A good story almost always wins. People aren’t captivated by features and benefits. They’re captivated by feelings and emotions. The easiest way to activate those things is through a story. This applies no matter whether we’re talking about long-form direct response copy, Facebook Video Ads, email blasts, or a Shopify page. Speak to the heart first and the mind second. This doesn’t mean that you won’t ever use logic to sell a product or service; great sales copy is a masterclass in logical argument, where you take your prospect seamlessly from Point A to Z without them realizing it. Rather what I’m saying is that you only have a few seconds to capture a person’s attention, and with emotional storytelling, you cut through the noise. With few exceptions, there are other people out there who sell a similar product or service as you do. Perhaps your product is better or more unique, but the consumer won’t automatically see it that way. At first, they’ll see you as one of many. The way you change that perception is by telling a captivating story. – Stefan Georgi
The best tip I (Ian Fernando) can say in any industry is to fail when you are against the wall.
Everyone says this all the time but this is how I learned to be an online marketer. I was stuck and didn’t know how to make more money when I first started. I was held to the wall with no options. I learned that I need to go ahead and just do it. There is a lot of people that read and consume information for a year to try to avoid pitfalls. Pitfalls are necessary to learn a way to climb out. This helps with the creative process and thought process. Learning to be broke with no help puts you in a state of survival and it helps you grow as a person and helps your business grow.
There are nights where I can’t sleep because I needed a solution and those are when the best ideas come alive. You want to try and do but then you think it will fail but that is fine. You have to understand why you failed because a mentor’s experience does not necessarily mean it will be yours. You can take their lessons but you actually doing them might bring up a new solution to your problem. This is why failure is so important in your ongoing journey of being not just a business person but a person in general. We learn by doing not being cautious.
Remember Thomas Edison found 999 ways on how not to create a light bulb.
About the Psychological Aspect of Affiliate Marketing
“One of the biggest tips I can give to anyone interested in affiliate marketing is to expect a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. You can make a lot, really fast, but you can also not make any money, and seem like the entire world is against you. This can cause depression, feeling horrible, not wanting to be around people and feeling dumb like you can’t get anything going. This is normal, it’s a huge part of this extremely volatile industry that’s a lot of fun with many, many great people. No one talks about this, because the gurus that have to sell courses do so with fake screenshots, lambos, and rich lifestyle – but the truth is, while you can earn killer money it’s not easy; it’s very hard, time-consuming and stressful. Go in with the right expectations, and you should do just fine, I’ve been a full-time internet marketer since 2008, but I always expect to make a $1, then $10, then $100 and so on, never dream of a billion dollars. One step at a time.”
A few wise words on finding profitable campaigns
“If a campaign is a winner, it will be a winner from day 1. The bs that you can optimize a bad campaign into a profitable one with endless testing is BS. You can optimize up from minus -20% ROI to positive 20%, but you can’t go from -100% profit to +. This is why it is important to split test many different offers and also angles. Spy, take what received a lot of traffic and make your own slight variants and start there.” – https://iamattila.com/
Insider Tip from Vito Glazers, who has helped more than 100 entrepreneurs use news, media, and celebrities to share their stories with the world.
Bill Gates famously said if he was down to his last dollar, he would spend it on PR. Having spent more than a decade working on the digital side of advertising, I have seen a few brands have tremendous success, but have seen many more fail. The issue that I have seen is that people spend thousands, sometimes even millions, on product development, technology, tracking, metrics, and many other variables, but the most commonly overlooked, is developing the story for their brand.
In today’s world, there are very few new products and ideas. People are exposed to ads for nearly everything they are interested in all day long. So how do you make your personal brand or your product stand out in a sea of advertising chaos? The biggest asset that I have seen in common with all successful brands, is that they invest in creating a story that really resonates with their target audience. These days, customers buy stories. They will pay more for the same product if the story makes them feel connected. A masterfully crafted story creates a loyal, recurring customer, who is eager to share your story and how it connects with them with people in real life and on social media.
Here are a few ways I help brands tell their stories. There is the traditional way; you write up a pitch and send it to a bunch of media outlets. This method is a bit tedious and ineffective. Three less traditional, but more effective ways that I advise those looking to create a story, are my methods called Newsjacking, Cause Based Marketing, and Celebrity By Association.
