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We talk about targeting the right people for your product, but just how valuable is it to know your audience?

Here’s a quick case study of a deodorant that became a top seller through nothing more than pinpoint targeting of its customers:

In Brandwashed: Tricks Companies use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy, we learn how Axe Deodorant took over their market through targeting.

Unilever executive David Cousino tells us that Unilever first analyzed the potential male deodorant user by breaking men down into six profiles:

• The Predator — He takes advantage of drunk girls, and lies about his job and where he lives
• Natural Talent — Athletic, smart, and confident. He doesn’t need to lie to score
• Marriage Material — Humble and respectful, he’s the sort of guy you want to bring home to Mom and Dad
• Always the Friend — He always hits that glass ceiling
• The Insecure Novice — He has absolutely no clue what he’s doing, and things get awkward fast — the geeks and nerds
• The Enthusiastic Novice — He has absolutely no clue what he’s doing, but he’s outgoing and tries valiantly anyway

Based on these six profiles, they chose to target the ‘Insecure Novice,’ since these are the guys who need the most help in getting women.

And frankly, this is the target market that could most easily be persuaded into buying a product – ANY product – that could potentially help them get over their nerdiness and get the woman. Or women. Lots of women.

The next step was to create the ads. Research showed that the ultimate male fantasy isn’t to have just one woman at a time – it’s to be irresistible to several sexy women at once. (Seriously, did they really need research to determine this?)

That’s why the TV ads proclaim that if you use Axe Deodorant, you will get the chicks. ALL the chicks.

The result?

Axe came out of nowhere to be the #1 male antiperspirant / deodorant brand.

Notice they weren’t targeting EVERY man. They didn’t target married men, old men, men who could already get women on their own and so forth. They targeted ONE demographic – men in their 20’s and 30’s who were nerdy and had trouble getting women.

But in the process, they had a great deal of crossover into the other groups as well.

This is an added benefit of targeting that most marketers don’t realize. They think in order to get the biggest share of the market, they must target everyone.

But when you target everyone, you tend to get almost no one. Paradoxically, when you target one specific group, you tend to get customers from all the other groups as well.

One side note: In this case, Axe’s marketing worked almost TOO well. High school kids were completely dousing themselves in Axe, thinking they would get every girl in class to fall all over them.

Instead, school districts complained of kids reeking of the cologne-like smell.

How could Axe have fixed this? Perhaps by cautioning its users that because of the power of Axe, a normal amount was actually more effective than going full coverage.

Instead, Axe backpedaled a bit from their original campaign, and sales declined.

Which is another lesson – when you find a target market that works for your product – or better still, you target your product to the right market – don’t change what’s working.

Here’s what you can do:

• Make a list of potential target markets for your next product.
• From that list, choose the market – or demographic – you want to target.
• Create a profile of ONE person in that market – this is your ideal customer.
• Tailor your product and your message to that one person.
• Dance around your office as you see the sales come flooding into your in box.

Stop targeting everyone and start targeting your ideal customer. Once you do, it will become clear how you should market, where you’ll find your customers, and how to get them on board. And yes, your sales will almost certainly increase.

Nearly every day someone approaches me about doing a joint venture because as you know, joint ventures are a marvelous way to get your product in front of a lot of people.

Better yet, getting your joint venture partner’s recommendation can significantly increase both sales and sign ups onto your own list. But that’s the good news – the bad news is anyone with a list gets approached day in and day out by numerous JV seekers, and the vast majority of those requests are either ignored or rejected.

So how can you be the one who receives the coveted “yes” answer next time you approach someone for a joint venture?

Here are 4 techniques that I’ve found work especially well…

First, make your initial contact all about the joint venture partner and NOT about you. Instead of telling them what’s in it for you, tell them what’s in it for them. I don’t know how many times I’ve received emails that go something like this: “I need you to promote my new product to your list because then I can make sales and add people to my own list. Oh yes, and I’ll pay you 50% commission.”

Whoopee. Can you imagine the excitement a list owner feels when receiving an email like this? There’s a reason this type of email doesn’t even get a response. Look, everyone is tuned into that same radio station you’ve heard so much about, WIIFM: What’s In It For Me? A list owner can get 50% in commissions anytime and anywhere without having to do a joint venture.

