02.05.08
Affiliate’s Road to Financial Freedom
Affiliate Marketing can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be. I have come across Affiliate Marketers who start off quite successfully, making 1000s of dollars in the first few months. But after a few months, their income goes down and they find it tough to regain their earlier success.
On the other hand, there are a few Affiliate Marketers who know how to grow their income month on month. These are the smart guys - who know that Affiliate Marketing, if used efficiently, can make you financially free very soon.
What’s the difference between these two group of Marketers? How do some people see success only in the short run, while a few others grow their affiliate income month on month?
The answer is very simple - its got to do with the kind of products you promote. The smart guys know that long term success in Affiliate Marketing comes by promoting products that pay recurring. They promote the product one time, but the income from the promotion is recurring.
Let me explain this idea with some numbers. Consider two Affiliate Marketers - Jack and David. Both of them start off together as Affiliate Marketers.
In the first month, Jack promotes a product that pays $50 in one time commission. He sells 10 of these and makes a handsome $500 in commissions. But David knows better than that. He puts in the same amount of time and effort as Jack, but promotes a product that pays $25 per month in commissions (its a recurring billing product). He sells 10 of these in the first month and locks for himself $250 in commissions every month.
Now, lets assume the same routine happens in the second month as well. So Jack makes another $500 in month 2, but so does David.
Things get interesting from the 3rd month onwards. Assuming both Jack and David do exactly as earlier, Jack makes his $500 but David has increased his earnings to $750. And remember, both have again put in the same time and efforts.
At the end of the year, Jack would have made $6000 in affiliate commissions. But smart-man David has made a whopping $19500 in commissions for the year.
And here’s the better part… after the year ends, even if David decides to take a break from it all, he will continue to make $3000 every month without having to raise a finger. But our man, Jack, will have to continue doing what he did to earn his $500 a month.
So who would you rather be - Jack or David? Affiliate Marketing gives you the opportunity to work smart, to secure your financial future. All you need to do is think smart and long term. Think like David. If you are putting in 2-3 hours a day promoting a product, promote something that pays you recurring. You may make fewer sales now, but in the long run, you are guaranteed to earn a solid passive income.
Yes, I know, I know! A few of David’s customers will stop the recurring payments after a few months. But he will still have a few others who continue to feed him commissions across months. All he has to do is promote good, recurring billing products with high retention rates.
The point I am trying to make here is - when you start with Affiliate Marketing, you have a choice. Most people don’t realize this and come out of one rat-race (of the corporate world) to join another rat race (of the Internet Marketing world).
If you want to be a successful Internet Marketer, throw away the short-term mentality. Think long term and think smart - Affiliate Marketing gives you the luxury to do that.
Have a good one! And do let me know what you think by posting a comment below.
Brenda Franzo said,
February 5, 2008 at 8:11 am
Hi Alok. As always, great information you posted here. Although I promote both types of products, I certainly agree with you that the recurring product is the best and yes, a smarter way.
Ken Edwards said,
February 5, 2008 at 8:13 am
Hi Alok
agree with your comments, long term is the key to growth, I learned the hard way when I Started by simply promoting one off products it gives short term pleasure but long term pain
it’s better to have short term pain and long term pleasure,by taking your time and promoting the right way, but the human race “wants it, and want’s it now”
although i still promote one off products, I also branched into recurring commissions - Its all about balance
kind regards
Ken Edwards
“he who loses money loses little”
“he who loses health loses much”
“but he who loses courage loses all”
Never Give In
JimK said,
February 5, 2008 at 8:15 am
I realize that retention rates vary widely across programs but how do we find out which programs have the best retention rates? In your example above the retention rate has to average more than 3 months in order for “David” to make more than “Jack” with the same amount of effort and much longer than 3 months for “David” to be able to sit back and keep raking it in.
william said,
February 5, 2008 at 8:16 am
this is information i do realize however i am promoting a site that links off your silent profit machine and have recieved aver 160 referrals but only 3 of them decided to pay over the last month and it is monthly payments i have been spending money on promoting the silent profit machine and so far over 230 subscribers but no click throughs i am starting to wonder if your idea is going to work or not but everyday i am getting more and more subscribers i think i will reach 300-400 subscribers once my campaign has ended
william said,
February 5, 2008 at 8:19 am
another problem on the internet is programs that havea monthly to 3 monthly payments in your downline and the site promises to market and build you a paid downline for a monthly fee on top but they just simply do not produce the results
Sasha said,
February 5, 2008 at 8:20 am
O, yes Alok.