Newsjacking is the art of making a controversial public statement in your brand’s voice about a trending topic in the media. Cause Based Marketing is a safe way to generate publicity around your brand by focusing on a trending cause that aligns with your brand, getting publicity around the cause, and then incorporating a subtle plug for your brand into these feel-good stories. Lastly, Celebrity By Association is a method used since the conception of media, which is to associate and be endorsed with other celebrities or popular brands that are at the level you want to be operating at, until you are recognized by the public as equal to those famous people and brand.
If you believe in your work and your product, then it’s your obligation to share your story with as many people as you can so they can benefit from knowing you exist. Everyone has a story to tell, and an audience that needs to hear it. – www.vitoglazers.com
Truth be told, the most memorable and epic business relationships are often made and solidified during the social scene. So where do you go? And how do you make the most of it without getting lost in the crowd?
Here are my tips from over two decades of experience:
Working the trade show floor is a great start at the trade show. It lets you see who’s who and you can also get a good feel for their team, the ones working the booth and the others who walk the floor. But not everyone from these companies have a booth and even the ones who do, you don’t always meet the whole team. So where can you find them? At the parties of course! And at the end of this message, I’ll let you in on the really good stuff!
When you get a chance to see these people outside of their “business mode” mindset, you really get a deeper look into who you’d like to do business with. Bonds are formed that you just can get on the show floor. Buying a drink for someone, letting them sit at your reserved table and sharing bottle service as you are having the time of your life is what does it. That’s what can take you over the top with the people you need to be in good with. Don’t be a dork, don’t over try, don’t show off and always be humble. Networking is like dating—don’t talk all about yourself, listen to them and hear what they do and what they’re looking to do so you can jump in then with your solution rather than pitching them hard from the start. I find that people can waste away days working the trade show and leave without any results when they only work the trade show floor and they don’t really get a chance to talk to prospects deeper about their business model. Sure, that external battery was cool to get from them on the show floor and they have a nice biz card, but did I really see if I can work with them? What do they do again?
That’s where the party scene really can take your networking over the top and that’s exactly why I built the Affiliate Ball. I built it so people can form bonds and let loose with fellow industry friends. It doesn’t hurt to be able to see who sponsored the party. Branding with your logo being seen at the big party certainly can help your company get past the, “who are you again”? You’re THAT company that sponsored the party, they’re clearly having fun at. They see your logo all night. Instant name recognition can help you get a great head start against the competition.
Now we can get a little deeper into my Affiliate Ball for a sec. When I laid out my plan for these events, it was with 1 goal: How do I make my parties different from the others? And, I want them to remember the Ball 10 or even 20 years from now because it was legendary. Remember that Snoop Dogg Affiliate Ball when you got up close and couldn’t believe you were dancing with Snoop at an industry event? Or the bond you formed that night with the group of people you met there and can’t wait to see the next year or sooner? That’s how I want the Affiliate Ball to be. Remembered for years with bonds that last a lifetime. Believe it or, I don’t think that’s asking for too much.
Now here’s a chance for you to still get this party scene right and take my advice.
From Snoop Dogg to Ludacris, and T-Pain to Tha Dogg Pound this year, the Affiliate Ball is THE not-to-be-missed party at Affiliate Summit, Tuesday night January 28th at Light Nightclub in the Mandalay Bay Hotel. It’s not only the official party of the Summit but it’s also the BIGGEST party of the show averaging about 3,000 Affiliate Summit guests per Vegas party. So here’s how to work it best:
VIP Preparty: Get in early with the crème of the crop before all the noise and lines and network in a quieter atmosphere with the biggest players in the industry while Rat Pack Ricky performs classy Sinatra Style tunes.
Throw Down For A Table: Show people you mean business, invite potential clients/partners to sit at your table and have a drink, and relax in comfort while you enjoy the AFFY awards and multiple music performances!
