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Entrepreneurship Marketing Sales

Launching With Affiliates: Smart Strategy Or Careless Shortcut?

Affiliate marketing is a tricky subject, one I’ve had a lot to say about over the years. For those new to the game, affiliate marketing is when a business asks another business (the affiliate) to sell their product for them. You find someone with an audience, and utilize that audience’s trust in the affiliate to move your product. In exchange, when anyone buys your product using the affiliate’s special link, the affiliate gets a cut. Everyone wins. Or do they?

I’ve been asked whether this strategy, with all its advantages and drawbacks, is a good idea for new entrepreneurs. It’s certainly a popular one. And while I’ve definitely had my reservations about affiliate marketing, I can’t deny the potential benefits of doing so…when it’s done right.

I’ve launched many a product, both with and without affiliates. Whether it’s right for you will depend on a few variables. The beauty of entrepreneurship is that unlike traditional business, you don’t have to do anything. You get to make the choices that seem best for you and your company. So before you decide, know what can go right— and what can go otherwise.

The Pros

When you work with affiliates, you’re increasing the size of your audience (and potentially the number of sales) exponentially. Someone else has done the work required to earn the trust of a whole pool of potential customers. Now, your product is being recommended to them. It could take months or years to reach the people your affiliates have already reached, and here they are being handed to you on a platter.

The value of this is hard to estimate. Assuming your product is good and it sells well, it’s priceless exposure. The benefits can continue to accrue over years, as strangers become first-time customers, who become longtime customers, and who ultimately recommend your product to others. One good affiliate relationship can snowball into years of profit, especially if it’s not just a one-time thing.

All of this requires relatively little from you, at least compared to the cost and effort required to earn that following on your own. Affiliate marketing can be a fast lane to notoriety and credibility. As long as your product delivers, hitching your wagon to someone else means trust by association. And as market value goes, trust is a priceless commodity.

The Cons

All that said, the downsides can be considerable— especially for new entrepreneurs. When you’re just starting out, it can be tough to get credible affiliates. No one knows or trusts you yet, and affiliates may not want to risk their own credibility on someone’s first or second product. That means the caliber of affiliates available to you might not be…ideal. Businesses who rely too heavily on being affiliates (rather than selling their own products) quickly lose credibility with their own audiences. These kinds of operations are not wagons to which you want to be hitched. Unfortunately, they might be the only ones willing to work with you.

Once you do find an affiliate, you have to be very careful about their effect on your brand. It’s important not to just let anyone market for you, because the way they do so reflects on you! You’re trusting these businesses with your brand. They could be unprofessional or scammy. They could simply have an aesthetic or set of values that’s too different from your own. Being misrepresented by an affiliate is a damaging experience.

And obviously, you’re giving up profits. 50% is standard, but even higher commissions aren’t unheard of (some businesses even forego 100% of the profits if they think the exposure is worth it). You have to ask yourself: with the money you’re giving the affiliate, could you market and advertise just as effectively for yourself? If your affiliate wants to sell your $100 product on a 50% commission, is it possible that you could take that $50 and buy ad space that’d get you the same result (or better)?

Cautious Affiliate Marketing

I’ve always been very wary of affiliate marketing, for all the reasons above. Most of all, I’ve always wondered if outsourcing the marketing of my own brands runs counter to the independence that makes entrepreneurship…entrepreneurship! That said, independence doesn’t mean never working with others or refusing mutually beneficial partnerships. That’s why I do choose to go the affiliate route sometimes— but only on certain conditions.

First, I don’t do “open” affiliate marketing, in which anyone can sell your product. While it’s tempting to sort of crowdsource your marketing this way, you completely lose control over your brand. When any jerk with a Twitter feed can call themselves your business partner, you’re setting yourself up for some bad press.

Instead, I hand pick my affiliates, and only let my business be associated with companies I know and trust, and whose audiences identify with my outlook. This means my reach isn’t quite as wide, but it is deeper. Most importantly, I can rest assured knowing that people I’m proud to associate with are increasing the value of my brand, not detracting from it.

