In my mind, affiliate programs should be part of the sales funnel of anyone wanting to earn a living in Internet network marketing. Because affiliate marketing allows you to make money also on all the people that don’t join you in your primary.
 
That being said, however, I want to point out a few, perhaps not-so-obvious reasons why someone who’s actively building their own brand in the Internet network marketing niche, should be extremely picky when it comes to the affiliate “mega launches” they choose to participate in…
 
You know the the big “guru launches” that seem to be happening more and more often these days…? Yeah, those are the ones I’m talking about.
 
 

In Internet Network Marketing, It’s Easy To Get Stuck Promoting Someone Else’s Brand.

 
You can make good money in Internet network marketing promoting other people’s products, exclusively. “Good” as in five-figures a month and beyond. There’s certainly no lack of value packed products to market, many of which have surprisingly generous commission structures.

And if marketing the affiliate programs of the big gurus is your primary strategy for earning an income in Internet network marketing, then, cool. Then that’s a good plan.
 
On the other hand, if you want to build your own brand, a strong brand…if you’re an aspiring leader…if you see yourself teaching, training, coaching, maybe even creating your own products down the line…then, it may not be such a good idea to jump all over every new launch that’s brought to your attention.
 
Why not?
 
Well, because you have to remember that in Internet network marketing, any time you’re involved in a big affiliate launch, you’re taking time off from YOUR business to promote someone else’s brand.
 
Every email broadcasts you send out to your subscriber list to promote some new affiliate product, is an email less you can use to market your webinar, your blog post, your newsletter, your press release, your eBook…
 
You obviously can’t send out an unlimited number of email broadcasts to your list. If you work your subscribers too hard, you’ll lose their interest…and their business.
 
 

For this reason, in Internet network marketing you constantly have to make choices about what you’re going to promote.

 
Another thing is that if you participate affiliate launches incessantly, you risk being seen as someone who’s always “pushing products”.
 
I’m of the opinion (and I know many other top earners in the Internet network marketing niche are as well) that 95% of your marketing should be value-giving, and only 5% selling.
 
This, in my experience – not “product pushing” – is what creates loyal, life time customers that keep coming back for more and who refer others to you.

Which is why I recommend you always ask yourself this question: How does marketing this affiliate program fit with the overall vision I have for MY brand?
 
As an example, I was recently approached by one of the big “gurus” in the Internet network marketing niche, with the question of whether I was interested in being a key player in his big upcoming product launch.
 
I politely declined. I had very recently been promoting Ray Higdon’s Pro Blog Academy course pretty aggressively (came in #8 in the affiliate contest), and I felt that if I now started emailing my subscribers about another big launch, it would be too much too soon. I would lose credibility.
 
Which I didn’t want to risk, because I want to maintain a great relationship with my list. See, ultimately, what I’m most concerned about is building a customer base that’s loyal to me, and my brand. A customer base that TRUSTS my recommendations. Every time.
 
 

Keeping The Bigger Picture In Mind.

 
On the other hand, when I chose to participate in the Pro Blog Academy launch recently, it made sense for several reasons:
 

I hadn’t been aggressively marketing any affiliate program to my list for some time, so I knew chances were my subscribers would be responsive. (They were.)

 

I was extremly excited about the product: I believe blogging is a ‘must’ for anyone wanting to succeed in Internet network marketing, so I had no hesitation about investing in, or promoting, the course.

 

I work with Ray directly in my primary Internet network marketing business. For this reason, it wasn’t such a bad idea to introduce my subscribers to Ray through this blogging course as I knew many of them were considering my primary as well.

 
The bottom line is you have to always keep the big picture in mind. Which isn’t always easy when the prospect of “fast cash” is staring you square in the face.
 
Nevertheless, if your goal is to build a strong brand in the Internet network marketing niche, constantly participating in big “guru” affiliate launches and promoting other people’s stuff, may not be the best choice for your business, long term…
 
Just sayin’…
 
 
 
<<<<< If you enjoyed this post, please take a sec to share, tweet, and Google+ it. Also, be sure to leave me a reply below so I know you want more content like this.
 
 
PS: If your company does not provide you with a step-by-step system you can use to generate sign-ups and sales for your MLM or Internet network marketing business, you may want to take a peek at this…(Unless you’re already generating 50+ quality leads a day for your MLM.)
 
 

 
 
Successfully,
 
 

 
5x Award Winning Marketer
 
Industry Top Earner
 
Work With Me In Numis
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Comments

comments

Tags: internet network marketing, internet network marketing business, internet network marketing training

This entry was posted on Friday, July 27th, 2012 at 2:59 am and is filed under Personal Branding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.