I can talk for days on Affiliate and JV relationships. There are a lot of different approaches, and they can all make you a ton of money. So, today, I'll plant some seeds and give you ideas on how you could approach this moving forward.
Affiliate Opportunity 1: Recommending Your Own Tools & Software
Whether it's with your paying students or your entire audience, when you have tools and resources you recommend... you get paid! Last I checked, we generate over $20,000/mo in affiliate commissions for software and other tools.
The first thing we do is have a "Recommended Resources" Section inside our programs that include affiliate links. But you can do mini promotions, video reviews and offer your own bonueses when promoting these tools.
Heck! Even if you are recommending a book to your followers, you can add an Amazon Associates link on there and get paid!
You can also use cool resources like Kit.co to organize products you recommend.
Affiliate Opportunity 2: Promoting Complementary Digital Products
Next, if you have peers or... "competitors" that have the same or overlapping audiences as you... why not promote them?! With digital products, the standard commission is 50%. Which means you can make good money... and not have to do much work to fulfill on the sale! Connect with peers, build relationships and see if there is an opportunity to put their stuff in front of your audience.
We recommend promoting someone else JUST like you would your own launch. For example: invite your audience to a webinar, and your Affiliate Partner hosts the call, sells their product, and you get paid.
Also worth noting: for years I've recommended that 20-30% of your annual revenue comes from affiliate income.
Affiliate Opportunity 3: Attracting Affiliates and Joint Venture Partners
When it is TIME... and not a moment before that time... you can begin to leverage affiliate partners in your business to help you sell your stuff. The moment I brought affiliates on, we saw our EPL double! Sales exploded!
Think about it. You are getting in front of new audiences that already have a relationship with someone that is recommending you... the affiliate promotes, endorses and supports YOU... and they offer bonuses to your offer!
So... when are you actually ready to bring on affiliates?
You must have a proven offer and sales machine. The worst thing you can do is attract affiliates before you've tested your stuff and knows it converts. They spent their time and energy sending leads to something that doesn't convert?! Ouch! They ain't gonna come back and give you a second chance.
Also... if you are new to the affiliate game, start small. One-Off Joint Venture Webinars are the way to go. Simply work with one affiliate a time. You build the webinar. They invite the people. You present and pitch.
Affiliate Opportunity 4: Refer a Friend
I think this is a MASSIVE opportunity that I don't see enough business owners take full advantage off. Turn your EXISTING customers/members into your SALES FORCE!
In fact, just this morning I got a text from one of my Guitar Academy programs I'm apart of. They asked me to refer a friend, and I get a bonus.
Imagine if you had a membership... and you told your members that their membership is FREE if they simply invite two friends to join with them. Imagine if even 10% of your members got even ONE friend to join. No additional work from you... but on a $47/mo membership, that's an additional $5k/mo if you had a 1,000 members!
What Affiliate Software Do You Use James?
I use Kajabi. Their affiliate software works great for our needs. AND... we also use Samcart, they also have an affiliate software. The most important thing: the company that runs your CHECKOUT PROCESS MUST ALSO BE the same company that runs your affiliate software tracking. Otherwise, you are trying to get two foreign apps to talk with each other... and things WILL break.
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