Secondly, I insist on controlling the message. I provide the copy for emails, social media updates, videos, pdf’s; you name it. This makes life much easier for the affiliate, as all they have to do is share my work with their audience. More importantly, it keeps me in control of how my product is presented. I don’t surrender control of the narrative; I simply “borrow” the attention of my affiliate’s audience for a bit. That’s easier for the affiliate, and safer for me.

The Right Call For You

If you’re a brand new entrepreneur selling your first product, I have to recommend that you not choose affiliate marketing. It’s a better idea to go it alone at first, learning how to market and build your own credibility before trying to leverage someone else’s. Both your marketing skills and your product itself are in the early phases. Both should be “matured” a little before you’re ready for the kind of exposure affiliate marketing brings. Otherwise, the partnership could backfire.

If, on the other hand, you’ve been in business a while and you’re ready to launch or relaunch a tried-and-true product, affiliate marketing might be a great boost. Just make sure to take the time you need to find the right affiliates, and give them the materials they’ll need to represent you well. So long as it’s done with restraint, affiliate marketing can be mostly upsides. And it can give your business just the bump it needs to reach the next plateau.

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Entrepreneurship Marketing

How To Plan And Execute The Perfect Promotional Email Campaign

When it comes to direct marketing, you can’t beat good old-fashioned email. Social media is great (and webinars are invaluable, of course), but the stats make it clear that email still produces the most sales. That’s because emails can’t be ignored the way other forms of advertising can. An email can’t just be scrolled past. The recipient has to do something with it, even if that something is deleting it.

So how can you best take advantage of this to boost sales? Since emails automatically have to be engaged with on some level, what you put in them can work wonders. But getting the copy right isn’t the only challenge. You’ve got to send the right kinds of emails, at the right frequency, with the right message. To make an email promotion work, you’ve not only got to create a great offer. You’ve got to “sell” it from your customer’s inbox.

Preparation Is Everything

The number one mistake new business people make is starting with the promotion. Before you send the email that actually asks customers to buy something, you’ve got to put in the prep work.  

First, you’ve got to decide on the promotion itself. What special offer can you make that will attract the most business, and be worth whatever discount or bonus is included? Determine what prices, bundled services, or special packages will represent the best value for you and the customer. Then, make sure you have the purchase process streamlined and ready to go. When the promotion finally lands, you’ll want the sale to be as easy as a few clicks on your website.

Next, you’ll need an email marketing service. Sending a bunch of emails out yourself takes time and resources you can better spend elsewhere. For those new to the game, we recommend using MailChimp. It’s free for the first 2,000 subscribers on your list, and is very easy to use. However, it doesn’t allow for fully automated email marketing. For something on a professional level, go with either ActiveCampaign or ConvertKit. We here at the $100 MBA use ActiveCampaign, but both are excellent options at a reasonable price (ConvertKit is a little cheaper, and specifically designed for bloggers).

With all that in place, it’s time to start working on the emails.

The Power of Sequential Emails

Your promotional campaign should release emails in stages, starting a few days before the promotion actually happens. You want to build the hype, get customers excited, and— most importantly— start their decision-making process. By beginning the conversation well in advance, you give the customer the ability to make their own decision to buy. By the time the promotion actually starts, the sales are mostly made!

The idea is to convince the customers of two things. First, to buy the product on its own merits. Secondly, to buy the product when you want them to, i.e., during the promotion. The initial email is an announcement. It’s an anticipatory message that trumpets something special coming down the road. It reminds the customers of what your product can do for them, but also what makes the promotion a unique opportunity. This lays the groundwork. It gets the customers’’ gears turning so that the sale is a decision you reach together, rather than something forced on them.

The day before the promotion starts, send another email. This one should emphasize how temporary the promotion is. It should (without being too high-pressure) create the sense that if the customer doesn’t act, they disadvantage themselves. Create a little “friendly FOMO.” Make it clear that this is truly an “offer” in the literal sense, something worth appreciating. As long as that’s true, the email is an act of good customer service, not just an advertisement.

The day the promotion begins, celebrate! The day-of email should sound like the great news it is. Use humor, use varied media like pictures and gifs, and let your personality shine through. It should *almost* read as if the sale is a done deal— because by this point, it almost is. Over the preceding several days, the customers have had time to seriously consider your offer. They don’t feel ambushed or tempted into an impulse buy. That’s why the day-of email is less of a pitch. You’ve already pitched!

