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Which of these mistakes are you making with affiliate marketing?

Without a doubt affiliate marketing is becoming one of the most powerful and affordable ways to earn a very healthy living online. Whether you are striving to be a power affiliate or simply want to make a few extra dollars on the side this article will share with you some common mistakes affiliates are making and how you can avoid them.

Mistake 1: Choosing bandwagon affiliate products

What I mean is choosing what you *think* is a hot item instead of choosing what interest you. Take a look at any super affiliate and I guarantee you will see one common thread. They are actually interested in what they are selling.

>>Solution<< Pick products and services that appeal to you. Then, do some research and find out if they are in demand. If they are, find a suitable affiliate program and join it.

Mistake 2: Not putting in the work.

Since affiliate programs are usually free to join this makes them both elluring and at the same time a waste of time. What I mean is, you have nothing to lose by joining one, two, three, four affiliate programs. Except of course your time.

>>Solution<< Choose one affiliate program and stick with it until it is making a reasonable profit. Then, repeat the process with another affiliate program if you wish to do so. This will keep you from spreading yourself to thin and wasting valuable time.

Mistake 3: Failing to pre-sell your prospects.

Everyday floods of offers roll into my inbox and quite a few are promoting affiliate products of one type or another. What you will find is that most of these ads fail to pre-sell the product or service effectively.

>>Solution<< Ads should be geared toward doing one single thing. Preselling the product/service and getting them to respond to the web site. That's where the selling should happen. Write ads that leave people curious for more and watch click thrus
and sales increase.

Mistake 4: Not buying the product/service.

I don't know about you but if I'm going to put my recommendation on something it better be worth every single penny the owner of the product/service is asking. If not then I have let down the people I have referred to the site.

>>Solution<< Buy the product/service before you sign up as an affiliate and see if in fact it delivers what is promised. Investigate the owner of the site, ask questions, and be nosey. After all you are going to be bringing them business. They should be able to answer all your questions.

Mistake 5: Low paying commissions.

Many affiliate programs offer peanuts when it comes to commissions. 1-2% is nothing more than an insult. You will work the same amount of time and put in the same amount of effort to sell 100 products at 2% commission as you would to sell 100 products at 30% commission. Why short change yourself?

>>Solution<< Seek out programs that have 30% or higher commission pay outs. Also, seeking out residual payouts is another way to create more income through affiliate programs.

These five mistakes are the most common that I see affiliates making online. When these same affiliates come to me for advice 9 times out of 10 they are making one or more of these mistakes. Rethink your affiliate marketing efforts and see if you're cutting your own throat and losing commissions. You'll thank yourself later for taking the time to do so.


About the Author
Jason Mann is a profitability consultant who works with small and medium web business to increase their overall profit using easy to deploy, cost effective marketing strategies. Visit his web site at http://www.majorprofitmargins.info