This is why it is imperative that you stand apart from the crowd and offer the list owner something far more valuable than 50% on sales. Think for a moment – what is it that you’re really good at? Is it writing articles? Building squeeze pages? Writing sales copy? Social Marketing? Whatever it is, offer your potential JV partner your service in exchange for promoting your product, along with a good commission.

For example, if you’re good at writing articles, offer to write a dozen or more on the topics of their choice and pay them 50 -70% commission on sales. Now this is an offer that is likely to get their attention. Sure it’s going to take you some extra time, but so what? You’ll be making sales, building your list, and most importantly, forging a relationship with your new JV partner.

Second, consider giving away all of your commission on the front end product. If your product converts well and sells for a good price, this will get the attention of many list owners. You’ll capture their attention even faster if you also pay immediate commissions or set it up so that commissions are paid straight into their PayPal account.

Why would you give away all of your commissions? You’re not. First of all, you’re building your list with buyers, and buyers are wonderful indeed when it comes to promoting other products in the future. In fact, it’s been estimated that one buyer on your list is worth as many as 35 freebie seekers in terms of future revenue. Second, by placing a one time offer in the sales sequence you can also make money up front. You can either keep 100% of the commissions on the OTO, or split the commissions with your partner.

Third, treat your JV Partner like someone more important than an affiliate. Set up a deal in which several JV Partners and yourself contribute products into one big product package, and then launch the package just as you would a product. Divide the commissions accordingly and everyone wins because everyone promotes to their own lists, ensuring there is plenty of exposure to the offer. Plus, each participant grows their own list full of new purchasers of the event.

Another possibility – work together to create a new product. This doesn’t have to mean the two of you sit down in a room together and hammer out the product. Rather, each of you would complete certain portions of it on your own as a collaboration. For example, you might write the intro, they write the outline, you fill the outline in, you create the video and they write the sales letter (just an example, it will differ wildly for everyone.) You can even do a collaboration with 3 or more JV Partners. Just think – the more partners involved, the more lists you can promote your new product to.

Fourth, warm up your potential JV Partner before you pop the JV question. Instead of immediately asking them for a JV, ask them for an interview instead. Or ask if you can promote their latest product, or ask if you can write an article about them for your blog, etc. In other words, see what you can do to help them first. If you are sincere about this, the law of reciprocity will kick in, and sooner or later they’ll want to repay the favor. That’s why when you ask them down the road to promote your high quality product, they probably won’t even hesitate to say yes.

Okay, But What Do I Write in My JV Proposal?

That first email to a potential JV Partner is scary, isn’t it? What should you say? What shouldn’t you say? Will they reply? Will they think you’re some schmuck hayseed from the sticks?

First of all, don’t worry about getting rejected. Everyone gets rejected now and then, and online it’s usually a simple matter of being ignored. If this happens, realize that they may not have seen your email and send it to them again. Be nice, be respectful, and be persistent. After all, you’ve got nothing to lose by asking.

But there are ways to greatly increase your chances of getting that JV by simply doing the right things in your email. What I recommend…

1. Be personal, warm and friendly. Imagine you’re writing to your mother or father – you’d go out of your way to be polite.
2. Reference something recent they’ve done. Maybe it’s their latest product or blog post – mention something about it so they know you’ve actually read the post or purchased the product.
3. Play to their ego. Praise the post, product or whatever it is that you’re mentioning. NOTE: Praise it in a direct, specific and honest way. Don’t just say, “Great post, man!” Instead, say something like, “Thanks so much for the video creation tips – I’m going to follow your advice because I’ve learned first hand that your methods work.” A general compliment works too if you’ve been reading their content for awhile and can say so.
4. Get to the point. Don’t write 3 pages on your personal history of Internet Marketing. Get to the crux of your communication, which is your proposal.
5. Propose your plan. Again, don’t waffle and don’t digress. Get to the point and let them know what you’re suggesting.
6. Be an authority. This isn’t the time to brag or boast, but it is the time to let them know that you’re experienced. JV Partners aren’t looking to hold your hand, they’re looking to do deals that put new buyers and new money in their pocket.
7. If you’ve got proof, use it. For example, if you’re proposing a collaboration on a traffic product and you’re good at getting traffic, show them a link to a few screenshots of your traffic. You’re putting their mind at ease that you know what you’re doing.
8. Outline the deal without a lot of detail. If you’re proposing they keep 100% on the front end and 50% of the back end, say so. Don’t tell them which hosting company you use or what hours you work.
9. Ask. Ask them for feedback, to do the deal, whatever. Close with a call to action so that it’s super clear the next move is theirs and you’re looking for a response. Again, you’re not dictating – you’re simply being professional in a warm, friendly manner.