Thanks for this one. Rat race is very painful in all environments of business and it is so much important to get out of it , that is for sure. I would like to hear from you some more specific guidelines since you know the art of “getting in to the fast track”. I hardly wait to hear from you more on this !!!
Otherwise PCQ is great I just start to apply Super Placement Targeting since Blogger closed my Blogs before 20 days. Please give us more details and advices on this subject !
Sasha
Davion | Secrets of Affiliate Marketing said,
February 5, 2008 at 8:27 am
Hi Alok, it is true that promoting programs that pay recurring commissions is good. But I must stress 2 potential pitfalls for all affiliate marketers to consider.
1. It is harder to promote subscription-based programs than selling one-off payment products.
2. Most subscription-based programs are non-sustainable especially some internet marketing related membership programs that fall off rather quickly.
My advice is this. Promote programs that have a sustainable lifespan like webhosting, autoresponder, forum membership or other non-internet marketing related products. These programs tend to have a longer lifespan. For example for webhosting, if you build a website to a certain size, everyone knows that the inertia to abandon the webhosting service can be greater. Most people find it too troublesome to shift.
My experience in promoting forum memberships has also taught me that it has a sustainable lifespan if the forum provides great value. You can read my blog [snip: links only in the box provided pls] to know which forum I am talking about.
Just my 2 cents worth here. Hope it helps someone!
Ben Shaffer said,
February 5, 2008 at 8:33 am
Hi Alok,
Lost touch a bit recently but wanted to touch base.
Excellent info as always. Spot on that the key to success with affiliate promotions is with recurring income.
Ben
Claudio Laviano said,
February 5, 2008 at 8:44 am
You are right, one problem is recurring product are hardly to sell.
Tim said,
February 5, 2008 at 8:49 am
Great article and so true.
Craig said,
February 5, 2008 at 8:56 am
Hi,
I have a great product which offers affiliate marketers recurring income and my subscription only costs $7.95.
My product will suit any one who wants to know when their lucky days are and our software has been successfully tested on live television over a six week period. This product is especially useful for gamblers, and as we know they are growing online on a daily basis.
My problem is - we are not getting many subscribers nor affiliates to promote the product. We are busy doing seo etc, but do you guys have any help or advise to get this going?
just for your info we have been running this software with almost a 90% success rate - and there really is no BS - we are honest hard working peeps.
here is the url - [snip: no self promotion pls]
thanks for the help,
Craig
Tammy said,
February 5, 2008 at 9:10 am
Hi Alok,
Great article! I always knew that promoting Internet Marketing would be much harder than other niches. Also, you are right with the recurring monthly income. This is why membership sites are on the rise. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Success,
Tammy
Alex Newell said,
February 5, 2008 at 9:13 am
Agreed but so far I have found it difficult to promote anything with a continuity program.
BTW you say “low retention rates.” you mean “high retention rates”
alex
Peter Tremayne said,
February 5, 2008 at 9:21 am
Hey Alok,
How are you my friend?!
Yes residual commissions are the very best. A combination of the 2 methods is probably the way to go.
As long as you keep growing your list and provide good quality information to your list, then one time affiliate payments are still an excellent source of income.
~ Peter Tremayne
Phil said,
February 5, 2008 at 9:31 am
Hi Alok,
I bought PQC and thought your advice was good. Perhaps as a acting philosopher, what I read was what I needed to read, as opposed to other books I bought that supplied me with very little.
Your blog however is a tad weak… you are only offering simple economic advice. Had you explained a niche where you have seen this happen you would have got rapturous applause.
In education there is this quote… “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.†(Confucius)
As near as understanding we can get is to see an example of the principle you are explaining. We then do… and we understand further. Alok we need a real example.
By the way I’m promoting your ebook PQC on:
[snip: links not allowed]
Does anyone want to join a newsletter and get 1001 free tips for SEO?
Visit: [snip]
Thanks Alok.
By the way here is the technique I’ve just used… it is called the ’sandwich’ technique… Give someone praise, then criticism, then finish off with praise. You’ll get your point over better…
Dave Jackson said,
February 5, 2008 at 9:57 am
Alok,
Wonder why no one has addressed this before. It’s the primary reason people give up before pay day.
Kind regards,
Dave Jackson
The Resume Secret
khris bassett said,
February 5, 2008 at 10:00 am
I’m as new to this as you can be. I appreciate and look forward to ny business tips I can get. I have jumped on several wagons to nowhere,and quickly realized they were not what I was trying to get involved with.