Depending on how long the promotion is, keep sending emails. For promotions lasting a week or more, a new email every other day is enough to keep the momentum going without being spammy. For shorter promotions, a daily email is appropriate. If you’re using a professional email marketing service like the ones mentioned here, they can tag those recipients who’ve already made a purchase so they don’t receive further emails.

On the last day of the promotion, send out a final email. This one should naturally be more urgent, since the clock is ticking. I’ve even sent emails during the last hour of a promotion, to catch the last few stragglers who haven’t pulled the trigger. Again, don’t go for the scammy high-pressure vibe. Simply tell the truth: that something worth having is about to slip away.

Tips For Great Emails

Promotional emails have one goal: to boost sales. But to get there, they need to avoid the trash folder! There are a few basic strategies that can increase your emails’ odds of actually being read, and actually being effective.

  • Brevity: The last thing a customer wants is a chore, so the greater economy of words you can employ, the better. No promotional email should be more than 500 words. This way it’s more succinct, less intrusive, and less work. Just state as simply as possible how your product meets their needs, what’s special about the promotion, and what they’ll miss out on if they do nothing. Make it brief, make it snappy, and make it easy to read.
  • Postscript: I always like to include something at the end of my emails that prompts the recipient to reach out to me with any questions. Use the “P.S.” as a way to turn the promotion into a conversation. If you actually respond to a customer query personally, it goes a long way towards building rapport, and makes sales more likely. It’s one thing to get emails from a business. It’s another to have a conversation with a person.
  • Testimonials: Always include a few words from existing customers who are happy with your product. Don’t just try to convince the reader of its efficacy, prove it! Show them how what you’re selling can solve their problem.
  • Personality: Don’t let your email read like an ad. It should read like it was written by a person. A person makes jokes. A person shows emotion. A person can be professional, but still warm and honest. Make your email stand out by making it more fun and interesting than everything the customer will be deleting from their “promotions” tab that day.
  • Subject lines: Naturally, the subject line could be the difference between “open” and “delete.” But don’t take it too far. Too many less-than-ethical businesses use misleading or downright deceptive subject lines. This will get the email opened. It won’t lead to sales. It will lead to annoyed recipients taking their names off your list. Hint at what you’re offering without spelling it out. Create some mystery. But above all, be honest.

Once you’ve created a good batch of emails for your first promotional campaign, file them away for the next one. With the basic structure in place, you can simply change the details to fit the next big sales push. Over time, you’ll hone them into the perfect promotional package. Keep building that list, keep marketing with honesty, and you’ll see those emails pay dividends.

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Marketing

What Metrics Matter Most? How To Survive Your First Year In Business

Here at The $100 MBA, we’re all about doing the math. Crunching the numbers is vital to the success of any business. But which numbers matter most? There are so many metrics to follow: churn rates, subscription rates, traffic, revenue…the list goes on. And even the most analytical mind has to confront one harsh reality— you can’t follow them all. Not closely, anyway.

With so much to consider, what’s the priority? The answer lies in deciding which numbers paint the most accurate picture of how your business is doing. The metrics that matter are the ones that give you the information you need to plan for growth. By focusing on these, you can not just analyze, but analyze efficiently. You can crunch the numbers in a way that leads to results, not just knowledge!

How People Do It Wrong

There are two ways to do analytics that can hurt your business. The first is obvious: under-doing it (or worse, not doing it at all). Some people, especially those who aren’t mathematically inclined, find analytics too daunting. They’re so intimidated by the chaos of numbers that they can’t imagine themselves extracting any useful info from it.

The second is by overdoing it. While the urge to be driven by numbers is a good and practical one, there’s such a thing as over-analysis. Spending too much time on that chaos of numbers (even if it looks less chaotic to some) is counterproductive. The truly useful stuff gets lost in the torrent of information.

The solution to both of these problems is to simplify. By restricting your analytics to just one or two key metrics, you can find the path between opposite pitfalls. The mathematically challenged can handle one or two. The numbers nerds can excel by focusing exclusively on them. Either way, you get the information that makes the biggest difference.

