Affiliate Programs

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Everyone knows what American Idol is unless they’ve been living under a rock the last 7 years. I don’t particularly care for the show but do catch it a few times when my Wife is watching it. I always look at these so called reality shows and see what life’s little lessons can be learned from them.

Yo Dawg, Check it Out. 5 Lessons Affiliate Marketers Can Learn From American Idol.

1. No matter how bad things seem, continue to persevere. American Idol Asia’h Epperson had every right to bow out of the competition when her father died two days before she was to audition. But Asia’h Epperson didn’t go back home. She staid put and won a trip to Hollywood.
2. No matter how big a Star you are, you can still make mistakes. Paula Abdul seems to put her foot in her mouth several times a season. Or she just shows up drunk. Doesn’t matter, you’d think she’d learn from her lessons after all this time, but apparently not. I’ve been doing Affiliate Marketing since the late 90’s. I look back in time to the big names on the Internet and have to wonder where they are now. Some couldn’t recover from huge mistakes while others followed rule #1.
3. Now matter how well the Powers-That-Be like you, if Consumers don’t like what you have to sell, you’re out. Carly Smithson was the obvious American Idol favorite. You could tell by how the Judges, especially Simon, kept carrying on about her. Didn’t help her in the end though, the audience decided to send her home. You can be the biggest, baddest Super Affiliate out there but if you peddle junk, you’ll soon find yourself without income.
4. Even if you do everything right, you can still lose if you can’t convert traffic into buyers. I think most everyone was shocked when Michael Johns was sent home. Heck, I even liked his singing. For some reason, he couldn’t convert watchers into callers. The same can be said for Affiliate marketers. You can be selling the best product on the market at the best price, but if you can’t convert crowds into buyers, you might as well be trying to sell ice cubes to Eskimos.
5. Being able to connect with your Customers is more important than choosing the right product. How many times have you heard the American Idol judges tell one of the contestants that they chose the wrong song? Yet, that person continues on while someone who supposedly had the right song choice was sent home? Affiliate marketing is in many ways the same. A good affiliate marketer can push a so-so product every now and then and make money. His customers will trust him/her and will buy from them again and again until they prove untrustworthy.

I thought about adding a sixth lesson, and using the saying that Black Hat techniques only produce have short term results and comparing it to Sanjiya Malakar’s little brush with fame last year. It was no secret that Sanjiya had the market cornered on teenage girls and call centers in India in last years American Idol competition. But, that wouldn’t make for a good list now would it?

So there you go. 5 quick and to the point lessons an affiliate marketer can learn from American Idol.