3 Strategies for Promoting Affilate Products with Blogs
Robert Phillips

There are many ways to make money with a blog. One of the most effective, low-cost and low-risk methods is affiliate marketing. Just add your affiliate link to your blog and watch your sales grow along with your blog traffic.

Although you can promote both physical and digital products, the latter typically pay more commissions and are easier to sell. Here are a few ways you can make $500 - $2,000 in sales of affiliate products monthly from your blog. It all depends on how much effort you invest.

1) Interview the Creator of the Product

Is there a person more qualified to answer questions and objections about a product than it's owner? By conducting an interview, you'll build credibility with your blog owners in addition to being the person who asks to tough questions and gets to the bottom line.

To conduct the interview you can use a service that will record the call or you can use Skype which is free. If you'd like to edit the interview you can use a free audio editing software called Audacity. Several podcasting plugins are freely evailable for WordPress blogs.

The key to selling affiliate products using podcast interviews is to ask the right questions. It works much better if you've already bought and used the product so you're familiar with how it works and any limitations it has.

During the interview itself, make sure you mention your affiliate link. Also write a short description of the podcast in your blog post and put your affiliate link there. Ask the owner if he might extend a special offer to your subscribers.

2) Write a Product Review

Product reviews are nothing new but there don't seem to be a whole bunch of affiliate marketers using them these days. It might be simply because writing a review takes a little effort. Don't turn your review into a sales pitch that turns off your readers. Make it an honest review pointing out the good and the bad in such a way that you can ultimately make a buying recommendation.

To increase the clicks on your affiliate links, include screenshots of the product (if it's a software) to let people get an insider's view of how it works and the results they can expect from it. If it's an e-book or information product, let others know the results you've achieved by using the techniques or secrets mentioned. Everyone loves something that works, but most people will wait to see if it works for others before deciding to buy it.

3) Pre-sell With a "How To" Article

A "How To" article teaches people how to solve a specific problem or achieve a specific result. In your article, start with the problem or desired outcome, and give specific steps and actions to be taken to achieve the desired result.

Towards the end of the article reveal how the product you're promoting will help your readers by automating the process or whatever the product does. People are always looking for tools to help them solve problems or achieve goals more quickly and the product you're recommending can do that you stand a good chance of making a sale.

The goal here is to "pre-sell" the prospect on the benefits provided by the product so don't turn your article into a sales letter. Provide enough information to get them interested in the product and lead them to the sales page which will do the selling.

WordPress is really the best blogging platform because it allows so much control and flexibility with regard to promoting your own or affiliate products. WordPress will grow with you as you promote more products. It's possible to create a significant income using just these three strategies to promote affilate products.

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