For my money (and yours), there are two metrics that should take precedence over all others. The first is prescriptive, and the same for any business no matter what you’re selling. The second is more subjective, and depends on the business in question.

Metric #1: Profitability

Your business has to make money to succeed. Incredible revelation, right? But so many new entrepreneurs get this wrong, and it’s why their companies fail. They believe that if the product is brilliant enough or the marketing is clever enough, success is guaranteed. I’ll say it ‘till I’m blue in the face: success is never guaranteed. Not by any product, no matter how incredible. Amazing, potentially world-altering products that could genuinely improve people’s lives have failed. Fantastic, innovative and memorable marketing campaigns have failed. Any business can fail, because any business can operate beyond its means.

When profitability isn’t the priority, failure is only a matter of time, all other factors being optimal. If you’re spending more than you’re taking in for too long, it can only end one way. Personally, I think every second spent in the red is “too long,” but at the very least, growth needs to be demonstrably trending upwards to justify your expenses. It doesn’t take an MBA to understand, but too many new entrepreneurs fail to live by this philosophy— and their companies pay the price.

A simple Excel sheet (or, for the romantics, a literal set of books) is all it takes to track this all-encompassing metric. It comes down to two columns: one to total what you’re spending on everything from materials to salaries, and one to total what you’re bringing in via sales. The difference between the two is your profitability, or lack thereof. It’s that easy.

The first year is the toughest, so it’s ok if these numbers are uncomfortably close to each other. You’re trying to stay afloat despite startup costs and your relative lack of exposure. If you’re in the black, you’re doing it right. If you’re in the red, it’s still ok! But it’s time to figure out how to balance the scales. Profit margins are allowed to be thin at this stage. If there’s no profit, it’s important that the margins of loss are thin enough to be sustainable until things turn around— and crucial that there be valid reasons to think they will.

Again, that means realistic growth projections, not the possibility of a loan or other investment that would cede control of your business without actually solving the problem. Spend less if you have to. Charge more if you have to. But get to profitability no matter what it takes.

Metric #2: Your Single Annual Goal

I learned this one from Noah Kagan, creator of AppSumo and Sumo. He was also an early employee at Facebook, back in the days when no one outside the tech world knew who Mark Zuckerberg was. From Zuckerberg, Kagan learned that each year (especially the first year), should have a singular focus. One metric— other than profitability, of course— should take priority over the rest.

That metric should be something that will spur your business to grow. For Facebook, it was an obvious choice: signups. In order to make Facebook relevant, it had to attract as many users as possible. All that mattered was how many people were on it. Every decision was seen in this light. If an idea was likely to add users, it got the green light. If it didn’t, they didn’t waste their resources on it— even if it was a good idea otherwise. Zuckerberg knew that popularity was the key to every other goal he could envision for the business.

At WebinarNinja, our early goal was similar. We prioritized the number of active users the platform had. Our growth depended on having customers who actually used the product regularly, not just members to count on our rolls. Whatever we could do to make using the software easier, more intuitive, and more fun, we did. That’s what mattered, and the rest was put aside.

Decide what goal would set your business up for achieving future goals. Is it a certain amount of revenue to reinvest? Is it a number of customers? Is it a percentage increase in sales? Figure out what it is, and pursue it relentlessly, even at the expense of other perfectly good— but less vital— goals.

Keep It Simple

Realizing that you only need to focus on two metrics should be a big relief! You don’t have to track the endless streams of numbers that every business generates. Things like social media traffic are all well and good, but they can wait. These B-level metrics can be left to your analytics software and looked at on a monthly basis. The first year should be about the two goals described here. Otherwise, you open yourself up to a classic business-killing syndrome: Analysis Paralysis. You get lost in the numbers, and you can’t find your way.

I love statistics. I take a true nerd’s pleasure in watching numbers tell a story. I know as well as anyone how hard it can be to stop looking at certain metrics and focus on the central plot. I’ve had to force myself to stop spending time on numbers that simply aren’t consequential enough. Getting that ROI on my time and resources required doing less, which was a tough pill to swallow. But that’s what efficiency is about: getting the most out of the effort you give. It’s how businesses thrive, no matter what kind.

