Sorting Out Clickbank

The problem that comes up sometimes when creating an online business using the Clickbank marketplace is that Clickbank almost is drowning in its own success. For many people, sorting through his vast marketplace to figure out what product to promote can be a nightmare. Because Clickbank is the virtual marketplace of choice for any digital product that can be bought and delivered exclusive through the internet, at any given time there may be over ten thousand products you can pick from to promote in the huge Clickbank products catalog.

Just going through that vast catalog can become your second life all by itself. And if you did try to sort, catalog and understand every product, your brain would be so muddled it would not be able to figure out which products are the winners for you to promote and get big money from. But at the same time, anyone who has been successful with the Clickbank system has done it by being a smart marketer and learning first how to pick the product that is choice for the market right now and then how to promote it to land big sales from the system.

The first order of business is to set yourself up as an affiliate on the Clickbank web site. This is just getting your foot in the door but it's an essential step. It's easy to do and free at the Clickbank web site so take the few minutes you need to get yourself set up in the system and step through the easy sign up form and become an affiliate citizen of Clickbank.

The first thing that will jump out at you when you start looking for a product to promote is that there is a small elite group of products that are clearly the most popular sellers in the catalog. You might be drawn to those on the idea that if they are popular now, why not cash in on the wave and get some of the revenue from all those sales. But keep in mind that a popular product also is one that is probably being merchandised by hundreds or thousands of other Clickbank affiliates. So the internet customer base is being bombarded with sales pitches for that product. Why join the flood when it may be already dwindling down to a trickle?

This doesn’t mean you pick a product that is not selling well just because it isn't on a lot of other affiliate web sites. The skill is to pick a product that there is a good market out there in cyberspace for that product but it is a market that has not been heavily "tapped" yet. Its tricky business and give yourself permission to experiment. You may not hit pay dirt with the first product you select. But you will make some money and you can experiment and learn how to select the right product over time. There is an "intuition" to any kind of market and getting a gut feel for what the internet market is going to want can happen but it’s a gut feel that is developed, it doesn’t just come naturally to you.

There are some other factors of how a product is positioned and how it is already performing that can help with your decision. Look at the sales copy for the product to see if it is the kind of marketing tool that is likely to work. Read through it and see if it creates a desire in your to buy the product. If they can't convince you, it's probably a poorly crafted sales page and you would be wise to steer clear of the product.

But another variable about the products you pick other than popularity or movement numbers is far more important to your profitability. You should pick products that pay outstanding commissions. A commission on the sale of a product on Clickbank can run from 1% to 75%. That’s a pretty huge variation in profitability. A good guideline is never promote a product that pays less than 50% commission. That way even if your sales are not through the roof, you still make a decent return on your investment for promoting the product and the product owner makes money too. That’s what this partnership is all about.

Be careful of Clickbank – The one secret I should not have disclosed!

I have a secret I have got to reveal. Keep this to yourself. Do you notice when you visit most sales page, they have an “affiliates sign up” or “make money here” link which directs you to their affiliate sign up page? Imagine this scenario, Thomas visits the site through your affiliate link, he reads the sales copy and is convinced but the price $79 is a little steep. He sees the “affiliates sign up” link and clicks. He realizes he could get at 60% discount with the commission and so he signs up with clickbank and buys through his own link.

The vendors do not want this to happen right? Wrong! Fact is, they had intended to sell at $31(40%) of the price and so set it at $79. The affiliate link was prominently displayed so visitors could easily see it and sign up and get the discount. This make the buyer thinks he has got into a “winning” situation but in fact the vendor got the sale he wanted and an affiliate at the same time.

Armed with this knowledge you should be able to be more discerning when selecting the products to promote. That said, here are some ways which you can profit from Clickbank.

Tip 1
Criteria for selecting your products. Never select a product that is priced too high, pays out commission below 50% and a sales copy that sucks. Amazingly, there are affiliates promoting these products still!

Tip 2
Make full use of the resources page. They are there for a reason, they must be working otherwise or they would not have been there. That is not to say you can use your own promotional tools, by all means go ahead!

Tip 3
Getting traffic. There are many ways of generating traffic. One of them is by using Google Adwords. It is targeted and fast. You get quick targeted traffic and the thing is, if you do your keyword research well, you can get it cheaply too. More on free traffic generators is available in my book Clickbank Profit Machine

What Clickbank Do Not Want You To Know!

This is something many affiliates do not know and really ought to know. Keep this to yourself. Do you notice when you visit most sales page, they have an “affiliates sign up” or “make money here” link which brings you to their affiliate sign up page?

Imagine this scenario, Mr X visits the site through your affiliate link, he reads the sales copy and is rather swayed but the price $97 is a little steep. He sees the “affiliates sign up” link and clicks. He then realizes he could get at 50% discount with the commission if he signs up with clickbank and buys through his own link.

The vendors do not want this to happen right? Wrong answer! The fact is they had intended to sell at $48.5(50%) of the price and so set it higher at $97. In addition to that, the affiliate link was prominently displayed so visitors could easily see it and sign up and get the discount. This make the buyer thinks he has got into a “winning” situation but in fact the vendor got the sale he wanted and an affiliate at the same time.

Now you know why these “affiliates sign up” or “earn money now” links does not seem so subtle anymore.

Some tips you can and should use.
Number 1 – Choosing the right product to promote
There are several factors to consider there. I shall list a few. For me, I never choose a product with commission below 50% and a sale which results in less then $19. I only promote products which I have mailed the vendor and he has replied. I visit the sales page and rate it upon 10 on persuasiveness and would not promote products with a rating below 6.5

Number 2 – Make use of articles to promote
Articles just like this one brings me lots of fresh traffic everyday. Not only that, it also brings in targeted traffic as people reading and finding the content in the article are more then likely to visit the link at the resource box. Just remember to “mask” or “cloak” your affiliate link into a web address become most article directories do not accept direct affiliate links. Just do a Google on these cloaking services, there are many free ones out there

Number 3 – Drop the vendor a mail
Doing this serves two purposes. Firstly, you can determine the responsiveness of the vendor and much he cares about you- the affiliate, enough for him to reply. Secondly, you can ask him for tips and extra resources (other than those on his affiliate page) to help in your promotion. More often than not, the vendors are very likely to help.