I personally have decided to go into higher end/high ticket items and become an affiliate for it whereby I don't need to sell 5000 units to make decent money. With a high end/high ticket item, I only need to sell a handful (literally 5 or 6) per month to be able to live the location independent lifestyle as I've had for over a year now. Also, with a higher margin profit, you can be more adventurous in the sense of trying more expensive advertising outlets such as running full page ads in magazines that costs 1-2k/month since with just 1 or 2 sales, you will break even and anything above that, is pure profit. I tried before the clickbank ebook route and it was a disaster. Not that it cannot be done, as there are guys out there killing it, making 6 figures PER day, but it requires a ton of patience, organisation not to mention a huge budget to run those kinds of figure to drive enough traffic to generate that kind of money. Also, with higher end product/membership, the type of people you deal with is higher as usually, the lower the cost of the product/item, the more time consuming it will be to sell it. I know it's ironic and counter productive to most "common" business "knowledge" but it's the truth.
With a high end product/high ticket item, not only you deal with less problematic people/clients, but also your profit margin are a lot bigger. Also, keep in mind that it takes the exact same amount of time, effort and money to advertise and therefore to sell a $20 ebook than it takes to sell a 3k membership. So knowing this crucial fact of doing business, it makes no sense IMO to focus on low end/low paying items. I'd much rather be promoting a product that pays me 1k/sale than an ebook that makes me 20 bucks or even worst, an Amazon link for a lousy 2-3 bucks LOL. Again, it takes the same amount of effort to build and create campaigns and the money required for these campaigns in both cases is the same. So if I'm to spend my money and most importantly, my most precious asset that is my time, I'd much rather be paid $1000 per sale than a few lousy bucks. As no brainer as it gets really. Once I figured out this crucial element of business, I never looked back and won't even look at an item that makes me at the very very least, 500/sale and even then, it has to be a pretty darm good product as my usual target is at least 1k/sale.
As a top producing affiliate/internet marketer, not only I'm always on the lookout and but also often approached by other marketers to push their products. Whenever I look at a product/service/membership to promote, I ask myself the following critical and crucial questions in the selection phase:
- how many units will I need to sell to make at least $5,000/month (as that's IMO the minimum required to have a good location independent lifestyle but also to make it worthwhile my time/effort)?
- is the product really offering a tremendous value that people cannot get or at least not for that price range elsewhere other than through this company/affiliate programme?
- is the product really good enough that I'd be proud to use it and own myself and offer it to my family and friends?
Since I went into the online marketing world, I've been promoting a few products/services/memberships over the years but nothing comes even close to the one I've been doing for over 3 years but seriously since last summer. I have been promoting a high end vacation membership that saves people on average 40 to 70% off retail and as much as 90% in over 5000 resorts worldwide. I'm a member as well since I love travelling and I have used my membership twice and in those 2 usages, I saved over $8,000. First time, back in Feb 2009 in Rio for Carnaval, where I got to stay at a top end hotel on Copacabana beach, on the 21st floor, in an ocean front suite that goes for $1,000/night or $6,0000 for the week of Carnaval that I got for only $650 for the entire week. A savings of $5,350 in just 1 week or 90% off the going rate. My second usage will be in a couple of weeks in Thailand, on Jomtien beach, at a 2 bedroom villa on the beach with a private swimming pool that goes for $528/night or $3700/week that I got for only $550 for the entire week. Again, a savings of $3,150 in just that one week or 86% off retail. Again, the average saving is anywhere from 40% to 70% and as high as 90% over Expedia, which is usually the cheapest "mainstream" option online. I get handsomely rewarded to the tune of $1,000 per sale for saving people a ton of money on their vacations for life. It's truly the best business i have been involved with - EVER!
To see more examples of the kind of deals I'm talking about, click on my signature link and you will see some current real life examples of the type of deals members get with this membership versus Expedia. While the company does provide me with corporate looking websites, this is the site I have been building myself as I'd want to control the content of my site and be able to add videos/texts as I want as opposed to going by what the company gives me. So while the site is still a work in progress, the content is what matters to give you an idea of the calibre of the deals this membership provides to its members.
All in all, affiliate marketing can be very lucrative specially if/when selecting a high end/high ticket item/sevice/membership as it has for me allowing me to escape the rat race and be J.O.B. free for over a year now. So choose your product carefully as that alone will be a major factor in your success or lack of thereof.