Send and wait for a response. Don’t expect them to fall all over themselves in gratitude that you wrote. If the answer comes back negative, write back and tell them thank you very much for considering it, and you look forward to an opportunity to perhaps work with them in the future. Don’t rant or rave or get nasty – the last thing you want to do is slam the door on future opportunities.

If the answer comes back as anything other than a no, then odds are it can develop into a definite yes, but only IF you don’t fumble the ball. The typical response you get back is going to be for more information. Provide it and answer any questions they give you. Keep in mind that the things they are likely looking for in a potential JV Partner are…

• Confidence and professionalism. Do you know what you’re doing? Are you capable?
• Experience. What is your experience as related to the topic of this JV? What are you bringing to the table?
• Trustworthy and reliable. Will you do what you say? Can they trust you?

As to what a JV Partner is looking for in the JV itself…

• No huge time commitments. Big commitments are scary and stressful, small ones are much less so. Don’t ask them to write a 300 page ebook for your JV – it isn’t going to happen.
• Enhanced reputation. Is this a quality product that provides lots of value? Or are you looking for the quick buck?
• More buyers for their own list. If you can bring buyers to the table, you’ve got a powerful motivation for them to participate.
• Money. Of course this is often (but not always) a motivator – how much money might they make in relation to the time invested? However, don’t assume this is their primary motivation. A good marketer knows that growing their list of buyers provides far more income on a long term basis than making quick money today. And no decent marketer wants to make a quick buck if it risks their reputation with their list.

Next you will iron out the details, go above and beyond the expectation of your partner every chance you get and run the best Joint Venture you possibly can. Hopefully it is a great success. And no matter the outcome, there is still one more step to take before you’re done, and that is to thank your JV Partner in a memorable manner. Why? Because many marketers do several JV’s a month, and if you’re not memorable, they may not say yes the next time you ask. Do a little research, find out what they like, and then send it to them. Does he like cigars? Is she partial to good coffee? It doesn’t have to be expensive because it’s not about the money, it’s about saying THANK YOU!!!

Believe me, I still remember a JV Partner I worked with 5 years ago who sent me a very nice gift in the mail. And even though we’ve since lost touch, were he to contact me today for another JV, I would almost certainly say yes. And for him (and for you), that’s like money in the bank.

There was once a very sexy commercial on television with the line, “If you want to capture someone’s attention, whisper.” Of course it showed a beautiful woman whispering into a man’s ear – and it was also false advertising. Can you guess why?

Because it wasn’t the whispering that was capturing attention – it was the pretty lady. Why is it that sex will capture attention every time, and what (surprisingly) works just as well as sex at pasting your prospect’s eyeballs to your website? Here’s what I’ve learned:

Humans have 3 brains in one – the analytical, thinking brain; the emotional brain; and the primitive, reptilian brain. It’s that primitive brain that cares about one thing – survival. Its job is to constantly monitor the environment for 3 things: Anything it can eat, anything it can have sex with, and anything that will hurt or kill it. That’s it. It’s a non-stop monitoring system for survival of the individual and the species, and because it’s simple, it’s also brain dead easy to capture its attention.

Simply use images or word pictures that bring thoughts of sex, food or danger and your prospect cannot immediately look away. Yes, it’s that simple. If you have a picture of an accident on your site, people will stop and look. They HAVE to. It’s no different than when they’re driving by a car accident: They’re unable to keep themselves from slowing down and looking to see the danger. That’s also why so many movie scenes involve chases, danger and violence – Hollywood knows you simply cannot flip the channel when it’s catering to your primitive brain.

