you give away for free in order to generate a list of customers that then, hopefully, buy something when your offer and their needs match.

Now, just like everyone doesn’t need free eyebrows (for example, mine are just fine, thank you), everyone doesn’t need your lead magnet.

Which is why you build as many as possible.

Here’s some ideas to get you started.

First, before we even drill down to specific types of lead magnets, make sure you run through this checklist.

1. Make sure your lead magnet solves a real problem for your audience. Here’s an example. If it’s raining outside and you see somebody standing there, soaking wet… you could have the best sunscreen in the world as your lead magnet, but the best response you can expect is “Uh… Thanks?” Now, if you give that person an umbrella and directions to your hotel… well, now you’re in business, right?
2. Quick to consume and quick to get results - even though you’re giving this away for free, you need to deliver one specific result and do it fast. Which means, don’t spend pages and pages (if it’s a downloadable PDF) on every little thing. Solve the one problem and get out. They’ll be grateful.
3. Have high perceived value and demonstrate your expertise beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Now, let’s look at the types of lead magnets you can create.

Because as much fun and value as text PDFs are, it’s good to switch things up every now and then - and you might even find that one type of a lead magnet comes more naturally to you than another.

• Checklist. Now this format is great if you really want to make sure you just include the crucial parts and leave the fat out. This format almost guarantees it. An expansion of a checklist is a cheatsheet - it’s a bit more elaborate, but still very focused.
• Template. If you do anything that can be templatized (and most things can) why not offer people that template as a lead magnet? If you feel that’s giving away too much, just pick the best part of it and templatize that separately!
• A calendar. For example, this works great for social media consultancy - you give away a yearly calendar that specifically describes what they should post on every single day. Not the specific text or image, but just ideas they can build their content on every day.
• A swipe file. What if you took 30 of your best social media posts, bundled them together, added some commentary and offered it for download for people who have trouble figuring out what to say on social media?
• And more. You can toy with infographics, gated content, tutorials, ebooks, videos, sound recordings, etc.

Now, some types of lead magnets will work better and some will not work for your business at all. But my point is this: Build as many different lead magnets as possible. Put them up. You’ll capture WAY more leads that way than trying to rely on a single lead magnet and wasting time making it perfect.

To Your Success!

Steve.

Master Online Entrepreneur

   

The Two Most Powerful Words in Advertising

Can you guess what they are?

Often, we jump to NEW or FREE…

And while we use those words in our advertising, they are not the most important.

In fact, the most important words in advertising aren’t even words we use in our ads, but the ideas they represent.

The two most important words?

REASON WHY.

And for sake of keeping with the theme, here’s the “reason why.”

When you need to prove your product is BETTER...

Or why someone should JOIN…

Or why your readers should TRUST YOU…

You cannot simply assume that they believe your product is better, or that it’s imperative they act quickly, or even that you are a trustworthy source.

No, you need to give them the REASON WHY for all of the above.

Every piece of content I write gives someone that Reason Why, even if I don’t use those words…

Let me give an example using some popular ads or articles

-The #1 Alternative to an Amazon Store

(This ad gives the reason why you should choose affiliate marketing over Amazon FBA)

-Copy+Paste My Funnels to Use as Your Own

(This ad gives the reason why you could promote others' products instead of trying to build your own)

-What I Would Do if I Had to Start All Over

(This ad gives the reason why someone would trust my advice in general)

This type of marketing is seen even in some of the biggest brands…

When Juicy Juice makes the bold claim they’re made with 100% Juice, their reason why is health and taste.

When Kleenex Towels shares that their product is two layers thick, their reason why is a superior clean-up.

Even when you’re offering a sale, giving a reason why helps move the reader to purchase.

Compare the following:

Join my program for an insane value at $7…

vs

This program is only $7 because I believe that high-level digital marketing training should be affordable to anyone.

Your reason why provides context, validity, and builds trust with your readers.

So the next email you write, every time you make a claim, ask yourself:

“What’s the reason why behind what I’m sharing?”

If you’re emphasizing the low price - give your reason why.

If you’re touting that your program can be done from your laptop - give your reason why that’s valuable.

If you’re excited about how your business can be built on the side of your current full-time job - give your reason why someone would want to know that.

This will help you be a better advertisers whether you’re writing Facebook ads, emails, filming YouTube videos, or simply telling someone about your offer in person.

I hope you’ve found today’s lesson valuable and will apply it THIS WEEK in your marketing.

Have a great day!

To Your Success!

Steve.

Master Online Entrepreneur

   

3 small Goals to take care of in the next month or so

Someone recently sent me an email and I want to talk to you about it.

Because I see this line of thinking all over the place. And while it’s not bad and it really means well, it’ll do you a lot of harm if you try to implement it without thinking first.

So here’s one quote from the email.

“The folks who plant trees know growing them takes time, but it’s worth it in the end”.

It’s not entirely wrong, you know. It’s convoluted, but the point I guess is that if you want to sit in a nice relaxing shade on a hot day, you need to plant a seed, water it, wait patiently, and in 40 years you might be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

The problem is that if that’s your plan, you’re going to die of a heat stroke before you get to day 3 in your career as one of the “folks who plant trees”.

‘Tis the same with all the well meant personal development and business advice. “Start today, focus on one thing for years, and you’re sure to enjoy huge results in about 5 years!”

What happens if you starve first?

Listen.

I completely agree with the idea that you need to be patient with things. I do not agree that meanwhile you should starve.

There’s plenty of opportunity out there that lets you kind of play both fields - the short term and the long term.

To take the tree-planting analogy further, it would be like this - you’re planting a tree for the long term, but you’re also enjoying a shade right now because you were smart enough to go to Home Depot first and pick up a canopy, a chair, and a cooler with ice and bottles of water in it.