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Entrepreneurship Leadership Marketing

How To Create A Consistent Customer Experience (And Why You Should)

Here at The $100 MBA, we talk a lot about consistency. Consistent effort, consistent scheduling, and (of course) consistency in the quality of your product are just a few important examples. The list goes on. What’s often left out of the struggle for consistency is something just as crucial: a consistent customer experience. This kind of consistency is important. In fact, it can make or break your business’ reputation.

Consistency in your customers’ experience means this: your customers become accustomed to a standard. That standard is met in every single interaction they have with your business. Yes, your product is great. But what keeps your customers coming back is their certain knowledge of what’s going to happen. Consistency is about eliminating the element of surprise; aside from the occasional pleasant one, customers hate those.

The Models

Even for small businesses, the best model for this is big business. Look at Starbucks. Every single cup of coffee sold at every single Starbucks is of a standard quality. More importantly, what happens in a Starbucks is the same for the customer each and every time. The procedure is the same. The result is the same. It takes about the same amount of time. It’s one of the reasons big chains dominate, besides their vast resources: there are no surprises. They streamline. They standardize. Every customer knows exactly what’s going to happen.

Small businesses can do exactly the same thing. Not on the same scale, mind you, but you can provide that level of consistency of experience. Not only can you do it, but doing it will set your small business apart. It will create trust and comfort, and therefore repeat business. Your business can offer all the personalization of a mom-and-pop, but the predictability of a large chain. It’s the best of both worlds.

No matter how big or small, whether online or offline, the experience can be standardized. Again, that’s not to say that the product is consistent in its quality (though it should be). It’s to say your customers’ interactions— all of them—- conform to the expectations you establish.

Establishing The Experience

To bring this consistency of experience about, start at the beginning. Whether the customer is entering a website or a building for the first time, the first interaction sets the tone. It’s important to create as easy and comfortable an initial experience as possible, so the customer “settles” into what will be a consistently pleasant pattern.

The key to this initial experience is simplicity. The customer needs as little to do as possible— no overwhelming menu of choices, no complex initiation. On your website, there should only be a single call to action on each page, not some chaos of options. All you want is a simple, direct explanation of why they should continue, what value they’ll get in return, and a single next step.

As the customer experience continues, so should the simplicity and ease of use. At The $100 MBA, for example, every page has one call to action. You watch a video. You sign up. You opt-in for a gift. When you join, you get an orientation video with a follow-up call to action. The pattern is consistent: a video, a step, a thank you, a step, some value, a step. The customer is only ever given essentially one thing to do as they progress. They’re never overwhelmed. They’re always made to feel at home.

As the course actually begins, this consistency of experience continues. Even as the tasks grow more involved and complex, our system and our team are holding their hand along the way, always ready to guide them to the next step. From the customer perspective, this means convenience. It means trust. And it means they actually use our product and reap the results, because we’ve made it easy for them.

Why Bother?

Some may be tempted to ask: Why go to all the trouble? If the product is good, the product is good. They’ve given you money, you’ve given them the product. It should work itself out, right? Unfortunately, it’s never that easy. We could just give our customers access to all the lessons and resources The $100 MBA has to offer with no guidance. But that would be suicide. Yes, the product would be the same. But the experience wouldn’t be.

You’re not just selling the product. Or rather, part of “the product” is the experience— a big part. A big part of the value of the product is that customers actually apply it. You could have the greatest product in the world, but if it takes too much effort (or even thought) to use, only a minority of customers will ever be satisfied.

As for your reputation, it’s rarely the product itself people talk about. When people describe a product they love, they typically describe the experience of using it. Only advertisers describe the construction and features of a bike; customers describe how much they love riding it. Think about it: how do you talk about a product you’re truly excited about? Word of mouth is rarely about what was purchased. It’s about what happened. How will your customers describe their experience?

As for surprises, remember that even pleasant ones have a point of diminishing returns. If you can provide something wonderful occasionally, why not just provide it all the time? Customers don’t love a service because it might be awesome sometimes. They love it because they know it will be, every time.