Next time you want to rivet your reader to your sales page, see if you can add in some sexy elements, or some food, or even a sense of danger. They won’t know why they can’t tear their eyes away, nor will they care. They will, however, think their intense interest in your page must have something to do with the contents, and thus they will be more inclined to linger and possibly take the action you desire. Become irresistible to your readers – try catering to their primitive brain as well as their emotional and analytical brains and see what happens.

No worries – this is completely honest and ethical, and it’s a great way to begin sending free traffic to your new website.

Diverting traffic from other websites is one of the easiest methods of gaining free traffic. Ideally, you’ll want to “steal” this traffic from high traffic websites, because the more traffic your target sites get, the more traffic you can siphon off and send to your own site.

1. Look for high traffic forums and blogs that are directly related to your own niche. Ideally you want forums and blogs that have high traffic and also allow you to place a link to your website in every post you make, either in your signature file or in a clickable link.

Now then, you want to make as many intelligent posts as possible – thereby sharing your link several times or more – and do it in as little time as possible. The goal here is not to spend all day making forum posts, but rather to get in, make your posts and get out so that you have time to take care of other tasks related to your business.

Set a timer and search for specific posts that you can quickly reply to. For example, if your topic is SEO, search out the SEO threads rather than trying to answer a thread on content creation. You want to give short, concise, intelligent and helpful answers.

2. When your timer goes off, don’t close the forums. Instead, reset the timer because this time you’re going to create your own posts on these same forums. Search the forum for a thread that was super popular a few months ago, and start a new thread on a similar topic, only with your personal spin on it. This should get the posts responses piling up fast and furious, and will give your signature file plenty of views.

Be sure to check back on the threads you started at least once per day to answer some of the responses you received. If you continue posting daily in forums and on popular blogs, you should get a steady stream of people visiting your site. And while they may not be coming in droves, the ones that do show up are highly targeted and ripe for adding to your email list. Be sure to capture as many of them as you can by offering great content and a juicy reward for joining your list.

3. BONUS: If your niche is non-marketing related, find active posters on blogs and ask them to place your link in their signature file for a month for a fee – perhaps $25. They’re already posting, so it’s no extra effort for them and it’s great targeted traffic for you.

4. ADVANCED: Hire someone to post for you. If you outsource to the Philippines, for example, you can get someone to post on forums and blogs for you every day at a very reasonable rate. Not only does this free up your time, but because this is all they do, they can make far more posts than you ever could. One note: Until you are fully confident in their abilities, do not let them start forum threads in your name.

There you have it…

4 ways to “steal traffic”, and grow your online business; all without breaking the bank! 😉

So you’ve got a fantastic looking squeeze page that still isn’t converting worth a darn – now what? Sometimes doing the opposite of what everyone else on the Internet is telling you to do really pays off, especially when it comes to capturing email addresses.

Split test these and see if your subscribe rates don’t increase dramatically…

Forget the name. There was a time – a long time ago – when inserting a person’s name in an email increased the open rate. Those days are all but gone.

Worse yet, asking for their name decreases your response rate nearly every time. The only time to ask for their name is when they BUY from you – not when you’re merely asking them to subscribe to your list. So remove that box from your opt-in form, along with any other box besides their email address. The easier you make it for them to subscribe, and the less information you ask for, the higher your conversions are likely to be.

Remove the spam sentence. You know that great little sentence you have beneath the opt-in box that says you hate spam and will never ever ever ever share their info with anyone? Remove it completely. Don’t change it, don’t tweak it – just strip it right out of there. Repeated testing shows that having it there actually decreases your sign-up rate. Ironic, since it was originally intended to increase it by providing a sense of security.

Besides – if you ever want to sell your website and associated lists, you won’t be able to if you’ve told them you will never share their info. So you’re shooting your future prosperity in the foot while reducing your current sign-ups, all because you were doing what every other marketer on the planet is doing.

