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Chapter 1: Introduction

There can be little doubt that the nature of the internet has changed significantly over the last two or three years.

Nor can anyone seriously question the fact that one of the most obvious changes has been the rapid and exciting growth of the ‘interactivity' of websites on a truly global scale.

With this proliferation of new websites and blogs claiming to be Web 2.0 friendly, and the stunning growth in the popularity of social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, it is becoming increasingly clear that people all over the world are using the internet as a principal means of communication in ever increasing numbers.
Not surprisingly, therefore, businesses both big and small have also begun to recognize and understand the potential of such websites and networks for expanding their customer bases.

For example, whereas perhaps only a year or eighteen months ago, most large corporate websites were purely informational, many are now being adapted to offer far greater levels of interactivity to both customers and casual website viewers.

Thus it is that more and more customers are able to take advantage of 24/7 ‘Help’ and ‘chat’ lines that are appearing on many large corporate websites with increasing frequency. Added to this, polls, customer surveys, and inbuilt feedback facilities are becoming ever more popular too.

Previously, on the vast majority of websites, such features were almost unheard of. So, there would have been little about the average website to encourage user communication, apart from a simple e-mail address or two line reply form at the bottom of a webpage.

In the same manner, businesses are rapidly beginning to appreciate that social networking websites that have many millions of individual members from all over the world could potentially represent massive market places for their products.

It is for this reason that a site like MySpace.com (which in September 2007 passed 200 million account holders) has become such an increasingly attractive proposition for advertisers to become involved with.

MySpace is still far and away the largest social networking site, and the one that most people are probably most familiar with. Having been originally established in August 2003, it is also one of the longest established of the social networking sites too.

Facebook is, however, the second largest of the social networking sites, and is currently growing at a phenomenal rate, as you will discover.

For this reason, advertising is rapidly becoming an important topic of debate for the Facebook owners, moderators and community members.

The purpose of this book is therefore to investigate in depth how the Facebook site and social networking community is evolving, and how advertising and promotional activities fit into this rapidly expanding picture of development.

Perhaps more importantly, I am going to look in detail at how you and your business could potentially use Facebook as a source of new customers for your products and services.

One final thing to note is that, whilst most commentators will blithely refer to social networking sites as if they are all exactly the same, there are significant differences between them. These differences serve to make the demographics and practicalities of using these sites for business purposes entirely different from one site to the next, as you will discover.

Chapter 2: Facebook – From Then To Now

Facebook was originally founded in early 2004 by a group of ex-Harvard university students as a service that was initially restricted to students of their own university.

From there, Facebook rapidly expanded their services into most of the Ivy League universities in the USA, and thereafter it went to a larger scale in the USA, spreading to most universities and eventually down into high schools as well.

Next, the site went international by moving into Canada, Australia and the UK so that it was (in its final ‘guise’ as an educational service) open to anyone who had a university or college e-mail address (e.g .edu, .ac.uk etc).

In late 2006, Facebook finally took the decision to move away from these educational grassroots and became a truly open service that anybody, anywhere in the world could register with and participate in (a move which prompted significant protests from the existing Facebook user base!).

Despite this move away from their traditional roots, however, Facebook even now still has an effective stranglehold on the educational social networking community especially in the USA, with the company claiming that almost all US college students have Facebook accounts.

This situation is, to a certain extent at least, replicated in many other countries across the world.

As proof of this, according to Wikipedia, in late November 2007 Facebook had the largest registered number of collegiate and student users of any social networking site, with 55 million users worldwide.

By the end of 2007, this figure is expected to pass 60 million users, of whom over half (that is, more than 30 million) actively participate in the Facebook community at least once a month.

To put Facebook's current rate of expansion into some kind of perspective, one year ago the site was enjoying 15,000 new user signups per day.

Now, that figure is over 100,000 new signups each and every day, and the site is expanding at a rate of 3% per week according to the latest statistics presented by the company Founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.

Perhaps more interestingly, Zuckerberg also claims that the fastest growing demographic group of new Facebook users is in the over 25 years of age group. This would suggest a ‘maturing’ of the Facebook community, and the beginnings of a move away from the original bias towards those with a college and high school background.

Indeed, over 60% of registered Facebook users are now non-college students, and that figure is expected to increase to over 75% (that will be 50 million users) in the next six months.

Facebook is currently enjoying 70 billion page views per month, and is the sixth most trafficked website in the USA, having recently surpassed eBay, and is now rapidly closing in on Google's traffic figures.

