I’ve about four months experience in affiliate marketing and during that time I’ve seen a number of different approaches to affiliate marketing.

I’ve come to the conclusion that unless you are very strong in promoting your own product, you will need to rely on your affiliates. Which is commonsensical.

But though it seems like you are relying on your affiliate, you also play a big part in their success, and by extension your own success.

Affiliates provide the ultimate leverage for any product creator.

You have an army of motivated individuals to promote your product or service.

You only pay them upon a successful transaction.

They work for you round-the-clock (especially if they’re scattered around the United States, Europe and Asia).

If you have the system running well, you’ll have a couple of sales every couple of hours.

Sadly though, I’ve seen many products crash and burn too.

I guess the owners were too busy with other projects, and the product became an abandoned stepchild to their other newer, flashier projects.
On the other hand, I’ve seen some great campaigns too.

Here’s what I’ve observed.

Once the product is launched, product developers need to proactively give marketing tools to their affiliates.

Tools means more than a couple of banners and some suggested text links to your sales page.

If you want to be comprehensive, provide:

• Articles
• Reports
• Audio clips
• Video clips
• ‘Leaked chapters’ if they’re appropriate
• Rebrandable ebooks
• Innovative bonuses

You’re the chief cheerleader in the marketing campaign, motivated your affiliates to go for that sale.

If you’re so inclined, create a marketing plan for them, give them coaching, give them encouragement.

If you see your affiliates as your partners, you’d want to aid in their personal development too, wouldn’t you?

It doesn’t matter if they’re already promoting five other products and yours is just one of them?

Remember the goodwill bank? The vicious cycle of kindness?

What comes around will go around.

If you make the world a better place for your affiliates, they’ll help you make it an even better place.

This is the affiliate environment I’m striving to create for my affiliates, and I’m planning to launch a series of interesting products in the next couple of weeks.

Watch for it.