by Jude Tan

Created on: January 06, 2010

Starting up an internet affiliate marketing business is easy and capital investment is low.  Affiliate marketers are financially rewarded for each customer acquisition through their marketing efforts.   If you are thinking of venturing into this practice, here are some basic guidelines to help you succeed in this business.

Know the Product

Understanding the product or service you are marketing is one of the critical success factors of any business. I recall a recent meeting with an inexperienced financial planner.  She was promoting an investment fund.  In that half hour conversation, I was not convince why I should put my money in that fund.  Besides failing to articulate the value proposition of the fund, she also could not answer some of my basic questions such as the fund's performance over a period of time.  The takeaway was confusing and I did not invest.

Knowing the product and the values you are marketing is vital as you must be seen as a consultant or an expert, whom discerning buyers rely upon to help in their initial evaluation stage.  If you can provide valuable information and instill confidence in your prospects,  selling your product becomes much easier.

Grow Your Contacts

Affiliate business is all about reaching out to more people in order to promote and sell the products or services.  If you cast your net wide, you are very likely to catch some fish, if not more.  Similarly, the larger you grow your network, the more leads you will generate, each providing you with a  golden opportunity to convert into sales, leading to increased financial gains.

Building and growing quality contacts take time and patience.  Below are some simple and proven strategies which you can use to grow your network base.

1.  Collect Referrals

Seize every opportunity to ask your contact for referrals, be it in a meeting, during a phone conversation or in a trade function.  Doing it diligently will see your efforts gradually snowball to  a long list.

2.  Use Technology

Participate in social network sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter and invite people to connect with you.  If you are a good writer, write articles, distribute to your connections, publish on Facebook Fan Page or on your blog. In short, leverage these social sites to  know and  to expand your network.

3.  Build quality list

Use opt-in feature in your website and in email campaign to filter out non

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