It always cost something,to take that ride,wether it’s time invested ,or it’s money. I have sadly fallen off both sides.
Now I have done just what you have recomended,and feel involved in the promotion of some good companies.
I have found several residual income offerings,and after being emailed several times by each of these businesses, I purchased several
online positions in thier companies,all revolving around the sales of health beverages,and vitamins.these have (so far,so) good support teams and
mentoring. Offering advertising “inhouse” as well as allowing private promotional campiegns.
all sales are for subscriptions to health products,in well established co.
I do in fact agree with all yiur eletter has to say about not involving yourself with the instability of a sales position,where you depend soley uppon” this weeks” sale to put the bread on the table,so to speak.
good job keep me informed. I’m preasently looking for marketing tips that are affordable,and effective. have a good month! Khristian B.
Alok Jain said,
February 5, 2008 at 10:02 am
Davion… good points there. Quality forums have good retention rates. Also, Internet Marketing softwares/online tools get loyal users.
Alex, thanks for the correction…
Ben, Peter - thanks for dropping by. Do stay in touch..
Alok
Heart Attack Recovery said,
February 5, 2008 at 10:20 am
It also makes sense to have several recurring programs. If you are only relying on one for a regualr income and it collapses then you have major problems.
Paul
Aurang Zeb said,
February 5, 2008 at 11:01 am
Dear Aloke,
Thanks for your emailing me all the times. Sometimes I decided to block your email address and markt it as spam but I do not why I did not act upon. I need to increas my income online as my job nature is this i used to work online all the day so i can spend much time on it. Besided I do not want to pay / invest in advance. I want work for three months on trial basis.
Regards, Aurang Zeb
Air Pistols said,
February 5, 2008 at 11:02 am
My question is this:
Other than internet marketing products, where does one find recurring products for markets like weddings, or outdoor equipment, etc.?
Affiliate Elite said,
February 5, 2008 at 11:19 am
I’m with you Alok. I’ve found that a lot of buyers (especially in the affiliate marketing “buying” community) like to buy one time products and return them- essentially leaving you with no commission and them with a free product. Nothing makes me madder about this business! But with a recurring commission it is based generally on some type of membership, so the buyer not only provides you with a recurring commission, but goes into it with the mentality of “joining” a membership program. This is powerful stuff! The real beauty is when the buyer joins a membership site and finds that they can’t imagine living without this service!
That being said, affiliate marketers would be wise to think ahead of the pack, develop their own membership sites of value- strong emphasis on the value- and watch the real cash role in! Thanks for the post, Alok! Keep ‘em coming!
renzp said,
February 5, 2008 at 11:33 am
Yes Sir! I strongly agree with you. But, on the other hand its really difficult to promote products with recurring income. You really have to work hard to really find such products and services.
verdeman said,
February 5, 2008 at 11:40 am
it makes a lot of sense to build on a recurring income thanks for the tip
Paul Smith said,
February 5, 2008 at 1:50 pm
“its really difficult to promote products with recurring income. You really have to work hard to really find such products and services.”
I respectfully disagree. The key is to find businesses which provide valuable products or services that exceed the monthly membership fee. IOW, if you could realize savings of $50, $100 or more a month on products or services that you already use or want to use for a membership fee of $10 a month - wouldn’t you jump on that? There are many such businesses out there that do precisely that.
I won’t list urls since I see they are being deleted but I will be happy to point you to two such services if you send me an email with the Subject: Recurring Subscription Businesses.
Paul Smith
prsmithsr@att.net
Viral Link Tracker said,
February 5, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Excellent article Alok,
The subscription based revenue model is the more stable one as well. With affiliate sales you are counting on the traffic conversion factor and your sources of traffic to be steady. I’d much rather do the work once and be able to count on it bringing results, month after month.
Another interesting point to ask is this. At what price point does a subscription become too expensive for the results? I know there is a study out there that has shown if a monthly subscription is under $27/month that most people won’t even bother to cancel it, EVEN IF THEY AREN’T USING IT!
I too have found that marketing software works best as a monthly moneymaker. I’m making about $200/month off viral link tracker. I get one subscription for every 10 people referred + the free advertising.
