Why are affiliates not actively promoting my AI Course, which is in high demand now?

[rajamanickam]

I created my AI Course by putting a lot of hard work into it and started selling it through Gumroad. I set a 50% affiliate commission for referring this, and many affiliates joined. But they are not actively promoting it, though the demand for AI courses is high now. How to solve this issue?

 

[Graybeard]

WELCOME ABOARD ...

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AI may be in high demand, but it’s also a crowded market, so conversion rates can be low. Without debating Gumroad or its affiliates, think about what you can improve in creative or marketing. Could you add user studies, case results, or better explainers that show why your AI product stands out?

 

[rajamanickam]

Thanks for your suggestions. I will work on that.

 

[T J Tutor]

Did you push this product out to a group of Beta users for the feed back loops necessary when developing a product?

After that, did you provide a 100% commission to a select small group of successful affiliates to see what results could be achieved with your product?

Without those elements to gather the information you need for a successful launch you will be "driving blind".

 

[rajamanickam]

I offered a 100% discount code to many people to get their feedback. I ran a free offer for the same course at Udemy, and more than 2K people used that free offer, and it got 4.4 stars from 25 ratings. So, I would say that there is no issue from the product side. Regarding 100% commission, Gumroad won't allow it. It allows a maximum of 75% only, and I offered this 75% to some affiliates. And, promised to increase the rate from 50% to 75% after their first sale.

 

[T J Tutor]

Sounds like you covered the right steps. So there must be something that stands between you product as a free product and your product as a paid product.

Do you have a product website? A site with an affiliate signup portal that provides tracking data and creatives? A site with all the expected product testimonials, and the other elements of a professional site for a product?

 

[rajamanickam]

I use Gumroad for managing affiliates.

 

[T J Tutor]

So you have no product website, no testimonials, and no self developed Beta user groups with feed back and testimonials, and no affiliate sign up independent of an aggregation site like GumRoad.

These are your issues. You've taken a store front at an aggregator, Gumroad, and expect big things. Ask yourself this question, what highly successful product owners have anchored themselves at Gumroad? You are not independently verifying your product with traditional means and practices and you are not prepared to do any of that. This means you have no elements in place to independently push your product out to the public. You are dependent on only free users of an aggregate site that really has no investment in you or your product and therefore has no incentive to contribute to your success or your business. Gumroad is nothing more than an "Etsy" or a "Clickbank" that provides a Shopify style store front. Most of the AI product owners on there also have all of the elements I described to you. You must compete by having everything your competitors have.

If you expect to be successful with a product and expect it to be pushed to the public by affiliates, you need to have a site, and affiliate portal, and all of the other elements I described.

What exactly does your AI product do?

 

[Graybeard]

I was surprised when this occurred: https://www.fastcompany.com/91330297/doge-sahil-lavignia-gumroad

Somehow he was connected with Musk and Trump

 

[rajamanickam]

@T J Tutor I understand your thoughts. But I heard that a lot of people are earning well with Gumroad itself. Gumroad is providing affiliate signup page, it is providing dashboard to affiliate and taking care of payments. So, I am not seeing any major issues with Gumroad.​

 

[T J Tutor]

Well, you came here for advice. You seem to push back on it. I'm earning middle six figures and been doing this since the mid 90's. You asked for advice, I gave it, and you continue to push back. Gumroad is like Warrior Special Offers and other aggregators. That is not how one "ups their game".

You don't answer all of my questions and you get defensive about the use of Gumroad. So stick with Gumroad and continue to complain that affiliates are unwilling to promote you.

But I heard that a lot of people are earning well with Gumroad itself.

Yeah, and there are people that say the earth is flat too. "Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear". Stick with absolute evidence only!

I know how to recruit affiliates, you don't, but you continue to push back on my advice that will let you strike out on your own. I think that is what you don't want to do. You want another platform to take care of everything for you. I couldn't recruit affiliates for $10, $20, or $30 courses. I can, and do, recruit affiliates for real instructors dedicated to the online marketing niches and their courses are usually between $999 and $2999 with 50% commissions. Do you think affiliates would rather earn between $500 and $1500 with real courses or promote your products to earn $5 to $15?

 

[rajamanickam]

Ok, I understand that most of the affiliates are looking for high-priced products. That's why today I created an AI learning package by combining my AI course with a 5-hour personal AI coaching offer to increase the product price.

 

[T J Tutor]

Are you the instructor in all of the courses?

 

[rajamanickam]

Yes, I created all the videos in the course, and I will be doing one-on-one coaching myself.