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Marketer: Jeremy Palmer Name of Book: High Performance Affiliate Marketing Website: High Performance Affiliate Marketing
Hello. This is Kit Elliott, and today I'm talking to a very special guest, Jeremy Palmer. Jeremy is the author of a great new book titled High Performance Affiliate Marketing. The subhead of his book reads, "Learn the Insider Secrets and Proven Strategies That I Used to Make Over $1 Million Dollar in Commissions Last Year."
While I want Jeremy to give the full story of how he started and where he is today, I will reveal that just a few years ago, he was working full-time for a small financial services company. Jeremy wasn't really satisfied with his job, and, after trying other web-based businesses, quit his day job to be a full-time affiliate. In his first year of affiliate marketing, he generated six-figures in commissions. In his second year, he generated over one million dollars in commissions with over 100 affiliate sites across dozens of industries.
QUESTION:
Jeremy is the recipient of the Commission Junction Award for Innovation - and I'm very happy to have him answer our questions today. First tell us what your life was like before discovering affiliate programs, and what happened when you did get involved with them.
ANSWER:
Before I discovered affiliate marketing life was very stressful. I was like most people with a day job; overworked and underpaid. I would spend 8-10 hours a day at work, and at least 1 hour a day in the car commuting.
To make things worse, I didn’t make enough money to cover our monthly bills, so my wife also had to work full-time, which meant both of our kids were in day care. By the time my wife and I got home from work we were both exhausted. This left us with just a few hours each day to hang out with our kids, take care of the house, and manage our finances. I couldn’t accept that I would be doing this same routine for the next 30 years.
I had tried to make money online for years. I tried selling things on eBay, and running my own dating site, but none of these online businesses made much money. Then in late 2003 I discovered affiliate marketing... As an affiliate I didn’t have to stock any products, ship anything, or handle customer service. I got paid simply for referring paying customers to online merchants.
After just a few months as an affiliate I was making as much money as I was at my day job. After just 6 months I was making twice as much. It was at this point that I decided to quit my day job and focus on affiliate marketing full-time. I’m glad I did… During my first full year (2004) as an affiliate I earned a six figure income. In 2005 I earned over 1 million dollars in commissions.
Finding the right products and services to promote:
QUESTION:
When you are looking to create another affiliate website, how do you research and choose the right market?
ANSWER:
Choosing the right market is one of the most important aspects of affiliate marketing. In fact, I dedicate an entire chapter to it in my e-book. The best way to evaluate a market is to use search tools like Google, Yahoo, and WordTracker so you can evaluate the supply and demand for the products and services you want to promote. In addition to measuring the supply and demand, it’s important to research the specific advertisers you want to work with. No matter how good your keyword list is, or how optimized your website is, the merchant still has to convert the visitor into a paying customer. In my e-book I go into detail about evaluating merchants so you don’t waste your time promoting merchants that don’t convert.
QUESTION:
Have you gotten involved in markets that were good when you started, but then became too crowded later on? Or do you find that there's enough room for everyone in any market?
ANSWER:
I already compete in some of the most competitive industries, including; online dating, and web hosting. The key to succeeding in any market is to have a large keyword list. In fact, I think this is what sets most super affiliates apart from average affiliates.
QUESTION:
How do you choose the best affiliate program and products for that market?
ANSWER:
I have had the most success by targeting high margin products and services. For example, I don’t waste my time promoting products and services that only pay out a few dollars per sale. I go after products and services that pay $10 or more. You can make money with low margin products, but you have to have a lot of traffic to earn big commissions. I’ve also been successful by promoting products and services that can only be purchased or consumed online. These products tend to have a high conversion rate because you don’t have to compete with offline stores for sales.
Creating a List of the Right Keywords:
QUESTION:
You mention in your system that before you even register a domain name or build your website, you'll spend a lot of time developing a keyword list. Why is this keyword list so important?
ANSWER:
I can’t emphasize enough how important keywords are. Keywords are the vehicles that drive traffic to your site. If you target the wrong keywords, you may be attracting a lot of people who just want to browse your site and aren’t quite ready to buy. By targeting the right keywords you will capture people who are ready to buy, which will result in more commissions.
QUESTION:
How long will a quality keyword search take?
ANSWER:
Initially, I will spend anywhere from a couple of hours to an entire day doing keyword research. This first round of keyword research helps me to create a basic keyword list. I consider this basic list a starting point. After I have had a chance to try these keywords in my marketing campaigns, I will go back and try to find hundreds or evens thousands more related keywords.
Developing Affiliate Websites
QUESTION:
You have examples of websites where you promote just one affiliate program, and others where you promote a bunch of affiliate programs around a similar theme. How do you make this decision?