Nor is Facebook still quite so focused on the USA as it once was, with over 10% of Canadians now being Facebook account holders, with similar levels in the UK.
If you then add in the fact that Microsoft has recently paid 240 million US dollars for a 1.6% stake in Facebook (which values the company at around $15 billion in total) you clearly have a picture of a company and the website that is going places very quickly indeed.

It is clear that Facebook is a website and social community that is enjoying phenomenal levels of growth from what was a relatively closeted and deeply specialized background.

These numbers would also clearly indicate that Facebook could represent a potentially huge market place for any business or organization that can create means of advertising that are effective with the site members.

Whether anybody has so far managed to achieve this or, indeed, whether it is actually possible to achieve is one of the critical questions that we are going to look at in considerably more detail in this book.

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Introduction

If you want to stand out in the affiliate marketplace, maximize your income quickly while building a list of ultra-targeted, insanely loyal customers, then you will want to read every word in this special report. You see, many new affiliate marketers get it all wrong. They complicate the process of turning prospects into customers by failing to connect, entice, and funnel their traffic in a way that converts.

And that’s what it’s all about, right? As an affiliate marketer, your main objective is to warm up a customer base and turn those prospects into buyers. And not just buyers who will purchase products through your affiliate links, but customers who will turn to you time and time again, when making the decision to purchase.

The great news is that it’s easier to do than you may think.

There are a couple of incredibly powerful strategies that can change the way you promote products so that you are instantly maximizing not only your outreach, but your bottom line. Doing this will catapult your efforts, and land you at the top of the affiliate leaderboards.

And that’s what this report was designed to do – it will teach you exactly how to go from new (or even intermediate) affiliate marketer to super affiliate in just a matter of a few short days.

So, without further delay, let me show you how you can break through the prospect-to-customer barrier and generate unstoppable sales, 24-7 – all without having to spend a lot of time, or money building sustainable affiliate campaigns.

Are you ready to absolutely dominate the leaderboards and see your name at the very top?

Good! Then let’s get started!

Connect, Entice, Convert

When it comes to turning a prospect into a customer, there are 3 important steps in the process:

Connect, Entice and Convert.

Here’s exactly what I mean:

Connecting with your target audience means much more than simply getting them onto your mailing list, or funneling them to your website or sales system. It also requires more than just a couple of quick emails sent out through an autoresponder sequence.

The top affiliate marketers – every one of them – all have one thing in common: they know exactly how to connect with their audience on a personal level, and they’re willing to go the extra distance – further than the competition does.

That doesn’t mean they spend hours of their time crafting personalized emails, or doing the back-breaking work of one-on-one conditioning. You can still easily connect with your target audience in a way that demonstrates your commitment to them without having to sacrifice every second of your spare time catering to individuals with a thousand questions or concerns.

It all begins with how you meet your prospect. This means that every element in your sales system needs to be tweaked so that it speaks directly to your target audience and demonstrates clear value.

From your landing page, squeeze page, sales page (if you sell products yourself), to your email campaigns, you need to know who your demographic is so that you can create compelling content that not only is share-worthy, but speaks to your market as though you are a friend guiding them every step of the way through every purchase decision they make.

You see, positioning yourself as someone who is looking out for your customer will set you head and shoulders above the competition. You know the kind of affiliates I’m talking about – the ones who shovel dozens of emails into the faces of their audiences with little regard to whether the products or services they are promoting will ever improve the lives of their prospects.

You’ve probably been on several lists of affiliates just like that, and if you’re anything like me, you couldn’t get off those email lists fast enough.

They come across as hard sellers, rugged marketers who are only looking out for one person: themselves. And this becomes crystal clear to anyone who follows their methods long enough. That’s why they have to work so hard to constantly recruit new customers! Because they quickly burn their lists out and are forced to rebuild time and time again.

Even brand new customers who may not be as savvy with Internet Marketing tactics will quickly discover that these affiliate marketers don’t have their back and will ultimately abandon them.

Don’t be that kind of affiliate marketer. Instead, look for ways to design your emails and landing pages around what best serves your prospects. Speak their language, touch down on what’s most important to them and above all else, offer them incredible value. Earn their trust, and you’ll earn their loyalty.

And that’s the ultimate connection that you want to make.

Enticing your prospect involves knowing what makes them tick, what their most interested in, and what they are looking for. Offer that to them and you’ll break through all barriers and earn that commission time and time again. We’ll talk more about the easiest ways of enticing prospects and winning that sale in just a few minutes.

