Writing Articles to Promote Affiliate Products

By Beth Parker www.Constant-Content.com

The most important thing to remember when writing articles to promote affiliate products is their purpose. You want the person reading the article to click on the link at the end, go to your website and buy the product. You can write a really great article, but if it doesn’t accomplish this goal, it has failed.

One of the worst things you can do when writing your articles is to give the reader so much information that he feels he no longer needs the product. If you are selling an information product, don’t give away the information. You need to give the reader a hint of what he will learn from the product without telling him everything. If you have ever read a sales letter, you’ve seen this in action. You might tell the reader that she can learn about one amazing herb that cuts her risk of cancer in half, but don’t mention the name of the herb in the promotional article. If you do, she’ll have no reason to buy the report.

When you are writing your articles, make sure they actually promote the product. If you are selling a new sunscreen and write an article about the dangerous chemicals in sunscreen, you are probably not going to sell much of the product. On the other hand, if your product contains fewer harmful chemicals than the competition, you can use that fact when writing your article because it is now an advantage.

Since many people who look for information online skim articles rather than reading them, it is usually best to keep your promotional articles short. Three to five hundred words is a good length for articles promoting affiliate products. If you write longer articles, you are more likely to lose readers before they get to the end, which is where your link is. If they don’t see your link, they won’t click on it.

A good format for writing articles to promote affiliate products is to start with a paragraph telling a little about the problem your product solves. Follow that with three to four paragraphs of the benefits of using the product. Each benefit should have its own paragraph. At the end, add a summary paragraph that ties everything together and encourages the reader to click on your link.

If you publish your article on an article directory, you may have access to stats that let you know how many times your article has been viewed and how often your link has been clicked. If your article has a lot of hits but the readers aren’t clicking your link, try revising the article until it gets an acceptable clickthrough rate. By concentrating on writing your articles in such a way that the reader is more likely to click your affiliate link, you should be able to increase your income from affiliate product sales.

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By Krista Tannahill www.Constant-Content.com

Affiliate marketing can be a financially rewarding opportunity for many website publishers.  However, prior to entering into an affiliate agreement it is important to review the details.  Here are a few tips to help you make the most out of your affiliate marketing adventure.

Money talks!  The first thing you need to find out is the percentage that each merchant is willing to pay their affiliate.  Merchants usually pay a percentage of each sale to the publisher when the sale has been made through an ad placed on the publisher’s website.  The commission percentage varies widely from merchant to merchant and can range from as low as five percent to as much as twenty-five percent. 

It is also important to determine if there is a minimum balance required prior to being paid by the merchant.  Some merchants require the accrual of one hundred dollars before a payment will be made to the publisher.  Therefore, if a merchant is willing to pay you only five percent commission on every sale you will need to generate a total of two thousand dollars in sales before you receive a payment.  However, if you choose a merchant that pays twenty-five percent and requires an accrual of one hundred dollars you will only need to generate a total of four hundred dollars in sales in order to receive a payment. 

Another important consideration involves both the method and date of payments by the merchant.  Find out exactly how the merchant pays their affiliates. Some merchants pay through PayPal so if you enter into an agreement with these merchants you will be required to set up an account with PayPal.  If a merchant pays by check you will need to provide them with the correct mailing address to receive payment.

Check out the merchant’s online reputation.  If there is credible information available that outlines the merchant’s history as an affiliate you should review it.  It can be extremely beneficial to determine the success rates of other publishers that have entered into an agreement with the merchant.  You may not find out how much money each affiliate has made per month but you will be able to get a sense of how satisfied each affiliate is with their merchant. 

Some programs are open to only to residents of the country that the merchants service.  For example some affiliate programs are open to U.S residents only and if you are not a U.S. resident then you may not be eligible to join their affiliate program.

Before signing up for any affiliate program it is imperative to read through the terms of agreement as well as any F.A.Q. sections that are provided.  This will ultimately help you to determine if you want to join the affiliate program as well as what to expect from the merchant once you have joined their program.

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