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Now playing: Everybody Knows by Alex Lambert
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You've probably heard it said many times that affiliate marketing is just like searching for pearls in oysters. You haven't? Really? Oh, that's right, people won't be saying that until after I write this article. Forgive me, just had a little flash-forward there.
How can these two concepts possibly be related? Well, pearls are valuable, sought-after gems. What are some things that could be represented by pearls in the context of affiliate marketing? How about these:
Customers
Commissions
Relationships
Those are certainly things we're searching for as marketers because they have great value. So if those are the pearls, what are the oysters?
PEARLS - OYSTERS
Customers - Target audience
Commissions - Marketing skills
Relationships - Networking
First, out of your target audience will come visitors and customers.
Second, the products you promote, the value you provide, the keywords you use, your copywriting skills, and your overall marketing approach will result in commissions.
Third, your networking efforts and willingness to help others will produce great business relationships.
Finding those money-making mollusks
Okay, bear with me for a moment while I wander back in Hollywood history. (Yes, I'm going to attempt to tie in another unrelated topic. Don't worry, I've got safety glasses on.)
My favorite old movie is "Cover Girl" with Gene Kelly, Rita Hayworth, and Phil Silvers. The three of them have a tradition at Joe's Oyster Bar, where every Friday they order oysters, recite "Come ONNNNN pearl!" while making specific hand movements, and then crack them open, hoping to find said pearl. Or "poyl," as Joe says. Joe himself doesn't think poyls comes from ursters—"I beg you to be reasonable. How could an urster give boyth to a poyl?"
Anyway, they figure finding one will be a sign that things are about to turn around for them. In the case of an affiliate marketer, those pearls—customers, commissions, and relationships—mean success as well, especially once you string enough of them to make your own jazzy jewelry.
The trick in doing that is examining how many and what kind of oysters you're cracking open.
Scrutinize your scallops
Unfortunately, hand movements and chanting don't work in affiliate marketing. If that's your strategy, I hate to break it to you, but you should have finished beauty school. Here are some ways to analyze your strategy:
- You're not getting any customers from your target audience? Are you sure you're targeting the right audience? Do you need to expand your "fishing"? Are you working to capture people who are ready to buy or are you targeting people who are still in the initial stages of research? Are there other groups of potential customers you haven't considered? Your answers to these questions may indicate that you need to find more oysters and/or different oysters to increase your likelihood of success.
- Next is commissions. Assess your marketing skills. How well you pitch your products, what products you choose, how thorough your keyword research is, the skill of your copywriting, and other factors all play into whether visitors to your site will convert, making money for you. If you're not seeing a decent conversion rate, consider the above aspects of marketing and whether you could improve the quality or quantity of your products, keywords, writing, time, etc. Again, this will yield more pearls.
- As for relationships, don't underestimate their value. Building solid business relationships with others online (and offline) is very beneficial in establishing trust, winning customers, creating joint venture opportunities, and just in general making affiliate marketing even more fun than it already is. If you haven't begun building these relationships, or you don't seem to be getting the response you want from your networking efforts, take an honest look at your techniques. Are you providing real value for your customers and the online community? Are you giving more than you take? (In other words, are you being shellfish?) Do you need to sharpen your writing skills in order to write more professional e-mails or articles? Are you widening the scope of your networking efforts? If you're not participating in several forums or blogs, you're severely limiting the number and quality of relationships you can establish.
Meanwhile, back at Joe's Oyster Bar...
What did Gene, Rita, and Phil do every time there was no pearl? Burst into song, naturally! And then kept returning to Joe's for more oysters.
There's a lesson here as well. You can't give up the search. You've got to keep looking, keep working, keep trying. (I'm sure you can guess whether they found theirs.)
The poyls are out there. And they're most definitely in ursters.
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If the analogies in this post seem a bit of a stretch, blame these people. They made me do it.
Lastly, I'll include a video from "Cover Girl" of the "Poor John" dance number as our "Friday Foolishness" this week. I looked for scenes from the oyster bar, but I couldn't find any.
