Affiliate TipZ for Small Biz
Zlata Thoughts Vol. 9
HelloZ
Hi, friendZ! As of this week, Taylor Swift is an honorary doctor, Dr. Oz is running for Senate, and my favorite Johnny Depp movie is his real-life drama. Surprise endings are fun I guess! Speaking of surprises, I went on a girls trip to Charleston this past weekend, and it was a comedy of errors. I plan on posting a recap of the movie-worthy events on my Instagram soon, so follow along if you’d like!
Over the last week, I received a few hundred subscribers and it really gives me all the warm and fuzzies. I really appreciate the support and I hope that I’m able to help you all in some way. Thanks for spreading the love of my newZletter to others!
Today we’re talking small biz, because why TF not? Let’s do it…before this gets more long-winded than Amber Heard’s explanation of events.
Just for SmileZ
Let’s start with some laughs, shall we? A few of my favorite tweets this week.
Ask Me Anything
A lot of my industry colleagues host “Ask Me Anythings” (shoutout to Aly Walansky and Jill Schildhouse!) One of the most frequently asked questions I get is if I can also do one of those. Those conversations normally turn into a consulting gig for a single person or an agency, so just putting it out there: I do offer educational opportunities about affiliate marketing. In the past, I’ve helped people one-on-one and also in a ‘lunch and learn’ type format. Would be happy to work together!
Perhaps I’ll host an Ask Me Anything soon, though. Be on the lookout!
Affiliate Marketing ABZs: Small Biz Edition
If you have a small business—or if you are an agent with small biz clients—affiliate marketing is one of those sparkly diamonds in the rough. Low risk, low cost, and when you do it right, super high reward. Here’s what you need to know before you start. Feel free to share with your small biz peeps and of course for any PR peeps, feel free to share with your clients!
Decide who and how you’ll manage affiliate marketing before you dive in. I’ve talked about this before but for small businesses, it’s especially true if you want to get traction. Have a dedicated resource who can commit to managing your affiliate program on a regular basis. If you/your client don’t have someone in-house with this capacity, consider hiring outside help. It’s an investment that can take your efforts from a small-time marketing channel to a full-blown revenue stream. Not kidding, I’ve seen clients pull in enough from their affiliate programs to cover a full salary!
Goals. Do you want to grow your brand? Get new customers? Launch in new cities? All of the above? Decide why you’re getting into affiliate marketing in the first place and keep this idea with you. There will be times when you have to make decisions—This platform or that? How high of a commission?—and your goals should be the north star of those convos.
Market research. Pull out the SWOT chart, we are doing a freaking analysis, people! In all seriousness, something like SWOT (identifying your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats—am I dating myself? 👵🏼) is an excellent device for digging into your affiliate marketplace. Scope out the competition. What are they doing? What do they pay? How can you stack up?
Choose your platform. I’m glossing over this with a short punchy headline but there’s actually a lot that goes into this choice. Some platforms are great for their selection of partners, some are known for big brands, some are better than others at payments, etc. This post about ChooZing Affiliates is a great place to start!
That’s all for this week for my free information! Subscribe below to keep reading!