Tell them who you are. First, people hesitate to sign onto a list unless they have some idea of WHO is behind the list. They want to know not only what they get for joining your list, but also who you are – so tell them your name, use a photo of your face, or do something that makes it clear you are in fact a real live person.

Second, by having your identity on your squeeze page you will drastically reduce the number of people who check their email an hour or two later and wonder who in the world you are and why you’re sending them mail. The more memorable an impression you make on the squeeze page, the more likely they are to remember you when they read their email. This in turn decreases the likelihood they will cry “SPAM!” and increases the likelihood they will open your email and actually read it. Remember, when people check their email they look at the “from” line first. Be memorable and your email will enjoy a much warmer reception.

Try split testing these three changes on your squeeze page and see what happens – I suspect your sign-ups will increase by several percent.

Scott Anthony of the Harvard Business Review did a piece on “3 Ways to Prioritize a Long List of Ideas, which you can read here…

It’s all about how to choose what it is that you should do next, which product to run with, which decision to make and so forth. Of course it’s written with large companies in mind, but the essence applies just as well to the Online Marketer. For example…

When choosing which product to create next, don’t always trust what people say they will do.

Rather, trust what they do. When I survey my readers to find out what they want to buy next, I also take into consideration that they may not know their own minds.

For example, if you ask someone what they want to eat tomorrow, they’re likely to say they want something healthy like a salad. But when tomorrow comes, more often than not they will order the pizza or pasta instead. It’s not that they weren’t telling you the truth; it’s just that people tend to think about the future in one way and act in the present in a different way. They’re certain tomorrow is the day they buckle down and do their work, or go on a diet, or begin exercising. Today? Let’s watch TV and eat chocolate cake.

So when you survey your customers asking what they want to buy, realize that what they say isn’t necessarily so.

Limit studying and planning. Prioritize action.

If all you’re doing is studying and planning so that you can make the right decision, then you’re not acting. And without action, there can be no reward. As Anthony states, visualize success and then figure out what you need to do to get there. For example, if you visualize your next success as selling a thousand copies of your new training program, figure out what you need to do to make it happen, and then do it. If you get stuck on the planning, you’ll never get anywhere.

Look for ideas and solutions outside of the box.

Whatever your niche of choice might be, don’t confine your explorations and learning to just your niche. Explore other avenues outside of your realm to see how they solve problems and how that might be applicable to your niche. Becoming myopic to your own area of expertise to the exclusion of all others can mean you’re missing out on stellar ideas to increase your bottom line.

Here’s a simple example: Angie has her own line of make-up products targeted to women over 50 that she sells exclusively online, and she’s been struggling with lead generation. The other day she received her order of vitamins from a well known health company with millions of customers, and it hit her: What if she asked this company to place a postcard promoting her website in every box that contained one or more products designed exclusively for this target market?

Most online marketers would never even think of this – yet it’s an excellent way to get her website in front of her exact target market. And all it will cost her is the printing, since the health company is taking a percentage of sales as her affiliate rather than a flat fee for inserting the postcards.

Sometimes we find ourselves bogged down while trying to decide what to do next or how to do it – when really all we need are simple systems to keep us moving, and our business growing.

If you’re using Paypal to take payments, here’s a neat little trick to increase your sales…

When someone adds your product to the shopping cart, it takes them to the Paypal checkout page. The problem is, some people will back out of the purchase at this point. However, what most marketers don’t seem to know is that Paypal allows you to place a banner at the top of this checkout page. Moreover, what you choose to place in this banner can reduce shopping cart abandonment by allaying your customer’s fear.

For example, recently when I purchased a product I saw a banner at the top of the Paypal checkout page that actually asked me to visit another website to sign up for a different product launch! This is obviously NOT the way to use this banner space.

Instead, do what I saw one enterprising entrepreneur do the other day – create a simple banner with a short TESTIMONIAL in it for the product they are about to purchase.

It can be something as brief as:

I Can’t Believe This is Available for Such a Low Price.

– Customer Name

or

ABC Product Saved Me $xxxx in Just The First 3 Months.

