Robert Plank

Affiliate sales are your ticket to an income that runs on autopilot. It might be fun to launch a few products on your own, write a bunch of articles and optimize pay-per-click campaigns, but at some point that is going to become boring, almost like a chore. Wouldn't it be great to hand the reigns over to someone else, to have someone else focus on the marketing while you sit back, collect the money, and only deal with customer support? There are three simple tactics you can use to attract super affiliates to your offer.

The first thing you can do is write a solo ad. When a well-known internet marketer launches a new product, do you notice that many of the e-mails you receive for it, from different marketers, all say the exact same thing ? That is because the product vendor gave out solo ads to his affiliates. A solo ad is a pre-written cut and paste e-mail advertisement for your product. It contains a catchy subject line and some text to get people to click on the affiliate link in the e-mail.

That is the only job of the solo ad... to get people to click. If that means you have to educate people a tiny bit on the product to get them interested, or you have to share a few bullet points, do it, but get people to click. Many marketers give affiliates multiple solo ads, but I believe in keeping things simple and only giving them a single solo ad. I make sure to remind my would-be affiliates that they can use the ad as a blog post, e-mail message, rewrite and submit it as an article or press release, record it into a video, do anything they can to stay ahead of the competition.

Affiliates also care about metrics. Tell prospective affiliates what the conversion rate is for your site. How much commission do they make? Is there an upsell or recurring commissions? Are there affiliate incentives? Do affiliates get free access to the product or a higher commission after a certain number of sales? What is the visitor value? All of these pieces of info are very important to your affiliates so they know what kind of traffic to throw at it, what to bid for keywords, and so on.

Finally, don't forget to train your affiliates, especially in niches outside of internet marketing. Tell them about list building, landing pages, forum marketing, blogging, and so on, so they have all the tools they need to get your product out there, and make you both some money.

Those tips are what you need to get started in gathering super affiliates: solo ads, giving the proper metrics, and training affiliates.

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Why do I keep seeing people leave posts on their Marketing Blog just to post about it?

If you are adding content to your blog "just because", you are adding an extra chore for yourself, you are preventing yourself from actually getting real work done, and you are missing out on a lot of the opportunities having a blog can give you.

As you probably know, Google loves blogs.  And that means if you blog about one of your products, or about your niche, or about something that you are doing, it is going to be ranked highly in the search engine, especially when that is brand new.

That means that if you just blog about any old subject, you are going to get ranked highly for no reason at all.  But if you are about to come out with a new product or are about to re-launch an existing one, you should be blogging about it - that way it shows up in the search engines. And when you send your list to that blog, you are already overcoming many of the objections they are going to have when it comes time to buy.  Plus your subscribers now feel that you are giving them value and not simply hard-pitching them.

The next time you make a blog post, stop and think for a second:  "What can I talk about that will get people ready for my next product launch or re-launch?"

There is also nothing wrong with recycling your auto-responder content.  And this can go either way. If you have an auto-responder broadcast or follow-up that got a lot of response, there is nothing wrong with expanding that into a blog post, or even just posting it as is.

Likewise, if you had a really good blog post that got tons of response a year or two years ago, but people simply can't find it now, there is nothing wrong with scheduling that as an auto-responder follow-up.

We all need more follow-up emails in our auto-responder sequence.  You should definitely start off with ten - but you have less than two years' worth of an auto-responder sequence, you should add a little bit to it every month.

And finally, while it is great to make a blog post about an upcoming product, it is even better to blog about that once it is now live.  I don't do this as often as my pre-launch posts, but every now and then I will create a blog post and disable comments, and make the Call to Action at the end of that blog post via a link to whatever it is I am talking about:  I hard-sell people directly on the blog.

Most bloggers seriously underestimate the power of the Call to Action - whether that is to get comments for social proof, to make your upcoming launch look even better, or just to promote something you have just launched.  Or even to re-launch something you launched in the past.

And that is the correct way to blog about your business. Frame people and pre-launch them for whatever solution is coming up from you.  Recycle your auto-responder follow-ups - and even use those blog posts as auto-responder follow-ups.  Market the stuff you already have.  And deliver a strong Call to Action to get people to take action and do something at the end of your blog post.

Which of these three items are you missing in your blog?  Please share this with me in the form of a comment below and let me know what you are going to do better in your blogging business next time you make a post.

One thing you are going to notice over and over again when you put out information products, when you offer your services - and more, is that the average person loves to save a couple of pennies, even if they have to bend over backwards to do it.

It is totally fine for your customers to do that when they going to Wal-Mart, but you should train them not to have that mentality with you.  If somebody can't afford what you have to offer, or it is not the right fit, they simply shouldn't buy it!

When it comes to selling your product online, you need to be up-front and clear about what you are giving them; don't be afraid to say "No", and to market more.

Car with No Steering Wheel?

