If you already offer products – whether they are info products or physical products, and you have an affiliate program in place, this post is for you. Don’t worry if you are not there yet, go ahead and read the post. It may inspire you to get started on those products and if nothing else, show you how using an affiliate program to build your list and all the other little pieces of a profitable online business fit together.

Today we’re talking about using an affiliate program to build your list for you.  You probably guessed that you need to have a paid product, but do you know that you should have a free offer for the product?  Often we hear about having a Lead Magnet (the free offer) this is something like a checklist or a short report, something that piques their interest and adds value to your product. After you have this you’re ready to set up an affiliate program for that product.

What Could You Create?

As you look at the product you have created and I dare say even before you create it, think about a companion for that product. I have a service-based business and I was not sure I could come up with anything. Then I discovered that it was not different than the “Lead Magnet” I have on my website. My freebie was created for a Standard Operating Procedure writing package that I offer: a free list of the ten basic SOPs that every business should have.  So, take a look at what you have, a product you offer.  I learned about using a short report from the gals at CoachGlue.com. (I am not an affiliate, yet) Here’s what I learned

The Short Report

We are going to cover a product rather than a service in this section. You need a topic. Something related to the topic of your product. Ideally, this will be something that’s one step before you get to your product. Let’s run through a couple of examples, to give you a better idea of what I’m talking about here.

• You have a product about setting up a blog using WordPress. Your short report could be about registering a domain and setting up WordPress-friendly hosting.
• You have a product about getting more traffic from Pinterest. Your short report could be about getting started with Pinterest, or how to read Pinterest Analytics Data.
• You have a product about Eating Paleo. Your short report could be about the dangers of consuming wheat and sugar.
• You have a product about paying off consumer debt. Your short report could be about budgeting your money.

You get the idea. Your free short report will focus on a topic or a piece of information your target audience needs before they need what you have to offer in your paid product. Chances are you already covered a lot of this stuff on your blog or website.

Get it Out There

Write the short report, you could grab some PLR content (Private Label Rights) and edit it, or compile a few of your blog posts into a report. Within that report, you want to promote your paid product.

Your next step is to set up an opt-in page where readers sign up with their email addresses and get the free report. It doesn’t have to be long or complicated, but you need that opt-in page for this to work. Once you have it up and it’s working, add a link to it in those high-traffic areas on your website. Include the link on your social media pages and definitely, put it on your affiliate page if you have one.

Email your affiliates and let them know what you’ve set up. Share their affiliate link for this free report page with them and explain that while they won’t get anything for the free signups, they will get a “cookie” and as soon as one of those subscribers buys your product, they get their affiliate commission.

Up Next…

Feeling overwhelmed? I know that seemed like a lot of information and there is still more to consider when using an affiliate program to build your list. Let’s commit to sharing as we grow and we’ll all grow together.

Join me next time as we explore how leveraging your existing subscribers can help you grow your list. It’s very easy and if you already have a good relationship with your readers, this works like a charm and takes very little time to do it.

Until next time…

All the Best,

Patricia

If you missed any of the earlier blog posts in this series Click here to catch up.

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