Give that to your customers. Get feedback. See it from their point of view. Learn how to meet their expectations consistently, and they’ll repay you.

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Entrepreneurship Marketing

How To Serve A Beginner’s Market

Knowing your customers isn’t just good practice. It’s a requirement. When you’re aiming to serve certain segments of the market, planning for their needs and tendencies is crucial— as crucial as knowing your own industry and its tech or marketing trends. There’s one kind of customer that many of us serve, but not all of us really know how to: the beginner.

Regardless of what you’re selling, selling it to beginners calls for a certain approach. When your customers are newcomers to a sport, hobby, business, or other interest, that has to be factored into your strategy. It affects your marketing, the design of your product, its delivery, and the customer service they’ll need. It has ups. It has downs. And you’ve got to know what those ups and downs are in order to navigate them.

I’ve served thousands of beginners, including beginners at entrepreneurship. I’ve also served experienced business people, so I know what makes the newbies different from the rest of the market.

The Advantages

The customers value you more. When you’re new to something, anyone who’s willing to help you get started is invaluable. The first person to hold your hand and help you navigate an unfamiliar world is someone whose advice you’re going to take. Everything you teach them, no matter how basic, will be a revelation to them.

They have nothing to compare you to, and no frame of reference other than what you tell them.

This means you have two choices: you can take advantage of their ignorance and pocket their money in the short term, or you can give them a solid foundation and earn their trust for the long term. You can probably guess which is more valuable.

You don’t have to be an expert. Like the teacher who’s read a few more pages ahead in the textbook, you don’t have to be some accomplished guru. You only have to have gone further down the path than your customers have. Just being a few steps ahead is incredibly valuable to anyone who’s taking step one.

That’s not to say you have less to offer them. In fact, being closer to their level of experience can be more advantageous than being a seasoned pro. Just by being more relatable and better able to understand the challenges of a beginner, you can serve them more effectively than the greatest expert, whose experience is so far removed.

You can give them wins. And you can do so pretty quickly. Beginners have nowhere to go but up, so helping them make small but significant accomplishments is easy. Those accomplishments, though basic, will mean the world to them. The first time they host that webinar, the first 5 pounds they lose from your fitness equipment, the first time they understand a new concept from your tutoring— these are wins. Those wins build confidence. That confidence builds trust. That trust builds sales.

The Disadvantages

Beginners are more price sensitive. People who are already established in their hobbies or fields are willing to invest in quality products. They’ll shell out whatever’s necessary for something they’re committed to. Beginners, however, aren’t quite ready to part with a lot of money. Can you blame them? They’re not sure if they’re going to stick with whatever it is. They’re not willing to risk cash for something that may turn out to be a fleeting interest.

In fact, beginners are responsible for a great percentage of refunds. They may take the initial step of buying something, but until they’re truly invested, they won’t truly invest. The New Year’s resolution market is a tricky one; that’s why gyms are crowded in January and empty in December! Until you’ve got a consistent practitioner on your hands, expect them to be conservative.

They need their hands held. Beginners are in the dark, and they need a friend. That’s not a bad thing, but it means they need more of your time and energy. They’ll need constant support and communication. They’ll have a lot— a lot— of questions. Some of those questions may be…less than astute. Some of them may even make you cringe, or sigh, or whomp your forehead ever so gently against the nearest wall. Patience is the greatest gift you can give them— and it’s one they’ll repay down the line.

Their own success will be inconsistent. This may be the biggest disadvantage. Beginners are either unskilled, uncommitted, or both. Some are incredibly motivated, and some are only flirting with the interest in question. Some of them will make great strides, and know that your product helped them do so. Others, not so much— and they may blame you.

Some beginners may not see much progress (through no fault of your product), and assume it’s because what you offered them didn’t do the trick. Intermediates and advanced customers don’t do this; in fact, they’ll probably continue to make progress even if your product isn’t the best. Unfortunately, the best product in the world can’t help some beginners. And it’s hard to demonstrate your value when your customers are failing in their endeavors.