Converting a prospect into a customer happens automatically when you’ve connected and enticed. If you’ve done your job at earning trust, and persuading that prospect that you have exactly what they need to improve their life in some way, you’ll see an immediate increase in conversion rates across the board.

Bribe Your Way To The Bank

When we talk about bribing prospects, we don’t mean that you offer something that’s too good to be true and then fail to deliver. We also aren’t talking about compensating them for purchasing through your affiliate link in a way that takes money out of your pocket.

On the contrary, we are talking about “ethical bribery”, where you offer your prospects additional value – for free – just for purchasing through your link.

So, what kind of ethical bribes will work for your market?

It all comes down to the kind of products you are promoting, and how you can best tie your bonus product into an existing sales funnel. For example, if you are promoting a course that teaches people how to build mailing lists, you could create a series of squeeze page templates that are offered as a bonus product. This kind of bonus ultimately extends the value of their purchase, provides a done-for-you template that eliminates their workload, and simplifies the process.

It’s a direct tie-in to the main product you are promoting without taking away from what that product offers.

This also means that you never want to create a component that is already part of the main package that you’re promoting. Always strive to offer something not already included, as well as a bonus item that enhances the value.

You want the benefit to be clear to anyone who is considering purchasing through your links, letting them know why they’re making a smart decision by buying through you.

Your bonus offer should always be exclusive to your own marketing and limited in nature, meaning that you offer it only to the audience you are targeting for each individual product. While you could offer the same bonus to multiple groups of people, it’ll decrease its perceived value if you have any sort of cross-over within segments of your audience.

This means that if you want to repurpose the bonus package so that you can offer it within multiple campaigns, you should consider adding something different to the offer so that it isn’t exactly the same. Make it unique in some way – whether that comes from adding a bit more value, an extra report or template, or a component that isn’t included anywhere else, the idea is to create high-value bonus offers that your audience doesn’t already have, and won’t see from another affiliate marketer.

That way, if you end up promoting the same bonus to someone who has already received it from a previous purchase, they are still getting something new that they haven’t already received from you. In the next chapter, we’ll look at the kinds of bonuses you should consider when working on your promotional campaign, and what is best suited for different markets.

Creating Killer Bonus Content

The one thing that many new affiliate marketers struggle with is exactly what kind of bonus content will entice and convert prospects into becoming customers.

The truth is, the better you know your market, the easier it will be to create bonus products that appeal to the masses. There’s no getting around it; you should know what they are most interested in so you can capitalize on that when creating your bonus or auxiliary components. So, begin by researching your niche. Look for what kind of products are actively being sold, and are still in demand, and then create a bonus package around that medium.

Scour niche-related forums, explore social media, as well as your favorite online marketplaces (primarily the ones you plan to use within your affiliate marketing campaigns) such as JVZoo.com or ClickBank.com.

For example, if you are in the weight loss niche and are promoting a fitness membership site that provides videos, work-outs and healthy eating meal plans, consider creating a short recipe booklet that offers additional recipes for that specific crowd (low-carb, LCHF, keto, etc.). The key is to ensure your bonus offer extends the value of the product you are promoting, while not competing with it.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Coupons

In today’s economy, everyone is looking to save money and snag a great deal. Consider offering coupons on other products or services in your niche. And you don’t have to offer them to everyone. Instead, consider creating special coupons for early birds or fast-action takers. Not only will this reward those who act quickly, but it will implement a sense of urgency into your offer.

Loyalty Program

Some of the top affiliate marketers have created loyalty programs that acknowledges repeat customers and rewards them for their continued business. You could easily set something like this up within your

affiliate marketing campaigns easily just by keeping a database of customers who have proven to have purchased via your links in the past. Send them out an email after so many purchases and offer them something special and unique to the program.

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Introduction

Imagine how much money you could make if you could set up a fullystocked e-commerce store that features thousands of products without having to invest any money upfront, worry about inventory, or shipping?

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, then drop shipping is exactly what you’ve been looking for.

With drop shipping, most of the heavy-lifting has been done for you. In fact, not only is it one of the easiest business formats to get involved in, but it’s also one of the lowest-cost startup solutions you’ll ever find. With drop shipping:

1. You don’t need to invest any money upfront for inventory. Your customer pays you for their order, and then you submit that request to the drop shipper who takes care of everything else!

2. You don’t have to worry about tedious, time-consuming paperwork like you do when buying wholesale. Most wholesalers require you to have paperwork such as articles of incorporation, a business license, and/or a tax ID number, but drop shippers do not.

3. You don’t need to take up space in your home or office, or invest in warehouse space to store your inventory because you’ll never have to worry about any of that! Your drop shipper handles everything.