Let's say you went to a car dealership and you were going to buy a car; looked at the car and you said, "I like it but I already have my own steering wheel. Can you sell me the car without a steering wheel?"  Or "I already have a stereo.  Can you sell me the car without the stereo?"  They would almost always tell you "No!"

But it aggravates me when I offer membership training that includes a membership plug-in and people ask, "Can you offer me the training without the plug-in and make it cheaper?"

A few years ago, when I didn't make as much money, I might have tried to negotiate with them.  But nowadays it is a lot easier to simply say, "It is all a package deal."   I don't try to sneak in any charges; I don't try to say that they pay once but accidentally get re-billed over and over.  I am very clear about the monthly recurring - but they can't pick and choose what they want.  The offer is "Take it or leave it!"

And it is totally okay to throw in extra features that you already offer, because many of these people who try to negotiate the price down don't look at everything you have to offer; they are only looking at the price.  For example, if someone is trying to get my training without the plug-in, I remind them that after all the payments have been made, they are in for LIFE!

Lump Sum?

On the other hand, here is an offer I get every now and then:  I get people asking me, "Can I simply pay you some lump sum fee and get access for life right now?"  And what they are usually looking for is a way to cut the price because they are paying it all up-front.

As much as I would like to be the "Nice Guy", this gets back to the price training and customer training.  I want my customers to get used to paying me month after month, and not buying the whole thing out - so I say "No."

Never be afraid to say "No."  It's okay if this person who is asking you is not a perfect fit.  This definitely does not apply to everyone.  And this definitely does not apply to you.  But I have found that if someone is trying to negotiate the price down with me, they are the kind of person who always is trying to find some extra reason for why they shouldn't do something.

For example, they are not buying because the price is too high. That is one roadblock they have put into place.  Then, when this type of person finally gets in, they put in more roadblocks for why they can't watch the videos, why they can't take action on the things I've talked on, and why the things they have read about and been taught are not exactly the way they have implemented them.

I don't want that kind of person in my membership sites.  I want the kind of people who are willing to try something once without trying to be fancy or reinvent the system until they have tried it.  People like me!  If someone is trying to remove the packaging or trying to buy your membership all up-front, don't be afraid to say "No."

So what do you do and say?  How do you overcome these kinds of price objections or nickel and dime strategies?  It's simple!  You market more. You create a better sales letter. You split test.  You add more follow-ups. You remind people more.  You are more confident on your Webinars.  And you price your OTHER products at the same level as the thing you really want them to buy.

You want to train people to pay you more.  You don't want to be the "Bargain Basement marketer"; you want to be the marketer that actually gets people to do things.

What This Means for Your Offers

So when somebody asks you, "Can I buy this car with no tires?" (And by "car" I mean can they buy into your "Membership site with only half of the components for half the price") tell them "No!"

You made an offer. Everything in your membership site is totally necessary.  So they have to pay the full price - and they get the whole thing.

Just remember, the average person loves to save a couple of pennies.  But you need to retrain them so that they will actually get something out of your marketing!

This is just as much a favor for them as to you.  Be clear about what you are offering, don't have forced continuity, don't fall into the trap of selling "life-time access", don't be afraid to say "No"; and market more, sell more - and price more.

Update: We're going with Sherm's suggestion and meeting on September 23rd 2010 from 4:30PM to 7PM at:

Melody Bar & Grill
9132 S Sepulveda Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Neighborhood: Westchester / LAX

Who will be there: Robert Plank, Lance Tamashiro, Sherm Cohen, Wal Gifford (chunked out), Robert Vance, Rodney Daut, Evelyn Brooks, Dennis Barakos.

You guys voted for where we should meet for my 26th birthday and the majority said: Los Angeles!

Now my question for you is:

1. Are you "probably" coming, or "definitely" coming?

2. What bar in the LA area should we hang out at?

Preferably I want this near the airport, and there is no set time... people can just come and go throughout the evening.

Go ahead, answer those 2 questions for me right now so I can at least have a head count.

Are you experiencing writer's block in some form or another?  Are you having trouble finishing that sales letter? Finishing that article? Finishing that chapter? Or even writing that blog post or email?

The most common problem I see with writer's block is that people are trying to make their writing perfect as soon as they write it.  I am here to tell you that you HAVE to get over that!  You cannot edit as you go along.  You need to write first - and edit later.

You do that by dictating, by reading forwards and backwards, and reading aloud.  It is more important than anything to get something on paper until you can edit it.

I once tutored someone in College who was trying to write an essay, and I literally saw her rewrite the same sentence TWELVE times until she had something she liked!  This meant that in the time it took her to write one page, I could have written twelve pages!

This is One of Those Top Habits to Break!

You need to get used to writing down just the first draft of whatever you want to say.  You know how to string together a sentence TALKING to someone - and that means you can put together real coherent talks.  You need to write the way you talk!

For me, I can write a first draft pretty easily; but when I am stuck I do have to dictate it and get it transcribed.  Maybe this is what you have to do:  dictate it, then hand it on to someone on a service like Elance or oDesk and get them to transcribe it for you.