Now, this has an added side benefit, too.

Do you think that if you’re taking good care of yourself in the short term, is it reasonable to assume that the long term results would come to you faster and they would be better?

Now we’re getting to the life-changing stuff, right?

Your first goal is to take care of yourself.

No matter what your goals are, you need to make sure you have the capacity to tackle them - both mentally and physically.

Let’s go through how you do that.

Most of us are here to build an income online so I’m just going to use that as an example, but the same line of thinking applies to almost everything.

• First, pick a strategy that provides you with short term relief - for example, if you’re hurting for cash right now, do not pick something that takes months to get going. For example, if you need to pay utilities in two weeks, look for service gigs, instead of trying to launch an ecommerce business. It’s like, if your back is hurting after years of sedentary lifestyle, the first step to recovery probably isn’t competing in the Iron Man.
• Second, protect the asset - which is your ability to produce. For example, a big part of the value I add to the world and receive compensation for has to do with putting persuasive, insightful words on virtual paper. So protecting my ability to write is crucial to me. That means going to bed on time, staying in reasonable shape so I can sit at my desk without my body hurting in places I didn’t know existed, and putting a hard stop on things when necessary to avoid burning out, and so on. For you this might be different - my goal here is to get you thinking about this.
• Finally, decide on the long game. This is a crucial step - but you can only have enough mental processing power for it once you have the first 2 steps taken care of. That’s probably a key thing a lot of people (not only of the “tree planting folk” persuasion) miss. If you’ve done service gigs for a bit and paid the bills, you have bought yourself time - but use it wisely, and instead of rewarding yourself with a week of Netflix binging in the evenings, start figuring out the long term game. What’s the strategy you’re going to adopt? If you’ve taken care of the first two things I mentioned, this is a fun and easy task, because you can pick something you actually enjoy and want to do - because you have some money coming in and also have established a nice routine that lets you produce for days, weeks, months, and years.

Once you’ve implemented the above… You won’t have to wait all that long for the long term results.

To go back to the tree analogy…

You were smart about it.

You picked up some things to tide you over while your trees grow. You planted different types of trees - some of them grow super fast, some are slower. And finally, you didn’t spend all day frantically planting trees, but you also had plenty of energy to have some fun along the way.

That’s how you do it.

To Your Success!

Steve.

Master Online Entrepreneur

   

Use My Carrot & Stick Strategy to Find Your Niche!

First of all, why even find a niche…

When you’re promoting any offer, it’s tempting to think that our niche is simple “make money online.”

But that’s not quite right…

Let me explain.

There’s an old proverb that says, “when you speak to EVERYONE, you speak to NO ONE.”

And let’s be honest, making money online can apply to pretty much everyone.

I mean, who WOULDN’T want to do that, right?

So to truly find your niche, you want to identify your target audience WITHIN the “make money online space.”

For example:

Do you want to speak to retirees looking to provide financial security for their grandchildren?

Do you want to market to young entrepreneurs looking for a great way to launch an online business?

Do you want to speak to the father or mother who’s grinding their way through their 9-5, searching for a side hustle that will eventually take over their salary?

Or how about the stay-at-home mom or dad seeking a side income in their spare time?

As you begin scaling, these audiences require different landing pages, ad copy, email follow-ups, and messaging that speaks DIRECTLY to them and their situation.

Now, if you’re just getting started, it’s 100% OK to stay quite broad.

But if you’ve made sales, your funnel is set up, and you’re ready to scale - finding your target audience within your niche, and identifying the group of people YOU want to speak to is how to make that happen.

Once you know your target audience, the next question is:

How do you speak to them?

In other words...

What do we say, what do we focus on, what messaging will we use?

That’s where my Carrot & Stick Strategy comes in handy.

Carrot = The Ultimate Benefit They’ll Receive from Your Product

Stick = The BIG Pain Point They Hope to Avoid

So if your audience is young entrepreneurs looking for a way to launch an online business…

The Carrot (or Ultimate Benefit) might be: 

-Launch a business with little startup cost

-Promote world-class products as an affiliate

...etc.

While the Stick (or Pain Point they’re Avoiding) could be:

-Avoid the 9-5 work life

-No need to create your own products or services

...etc.

Now, remember these are just examples.

I want you to begin thinking what audience YOU want to talk to, and what is important to THEM.

For Moms and Dads, the “Carrot” may be the ability to spend more time with family.

While the “Stick” may be avoiding missing another soccer game or birthday party because they were stuck at work.

For Retirees, the “Carrot” may be that they can pass on a financial legacy to their family.

While the “Stick” is avoiding putting their investment into a volatile stock market!

Again, these are just examples.

It’s up to you to find who you want to speak to, and what they value or fear.

And while this should go without saying...

Always make sure you can back up ANYTHING you say in your marketing. Honesty above all!

Alright, that’s enough for today.

If you truly work towards what I’m teaching in today’s lesson, you’ll have AMPLE homework to think through as you continue in your journey.

So let's recap:

1) If you’re just getting started, it’s OK to keep your target relatively broad.

2) If you’ve made a few sales and you’re ready to scale, begin thinking about who YOU want to speak to in your niche… How old are they? Where are they in life? Why would THEY want a program like your offer.

3) Base your messaging around the “Carrot & Stick Strategy.” What is the Carrot or Ultimate Benefit? What is the Stick or the Pain Point they want to avoid? Begin to build your messaging around those points.

Building a business around your niche is ultimately how you scale your affiliate business.

Have a great day!

To Your Success!

Steve.

Master Online Entrepreneur