<strong>Small is the new Big in affiliate marketing! Less equals MORE! Narrow your Focus and Increase your Commissions! If you can get your mind around these concepts you can indeed grow your earnings in 2007. </strong>
Now this could be considered an article about niche marketing, but that's not where I want to put the focus. This could also be considered good tips about the "how-to nuts and bolts" of affiliate marketing. You will get some good tips, however that's not the FOCUS either. What I want to talk to you about today is developing a new mindset!
In two recent A.I.M. (Affiliate Inspiration & Motivation) articles I talked about the <a target="_new" href="http://affiliate-blogs.5staraffiliateprograms.com/2007/01/16/power-of-focus-in-affiliate-marketing/">Power of Focus in affiliate marketing</a>. Those entries were more about focusing on important tasks and minimizing outside distractions. This article is about focus as well, but a different type of focus. It may require a change in your mindset to "get" it, but if you learn to focus more narrowly, you could earn more! This info is good for all you pros, but especially important for those just starting down the AM path.
So to get you in the right frame of mind, ask yourself: <em>Would you rather convert 1% of 10,000 visitors? Or 5% of 5,000 visitors? You make 5 times more with scenario #2 so lets go with that. How could you convert 5 times higher with fewer visitors? Targeted focus. </em>
<strong>We are in a culture that always strives for more and in an industry that certainly thinks bigger numbers are better. Build More sites, get More traffic, higher commissions, give me more, more, MORE! Learn to think small and see what happens to your numbers!</strong>
<strong><a target="_new" href="http://www.jamesmartell.com/">James Martell</a></strong> at the 5 Star forum recently said if he could start over and do things differently based on everything he knows now - he would focus all his effort on one site. <strong>"I would build one site. Just one. One." </strong>He elaborates on the thought <a target="_new" href="http://affiliate-marketing-forums.5staraffiliateprograms.com/showthread.php?t=2251&page=10&pp=10">here on page 10 of the thread</a>. Think small!
Why start a mall site? Can you compete with Walmart, Macys and Amazon? How can you get enough visitors to a store that caters to everyone and focuses on no one? Wouldn't it be easier to focus on A) a narrow product niche, B) a specific demographic or C) a targeted vertical? Lets look at all 3 options for thinking smaller.
A) <strong>Narrow product niche</strong> - Why be a tiny hidden player on page 20 of a huge market like baby products, when you could maybe get on page 1 for a specific type of baby product like <a target="_new" href="http://www.joggingstroller.com/">jogging strollers</a>. You can learn everything about that one product category, focus all your copy writing on that topic and get visitors that are 100% interested in exactly what you are selling.
Another great example is the <a target="_new" href="http://affiliate-blogs.5staraffiliateprograms.com/2007/01/16/cool-kid-niche-for-family-sites/">blog I wrote Tuesday about KidCarpet</a>. This merchant thought online carpet sales would not be competitive. He was wrong. He changed his focus to one specific product segment - carpets just for kids and now is a big fish in that little targeted niche.
B) <strong>Focus on a specific demographic</strong> (a certain type of person). If you want to promote a competitive product then try focusing on a specific type of person. A couple very basic examples: Dating site aimed at Catholic singles instead of casting a wide net. Anti-spyware software - especially for parents with messaging about how kids pick up spyware and the dangers of spyware to kids as well as how it makes it harder for parents to get work done on the computer. Auto loans - instead of trying to compete with everyone and target the masses - target toward Hispanics or women.
C) <strong>Target a vertical market </strong>(vertical markets are typically industries). Web hosting is SO competitive - why not focus on hosting for one market, like Realtors. That's still competitive so target Chicago Realtors or Colorado Realtors. Job site - focus on one industry like hospitality or nursing instead of trying to get traffic to a general job site that competes with Monster.
Once you've mastered the power of narrowing your focus and find a formula that works you can duplicate it in other demographics, verticals or with other product segments.
<strong><a target="_new" href="http://www.michelfortin.com/narrow-your-focus-to-broaden-your-sales/">Narrow Your Focus to Broaden Your Sales</a></strong> written by Michel Fortin is an in-depth look at how this phenomenon of "less equals more" works. He talks about how casting a smaller, more focused net can also help minimize the issue of price point and increase your sites perceived value to potential customers and he offers lots of great examples. Michel sums his article up by saying
<blockquote>"In conclusion, here?s my advice: if you?re looking at starting a business online, first find a niche and fill it. But if you already are doing business online, then narrow your focus to a specific outcome, audience or product.