– Customer Name

Be sure to use quotes and the person’s full name – and if applicable, their company name. This provides third party validation that the buyer is in fact making a smart decision by purchasing your offer, and thus reduce your Paypal shopping cart abandonment rate.

Of course, this same tip can be applied to any shopping cart or online checkout experience really. Using social proof to reinforce your buyers confidence just before checkout will boost your sales.

Now just make sure you are giving your customers experiences WORTH writing you glowing reviews and testimonials for and you’ll be all set!

If you look at the wealthiest people in America today – Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Michael Dell, Paul Allen – you’ll notice they’re all first generation multi-billionaires.

And here’s the wonderful thing: If you do what other successful people do, you’ll eventually get a similar result to what they got, depending on things like timing and market, of course.

But let’s say you only do 1/10th as good. Or even 1/100th or 1/1000th. That’s still better than if you did nothing.

So look at what successful people do. Copy them in your own way. Expect it to take work. And time. And lots of effort.

And then be proud of your results, whatever they might be.

There’s been a trend online for the last 20 years to write sales letters that are shorter and have more and more graphics and fancy images.

But just because everyone is doing it, does that make it the most effective form of selling?

Maybe not.

Do you remember direct mail selling?

You get a fat white envelope in the mail, and inside is a long form sales letter. No fancy graphics, just plenty of great copy.

Here’s the thing: Anybody and everybody can throw up a sales letter online. And they do.

But when it comes to direct mail, these companies are hiring the best of the best copywriters to write their letters.

How do I know? Because no company in their right mind is going to spend the money to mail thousands (hundreds of thousands, even millions) of these letters unless they know for a FACT that they’re going to convert.

And how do they know? Because they test them. They pit one version against another to determine which one is more effective, and that becomes the control.

Then they write another version and test that against the previous winner, and they keep this up until they are making serious money.

Then they mail out these letters by the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, and the money rolls in.

These are the best of the best in sales letters, and they’re not to be confused with online sales letters in quality.

After all, it costs nothing to slap a letter up on the internet and see if anything sticks.

But mailing out thousands of letters the old fashioned way is a serious investment – which is also why these companies are willing to pay the very best writers 5 figures plus royalties to write these letters.

So, get on as many mailing lists as possible and when these letters start coming in, read and re-read them.

Dissect why they work, and then use them as templates for your own letters.

I have a friend who is experimenting with this very technique, and his first try out of the gate more than DOUBLED his sales compared to the sales letter he was using.

He simply took a sales letter that he’s received in the mail twice (a sure sign it’s converting) and he used it as a template for his online letter for his own product.

He didn’t use any graphics at all. No flash and no sparkle – just a plain old sales letter full of words that convinced his online buyers to… BUY.

Try it. You never know – maybe you’ll double your sales, too.

If you’re a product seller, you already know that not all affiliates are created equal.

Some will never promote. Others promote once and disappear. And a small percentage will promote your products over and over, making a lion’s share of sales for you.

So how do you recruit great affiliates?

While there is no one answer, there are many ways to find and recruit those key affiliates who will take your business to the next level.

1: “Wanna Promote?”

Contacting websites, blogs and other web publishers.

Send them a well-written email to ask them in a very polite way if they would like to become your affiliate.

You’ll likely have to contact a lot of people to get results, but it can be totally worth the effort.

2: Use a Service

Use a service to locate potential affiliates by category, keyword or advertiser.

3: Bloggers

Group High is a site that will help you find the best bloggers and influencers, as well as manage your relationships.

4: Outsource

If you have the funds, you can hire a service such as Experience Advertising to do your outreach and recruiting for you.

5: Use PPC Search Ads

Did you know that affiliates are actively looking for great programs to promote? You can find them by running PPC ads in Google Adwords and Bing Ads.

Don’t forget to track to see which ads are bringing in the most effective affiliates.

6: SEO’d Affiliate Pages

Create a page just for affiliates. Then optimize that page for SEO results, so when people are searching for affiliate programs in your niche, they can find you in the organic search results.

7: Press Releases

Write press releases for online distribution. Press releases can be another way to gain traction in the organic rankings.

