Affiliate Roundup
Have you ever heard the phrase, “No man is an island?”
Besides being a basic geographical fact, it’s also a metaphor. No person can survive—far less thrive—by themselves. We all need somebody to lean on from time to time. This rings very true in online business. Throughout my 10+ years working as a marketer and entrepreneur, I’ve never seen a single person succeed by isolating themselves.
Partnerships and collaboration are the lifeblood of success in this industry. Time and time again I have seen people set out to “make it” in online business, only to crash and burn shortly thereafter because they couldn’t play well with others.
Perhaps nowhere is this more relevant than the area of product launches. Just like it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to launch a successful product. These other villagers come in the form of affiliate partners.
By the way, if you want to hear this in podcast form, simply follow this link.
The Most Important Relationship In Digital Business
Affiliate partners come alongside you during a launch and promote your product to their audience. Have you ever watched a YouTube video or heard a podcast where someone else’s product was being promoted? Most of the time, the host will give you a code or passphrase to enter on the affiliate’s sales page to get a discount of some variety. This is affiliate marketing.
With affiliates, you and your products can go so much farther than they could alone. This is because affiliates work multiplicatively, not additively.
Imagine, if you will, that you have an audience of 1,000 people. Now, what will take more work: adding 1,000 more members to your audience, or finding someone else with an audience of 1,000 to hype your product for you? Better yet, finding somebody who has an audience of 10,000?
This is especially helpful for those newer to launching products…but all veteran entrepreneurs that I know have a robust web of affiliates built up over time.
Without affiliates like this, it will take much longer for you to succeed…if it happens at all.
By the way, launches constitute the third part of my signature method for making money in online business. I call it the “M.I.L.K. It” method, which stands for Market, Idea, Launch, and Ka-Ching. If you’ve never read up on it before, then follow this link to discover more.
How to Gain Stellar Affiliates for Your Next Launch
Here’s the playbook:
- Find an existing ecosystem of partners.
Another term for affiliates is JVPs, which stands for joint venture partners. The good news is, to find JVPs, you don’t have to look very far. There are several communities already out there filled to the brim with successful people who want to help you out.
To start, I would recommend a place like warriorplus, jvzoo, or clickbank.
As mentioned before, each of these places has potential JVPs willing to lend you a hand. The bad news is, it will take consistent time, effort, and energy to build relationships with them. You’ll also likely have to reach out to several, or even dozens of, people before you find your first JVP.
- Cultivate relationships.
Though the fact above may sound discouraging, my job isn’t to sugarcoat things for you. It will take some time before you gain traction in this new world.
The best way to gain highly respected JVPs is through intentional relationship-building and growing your audience. Let’s focus on relationships first:
Relationships are built on reciprocity. Your best friend knows that they can trust you with anything, and they’re willing to do the same thing for you. This is also true in the digital marketplace. Always be ready to give back the same or more to whoever helps you. Also, be willing to be the person who adds value first rather than asking for it first.
Add value on the front end. Do more listening than talking. It will pay dividends.
- Grow your audience.
Of course, this entire process is expedited by having a large audience. To be frank, people want to partner with you if you have the same or bigger audience than them. This is because when it’s time for you to reciprocate, they want their product in front of as many people as possible.
The best time to start growing your audience was the day you started an online business. The second best time is right now. Start with an email list, YouTube channel, or Facebook group. Consistently create and curate content relevant and helpful to your intended market (who become your audience). It will usually take time to grow, but the best predictors for growth are quality and consistency.
If you walk into an ecosystem like warriorplus with a sizable audience, you’ll get JVPs much faster. Then, their audience becomes your audience, in a way.
Final Note
I know I just talked through three quick points on gaining affiliates like it was nothing… but we both know it’s not. This is hard work. Whoever promises you that entrepreneurship is a vacation probably has some snake oil to sell you…or some oceanfront property in Idaho.
Joining an ecosystem of partners requires work. Cultivating reciprocal relationships requires work. Building your audience requires—you guessed it—work. I’m not saying it’s all just a big waste of time; I love my job and the lifestyle it affords me. I just want to warn you that though the view at the top looks amazing, it takes a hike to get there.
So, get hiking! Here’s to your best launches yet.
For more secrets the so-called “gurus” won’t tell you about making money online, check out my podcast:
