Finding Affiliate Marketers…Part 1

I’m often asked ‘Brad how do you find so many affiliates, get them interested in what you’re pushing, and actively promoting…SO QUICKLY??!!”

My answer is the same…DO WORK!!

Actually there is a little more to it than that, so I’ll break it down into three questions and three parts:

Q: How do I find so many affiliates?

A: Hustle baby! Sites are out there, just gotta find them!

Work harder then your competition, work harder then anyone you know, and never get lazy! Finding potential sites is as easy as leapfrog. Jump from one blog, to another site, to a twitter page, back to a blog, into a newsletter, etc etc etc. Bookmark the site, remember it, whatever.

But not all sites are created equal…Just check it out and ask yourself “would I listen to this person/site if they told me to do something?” If the answer is yes…contact away.

(When I say ‘contact away’ there’s a lot more to it then “hey be my affiliate”. I’ll get into that in part 2.)

This ISN’T EASY or QUICK…period. If you want to go out there and contact every site you come across, you’ll find yourself doing NOTHING trading wise and your core business will suffer. If you’re going to have an affiliate program you need to understand that it’s is a FULL TIME job. You can’t just do it when you think about it and expect any success. It requires time and effort.Punching the clock everyday from 9-5 will net you NOTHING. If you’re a trader think about when YOU would be most open to talking about marketing…is it between 9-5 when you’re most likely trading??? Doubtful. So think like the people you’re looking to recruit.

Now, if you have relationships built with other sites, that’s where you should start. Start with your virtual “Rolodex”; ie: Facebook, Twitter, Skype, LinkedIn, etc etc. (Social media is now your Rolodex.)

Start with those people since you already have an established relationship. Here you’ll be able to hone your tactical skills.If you’re unable to turn a friend into an affiliate, you’ll feel comfortable asking them why they refused. Of course you NEVER want to burn a bridge or pressure a friend to do something they don’t want to. Having an open dialogue about why they said no will develop your sales pitch. We’ll develop this idea further next time…

That’s a START for you. Later, maybe tomorrow, maybe Friday, I’m going to nail down Part 2 which will cover getting affiliates interested.

Cheers,
Brad Stafford

P.S. On a side note, Rolodex…what is it 1992????