And finally, if you do sell everything to everyone already, I suggest breaking your business down by developing several sites, which sell the same things but targeted towards different segments of your market."</blockquote>
Now this could be considered an article about niche marketing, but that's not where I want to put the focus. This could also be considered good tips about the "how-to nuts and bolts" of affiliate marketing. You will get some good tips, however that's not the FOCUS either. What I want to talk to you about today is developing a new mindset!
In two recent A.I.M. (Affiliate Inspiration & Motivation) articles I talked about the <a target="_new" href="http://affiliate-blogs.5staraffiliateprograms.com/2007/01/16/power-of-focus-in-affiliate-marketing/">Power of Focus in affiliate marketing</a>. Those entries were more about focusing on important tasks and minimizing outside distractions. This article is about focus as well, but a different type of focus. It may require a change in your mindset to "get" it, but if you learn to focus more narrowly, you could earn more! This info is good for all you pros, but especially important for those just starting down the AM path.
So to get you in the right frame of mind, ask yourself: <em>Would you rather convert 1% of 10,000 visitors? Or 5% of 5,000 visitors? You make 5 times more with scenario #2 so lets go with that. How could you convert 5 times higher with fewer visitors? Targeted focus. </em>
<strong>We are in a culture that always strives for more and in an industry that certainly thinks bigger numbers are better. Build More sites, get More traffic, higher commissions, give me more, more, MORE! Learn to think small and see what happens to your numbers!</strong>
<strong><a target="_new" href="http://www.jamesmartell.com/">James Martell</a></strong> at the 5 Star forum recently said if he could start over and do things differently based on everything he knows now - he would focus all his effort on one site. <strong>"I would build one site. Just one. One." </strong>He elaborates on the thought <a target="_new" href="http://affiliate-marketing-forums.5staraffiliateprograms.com/showthread.php?t=2251&page=10&pp=10">here on page 10 of the thread</a>. Think small!
Why start a mall site? Can you compete with Walmart, Macys and Amazon? How can you get enough visitors to a store that caters to everyone and focuses on no one? Wouldn't it be easier to focus on A) a narrow product niche, B) a specific demographic or C) a targeted vertical? Lets look at all 3 options for thinking smaller.
A) <strong>Narrow product niche</strong> - Why be a tiny hidden player on page 20 of a huge market like baby products, when you could maybe get on page 1 for a specific type of baby product like <a target="_new" href="http://www.joggingstroller.com/">jogging strollers</a>. You can learn everything about that one product category, focus all your copy writing on that topic and get visitors that are 100% interested in exactly what you are selling.
Another great example is the <a target="_new" href="http://affiliate-blogs.5staraffiliateprograms.com/2007/01/16/cool-kid-niche-for-family-sites/">blog I wrote Tuesday about KidCarpet</a>. This merchant thought online carpet sales would not be competitive. He was wrong. He changed his focus to one specific product segment - carpets just for kids and now is a big fish in that little targeted niche.
B) <strong>Focus on a specific demographic</strong> (a certain type of person). If you want to promote a competitive product then try focusing on a specific type of person. A couple very basic examples: Dating site aimed at Catholic singles instead of casting a wide net. Anti-spyware software - especially for parents with messaging about how kids pick up spyware and the dangers of spyware to kids as well as how it makes it harder for parents to get work done on the computer. Auto loans - instead of trying to compete with everyone and target the masses - target toward Hispanics or women.
C) <strong>Target a vertical market </strong>(vertical markets are typically industries). Web hosting is SO competitive - why not focus on hosting for one market, like Realtors. That's still competitive so target Chicago Realtors or Colorado Realtors. Job site - focus on one industry like hospitality or nursing instead of trying to get traffic to a general job site that competes with Monster.
Once you've mastered the power of narrowing your focus and find a formula that works you can duplicate it in other demographics, verticals or with other product segments.
<strong><a target="_new" href="http://www.michelfortin.com/narrow-your-focus-to-broaden-your-sales/">Narrow Your Focus to Broaden Your Sales</a></strong> written by Michel Fortin is an in-depth look at how this phenomenon of "less equals more" works. He talks about how casting a smaller, more focused net can also help minimize the issue of price point and increase your sites perceived value to potential customers and he offers lots of great examples. Michel sums his article up by saying
<blockquote>"In conclusion, here?s my advice: if you?re looking at starting a business online, first find a niche and fill it. But if you already are doing business online, then narrow your focus to a specific outcome, audience or product.
And finally, if you do sell everything to everyone already, I suggest breaking your business down by developing several sites, which sell the same things but targeted towards different segments of your market."</blockquote>
