Common Affiliate Mistakes and how to avoid them  

Affiliate marketing is one of the most effective and powerful ways of earning some money online. This program gives everybody a chance to make a profit through the Internet. Since these affiliate marketing programs are easy to join, implement and pays a commission on a regular basis, more an more people are now willing in this business.  

However, like all businesses, there are lots of pitfalls in the affiliate marketing business. Committing some of the most common mistakes will cost the marketers a large portion taken from the profit they are making every day. That is why it is better to avoid them than be regretful in the end.  

Choosing the wrong affiliate. 

Many people want to earn from affiliate marketing as fast as possible. In their rush to be part of one, they tend to choose a bandwagon product. This is the kind of products that the program thinks are “hot”. They choose the product that is in demand without actually considering if the product appeals to them. This is not a very wise move obviously. 

Instead of jumping on the bandwagon, try to choose a product in which you are truly interested in. For any endeavour to succeed, you should take some time to plan and figure out your actions.  

Pick a product that appeals to you. Then do some research about that product to see if they are in demand. Promoting a product you are more passionate about is easier than promoting one for the sake of the earnings only.  

Joining too many affiliate programs.  

Since affiliate programs are very easy to join, you might be tempted to join multiples of affiliate programs to try and maximize the earnings you will be getting. Besides you may think that there is nothing wrong and nothing to lose by being part of many affiliate programs. 

True, that is a great way to have multiple sources of income. However, joining multiple programs and attempting to promote them all at the same time will prevent you from concentrating on each one of them.  

The result? The maximum potential of your affiliate program is not realized and the income generated will not exactly be as huge as you were thinking initially it would. The best way to get excellent result is by joining just one program that pays a 40% commission at least. Then give it your best effort by promoting your products enthusiastically. As soon as you see that it is already making a reasonable profit, then maybe you can now join another affiliate program. 

The technique is to do it slowly but surely. There is really no need to rush into things, especially with affiliate marketing. With the way things are going, the future is looking really bright and it seems affiliate marketing will be staying for a long time too. 

Not buying the product or using the service. 

As an affiliate, your main purpose is to effectively and convincingly promote a product or service and to find customers. For you to achieve this purpose, you must be able to relay to the customers that certain product and service. It is therefore difficult for you to do this when you yourself have not tried these things out. Thus, you will fail to promote and recommend them convincingly. You will also fail to create a desire in your customers to avail any of what you are offering. 

Try the product or service personally first before you sign up as an affiliate to see if it is really delivering what it promises. If you have done so, then you are one of the credible and living testaments aware of its advantages and disadvantages. Your customers will then feel the sincerity and truthfulness in you and this will trigger them to try them out for themselves.  

Choosing a bad product to promote: Rather than haphazardly selecting the product with the highest commission, look for ones that have the highest popularity ratings. If a lot of people are buying them often, they must be better than other products for sale within that niche. Focus on products that a lot of people want; and if their popularity just surged, now is the best time to get in the market. Think of the seasonal demand also for the products and then select. 

Picking a product with low conversion rate: Conversion rate is the percentage of sales made out of traffic referred to that site. As an affiliate marketer, your goal is to profit from the hard worker others have done; and from the money they have spent on copywriters, product developers, and software. If you select a product that underutilizes these advantages, you are likely to benefit less. Not all product creators hire a top-notch copywriter. In fact, many of them just write their own copy. Many also don’t hire someone to do graphs for the sales page. Instead, they try to do their own. The result is that the page looks haphazard. The product converts poorly even though it may be a good product in its own right. Before you start promoting any particular product, read the sales page carefully and compare it with others. Look particularly for the graphics which can throw off the visitor, the content failing to interest you as a visitor etc. You cannot help the seller at this point, but you can avoid his product and find a better one. 

Picking the products with meagre commission: If you promote something that only generates a 25% commission for you, then you’re leaving a lot on the time. In reality, you could probably find a similar product that offers a 50% or 75% commission. 

Failing to collect leads: Rather than generating traffic through pay per click, search engine optimization, and other methods and then sending that traffic to your affiliate link, you should make an effort to convert them into list members first. The simple mathematical reasoning goes something like this: virtually everyone who would have purchased the product will opt in to your mailing list. And many who definitely would not have purchased the product will opt in to your mailing list. Instead of converting at a rate of around 1-3% (in affiliate sales), you will convert between 15 and 40% of visitors (to your mailing list). From there, you will get the chance to contact the willing buyers and the more reluctant. Additionally, once they’re on a list, this is no longer a one-off effort. You get the chance to market to them again and again for months or even years. 

As a marketer, one of the best tools you have available is your list. Always, always, always use your list over the one-off sale. 

Many affiliate marketers make these mistakes and are paying dearly for their actions. To not fall into the same situation they have been in, try to do everything to avoid making the same mistakes.  

Time is the key. Take the time to analyse your marketing strategy and check if you are in the right track. If done properly, you will be able to maximize your affiliate marketing program and earn higher profits.