8: Facebook Ads

Did you know you can find affiliates on Facebook? Target people who are interested in affiliate marketing and blogging in your niche.

9: Networks

Launch your product on an affiliate network.

There are many to choose from, including Clickbank, Commissions Junction, JVZoo, Linkshare and Sharesale.

In some cases you might want to screen affiliates from these networks to be sure you’re only dealing with reputable people.

10: In Person

Trade shows, summits and conferences are great places to meet new affiliates. You might even consider getting a booth at some of these events, so affiliates are coming to you instead of you hunting them down.

11: Affiliate Forums

Build and maintain a presence on affiliate forums. These are great places to meet and recruit affiliates. Here’s a few to get you started:

Affiliate Fix https://www.affiliatefix.com/

Affilorama https://www.affilorama.com/forum/

Black Hat World https://www.blackhatworld.com/

DN Forum https://www.dnforum.com/

Digital Point https://forums.digitalpoint.com/

Site Point https://www.sitepoint.com/community/

Warrior Forum http://warriorforum.com

Wicked Fire http://www.wickedfire.com/

12: Twitter

Twitter is a good place to meet potential affiliates. Search for your keywords to find who is talking about your niche, and then follow them and start interacting.

13: LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great place to meet affiliates and just network in general. You can post and participate in discussions and connect with people in a professional atmosphere.

14: Talk to Your Customers

This is a great way to get new affiliates who truly use and believe in your product. Reach out to your buyers and see who would like to be your affiliate, and take it from there.

15: Customer Referral Program

Tools such as Referral Candy and Friend Buy make it super easy to set up and run a customer referral program.

Plus it automates the process, so you can put your focus elsewhere.

16: Your Own Site

Place a link on your website. This is perhaps the most simple, yet most overlooked technique of all.

Place a link at the bottom of your website, and anywhere else you choose, pointing people to your affiliate page.

17: You Promote Mine, I’ll Promote Yours

Approach other product sellers and offer to do a deal in which you promote each other’s product.

A few notes about this one: Obviously you want to find product owners in your same niche.

You want to love their product enough to promote it – don’t promote junk just to make some sales of your own.

And while many will tell you that you cannot be direct competitors to do this, it’s simply not true. For example, let’s say you have a product that teaches traffic generation techniques.

You find another product that also teaches traffic generation techniques, so naturally they seem like a direct competitor. But the actual techniques they teach are somewhat different from yours.

I can tell you right now that your customers are not buying just one product on generating traffic – they’re buying several. You can be the affiliate who introduces them to a traffic course you truly believe in, and in return get your own product promoted as well.

18: It’s Super Affiliate!

Look for super affiliates – the top affiliate performers who can generate significant revenue for the merchants they choose to promote.

They’re going to be looking for high conversion rates and a decent percentage of the profits.

Be sure you’ve got everything running smoothly and converting well before asking them to promote. If they make a lot of sales, they may continue to promote you into the future.

But if there are technical glitches or low conversions, you will never hear from them again.

19: Spy

Watch to see who is promoting similar offers. If you’re about to launch that traffic program, so some research to find out who the top affiliates were for previous traffic programs.

Perhaps the easiest way to do the research is proactively. Sign up as an affiliate yourself so you can see who the top promoters are, and contact them well in advance of your own launch.

20: Contests

Run an incentive contest, promote it everywhere. Running a contest with cash prizes for top performers will entice new affiliates to join your affiliate program.

21: Affiliates Recruiting Affiliates

Offer an incentive to current affiliates to bring in new affiliates. Affiliates know other affiliates. And offering a percentage of profits on their affiliate recruits is a great way to incentivize them to do your affiliate recruiting for you.

Above all else, take care of your best affiliates and keep them happy. Affiliates can make or break your business. If just one affiliate has a bad experience with you, they can potentially tell dozens of others to steer clear. Once this happens, you’ll find it very difficult to recruit new affiliates.

But when you treat your affiliates well, they will send you sales – often a surprising number of them.

Just think – all it takes is one really good affiliate to add 5 figures to your business.

A half dozen of these affiliates promoting you on a regular basis can move you into the 6 figure range. All for just recruiting and taking care of your best people.