Not All Traffic Is Good Traffic
I know you’ve been brainwashed to think that driving traffic is the most important part of your business but please bare with me and read this post because that is simply a myth.
I run a very profitable online business and I have very little need to drive traffic. You see, if you set things up properly from the beginning… traffic is seldom a problem later on. (more on that later)
You probably even think its a good idea to get as many affiliates on board as you possibly can. Hundreds or thousands even… am I right? The more the merrier? …..uhh NO! It’s not.
Let me tell you this… I generated over $720k online last year and approx 80% of my “affiliate” traffic came from less than 20 people. When it comes to affiliate traffic, here is the reality that no one has taught you:
Quality is waaaaaaaaay more important than quantity.
Not only is a large amount of affiliates un-necessary its actually DANGEROUS. My last WSO produced $62k. Out of that $62k – I can confidently estimate that at least $40k was a direct result of my top 10 JV’s alone. Yes, 10 people produced over 70% of the gross sales.
Why dangerous you ask?
Well – because there are a lot of idiots and scammers out there pretending to be legit affiliates. Would you believe that in my last launch, one of these guys sent 13,000 clicks to my sales page. (Thats A LOT of traffic) Guess how many sales he made… ??? ZERO – NADA – ZIP! Sounds crazy right? How can that be? Well – it’s simple… they send shit traffic.
There were dozens of people like this. Affiliates that I didnt even know. They simply heard my page was converting well and decided to promote it.
This is dangerous for several reasons…
#1 It hurts stats.
If an unkonwn affiliate just sent 13,000 clicks to your page and made zero sales your EPC (earnings per click) has just plumeted. He has skewed your metrics. This will distort your Clickbank Gravity or whatever other tracking mechanisms you have in place.
#2 It turns away good powerful JVs
Good affiliates like myself require proven metrics. I’m running a business and I cant risk that your product wont sell. I need to see how its performing BEFORE I promote it. If your metrics are skewed and/or your EPC’s are low an affiliate like myself may turn down the promo out of fear for poor performance when that may not be the case at all.
#3 It gets your URL black listed.
Unknown affiliates may use lots of underground sneaky tactics to send traffic. They may even be spamming. If 13,000 unsuspecting people just clicked the spam button on an email containing your URL (regardless of what affiliate sent the email) YOUR URL gets put on an email blacklist. This will kill the in-box deliverability of ALL future emails containing your URL even those sent by you or your GOOD affiliates because it will drive up your SPAM Assassin score over 10.0. Now you have to explain to affiliates why you are blacklisted and ask them to please use redirects and cloaks. This is NOT a good thing, it will KILL your sales and conversions.
#4 It increases refund rates.
It’s very likely that unknown random affiliates are simply in it for the money. This means that they will create very “hypey” or even deceitful email messages, promo ads, or landing pages for your product to try and “trick” people into buying. Naturally this is less common, but when it does happen it will almost always result in a refund (or in many refunds.)
#5 It increases PayPal risk.
Like in #4 above, people will often request a refund but the sad part is that angry customers seldom go through the proper channels. They dont take the time to email you or create a support ticket at your help desk. Instead, they go right to their PayPal account and open a dsipute. Too many disputes can get you on PayPal’s radar and have a manual reviewer evaluating your site. Now your under a microscope and risk losing your paypal account or being suspended or limited if your lucky. (not fun)
Here’s another BIG mistake that seems to be spreading… You should NOT advertise your affiliate program on your sales thread in the warrior forum. I see a lot of noobs making this mistake. It may sound like a good idea to you at first because you need more sales BUT did you know…
#1 It’s against the Warrior Forum rules.
The forum has recently implemented a rule AGAINST advertising your affiliate program on your own sales page for these very reasons.
#2 It devalues your sales copy & hurts profits.
Your sales copy guides the prospect down the purchase decision by building impulse and value. Its kind of hard to trigger important impulse factors like urgency, scarcity, and fear of loss when you have a big ass banner looking for affiliates at the bottom! It literally defeats the purpose of good sales copy. Having an affiliate banner below your payment button is like having an empty “promo code” feild. It hurts profits because now many of the prospects go to your affiliate page instead of your payment page.
They will try to purchase from their own link and seldom drive significant traffic. There is always an exception here and there… HOWEVER, You wont recruit many “super affiliates” this way trust me. Remember what I said above.. most of your sales come from a handful of JVs and these are the ones you have a relationship with. The ones you get with these silly banners are the “unknown kind” that just send bullshit traffic or try to buythe product from themselves.
#3 It pisses off PayPal.
Its no secret that PayPal has a bad taste in their mouth about WSO’s and the warrior forum in general. Paypal has been burned too many times by bad sellers and now they are apprehensive about ALL offers. They don’t fully understand the system and they classify most offers as a “Ponzi Scheme” If you get evaluated by a manual reviewer and he sees this big glowing banner inviting affiliates to send traffic it will justify his suspicions. Remember – these evaluators dont think like us, they think like EBAY. It looks scammy to them.
So now what Batman?
Here’s how to make traffic your bitch….
#1 – Research FIRST.
Don’t just create a product because you THINK its a good idea. Find the demand FIRST. Where are the buyers and what are their needs. Do this before you even start creating your product. If you know exactly where your customers are, then all you have to do is make the product and then go put you purchase link in front of them. Traffic will never be a problem. If you are starving for traffic right now then lets face it… you probably didn’t do enough research before you started.
#2 – Recruit specific JVs.
You can do this personally or you can hire/partner with someone that is good at it. Make a dream list of people that you wish would mail for you. Make it a SMART list, not every product suits every marketer. Approach all of those JVs WAAAY in advance of your launch and BUILD A RELATIONSHIP OF VALUE WITH THEM FIRST. Don’t just send them a message that says:
“Hey dude – I love your stuff I’m a big fan! – by the way I have a HUGE launch coming up and you can make a lot of money by promoting it… bla bla bla.” (That approach will get you nowhere FAST!)
Instead, look to provide value to that potential JV first, become useful and even necessary to them, that will give you leverage. Don’t be afraid to relinquish higher commissions or even 100% commissions for big JVs because this pays off HUGE down the road. You can barter services in exchange for promos. Be creative. Be VALUABLE. Be patient.
#3 Use a white listing system.
Make JV’s apply to promote your product. This will help you weed out the riff raff and will also make your launch more exclusive. This actually appeals to alot of JVs like me because I know that not every tom dick and harry will be promoting, that gives me a better chance of making more sales.
In conclusion, be tactful about your traffic. Failure to plan is the same as planning to fail. Don’t just create a product and build a website and leave traffic for last. Traffic is actually the first step. Find THAT first, begin building those JV relationships as soon as possible, this way – when you’re ready to launch traffic won’t ever be a problem.
To your success,
Omar Martin
