The Secret Only Successful Affiliate Marketers Know!

Why are some affiliate marketers so successful and others can’t make more than a few bucks? What is the difference between them?

This is the age old question that new affiliate marketers will ask. Why are some people so good at it and others try and fail for years? Is it luck? Hard work? The product you choose? Well I’m here to tell you that, while those things do matter, they aren’t the reason people are extremely successful or not.

Now do you need the right product? Absolutely! Without the right product you will never make sales and commissions. And do you need to work hard? Yes - affiliate marketing is not a get rich overnight type of business. With luck that can happen, but results like that are not typical. So what is it? What sets those certain affiliate marketers apart?

The secret is called a value ladder. To explain a value ladder - first we need to understand a sales funnel. If you check out the image below - it’s a visual example of an affiliate’s sales funnel. Different streams of traffic bring possible customers to your opt in page. There, you snag their email and they get access to whatever you are offering. Hopefully they continue on to make a purchase with the company you are an affiliate for. But no matter what, you have their email so you can contact them again with more purchase opportunities.

So let’s say I am promoting a dog toy on my Instagram page. Someone clicks the link, signs up for the email and goes to purchase the squeaky toy on Amazon. I may email them in the future with another dog toy they may like, which leads to possibly more purchases from them.

Now starts the secret sauce that only successful affiliate marketers know. A value ladder. What if instead of emailing past customers about another dog toy, I email them about a new dog food. This product is slightly more expensive than the toy, but I gave a solid recommendation earlier so they purchase again. Now instead of a $3 commission, I made $30. A few months later, I may send another email, but this one is for a dog training course. Since I have built a relationship with this customer, they are excited to try this course, and now I have made a $100 commission.

“By building a relationship and increasing the value of what I offer to customers, I am increasing my revenue immensely. ”

By building a relationship and increasing the value of what I offer t customers, I am increasing my revenue immensely.

The best part of a value ladder is that it can be applied to literally any niche. Are you a hairstylist who markets to brunettes that want to go blonde? Maybe you start by selling a shampoo. From there, it’s an entire line of hair care products. And finally, a subscription service where they get the hair products shipped directly to them every month.

Now the key to being successful with a value ladder is offering an insane amount of value with the products your customers purchase. If I am recommending an awful shampoo that makes your hair fall out - no one in their right mind would purchase the entire line of products. But if I offer an indestructible dog toy that actually stays together, this customer is much more likely to take a step up the value ladder.

So there it is, the secret that so many affiliate marketers never share. And just because I think everyone should be given an even playing field, I have shared all the resources I used to become a successful affiliate marketer here. Thanks for tuning in!