It’s more possible than ever before to make money online and find a career path that works best for you. With many business opportunities in a variety of different fields available, it really comes down to putting forth the right kind of effort and understanding how to thrive.
For those looking to make money online, affiliate marketing is an easy entry point that holds a lot of opportunity – but also a lot of challenges.
To help with these, there are plenty of guides out there designed to help you learn affiliate marketing basics and thrive in the field. But one issue is that most of those guides focus on the basic, cold, hard technical steps that you’ll want to use. That’s great, and understanding things like email marketing, generating leads, and so on will all be important. But if you want to learn affiliate marketing in the best way possible, you need to go beyond that and also look at something different – personal relationships.
The Importance Of Building Strong Relationships
First, it’s worth understanding just why relationships are so integral to success in affiliate marketing. The simple fact is this: People are more likely to buy or do business with someone they know. And if they know and trust you, that chance of a sale is increased even further.
Building strong relationships can help you increase direct sales, but they’ll also make it more likely that you can attract new team members to your business and that you can provide them with the kind of support that they need to thrive. Trust means that your affiliates will be willing to come to you to discuss their future and ask questions. Simply put, strong relationships are the key to better affiliate marketing success.
Knowing Yourself Is The First Step
The first step to building strong relationships is simply knowing yourself, what drives you, and even what you have to offer to others. Start by taking a look at a few things like:
- What you want from your business
- What you love about your company and its products
- What you’re passionate about
- What your ultimate goals are within your business
Identify these points and be sure that you can showcase them to others. But beyond that, also be willing to ask and engage with others to see what they respond when you ask them about the four questions above. When you know yourself you’ll be able to provide some basic, personal information that allows others to connect with you and form stronger bonds. It sounds cliché, but it can have a tremendous influence on your success
Finding The Problem, Offering A Solution
The next, and probably most important step, for building a relationship is to become a problem solver. If you take the time to find the problem that each person you encounter has and then offer a solution, you’ll see greater results from your efforts as an affiliate marketer. For example:
- Someone is trying to lose weight but keeps failing due to tough diet restrictions. Your products offer meal alternatives that help them avoid excessive snacking.
- A person has tried to work from home in the past but lost motivation. You explain how your company’s plan fits more easily into their life and allows for greater results at a faster pace.
Of course it is important to stay honest when talking to someone, but at the same time there is almost always an opportunity to explain what it is that your company or products offer and what kind of problems they can solve for an individual. If you begin by asking questions, you’ll be able to gradually uncover a problem that you can solve. Do so, and you’ll be on your way to a relationship that will be mutually beneficial.
Digital Relationships
One thing that has made it harder for many to build relationships is the rise of social media and digital media. While it seems as though it would be easy to connect with others through digital means, the problem arises when many don’t realize just what steps they should be taking to really build a relationship instead of just spamming others constantly.
Think of how you use your social media profiles. Do you just post a link to your latest blog post and maybe a quick link to a store page for a product? That’s fine, but you should also be using the profile to connect in a meaningful way. There are a few ways to do this, including:
- Get personal to a degree. Make a post here and there about your personal life and mention how your products or business have touched you.
- Ask your visitors questions to get them to respond and open up a meaningful conversation.
- Actually respond, as well. When someone comments on a post or asks you a question, be sure to answer them. You could be taking the first steps towards developing a stronger relationship that will help you convert a lead.
In short, you need to be able to use your digital media to not just convey your brand or generate leads, but also to connect with others at a more personal level. It will have a bigger impact than you might realize.
The Art Of The Follow Up
Finally, be sure that you’re following up with everyone, after every interaction. If you just met them and got some contact info, follow up to see what they’re more interested in. If they purchased an item, follow up to see how they liked it and how it influenced them. If they said ‘no’ when you approached them about joining your team, follow up later to touch base and see if they may have changed their minds.
This shows them that they’re more than just a number to you and that you actually care about them to some degree. It’s an easy way to cultivate stronger relationships with anyone you come into contact with.
