5 Tips for Recruiting Affiliates to Sell Your Online Training
Creating a successful affiliate program for your business can be a real challenge, to say the least!
Finding affiliates who align with your industry standards, honestly promote your product, and actually produce viable sales for you is like finding a needle in a haystack. You want affiliates who are excited about your products and have a solid sales plan to really move your money meter forward.
The solution to finding these golden affiliates can be different for each business or solopreneur. So here are five tips you can use to get your program off the ground and up and running, no matter what type of niche or business you're in.
JOIN MARKET INFLUENCERS
Whether they realize it or not, many influencers are already affiliates. Reaching out to these people who are well-known in your market can be a great way to give your product a much-needed boost. Not only can you ask them to actively recruit affiliates through their social network, but they may end up being the best affiliate marketer you have.
With their large audience and the trust they have built up, they are in an ideal situation to promote your products. You can even sweeten the deal by offering to promote them and their programs to your audience in return. These influencers can be podcasters, bloggers, or even less connected personalities like trainers or coaches.
LIVE EVENTS
Certain business events, such as online meetups, offline trade shows, and other profession-specific social gatherings, provide perfect opportunities for you to promote your affiliate program to relevant partners.
Some of the best opportunities are those that pair well with a product or service someone already offers. For example, a life coach just starting out may benefit from providing their clients with an affiliate product such as self-motivation training backed by a high-paying affiliate program to quickly increase their income. Attending a life coach trade show can be a great way to meet these types of people in the flesh.
JOIN AN AFFILIATE NETWORK
Large affiliate marketplaces like ClickBank , FlexOffers , and Awin are great places to find new affiliates. Even though they are very focused on English-speaking products, these platforms attract affiliates from all over the world looking for interesting and lucrative products to promote on their websites, in their podcasts, and in their offline activities. On the French-speaking side, it is mainly 1TPE and Systeme.io which will be able to highlight you among many French-speaking affiliates. Buzzstream is a great PR tool to use that can help you sort through and find those “suitable” and amazing affiliates to work with.
INVEST IN YOURSELF WITH ADVERTISING
It's always nice to find free ways to attract quality affiliates. Unfortunately, this is not always possible. Sometimes the best thing you can do is invest in yourself and your product by placing quality paid ads aimed at recruiting affiliates. This is a great way to attract the exact type of people you want to sell your products.
EXISTING CUSTOMERS
Many people will jump at the chance to get involved in a business they love. If you have a loyal customer base, they may already be recommending you to their friends and neighbors. Why not increase their motivation by offering them a way to earn money? You can turn your army of loyal customers into an army of loyal affiliates.
There are a number of great tools available to help you quickly build a customer referral program that will make selling your product a breeze. Systeme.io is a great tool designed to reduce the stress of running your business. It will take your marketing and automation of your emails and affiliate programs to the next level.
MAKE YOUR AFFILIATES HAPPY AFFILIATES
Ultimately, some of your best affiliates will be those who seek you out through other people's recommendations. For you to truly deserve these referrals, your affiliate program must provide great value to both the customers your affiliates send you and your affiliates themselves. Pay a fair wage (many digital products offer commission around 50%), pay commissions regularly, and pay those commissions on time, every time. A weekly payment can appeal to more than one (even if it is more complicated to manage) and don't forget to create competitions that encourage your affiliate teams to promote your product.
Whatever affiliate platform you use, make sure it allows you to download affiliate tools they can use, such as template emails and graphics that affiliates can copy/paste and use in their promotions. Don't force your affiliates to contort themselves to sell your offers; make it as easy as possible for them to promote you. Some will prefer to create their own content, but having posts and banners ready-made is useful for many.
Just like you wouldn’t lose touch with your customers, don’t lose touch with your affiliates. Remember, affiliates are the roads that bring traffic to your business. Send regular updates on your product offerings, updates to your online training, or new graphics to use.
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