I need a question answered

[Jodi]

I just joined clickbank and wanted to use one of their books. Someone once told me not to use the sales pitch the page with the book has, but to write my own. I love what the person wrote to promote their book. Is this true? I would like to include everything that the person says.

Can someone help me?
Thanks.

[Will]

It's much better to add your own value as an affiliate. If you simply regurgitate what the vendor says, what's to encourage buyers to use your affiliate link?

Also, trying to rank well on search engines might be difficult if you're using the exact same content as the vendor and an unknown number of other affiliates.

Go the extra mile, add your own content, from your own perspective, add your own value.

Ask yourself what potential customers are looking for. Are they looking for a repeat of the sales blurb they can get from the vendor or do they want an honest review that details benefits and disadvantages?

Look at Amazon. One of the things that made them such a pioneer is their user reviews. These reviews are now commonplace because people understand that they are powerful selling tools.

People want to hear from people. They don't want to be sold to.

Put yourself in the shoes of a potential buyer. What would you prefer to see/who would you rather attribute any commision to; a lazy affiliate who has done nothing except copy and paste or someone who has thoroughly tested the product and provides useful insight?

You might love how the vendor is promoting their book, but who's to say that your own efforts won't increase the chances of a sale conversion by tenfold?

Even though you're an affiliate you still need to differentiate yourself from every other affiliate. Ask yourself how you're going to do that.

Personally, I've had much better success by adding value.

Or don't take my word for it, look at Rosalind's own dating review affiliate website.

[Jodi]

Thanks for the reply. I tried to go to Ros's review site but was blocked because of my filter. So, I understand the review importance, but that would mean I would need to purchase everything that I sell on my website. I can't afford doing that just yet. Are you saying the search engine won't pick up content that is already written by someone? That would mean all my articles that I use are fruitless. I'm not a writer and I depend on other's information and expertise.

I don't think as a buyer, I would be turned off by a sales letter such as the one I have read. I myself wanted to purchase the item because of the way she presented it. How about if I did a very "short" review of the e-book and a picture of it and they could click on that and it would take them to another page explaining it in more detail in her words? Would that help rankings?

Thanks

[Will]

There are many roads that could possibly lead you to where you want to be. Some are longer than others, some up, some down and then there are those that seem to take you round the bend.

What I'm trying to say is that there isn't only one right way to promote products.

There are lots of theories about duplicate content being penalised by search engines, but bear in mind that you will be in competition with any other people using the same content. One way to beat this competition is to avoid it by finding a unique angle to the product.

I'm not saying that using duplicate content is fruitless What I said was trying to rank well on search engines might be difficult if you're using the exact same content as the vendor and an unknown number of other affiliates. Think about it. If you're promoting Acme Brand Pink Widgets using the same content as 10,000 other affiliates on their websites how is a search engine supposed to return a relevant set of results when a potential customers searches for Acme Brand Pink Widgets?

Try it and see what happens. Find a very popular product that's being promoted by a horde of affiliates using the same blurb as the vendor and then use a search engine and search for the product.

I don't understand what convinced you to buy the product in the first instance. Can you explain what was in the 'presentation' that sold it for you?

You say you don't think as a buyer, but your are a buyer! If the sales letter put you off, then maybe it would put off other people too? Perhaps you should promote the product in a way that would persuade you to buy the product...

You must think about the sales process, the motivation that drives the prospect. If you can't anticipate their needs, who are you promoting products to? Surely, you're not intending to promote to people who don't want or need the product? Of course not. You will promote the product to those who you think will want the product or could be persuaded to buy.

[Jodi]

I am doing a kid's website. I used to do childcare and this particular e-book and the way the vendor made me want it was that it was very detailed about what was offered in the book. I had wished there was something like that when I was doing childcare to use as a resource. The vendor also offered bonus's along with the e-book that looked very interesting and all at a good price.
I'm the kind of person that likes to "see" what is talked about with visuals. That is what my website does. I guess thats why I like shopping at amazon. Your able to preview things before buying.

[Will]

I think most shoppers like to see the end result rather than the process i.e. benefits over features, the finished lawn over the lawn seed.

So... Has your question been answered yet?

[Jodi]

I'm a little confused by your last remark. But anyway, yes I think it's been answered.

[Will]

When products are sold, generally the benefits of using the product are presented to the prospect to say "This is what you could have" e.g. someone selling lawn seed will show a pristine lawn (the end result) rather than just showing the lawn seed itself (who cares what it looks like?)

Likewise, car manufacturers show people enjoying driving the end product rather than showing the process of constructing a car.

People selling slimming products will show before and after photos rather than just show a bunch of cereal bars and milkshakes.

Whatever the childcare product was, presumably, it was the benefits or what the ebook was going to allow you to do which sold it to you?