Live Large With Your LOGO On the Big Screen: Besides the fun of having your logo in your pictures and those with Tha Dogg Pound making it look like YOU threw the party, having your company’s logo on the MASSIVE I-Max sized screens provides instant familiarity and credibility when you’re introducing yourself and your company. AND, you don’t have to be a $20,000 sponsor to get in the rotation. You can now with this link starting at just 1K! You’ll even get seen on the Affiliate Ball website and get special thanks on the mic from yours truly.
View special offers
Meet 40,000+ industry people with one email blast!
I can get you in our e-newsletter that goes to 44,000+ past guests with our sponsorships. Email me if you’re interested in more details info@AffiliateBall.com.
For those interested in getting these deal you should do it now before we run out. We’ll close the last second sponsorship deals Monday by 7 pm. Tables are first come first serve.
Chad Sorenson is the President and Founder of Adaptive HR Solutions and has over 25 years of diverse business, communications, and human resource experience.
He works with companies across the state that range from 5 to 1,200 employees and focuses on leadership development, manager training, employee performance management and employer compliance in industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, construction trades, and professional services organizations.
The greatest impact business owners can have on employees, productivity and company culture comes from two questions: What can I do to help my employees succeed? AND How am I serving my employees today?
The goal of any owner is to ensure their company is running at full productivity, producing as much as possible, as quickly as possible, and with the highest quality possible. This can only be achieved by ensuring the workforce is well equipped for the job. Let’s break it down to three points:
1. Employees need the right training and knowledge for the job. We think nothing of laying down $5,000 for annual preventative maintenance on an $80,000 piece of equipment, but why is it so hard to invest $1,000 of training in a $80,000 employee. Continuous training and skill development will keep the workforce on the cutting edge.
2. Employees need to feel secure in their job. For some, they’re the sole breadwinner of the family and worrying about how they are doing at work and what the boss thinks of them can consume their energy and focus throughout the day. Regular conversations about performance and expectations go a long way in helping an employee feel secure and redirect their attention back to the task at hand. Remember, in a vacuum of information, employees fill the space with something, and it is rarely good news.
3. Employees need to like where they work. We spend more waking hours with the people we work with than we do our families at home. You wouldn’t stay with a spouse if you disliked them day in and day out. Yet, why do we expect employees to put up with a toxic culture at work? Setting the tone starts from the top but holding people accountable to the culture happens at all levels.
It’s not difficult to create a workplace people enjoy, and it doesn’t cost a lot of money. When we look at our employees in a different way, we can create a culture of acceptance, performance and accountability. Start by asking these simple questions: What can I do to help my employees succeed? AND How am I serving my employees today?
He is the founder and CEO of Gotham Club Media and runs a very successful affiliate network with exclusive in-house vsl offers. I’ve had the pleasure of working with him for over two years and must say not many know their business inside out like he does.
Most people make the majority of their traffic from one offer and one traffic source. Or at least one TYPE of offer and one TYPE of traffic source. This allows people to master that traffic source. But people need to understand the marketing messages and the audience and if the offer can fit into what they do well with the existing type of traffic source.
Personally – and I really hate to say this – but the network reps we work with, I’m sure they’re great, but they just don’t have time to really understand each offer on a deep level in terms of what’s working or what isn’t working in terms of traffic sources, GEOs, market, creatives, etc.
You want to talk to the company and ideally the PERSON who created the marketing and the offer to guide you on what’s working. They are going to have a world of knowledge and data. Not only can they save you time by telling you if the offer ISN’T right for your traffic source or marketing skills, but they can also tell you the newest of what IS working in terms of marketing messages and targeting. This will keep you AHEAD of other affiliates/pubs by doing extra work to get purer, better, more recent and accurate information. And the reason I say all this is because I am a business owner and offer creator and I see that the affiliates who drive the most sales are coming to me directly and we have an ongoing channel of communication about marketing. And that’s not even starting to get into the fact that you can cut better deals dealing directly with companies (if they have an in-house affiliate program) which has the possibility to double or triple profit, allow you to buy traffic other affiliates can’t even afford and just in general, be more dominant.
Steve is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder at Convert2Media, a leading affiliate network. For over 7 years Convert2Media has set the standard in Online Performance Marketing. When it comes to directing your online budget, there are many places to choose from. Their team of experienced marketing professionals can provide you with an analytics-based approach to getting the most out of your online marketing activities.