Mike said,
February 5, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Thanks for the tip! Where does one find these subscription affiliate programs?
tom kubik said,
February 5, 2008 at 6:22 pm
I agree you have to be focusted and have to work and stay out it every day
it if you want to be successful .
you have a good marketing plan
It not going to be get rich thing
you have to build a list and have a realtionship with your customers
and build trust and creditbilty with your list..
gabriel bear said,
February 5, 2008 at 7:10 pm
the techniques are valid either way. Obviously recurring income beats one time income. The real issue is promoting a product that has a consistent monthly value, so that the residuals stay in place. This is an issue with any brand, from an ezine to a car model: will the brand satisfaction bring the customer back.
Nicholas Mancini said,
February 5, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Alok,
Thank you for the well explained info DUH.
The content is too general however. Duh…
Come up with Specifics, Case studies to make our time worth coming here and post.
No disrespect intended but with so much info out there I would guess most Entrepreneurs value their time and if they decide to spend time listening to you an have them stick around you do need to do better then a “story tellerâ€
Thank you and wait for something similar to what your buddy Jonathan Leger is providing. It is called VALUE.
Venkateswara Rao said,
February 5, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Now I am a learner and I dnt have any arlier experience in internet marketing. Really it is very useful to learners and improve their technics. I hope Mr.Alok, Please guide me continuously along with New tols and technics.
Thanking you
Create your own membership site said,
February 5, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Hi Alok,
Great article,It’s all about bringing awareness to all businesses and marketers.
I personally feel that each blogger will have a unique individual style of writing and communicating with thier audience and if you feel that the information does’nt suit you,then feel free to click the back button.
haidi said,
February 5, 2008 at 9:56 pm
good knowledge for me to be smartest in internet marketing, thank alok
Laurie Lacey said,
February 6, 2008 at 12:08 am
Hi Alok,
A very good article.
You make several excellent points. Another good
approach is to promote a combination of both
one-time and recurring payment products. In
this way, you get some quick sales, and slowly
build up a stream of recurring payments.
Keep up the good work!
All the best,
Laurie
Erik said,
February 6, 2008 at 2:09 am
Nice posting Alok,
I think the next articles you should mention some resources for affiliate sources which have recurring commission ie membership, software tools etc etc..
Just provide a “light” in the dark for a newbie like myself…
thanks in advance
Erik
[snip: url not permitted here]
Dr Rajgopal said,
February 6, 2008 at 3:18 am
Hi Alok,
Fantastic write-up as we have come to expect from you. I am in the process of buying PQC and look forward to making some decent income online. I have tried dabbling in affiliate marketing but everyone seems to advice me about getting a website! I want to try some of the PQC techniques, make some money and try to reinvest it. I am only afraid of losing my shirt with google PPCs! Hope I can avoid the google PPCs through PQC though I know one of your techniques involves PPCs.
Thanks again for a wonderful post.
Dr Rajgopal. V
Internet Markting Strategy said,
February 6, 2008 at 3:51 am
No argument at all, long term always beats short term, and I agree you have to choose a really good product.
Here is some input on how I have been able to choose good products. Check its conversion rates and if possible refund rates. From my experience, sales pages with an opt in form for a sample or freebie are better than those without an facility for follow up email.
As for recurring billing, the product’s usefulness and effectives decide that, so if you are yourself a user of the product and it works for you, that could be a good indication that it would work for others too.
Anthony - Work-at-home-wealth.com said,
February 6, 2008 at 7:46 am
Hi Alok,
Nice post. Being a bit general though, the beauty of this is that it generates quite specific and useful replies as every marketer has his/her version acording to their experience. When reading blogs I usually learn more from the comments than from the article itself, that’s the reason why being rather new to bloggin I’m trying to get the word out about my blog to get people commenting on it bringing their opinions and experiences to enrich selfs and other people lives.
WARNING: The site posted on the quoted comment’s signature (Craig - yourluckyfish.com) is infected with a virus. My antivirus (NOD32) detected it as soon as I entered that site clicking on Craig’s name.
quote[#Craig said,
February 5, 2008 at 8:56 am
Hi,
I have a great product which offers affiliate marketers recurring income and my subscription only costs $7.95.
My product will suit any one who wants to know when their lucky days are and our software has been successfully tested on live television over a six week period. This product is especially useful for gamblers, and as we know they are growing online on a daily basis.
My problem is - we are not getting many subscribers nor affiliates to promote the product. We are busy doing seo etc, but do you guys have any help or advise to get this going?
just for your info we have been running this software with almost a 90% success rate - and there really is no BS - we are honest hard working peeps.
here is the url - [snip: no self promotion pls]
thanks for the help,
Craig]
Link Building Tips said,
February 6, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Thanks for the great post Alok.