4. You don’t have to worry about packing and shipping products, because none of that is your responsibility! You simply forward the orders received and the rest is out of your hands.

Of course, like anything, drop shipping can have a few downsides, as well. For example, you must depend on the drop shipping company to send out the correct item, package it carefully, send it quickly, and make sure the customer is satisfied.

Fortunately, there are ways to mitigate, and in many cases, eliminate most of these issues, and that is exactly what we are going to focus on in this special report.

So, let’s get started!

Avoiding Scams

Before we dive into some of the important components of becoming a successful drop shipper, let’s talk about a few things you need to be aware of so you can avoid becoming a victim of a drop shipping scam. Upfront payments or monthly fees:

You’ll want to avoid any drop shipping company or opportunity that requires monthly fees or any upfront payment. These opportunities typically provide little value because they rely on the incoming monthly payments as their main source of income rather than focusing on helping you connect customers with high-quality products. Profit Margins:

Pay attention to how your drop shipper determines product pricing. In order to make money you’ll want to look for products that are priced much lower than retail value otherwise you’ll struggle to generate enough of a profit for it to be worth your while.

Consider their return policy:

Make sure that you thoroughly research any drop shipping company you are considering and pay special attention to their return policy. You want to be sure that the company you choose allows for product returns because otherwise, you’ll be responsible for handling those return requests.

There’s a very-detailed article on how to choose a professional drop ship company that will work best for you at:

https://dropshippulse.com/drop-shipping-business-model-right-foryou/ I suggest you take a few minutes to read the information found on Drop Ship Pulse and bookmark it for future reference. They offer a ton of free information on getting started in drop shipping, including a list of drop ship directories and aggregators so you can get started quickly. Here’s the link to their main page: https://www.DropShipPulse.com

Reducing Returns

Returns are probably the biggest problem you will ever face with drop shipping, because many drop shippers either don’t accept returns, take a long time to ship items, or require you to pay for another item to ship to the customer instead of accepting the item back and then sending out a replacement.

There are a few ways to combat this, and we’re going to talk about some of the best methods for reducing returns.

What Causes Returns

There are three main reasons people return items. There may be occasional situations that fall outside these three main areas, but these situations will likely be quite rare, so we are going to focus only on the most common causes.

Dropshipping Speed Bumps: Special Report 11

1. Buyer error. This happens when buyers don’t read the description properly, choose the wrong size or color, etc. Your supplier probably won’t accept refunds due to buyer error, so it’s important to have a clear policy in place for situations such as these.

It’s a good idea to accept all returns, because this will create loyal buyers, but you may want to charge your customer for the return shipping on the item since it wasn’t your fault they made a mistake.

2. Description error. If there is an error in the description, it is ultimately your fault. Even if the description came straight from the supplier, it is up to you as the owner of your website to check all descriptions for accuracy before publishing an item for sale. So if a buyer receives the wrong item, always accept responsibility, even if you feel it isn’t your fault.

3. Damaged or defective item. Most suppliers will accept returns for damaged or defective merchandise. If they don’t, you shouldn’t be working with them. When you receive a complaint about damaged or defective merchandise, don’t ask the customer to pay any sort of shipping fees, and make the return as easy as you possibly can.

Returns are going to happen, no matter what steps you take. They’re just a fact of doing business. But there are ways to reduce returns, and the key is looking at the three reasons people typically return merchandise, and how to mitigate those as much as possible. Now, let’s move on to the next section, which is where we will start looking at simple ways to reduce returns.

Choosing the Right Supplier

It’s especially important to choose the right drop shipping company right from the start in order to make everything go as smoothly as possible. So, let’s talk about some ways to choose the best supplier for your needs. Choosing the right company is probably the single most important thing you can do to make your business run as smoothly as possible, especially when it comes to returns.

First, always use a supplier in your home country, if possible. There may be times when this isn’t a possibility, because the suppliers in your company may be overpriced, have certain restrictions, won’t ship to other countries, or there may not be a supplier that has what you need in your country.

If you use a supplier in China, for example, shipping times will be longer and there may be more mistakes in the ordering process. But Chinese companies often have drastically lower prices than other suppliers, which can often outweigh those occasional issues.

If you must use an overseas supplier, be sure they have a good reputation, have reasonable shipping costs to the countries you want to do business in, and have a good return policy.

If you cannot find information about a company online, be sure to place a few test orders and have them sent to your address to be certain the orders are fulfilled correctly, that shipping costs aren’t too high, and that your order arrives in a timely fashion.