Affiliate Programs

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I was sitting here at the computer the other night when my Wife asked me to check her email. I did as she asked and was scanning down the email subjects when I noticed one from her Cousin. I knew it was junk mail, but the subject was interesting so I opened it. Just as I thought, another humorous chain letter…lol

If my Mom had a computer and email, I’d send her affilaite offers!

But then something else caught my eye. Something that nearly took my breath away (no, it wasn’t a naked picture of her Cousin ), something that made my mouth water and the little cogs in my brain to start turning.

Know what it was? It was about 100 email addresses in the CC field. Her Cousin had failed to BCC and instead of she copied in her entire address book! I knew what I was thinking might get me into trouble, kinda like sneaking a peek at Dad’s Playboys when I was 9, but this, this had nearly the same magnetic attraction! Names and emails of people both her and her Cousin knew…emails and names of people who were close to both and who “trusted” both of them!

“Did you check my email yet” my Wife shouted from the Living Room. Startled, I nearly tried to close the window I was looking at, like getting caught looking at those Playboy’s.

“Umm, yeah. Nothing but some chain letter from your Cousin” I replied.

“Okay, reply to her and tell her ‘Thanks’” my Wife said.

“Sure, I’ll reply to her hun” I said

I quickly went to one of my Affiliate Networks and pulled up the campaign menu to find an email offer. Yeah…oh yeah…I found one that was a free offer for a trial size amount of makeup…a brand name makeup. The offer paid a buck fifty per sign-up. “Oh, this is gonna be good” I thought to myself.

So, as any good husband would do, I replied to her Cousin. I said “Thanks for the chain mail” and ended with “Oh, by the way, I found this free offer for XXXX makeup, I don’t know if you use it, but hey, it’s free! I tried it and it’s great, I may even change to “Brand X” makeup from what I’m using now” And I inserted my affiliate link in the email.

I didn’t stop there, I included everyone in my Wife’s personal address box also. Heck, I knew where this would lead, so I might as well go full out!

I then hit “Reply to All” and checked and made sure all those pretty little email addresses were in the right fields. I then added the names from my Wife’s address book.

Man, I was like a kid waiting on Christmas presents as I woke up the next morning to run to my computer and check on my evil little scheme.

YEAH MAMA! Just as I had expected, my Wife’s friends and family were scarfing up that free makeup offer like a dog scarfing up crumbs.

Conversion rate?…what are you talking about conversion rate! Hell yeah it converted! Turns out it was my highest converting email campaign (although it was my smallest ever). The conversion rate right now stands at a whopping 41%!

You know the cool thing? That being a chain mail, some other people are sending that email on to their friends and I’m still getting sign ups! KaChing, KaChing, KaChing!

But as the say, no good deed goes unrewarded. I got a call from my Wife today on her lunch break. “What kind of reply did you send my Cousin the other night?”

“Umm, what are you talking about hun? I just sent her a ‘Thanks for the Chain letter’ reply like you asked”

“You know darn well what I’m talking about. Why am I getting emails thanking me for the link to the free makeup offer, you know, the makeup offer I know nothing about?”

“Ummm…because I wanted to make you look good (no pun intended)” I said

“You sent them an affiliate link didn’t you?” I could here her getting a little aggressive.

“Well, yeah, kinda. I’m sorry. But hey, they still think you’re great…no harm no foul?” I asked

“How much did you make off of my family and friends” Now she was interrogating me.

“Oh, not much. You need more friends and family before I can take full advantage of them.” I chuckled

“How Much!” she growled

“Well…let’s see…so far just about $125 in the last two days and it’s keeps on coming in because they keep forwarding those emails”

“So you used me and my family for a measly $125?” (she was getting really po’d)

“Well, I know that doesn’t sound like much. I do have a $2 credit card offer and a $14 per lead offer I could send them if you wanted more” I sarcastically said

“We’ll talk about this later, I have to get back to work” she huffed

I’ll lose that money, she’ll take it from me. Oh well, I proved another point.

Email marketing is alive and well. It’s all about the list! If they trust you, they’ll take whatever you send their way.

And yes, I’m afraid it’s true. I’ll be the first to admit it. I’m a shameless affiliate marketer. If my Mom had a computer and email, I’d be sending her affiliate offers! (of course, I only send out offers for useful products, that’s key!)

So the next time someone tells you email marketing is dead, laugh in their face.

Lessons to be Learned About Email Marketing

• Only send offers you believe will really help your readers. As this story illustrates, some people still see affiliate marketing as a bad thing. It’s only bad if you spam. As far as I know, none of my Wife’s friends or family knew that wan an affiliate link. They liked what they received and some even took the time to email her and tell her “thanks” for the link.
• Build trust with your readers. If your readers trust you, they’ll buy products from you and click on special offers you send them. Whether they’re your family or your blog subscribers, build that trust!
• Don’t rely on just one offer per email. To maximize your earnings and conversion rates, send along two or three offers. What doesn’t interest on person might interest 3 others.
• Include a review or personal testimony. I guarantee you that if I had just sent a link along and said “click this link”, that my conversion ratio would have been in the toilet. But since I included a testimonial from my Wife (oh, okay, so I did make it up, sue me) they were eager to go and see what she was raving about. If your readers know you, this can be the most powerful selling point you have!

I’ll have to wait until the Wife cools down before I send her friends and family more affiliate links Yep, that’s me, Mr. Shameless!