If you serve a beginner’s market, know what you’re getting into. If you’re a beginning entrepreneur yourself, use that experience to build empathy for those whose problems you’re trying to solve. Know how to appeal to them, know how to support them, and anticipate the common problems you’re sure to face. Later, when both yourself and your customers are more experienced, you’ll be glad you did.

Categories
Entrepreneurship Marketing

Affiliate Marketing Done Right

Affiliate marketing is a tempting proposition. By teaming up with others, you can have your marketing— and selling— largely done for you. But like any marketing strategy, there are different ways of doing it. In fact, affiliate marketing done improperly can be very, very dangerous to your brand. In order to get the sales you’re looking for without posing a risk to your business, it’s vital to know exactly how to pull off this sometimes misunderstood technique.

For the uninitiated, affiliate marketing is simply having others sell your product for you at a commission. You provide a special sales link to your affiliate, and any sales made through that link earn the affiliate a cut of the profits. Affiliates can be other business owners, bloggers, or just influential users; anyone with access to an audience that you wouldn’t otherwise reach.

Before You Affiliate

Before you get into an affiliate relationship, there are things to consider. First, you’ll be giving up revenue— potentially lots of it. On the low end, some affiliates take around 30% of each sale they make. That’s no insignificant amount, and that’s generally the minimum. It’s not uncommon for affiliates to ask for 40, 50, or 60 percent. In fact, it can go even higher. In some cases, affiliates keep 100% of the profits!

The obvious question is why anyone would agree to give up that much (or all) of the revenue from sales of their own product. The answer is simple: exposure. It’s the price of marketing this way. With the right affiliate, the access you get to a wider audience is well worth giving up profits from sales you weren’t likely to make without them anyway.

Another, larger concern with affiliate marketing is the effect on your brand. By hitching your wagon to someone else, you’re giving up some control over your own business’ reputation. You’re putting your brand into the hands of others. Whatever your affiliates do in their efforts to move your product will reflect on you.

For that reason, rule number one is to choose your affiliates wisely. If unprofessional or unscrupulous affiliates leave a bad taste in consumers’ mouths, you run the risk of guilt by association. For example, we did some affiliate marketing to promote our software service, WebinarNinja. The problem was that initially, we were willing to let almost anyone who wanted to sell our product do so— even non-users who knew nothing about it! After a few low-quality, embarrassing ads for our product made the rounds on YouTube, we knew we needed to be more picky when deciding to whom we’d lend our name.

Affiliate Management Options

To keep track of all your affiliate sales and process the payments, you have a few options. Clickbank and JVZoo are management systems for open, public affiliate programs. This means that anyone is free to sell your product for you, with or without your approval. Neither service requires a signup fee, and both completely handle the payment process for you.

For a more dynamic approach, there’s ShareASale. This service is much more involved, and less appropriate for beginners. It also costs $650 just to get started. In order for that to be worth it, it’s better used by those with a bit more experience and in-depth knowledge of how they want to structure their program.

If you use Infusionsoft, it also comes with an affiliate management system, though it’s bundled with the rest of its small business services. Again, it’s not as beginner-friendly as Clickbank or JVZoo, and unless you’re already using Infusionsoft for other things, it’s less likely to be the most convenient option.

For our own part, we’re taking a more labor-intensive approach that will give us even greater control. We’re building a custom independent affiliate program for Webinar Ninja completely in-house. Ours will feature a tiered system available only to users. More frequent, expert users will qualify for “black belt” status— and a bigger commission.

The system will come with custom tutorials, email and social media copy, infographics and videos. While it will require no small amount of time and resources to build, it’s worth it. That’s because our system will guarantee the most important thing from our affiliates: that they represent our business well. Whatever option you choose for your own business, that principle has to be the top consideration.

Done right, affiliate marketing is a good thing. It’s an inventive way to boost sales and exposure without actually hiring dedicated sales or marketing employees. It’s only when affiliate marketing is done incautiously, or without considering the risks, that it can go badly. If your business isn’t ready for it, don’t do it! Only when you’re confident in your ability to manage your affiliates and their representation of your brand should it be attempted.

Affiliate marketing is an option, a gambit. It’s not a requirement. When it’s worth doing, it’s only worth doing correctly.

