Secrets to Rocking Affiliate Product Launches

I’m so happy to finally be writing this post. It’s been 9 months since I decided to take my blog seriously and attempt to make it a viable source of income. Since I home school my kids, I really needed something very flexible yet lucrative enough to help us catch up on our savings. (We are debt free, but have to catch up from all the time we spent in debt!)

Around January, I made the leap from database consulting, where I made around $10K each month working part-time from home. As of March 2016, I realized that the lackadaisical, if-you-write-it-they-will-read-it approach wasn’t working so well for me to say the least. It wasn’t until I enrolled in and completed Elite Blog Academy that I figured out I wasn’t going to make more than the usual $300-$400 per month from my blog if I didn’t change things.

Then it happened….

The awesome blogger connection I had all along in my blogging mastermind group, Rosemarie Groner of www.BusyBudgeter.com, let me in on her affiliate launch strategy. It was the same affiliate launch strategy that made $39,000 on her first major affiliate launch earlier this year!

She recently sat down with me for over an hour and explained, to the utmost detail, what it meant to have an affiliate launch and how to actually make sales from it.

I was floored.

It made so much sense that I was almost embarrassed that I hadn’t thought of it or tried anything close to it.

The first launch I did was with a few of my own products. The result? Meh…Not so great.

Related Reading: Interview with a Blogger Who Makes $100K per Month

I tried again in August. This time, I would focus on an affiliate product (i.e. not my own product but one I would get commission for if I sold it.) I paired my web host’s, BlueHost.com, offering with my own products (gave mine out as freebie bonuses for purchasers) and the sales poured in over 8 days- $2,520 in sales from promoting a product my readers were interested in anyway!

People were so appreciative that I could offer a 10-video tutorial on setting up a website with their web-hosting purchase that they took advantage of the sale almost immediately.

And me?

Well, I’m glad I finally took advantage of my mastermind resource in Rosemarie who has since gone on to making $20k+ per month with her blogging efforts. Her coaching rate is several hundred dollars per hour on topics like affiliate sales. If you can’t afford that,  she JUST  compiled all her instructions on rocking an affiliate product launch in her new guide,The Core Affiliate Strategy. Grab your copy here. (Email your receipt to aja@principlesofincrease.com and I’ll give you my $7.99 eBook: Grow Your Email List, Grow Your Income for free!)

Without further ado, here is what I learned from this affiliate launch:

1) Promote Great Products

If you are selling things just to get the payout, then you are going to have a hard time gaining trust from your audience. Make sure you promote what you would promote without a payout. That’s the litmus test to help you figure out if you’ll promote a product.

2) Listen to Your Audience

I make it a habit to check analytics on my most popular content. By far, people are most interested in stories on making more money. People want to learn about getting out of debt and balancing the budget, but many times they need more income to do it. It only makes sense that people would respond in an overwhelmingly positive way when I promoted a product that would help them start their own website and add more income to their bottom line. I’m also gearing up for a launch for freelance writing help. I notice that I have an audience of moms who need flexible ways to earn more, so blogging and freelance writing products are proving to be big hits with my audience.

3) Groom Your Audience

People have come to you via email list, website or social media for a reason: they trust you as someone who could solve a difficult problem in their life. You have to deliver on that. It’s ok to groom them to expect that you’ll painstakingly curate products that will help them accomplish a goal. Train your audience to expect deals and offerings regularly and they’ll respond!

4) Have an Email List & Grow it Aggressively

Rosemarie admits herself, The Core Affiliate Strategy won’t be as effective if you don’t have an email list of 1,000 or more people. Don’t let that deter you, however. Try a “test” launch to feel out your list. If the results aren’t what you expect, take some time growing  your email list. I learned that lesson about mid-way through this process. I captured everything I discovered on nearly tripling my email list in 60 days in my eBook, Grow Your Email List, Grow Your Income.  You can purchase it for $7.99 here, or you can get it FREE with the purchase of The Core Affiliate Strategy below:

Haven’t started your blog yet? Click below to get access to a 5-video tutorial and PDF resource guide to get started:

Aja McClanahan

Aja “A.J.” McClanahan is a writer, speaker and entrepreneur.