Today's thread is on the affiliate business model. Many years ago, I used to be an affiliate marketer. If there is any way to get schooled in marketing, becoming an affiliate marketer is probably the best way.
What is affiliate marketing and why should you care?
Read on >>
NerdWallet - you read their articles on best credit cards. You click on a link to one of those cards. You fill out an application. They get paid for delivering that lead to the cc company.
But the affiliate revenue model applies beyond financial services products.
Wirecutter gets a cut of that transaction.
At a high level, driving traffic to product offers (of any kind) is REALLY HARD. Specifically, it's hard to keep your customer acquisition costs (CAC) low and make enough money off the commission.
For example, if I want to promote Apple Macbooks, I only make a commission on a sale, so I can spend up to a certain limit in ads.
But what if the customer clicks your link to the prod & doesn't buy & later goes to that same product pg on a different computer & then buys?
Historically, if you were also not the last "touch" w/ the customer, you would also not get paid even if the co could see that you had an initial touchpt.
And anyone considering using it for a startup should probably start by being an affiliate marketer for 2 weeks just to learn.
A) You negotiate and have access to unique products. This mitigates competition in customer acquisition channels. You can also discuss higher commission rates.
NerdWallet -- community for the most honest reviews
https://t.co/mCrBT43mOj -- keeps all your finances together
You have to be really patient.
VCs btw don't have patience so likely not VC backable at the earliest stages (which is fine but just know that)
(This likely doesn't apply to anyone starting a startup)
One of my acquaintances is a successful affiliate marketer & runs ads for offers in Spanish & the competition for Spanish ads a few yrs ago was basically zero. So her CAC was cheap.
Even Uber or other cos that have referral codes have marketers racking up free rides / credits -- that's affiliate marketing.
I.e. if you sign up & promote Amazon's products, you will earn a commission of sales:
https://t.co/kDf9PAhhxT
More from Elizabeth Yin
More from Startup
>> How To Start a Lead Gen Agency <<
This step-by-step process will help you sign $5K - $20K clients in NO TIME.
Learn how to:
✅ Find Leads
✅ Book Meetings
✅ Sign Clients
✅ Scale Processes
// 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 //
1/ Make sure you understand the lead gen process.
You NEED to know your shit before you pitch ANYTHING.
A few services you can offer to generate leads:
> Cold email
> LinkedIn outreach
> Facebook ads
> SEO
The list goes on.
Just perfect one of them & you’re SOLID.
2/ Find a niche to pitch your services to.
NICHE DOWN.
Use this doc to find an “untapped” niche:
https://t.co/aYptSNsZw6
I’d suggest choosing 1-3 to start with.
& focus ONLY on these.
3/ Find leads for outreach:
Sign up for a free @IcyLeads account at https://t.co/mz2kYnEko1 to find key decision-maker contact emails for outreach.
You can find emails from the list of niches provided above & filter out job titles such as:
> CEO
> Founder
> Marketing
Etc.
4/ Once you have a list of leads to pitch your services to:
It’s time to write your cold email outreach sequences.
Your cold emails should speak DIRECTLY to the prospect you’re reaching out to.
You can find some winning cold email templates
This step-by-step process will help you sign $5K - $20K clients in NO TIME.
Learn how to:
✅ Find Leads
✅ Book Meetings
✅ Sign Clients
✅ Scale Processes
// 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 //
1/ Make sure you understand the lead gen process.
You NEED to know your shit before you pitch ANYTHING.
A few services you can offer to generate leads:
> Cold email
> LinkedIn outreach
> Facebook ads
> SEO
The list goes on.
Just perfect one of them & you’re SOLID.
2/ Find a niche to pitch your services to.
NICHE DOWN.
Use this doc to find an “untapped” niche:
https://t.co/aYptSNsZw6
I’d suggest choosing 1-3 to start with.
& focus ONLY on these.
3/ Find leads for outreach:
Sign up for a free @IcyLeads account at https://t.co/mz2kYnEko1 to find key decision-maker contact emails for outreach.
You can find emails from the list of niches provided above & filter out job titles such as:
> CEO
> Founder
> Marketing
Etc.
4/ Once you have a list of leads to pitch your services to:
It’s time to write your cold email outreach sequences.
Your cold emails should speak DIRECTLY to the prospect you’re reaching out to.
You can find some winning cold email templates