Now, what do you do when you have the text that comes back from the transcriptionist?  It's time to edit it.  If you are not careful, you are going to run across the same problem I explained with the College student who rewrote the same sentence twelve times over!  The key to editing is you see what catches your eye and make it a little bit better.  It is never, ever going to be 100% perfect!

All You Can Do is Make It a Little Bit Better...

Here is what I like to do: I like to read it first backwards and then forwards.  Reading it backwards makes it seem less tedious and more like I am reading something new. It also helps with the transitions:  if I made a very strange transition from paragraph to paragraph, it is much more easy to spot when you are reading backwards.  Read the bottom paragraph first, then the second-to-last, the third-to-last, and so on.

If you spot a sentence that doesn't quite seem right or is too long, throw out small chunks - but not big chunks.  I know you are tempted to rewrite the whole entire sentence from scratch - but 99% of your sentences are salvageable!  Usually, you just need to rearrange some of the words or remove some of the words, to say the same exact thing; and now the same point has been made but suddenly it makes sense.

I know that when you write or when you talk, you don't speak gibberish! You DO have points you are trying to make; the only issue is what are the correct words and phrases to make those points?

Finally, something that helps me a ton with editing is reading what I just wrote aloud.  Sometimes when I write things, they look okay in my head, but when I read them I realize how stupid it sounds; or when I really said one thing but meant another.  Read it aloud - or even better read it aloud to a friend or have a friend read it back to you.  You might cringe at first - but this will be really great for toughening you up and getting you used to people reading your material.  After all, isn't that the point - for you to write something and then have somebody else read it?

One other big benefit I have noticed from reading my material aloud is that I notice a lot of repeated words and phrases I use when I talk and when I write.  For example, words like "so", or "simply", or "like", or "however", or "but."  It is okay to say these words every now and then, but if you notice you are saying these at the beginning of every sentence or every paragraph, these are problem words you need to keep notice of and just note to scan for these particular words; remove them from your writing - and it will suddenly look a whole lot better.

And that is how you are going to edit the things you write so that you can write quickly, but also write well. Simply dictate or quickly write out the first draft version first, before even going into editing mode.  Never edit as you go. When you DO edit, edit very minimally.  Read backwards and forwards and throw out the small chunks but not the big chunks.  To help find things that need to be changed, read your work aloud, or even get a friend to read it - especially to notice the repeated words and phrases.

How much of a problem is editing for you? What is your best editing tip?  Post a comment below telling me. Thanks in advance for that!

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My 26th birthday is coming up in a few weeks, on Thursday, September 23, 2010. I'm having my "real" birthday party a few days before because on Thursday I'm going to be traveling to JVAlert Live in Denver.

Here's my question to you: what major city close to you, can you get to on Thursday, not for anything major, just to hang out at a bar where I buy you a drink?

I don't want to fly into the northwest, southwest, midwest, northeast, or deep south, and I'm staying in the United States... so that pretty much leaves these choices:

Update: Here's what you guys voted...

• Los Angeles, CA (17 votes)
• San Francisco, CA (10 votes)
• Las Vegas, NV (7 votes)
• Salt Lake City, UT (3 votes)
• Denver, CO (6 votes)
• Dallas, TX (9 votes)
• Austin, TX (9 votes)
• Atlanta, GA (12 votes)
• Orlando, FL (6 votes)
• New York, NY (7 votes)
• New Orleans, LA (2 votes)
• Washington, DC (2 votes)

Which of these cities can you be in to meet me on Thursday, September 23, 2010? Go ahead and vote with your comment below.  I'm not sure if I'll be doing it yet, it depends on the votes.

1. You're overwhelmed by all the new offers you see.
2. You're switching between too many tasks every day.
3. You're doing too much of the work yourself.
4. Your to-do list keeps getting bigger (not shorter) and you can't prioritize.
5. You procrastinate and can't seem to finish what you start.
6. You're a perfectionist.
7. You're unhappy.

1. Choose one "computer free" day of the week, and one "email free" day (even when you're at the computer).
2. Only focus on ONE project this week, such as launching a new product, finishing that sales letter, or creating that membership site content.  Everything else can wait.
3. Outsource just one thing.  I recommend you dictate ten articles (2.5 minutes each) and send them out to get transcribed, that saves you one day of work.
4. Throw away your whiteboard and only write down four daily tasks instead of having a long to-do list.
5. Reward yourself with 30 minutes of TV, a bowl of ice cream, or the rest of the day off for finishing your project early.
6. Be "perfectly complete" instead of "perfectly perfect."  In other words, try to win the high score.  If your goal was to write 10 articles and you wrote all 10 before your deadline, you scored a "perfect" 10 regardless of the quality of those articles.
7. Use the extra money from internet marketing to go on a vacation, pay off your mortgage faster, spend time with your family, or send your kid to college.  In other words, use the money to do something you enjoy.