Affiliate Marketing News

Finding Hot Products To Promote

In the next couple of weeks I will publish a series of posts, each details a step on the way to a rewarding affiliate marketing business. The first article is written for people who are completely new to the subject and are still looking for information. I will suggest a simple definition of affiliate marketing and show some simple ideas for finding lucrative products.

This article is not meant for skilled marketers or for people who are familiar with affiliate marketing and are familiar with the process of identifying products to promote, as it will discuss only the very basics. Hopefully some of the future articles will cover advanced steps, which even veteran marketers will find beneficial.

Let's start by trying to define "affiliate marketing". I always say that there is a lot of likeness between Affiliate Marketing and the California Gold Rush of the 19^th century. The fortune is there and you have to uncover it. Anyway, back to definition: the affiliate marketer gets a nice commission from the product seller every time a purchase is made by one of the visitors that you have sent to their sale page.

Roughly, you'll find three types of products: material ones – from shoes to yachts; information products – videos, software, ebooks, that are instantly downloaded to the purchaser's computer; and subscriptions to newsletters, registrations to a course etc. Thousands and thousands of sellers pay commission their affiliates for purchases and for leads.

You can see that the fortunes are there, hidden under the ground in Internet land. You need to go out there and dig it out. Most new affiliate marketers learn that their first step, i.e. finding the right product, is the most complicated step.

Let me suggest a few ideas for starters:

1. Think of a product that you have purchased online and were very happy with. Try to become an affiliate. Visit the product's web site or sales page and click on the link to the "affiliate program." You can read there all the details you would want to know.
2. Think about your hobbies. Subjects you are really interested in, such as sewing, poker playing, gardening, anything. You may know a lot about your hobby and perhaps you are a member of some forums. This will come very handy when you are ready to promote the product you choose. For instance, if your hobby is poker. You play with friends on weekends; you watch the TV poker shows. Search for a poker learning software or course to easily promote.
3. Think of products that are on the hot list in the United States, do a little research and find out if the Europeans heard about them. If not yet, promote these products in Europe only, using the different pay per click programs that let you choose the areas where your ads are shown. The same can be done with a product that you've found in any foreign country and is not yet known in the US.
4. Follow the popular products on your kids' list. Talk to them and to their friend or to any group of teenagers to find out what they like. These are usually best selling items.
   
5. Make a habit of looking at the popular magazines. They usually report about the latest trends and stylish products.
   
6. And, obviously: become an affiliate at Commision Junction, ClickBank and other such services. Their databases have thousands of products and they'll let you know what the best sellers are.

In my next post I will describe the second step on the way to rewarding affiliate marketing.

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