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Entrepreneurship Leadership Marketing Uncategorized

The Perfect Business Idea

More people want to become entrepreneurs than actually do. Often, that’s because people think that they can’t start a business until they have a ground-breaking, game-changing original idea that will shake up the market and make them overnight millionaires. So many people simply don’t get started because they think that the first step is to have some “eureka” moment. They wait for a product to occur to them that’s so good, it’ll sell itself.

And that’s nonsense. In my experience— both with my own businesses and in watching others— one thing has become very, very clear: It’s not about the idea. The quality of the idea isn’t the primary factor in determining the success of the company. I know that sounds counterintuitive, maybe even a little crazy, but anyone who’s been around the block a few times can attest to this. It’s not about the notion. It’s about the implementation.

Of course having an incredible, unprecedented great idea helps. But it’s not enough. Without the right marketing and execution, even the best ideas will fail to bear financial fruit. Rather than trying to draw some incredibly creative epiphany out of your head, it’s a smarter idea to simply listen. Listen for a problem that consumers have, and offer a solution. Identify a need that the market isn’t addressing, and let the product be guided by that. It’s that simple.

Be a problem-solver, not an inventor

The idea behind your business doesn’t have to be genius. It simply has to tackle a problem. The product itself doesn’t have to be flawless. It simply has to meet needs that aren’t being met elsewhere. History proves this. Some of the most successful startups stand as testament.

Instagram was purchased by Facebook for a billion dollars. And what is Instagram? A world-altering social media revolution? An unheard-of concept? A cure for some disease? It’s none of those things. It’s a photo sharing app. That’s not exactly the wheel or the light bulb. Photo-sharing and instant filtering were nothing new when Instagram started doing it. They simply made it user-friendly and fun for average people. Eventually, Zuckerberg came calling.

For another example, take Tesla. Elon Musk is undoubtedly an innovator and an entrepreneurial genius. But what is a Tesla? It’s an electric car. Electric cars have been around for as long as cars in general have been around. Musk is not the first person to try to sell them. His approach is what made the difference.

Rather than trying to build the “perfect” vehicle, Musk simply identified the problems that potential electric car buyers faced. Electric cars were slow. They were ugly. They had limited range. They were barely more than political statements on wheels. Musk made electric cars that addressed these issues. He made them quick. He made them practical. He dared to make them sexy, in the exact same way that makers of non-electric cars try to make theirs sexy. And it worked.

The Myth of Perfection

The Next Big Idea isn’t worth chasing. Everyone wants to invent the Pet Rock, while forgetting that the Pet Rock was just a rock. How many times have you seen a product and said to yourself, “I thought of something like that” or “I always wanted something that would take care of that”? The difference between would-be entrepreneurs and actual entrepreneurs is simply action and execution.

Rather than trying to perfect your idea before you launch your business, launch your business. Start addressing a need in the market, and “perfect” as you go along. Refine your idea and innovate your product after you start selling it, not before. Start lean, with an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), and modify it along the way. Let the customers be your guide.

There’s a phrase in the military: “Fire and adjust.” It refers to the act of pointing a weapon at a target and firing without the expectation of hitting the mark on the first try. You see where the shot landed, then adjust accordingly. You don’t try to ensure the direct hit beforehand, refusing to fire until you’re positive of success. You make your move. You go from there. Launching a business is a lot like that.

Hear The Idea

The best entrepreneurs in the business world aren’t geniuses with universe-altering ideas. They’re simply observant. They pay attention to the experience of customers in the market, and they figure out how to improve it. They don’t rely on the strength of ideas so much as they rely on their ability to be responsive to consumers. They don’t try to “crack the code” of success. They try to make people’s lives a little better, a little easier, or more fun.

Perfection doesn’t exist. Businesses should always be striving and innovating, and so should the entrepreneurs behind them. The entrepreneurial lifestyle isn’t about conjuring the ultimate idea and getting out of an unsatisfying job. Entrepreneurship doesn’t have an endgame. It’s the act of reevaluating, honing, and growing.

So don’t worry about concocting that “perfect” business idea. Solve a legitimate problem— no matter how many tries it takes— and people will pay you to keep doing so.