In my last two articles, “Is Click Bank A Scam?” and “Do You Know The Adwords Secret?“, I covered the basics of how ClickBank works, some of the strategies affiliate marketers use to drive traffic and why some of those methods don’t always work. Today, I’m going to get right down to the nitty-gritty of bringing in that ClickBank cash - choosing the right kind of product. If you were to assess the biggest losers in the ClickBank game, you’ll find that they all have one thing in common. They are promoting the wrong kind of products.

Yes, it’s true that with some products, the market is simply too competitive to even hope to get noticed. Other products are just things that very few people even think about buying. The secret is to find that spot between these two extremes- ideally, the products you promote should fill two important criteria. There should be a demand that exceeds existing supply. Secondly, the market shouldn’t be saturated yet.

Right now, you’re probably thinking, well all I have to do is promote new products then, right? Not necessarily- the first thing to do is check out the ClickBank Marketplace. Choose a category that you like and then select New Products. Now sort these results in order of gravity or popularity- right now, this is your most important factor. But the most popular product doesn’t necessarily mean it will bring you the most money.

The Whole Equation

There are a series of figures that you need to consider when selecting a product. When you select one, you’ll notice that it comes with a list of symbols.

• $/sale is the amount you can earn per sale.
• %/sale is the percentage that the affiliate will receive.
• %/refd is the sales generated by that vendor solely from its ClickBank affiliates
• grav is the gravity or popularity of the product

A promising product should pay you more than $20 and have a minimum percentage of 50%. The ideal gravity threshold is 10- 60. Over 60 means the product is already doing well and the market might be saturated already. However, there have been instances of products ranking higher than 60 while having low market saturation. Less than 10 is a risk, because it says that the product hasn’t been able to prove itself as a seller yet.

Apart from these figures, it’s also important to take a good look at the product and the vendor’s selling page. Deciphering sales letters does take a little practice but soon you’ll be able to spot the winners and the ones you can ignore. Testimonials, benefits and time sensitive offers are all positive aspects you should look out for. Make sure the page is designed well- this doesn’t mean it has to be fancy, just clean and pleasing to the eye. A good, attractive headline is also a good sign.

Popularity: 92% [?]

A lot of Internet marketers ask this vital question - which should we find first - the market or the product? So lets get this cleared right away. It is not only easy, but also sensible to find your market first. Only then, understand what they want, look for those products and offer it to them. if you find the product first and find that there’s no hungry market for it, then you have just wasted time and effort that you could have effectively spent making a profit.

Here’s how you go about finding well-established products that are profitable:

Focus On Niche Products

A search will reveal the ones that make the largest commissions per sale. But remember, you must also get the products that aren’t so competitive that everyone is trying to make money from it. Did you ask why? Simply because when there is fierce competition you will have to invest in advertising and promotion - which involves time, effort and most of all - cuts into your commission.

Competition is good - but there are plenty of products and markets you can focus soon. So look for hungry markets niche products with high demand and lesser competition. Niche marketing is the way to go, because you can cater to a specific need.

Find Good Quality Products

The advertisements and sales letters must be accurate in their claims of the product. Can you imagine great promotion - the product turns out to be bad - and you end up getting involved in refunds? The market will just dry up. One way to figure out the quality of the product is to check it out for yourself. The easier way is to read reviews online. Marketplaces like Clickbank where you can find hot niche products will also rank affiliate products, which in turn, will tell you about their quality.

Pick Products You Like

Choose it -

• If you loved it and experienced it
• if you see a lot of repeat sales

It means its good, there’s a hot market and the sales material works.

Bottomline - High Margins?

Is the money you will earn worth the effort you put in? Personally I recommend products that offer you a high margin. The more you make per sale, the better your profits. So look for an average commission of at least $35 per sale.

Does The Product Have A Great Sales Page?

The job of a sales page is to convert the visitor into a customer with accurate information. It should grab the visitor’s eyeballs, get them excited, feature testimonials and offer a refund, among other things. Look at the sales page - does it grab you? if it doesn’t, it is likely that it wont pull in customers.

The Affiliate Program For The Product Must Be Reliable

Prompt service, good products, regular payouts and good reviews are the hallmarks of good affiliate programs. Look for them. One of the best sources is Clickbank, an affiliate network.

Popularity: 41% [?]

The First Secret - Find Your Niche Market

At the time of choosing the affiliate program to promote, you must know exactly to whom you intend to market, which means you must find your “niche” market. By doing this, you will create a specific segment to whom you want to market and minimize the competition for your business in the long run. This will also help you focus your promotions to this particular market.

Basically what you are doing is narrowing down to a special market that needs your products or services and is willing to pay for it. Finding your niche is not difficult - pick something you have a passion for, because you will ensure that you enjoy doing it. Once you decide on your niche is when you choose your affiliate programs!

The Second Secret - Build Your Website

You need to build your website because it will form a base for promoting your affiliate programs. Not only that - it’s the best way to generate free traffic through search engines and more traffic means more visitors, who can convert into sales.

When you build your website you must make a landing page, or a pre-sell page that will help show case your affiliate products, putting your visitors in the mood to buy your products and services. You can include a review of the product.

You website will also let you capture your visitors email addresses so that you can keep in touch with them through a newsletter and keep them abreast of what is happening.

The Third Secret - Generating Traffic Through Article Marketing

Articles - we see them everywhere on the Internet. Article writing is an effective way to generate traffic for your website resulting in sales. The specialty of articles is they have a link that allows the reader to visit the author’s website.

By writing original articles on a specialized topic related to your niche market, you could link to many other sites for free. Some great article topics are how-to, mistakes to avoid, tips etc. that relate to your website subject. Just don’t forget to include an author bio at the end of the article, because this is what will lead the traffic to your website.

The Fourth Secret - Educate Yourself From The Experience Of Successful Affiliate Marketers.

This probably sounds like a no-brainer to you - but it’s a fact of life. Browse around and look for websites that provide tips and information on affiliate marketing and affiliate programs. You’ll be flooded with a variety of ideas, giving you a huge choice of what could work for you. Sign up for their newsletters and read them.

The Fifth Secret - Begin Your Affiliate Marketing Career With A Maximum Of Three Programs

At the time of getting started, sign up for two or three affiliate programs so that you can get used to managing and tracking them to see how well they are doing. Once they start to consistently become good earners, then sign up for more.

Popularity: 12% [?]