Oct 29 2008
Social Media - Affiliates Learn to Tap Social Media As Emerging Revenue Source
What is better than paid traffic–referred traffic. It comes with the endorsement of the readers’ trusted site. However, what if you could get personal referrals in a scalable way. Twitter and other social media may make that possible–capturing the attention of innovative affiliates.
Social Media Affiliate Tools
Social media has all of the tools (traffic, referral links, lead tracking) of traditional affiliate campaigns, but may produce higher converting traffic.
With social media you are tapping into pockets of community. Communities clustered around one or more leaders and they can drive action.
Social Media Community Leaders Key
These community leaders, like Dave Winer, Robert Scoble, Jason Calacanis, Chris Brogan can drive hundreds even thousands to click and try. Want proof? Here is an early example of a man made by a link:
Dave Winer first linked to me on December 29th (sent me about 3,000 people, if I remember my stats right).
Robert Scoble, now one of these community traffic driving Internet celebrities got his break from one of the original traffic action organizers–Dave Winer.
Now before you start harassing these mega-traffic producers to drive people to click your affiliate niche site or affiliate link I urge you to look at the model not the example.
Finding Niche Communities
These niche communities are everywhere. They are organized around Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, MyBlogLog, YouTube, popular blogs, and a multitude of other social media.
The trick is to identify where your niche buyers hang out. Then add value–attract the community organizers attention–next thing you know traffic is spiking your server and clicking on revenue producing links.
Add Value, Get Endorsed Traffic
The key here is adding value and getting the endorsement of community leaders. Let’s start with value.
Masking an affiliate site or link with a tinyurl doesn’t cut it. Social media users are getting increasingly cautious of spammers and their links. Thanks to Rick-Rolling and Six Figure Income! Besides the poor form of this tactic, the traffic doesn’t produce dollars.
You need to seed a community with some true information and applicable value. This is what gets you money making clicks. Here are a few examples:
- Golf affiliate: tuning the perfect swing, great golf trips, tips to win short holes
- Health and wellness affiliate: diets for sports training, making the cut into the vacation swimwear
- Mortgage affiliate: prevailing rates, tips on avoiding a reverse mortgage scam, or how to prevent foreclosure
- Travel affiliate: review of a great family vacation, pictures of exotic adventure trips, how to pick a great honeymoon location
Notice the smart affiliate is not driving them to click–they are driving a community to information that makes them a buyer.
Now for the endorsement. Simply seeding the community with your social invite–a Tweet, or a question on LinkedIN, or a Facebook group might catch the eye of organizers.
Always Goes Back to Value and Trust
However, don’t underestimate the power of building relationships. Build this relationship based on expertise and reciprocity.
Done effectively, judiciously, and with respect a quick direct message can introduce a whole new community to your niche site.
Bill Rice helps companies convert Web traffic to buyers. He is a recognized expert, adviser, writer, speaker, and entrepreneur in online lead generation.
Bill Rice is passionate about helping clients generate online revenue through copywriting, article marketing, eBook development, and whitepapers. Tell him more about your project and how he can help you make more money online at RICE interactive.
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