I am starting with affiliate marketing any time now, and want to achieve some long term autopilot money maker. I want experiment a little with autopilot programs to see which one is the best.
I will be coming by to your great tips and tricks packed money making blog!
Cheers
Davion | Online Marketing Blog said,
February 6, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Hi “Link Building Tips”, welcome on board of the affiliate marketing train. Hope you will find some sweet success. One word of advice though, is find one workable method and master it before moving on. The one big pitfall for all newbies is the lack of focus and distraction which can come subtly since the internet marketing world has too many temptations and methods.
When you find some success, remember to post and let us know.
alpha sanogo said,
February 7, 2008 at 4:19 am
je suis alpha sanogo.vivant en cote d\’ivoire et je suis francophonnir je comprend pas anglais.je souhaite recevoir pour prochainne foie en francais. merci alpha .
Sally-anne| selren.com said,
February 8, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Hi there Alok,
Your information was great, but what confuses me is everyone else’s opinion, i cant get of the ground i just seem to get all the BS products that i end up getting ripped of with, i don’t know how to promote products i have information overload, i used to know my stuff but now i feel like an absolute dummy, i just wish people would help you the way they said they would, i had one person even help me with setting up it was all fine they said i didn’t have to do much but promote i did i promoted my ass of but nothing all the time effort and money i put into it and got a great response so my web site stats were telling me until i found they had hidden their promotion code in mine and they raped 28,000 dollars from what should have been my commissions,
i want people to stop and think that some of us need a little more reassurrance than information, mock commission stats reports and testimonials, I’ve almost starve my three children and my mental state is on its last, i cry at least three times a day because i feel so stupid and gullibal and all i want is the option to stay home or even get a home for us to live in,
SO HOW DOES EVERYONE WHO LEFT A COMMENT DO IT?
Help me please!
Sally-Anne
zk said,
February 11, 2008 at 4:00 pm
its kind of hard to marketing recurring programs , can you suggest any book that will help newbies like me on the knowledge of the subject
zk
Anil Pandey said,
February 26, 2008 at 10:07 am
Hi
What Alok has said is perfectly true. But it is more true that the conversion ratio for a recurring billing product would be much less than a one-time product, even the CTR would be much lower. All said, it is the truth that recurring billing products are better. If the product is something like webhosting or autoresponder services (as somebody pointed out earlier), the chances of dicontinuing are very less.
A good niche for recurring billing is a health related or a PLR type membership site. The chances of continuing the membership for longer duration is much more. Health is a big issue now and PLR keeps you glued to the site as you can make tons of money if done right.
Anil Pandey
A Mahajan said,
February 27, 2008 at 9:53 am
Good information Alok. Financial freedom can be achieved only if we earn a substantial portion of our income through passive means. This is true for online as well as offline world.
As many people have already commented, we must select the products that we promote promote judiciously. If we promote sub-standard products there will be far reaching implications. Not only will people opt-out faster, our reputation suffers as well. Keep up the good work.
steve said,
February 29, 2008 at 8:20 am
Hi,
some good info, affiliate marketing is something i would like to try. escaping the rat race of a rotten factory job sounds great.
anything is better than this.
steve
HP van Duuren said,
June 30, 2008 at 9:01 am
Yes, it goes without saying that recurring commisions are an interesting ‘Long term Investment’. I do have an affiliate that has a great affiliate program with good support also offering recurring commisions.
But also a lot of my affiliate products are don’t have recurring commissions.
Maybe you can elaborate a little on this subject and give some examples of affiliates that offer interesting recurring commissions?
Is it ‘Memberschips sites’ that are the most interesting to promote or are ‘Forum’s’ the most lucreative or are there other types of companies that offer good affiliate programs and support that I sould know about?
[snip: pls dont put urls in the comment]
All the Best,
To your Happy Inspiration,
HP
Jessica said,
February 20, 2009 at 1:10 pm
I agree that marketing both products is probably the smartest way to go due to subscribtions being harding to sell.
Kenneth said,
February 20, 2009 at 1:12 pm
I usually do well with non subscription products. After reading this article, I will consider using both.
Vivek said,
February 8, 2010 at 12:58 am
Hi Alok,
Agree with you. Though i have not started to promote any product but i have already started looking for a product that pays recurring income…
Hope to find one very soon.