ANSWER:
If I’m building a directory or review site I tend to give the customer more than one option; this allows my visitors to compare differences between the products or services I’m promoting.
For example, imagine if you created an mp3 player comparison site. It would be important for you to feature a handful of mp3 players so that users could compare features.
On the other hand, if you were building a content site around an Apple iPod, it might not make sense to feature other mp3 players on your site. These other products might distract the user who came to your site looking for an Apple iPod.
In summary the number of products that you feature on your website depends on your marketing strategy. If it’s a directory, comparison, or review site, you should feature multiple products. If you’re building a content site around a specific product or service, don’t distract your visitors with other offers.
QUESTION:
I like the idea of using templates, but I think people are intimidated by website design. If they have no experience, what do you suggest they do about getting the design they want?
ANSWER:
It’s never been easier to develop a professional website. With thousands of unique and professional-looking website templates, and dozens of easy-to-use visual site builders, anyone can build a website. In Section 4 of my e-book I show you how to build a site from the ground up.
QUESTION:
Many websites, especially the portals, appear to have hundreds of links. But I've seen your affiliate sites, and they seem to have very few affiliate links. What do you recommend for other affiliate marketers?
ANSWER:
I think it’s important to not overwhelm your website visitors with too many choices. You only have a few seconds to capture a visitor’s attention. If you give them too many options there is a good chance they won’t choose any of them. However, if you give them just a few highly-targeted options, there is a much better chance they will select one of them. In summary, keep it simple.
QUESTION:
You mention building the website around the affiliate products and services you're promoting. Can you explain that a little more?
ANSWER:
Many new affiliates make the mistake of creating a website, and then adding some affiliate banners as an afterthought. If you develop content around a merchant’s products and services you will have better conversion rates.
QUESTION:
Where do you get the content and articles that appear on your affiliate sites?
ANSWER:
I write a lot of the content that appears on my sales landing pages. However, I will often outsource content articles to a ghost writer. I’ve also used RSS (Real Simple Syndication) and article syndication sites like GoArticles to publish articles on my site.
I have found that it’s important to focus on things you’re good at, and outsource everything else.
QUESTION:
How long does it take you to launch a new website from the idea to the finished site?
ANSWER:
It varies from project to project. Sometimes I just build a quick landing page for paid search, which usually takes less than a day. If I’m building a mini site, with less than 10 pages, it may take a couple of days. If I’m building a comprehensive database driven site it could take up to a week.
QUESTION:
Last two questions and then we'll wrap it up. Do you do Quick Tests to see whether the market is right for a full-blown website?
ANSWER:
I’m glad you asked this question. Yes - I do use quick tests to determine if a market is profitable. I will often start with a simple landing page and a few hundred keywords on paid search. After a few days I analyze my results to determine whether or not it’s a product niche I want to spend more time in. If it’s not, I move on to the next project. If it is, I’ll spend more time doing comprehensive keyword research, and testing new landing pages.
Paid search is the perfect environment to perform this initial testing. Once I have determined what the best keywords are through paid search, I will try and optimize my site for natural search. This tends to take more time and effort than paid search, but it can be very lucrative if you succeed.
Never invest too much time or money into any campaign until you know it’s going to work. This allows you to minimize your losses and maximize your return.
QUESTION:
How do you manage 100 sites and the marketing of those sites?
ANSWER:
Most of my sites run on auto-pilot. I only have to actively manage a handful of my websites. I could spend more time building and improving my sites, but I like to move on to new projects. I would rather have 500 sites making $50 a day, than 5 sites making $5,000 a day. I don’t like to put all of my eggs in one basket.
I also find building new sites is more exciting than managing existing ones ;)
QUESTION:
Many of my affiliates aspire to make millions with their affiliate websites. We thank you very much for your time, and wish you great success in the future. By the way, where can my customers get a copy of your book?
ANSWER:
Thank you for taking time to do this interview. I hope your customers can gain some good insights from it.
If you’re ready to quit your job, or supplement your income with an affiliate business, my e-book will help you get started.
To download my e-book visit: High Performance Affiliate Marketing.
What makes my e-book different from any other affiliate education resource?
Free updates – Nothing changes faster than the Internet… I update my e-book on a regular basis so you will always have access to the latest information.
Free member support forums – I’ve built a strong community of affiliates who actively participate on our message boards. If you have a question about anything you read in the book, or any other online marketing question you can post it in the message boards and either I or another marketer will try and help you out.
Free member newsletter – To help you stay on top of your business I’ve developed a member’s only newsletter packed with additional Internet marketing strategies and advice.
Best,
Jeremy
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