Do
you know the Sales
Army Secrets?
See
if you can spot the similarity.
What
do the following three statements have in common?
1.
I can’t do it right now, but maybe later.
2. I’ve already got my mailings scheduled.
3. Let me get back to you.
Got
the similarity spotted?
These
are all typical responses that most people get
when
asking partners and affiliates to promote their
offers.
Chances
are you’ve gotten answers much like these,
right?
Don’t
despair ... there are ways around the barriers
of
reluctance and passiveness.
Let
me share some simple ideas for getting affiliates
to
take action on your promotions quickly. I use
the acronym
“N.O.W.” to describe three ways to
get others to promote
you now...
N
- News
In
journalism, no one wants to be “scooped”
when it comes
to newsworthy items. Sharing some big story that
another
network or publication broke days ago is a big
“no-no”.
You always want to be first when it comes to getting
the
word out.
That
same philosophy applies to what I’ve labeled
“The
Principle of First”. The idea is simple:
being “first to
market” aids in responses. Those who let
their contacts
know about your news promptly will generate the
greatest
results. If they wait, someone else will break
the news.
So,
to apply this principle, you simply need to create
some
newsworthy buzz that your affiliates and partners
can’t
pass up on sharing with their network of influence.
**CASE
STUDY**
Several
months ago I decided that I was going to remove
the
archives from one of my membership sites. This
announcement served as a strong motivator to get
my
affiliates to promote my site promptly before
someone else
did. The result was almost 500 new members paying
monthly
fees!
If
you make dramatic changes to your offer, or create
some
other kind of “story” or “news”
that warrants discussion
promptly, you’ll find you can get many fence-setters
active
in promoting you.
O
- Occasions
Another
great way to motivate affiliates to get active
is
to use “occasions” that have a real
deadline involved.
Some
examples include –
*
Product launches
* Firesales
* Live events (teleseminars, workshops, etc.)
* Contests
* Special offers
* Limited quantities
This
is what might be referred to as “The Principle
Of
Force”. That is, you MUST promote the offer
now or miss
out simply because the offer will no longer be
valid. You
“force” participation.
For
example: If you have a 3-day “firesale”
set for a
specific date, then anyone interested in earning
commissions for referring customers to the “firesale”
would
be “forced” to promote it during your
pre-determined
timeframe or they’d miss out because the
event will end.
My
recommendation is that you schedule some kind
of
“occasion” every quarter. That should
give you four
significant spikes in your revenue each year,
which can be
a tremendous boost to your bottom line.
W
– Wants
What
do your partners and affiliates want? Seriously,
stop
and think about that for a moment. In fact, go
one step
further than that and ASK them a simple question...
“What
would it take for you to
promote this offer this week?”
Make
it happen.
I
want you to remember the intangibles here: the
sales of
your initial offer aren’t really all that
important.
(Don’t freak out, hear what I have to say
:-) It’s
building a lead list, an affiliate list and a
customer list
along with ADDITIONAL offers over time that makes
the real
money.
Consider
this –
Option
A:
Miss
Ima Guru ignores your request to promote your
offer as
it currently stands.
Option
B:
Miss
Ima Guru accepts your modified offer which includes
giving her 100% of the revenue she generates.
You make
nothing off her promotion...but in the process
of her
promotion she adds 500 new subscribers to your
list, 75 new
affiliates and 60 new customers.
Which
would you rather have?
Whatever
it takes to get people to promote your offer now,
make it happen.
***
NOTE ***
Now,
let me make a simple suggestion here: The deal
you
make should be directly proportional to the potential
results the partner represents.
Some
affiliates and partners bring more to the table
and
should be offered more in order to get them to
participate.
That
being said, you can get virtually any affiliate
to
promote you now if you make it worth their while.
So, ask
them, “what will it take?”
This
is what I call “The Principle Of Fear”.
That is, a
feeling of “This is such a compelling offer,
I can’t afford
to miss out on this deal.”
All
of this adds up to more involvement and participation
among your affiliates and partners...
N
– News +
O – Occasions +
W – Wants =
-------------------
Other people promoting you NOW!
-----------
Jimmy D. Brown is the author of the course, "5
Practices
Of Highly Profitable Affiliate Programs".
For your free
copy, drop by and get it by clicking
here.
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