Hacks of Product Launch by Steve Howe
1. Outsource specialty roles (when you’re up against the clock, nothing comes close to giving you peace of mind more than having a workforce that is available when you need them most). In my case 9-5 wasn’t going to get the job done. I had to outsource and hire specialty roles. Don’t be cheap and hire professionals.
2. Home team advantage: use your local resources and community. Building a grassroots squad or movement is a lot easier when you are on your home turf. Use every advantage you have and think outside the box in an effort to reinforce your brand awareness during your launch. Also, try your best to launch around a larger event which might bring a larger audience together which shares an identical interest with your product or brand.
3. Every single day be sure to start on your hardest thing first and plan for the worst. This gives you time to adjust in cases where “anything and everything“decides to show up and try and piss on your plans.
Challenges
1. Urgency: sometimes I feel like a robot without emotion in the real world and want everything to happen immediately. I don’t understand why some people set such low standards for quality work output. Time management and efficiencies become frustrations of mine. I love people who operate at a high level of efficiency.
2. Measuring marketing impact of non-trackable expenses: depending on what type of product launch you’re doing you can have expenses in goods or materials which is hard to quantify ROI. Coming from a digital marketing background it was difficult to take the leap at times and no know how to measure the impact (awareness vs revenue)
3. Stay in your own lane and stay focused. Along with the launch journey, lots of parties will come along and try and get you to modify your plans to include this or that or change this for that.
Stay true to your vision and goals and don’t try to be all things to all people. Consider everything but stay focused on what got you this point — you!
Steve Brown is the current founder and CEO of Matchstick Ignite. Customer service and phone sales consulting firm. Steve has over 20 years of experience working directly with major brands to use modern marketing principles to boost revenue and mitigate refunds and chargeback.
The industry has certainly shifted over the last few years and the process of getting a customer to your virtual doorstep is harder than ever before. When you weigh in the continued rising costs for acquisition it is now crucial to have a deep connection with your customer to create long-term revenue and satisfaction.
Only about 25% of your customer base will ever bother to engage customer support by phone, email, or chat communication. The majority of these connections are customers needing help with an issue or problem. People have busy lives and only really contact your organization when they need help. It’s incredibly rare that a customer will take the time to contact support to glow about how happy they are with the product or service.
At Matchstick Ignite, I am a huge supporter of having immediate engagement with your customer base. Either by connecting on the telephone after a cart abandonment or simply reaching out to thank a customer personally after the sale is made. These two campaigns are the easiest way to produce much-needed revenue in the industry today.
Connecting with a customer on the telephone is the absolute best way to begin your relationship with the brand. Having a genuine discussion with the customer is like peeling away the layers of an onion. You then learn what brought them to the checkout page in the first place. This conversation builds trust and allows a discussion to return to the purchase process and provide logical cross-selling suggestions.
Direct communication is a key step to boosting your margins immediately. It’s also just a great business. Engaged customers will continue to buy and are hesitant to refund. It also legitimizes your company as the transaction becomes personal and not just another online purchase.
Danny works on the SEO team at MoreNiche, and is a total utter geek. He loves the things that most normal people despise – math, spreadsheets, you name it. In the SEO team, he gets to do what he loves daily and works with an amazing team to grow the organic traffic on several of the brands on the MoreNiche network.
Crucial Tips to Improve Your SEO Rankings
The most crucial thing to improve your SEO rankings in 2020 As an affiliate network, we see hundreds of affiliates try SEO in different ways. If there’s one thing that I can share that’s the ‘secret sauce’ to SEO in 2020 it’s to take a more holistic approach to SEO.
Your site will not rank in Google without creating well-optimized content, but if people don’t read and enjoy that content it’s still a pointless exercise, even if you rank #1. User experience matters!
Content should be fun to read and built for Google and users. Finally, when it comes to SEO you can’t forget link building. Even the best content won’t rank if it doesn’t have links. There are multiple approaches to this that vary in their level of risk, choose your own approach. Just make sure you’re building links!
