The 5 Affiliate Marketing Fundamentals to Boost Your Downline’s Productivity

Faith Renee Sloan 09April2009

Access any news item and what are the top stories these days? It is concerns about the financial markets and the economy. What are the pundits saying? They’re talking about the lack of adherence to market fundamentals, or proper business fundamentals.

Much of the cause of the economy’s meltdown was the fact that financial institutions were looking to make that quick dollar. They did this through offering toxic derivatives. Some were even unsure about the complex financial instruments they were offering. Stock market guru Warren Buffet warned them that these were financial weapons of mass destruction.

The get rich quick mentality infected corporations. This is true in many parts of the world. Some conservative and risk averse corporations began to engage in get rich quick practices. They are now reaping the consequences of their evil ways. In essence, they forgot about the tried and true fundamentals as they apply to markets and their internal operations.

As an affiliate mentor, you must ensure that your downline doesn’t succumb to this quick hit disease. In fact, many in your downline may already have this mentality. They may like your affiliate program model or in many cases, not even understand the product or services offered. They may see ‘it’ as a way to get rich quickly. You must change this poisonous, unproductive way of thinking. You must first effectively teach them about the business. Then teach them some core, basic affiliate marketing and business building fundamentals.

The five affiliate-marketing fundamentals to teach your downline:

Time

It’s important to let downline members know that it takes ‘time’ to growing a viable business with true longevity. Ask them to look at offline businesses in their own communities. They will certainly recognize those establishments that started out small and sustained over a period of time.

Show them examples of successful downline members who grew their online businesses to a state of profitability. Show them how these affiliates were patient as they built trust and rapport with their target market. When your downline realizes it takes time to grow a business they will learn patience or choose to bow out into program-hopping hell. They will not get frustrated or impatient after a few slow months of affiliate marketing.

Effort

Let your downline team know that this is not the ‘lazy man’ formula for getting rich. Do not mislead them as it does you no good when they eventually drop out and it may leave them bitter. Show them there’s more to affiliate marketing than putting a banner or text link on a website and waiting for the cash to pour in. It just ain’t gonna happen, folks.

Explain to them that effort in building their business takes hours of real work. Show them how article writing as part of an article marketing campaign means a time commitment. They need to know it involves effort to write quality articles that build links. The same goes with e-mail campaigns, forum posting, advertisement writing, and such. In fact, show them an example of your weekly schedule as it relates to your affiliate marketing efforts.

Resources

In the early stages of affiliate marketing, your downline may engage in free promotional efforts. That is fine and dandy and can be an effective low-risk way to start. However, you owe it to your downline to show them other effective marketing approaches that involve some out of pocket cash. They need to know that most times, you have to spend money to make money.

With so many ways to throw away hard-earned cash, they will need your mentorship and advice. You can show them marketing approaches that can give them the best return for their buck. As they see results, they will learn to trust you more as a mentor, start getting excited about the business, and bombard you with questions. That is what a true mentor is looking for. If you have team members who never asks one question of you, then they are not working the business. Even the most-seasoned affiliae marketer such as myself, will constantly knock on my upline’s door via email skype, Yahoo Messenger, forums, voice-to-voice chats, etc.

Research and Education

Always have the willingness to learn is the mantra to drill into to your downline’s head. The Internet in general and affiliate marketing in particular are constantly undergoing change There are always new ways of doing things, new and better products and services, etc. Start out by teaching the new kid on the block the basics of affiliate marketing. YOU must guide them, train them, follow up with them. Yes, it is your responsibility.

Encourage them to continue to educate themselves by researching and studying some of the latest methods for building an online business. Social marketing sites were not around a few years ago. Now they are all the rave. Who knows what is next after the Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc, and whatever else is looming on the horizon. Research and study is to affiliate marketing what sports drills are to athletes.

But the bottom line is that you take this and play the game!

Integrity

This is a doozy. Instill in your downline that integrity must permeate everything they do in affiliate marketing. Once they realize that integrity can cover a host of mistakes and errors, they will embrace it.

This means quality article writing offered to their audience. It means truth in advertising — throw out the hype and the rah rah cheerleader crap. Integrity means exemplary customer service. It means decent dialog and a respectful attitude when participating in forums. It means offering quality products of course, and standing behind those products. Your downline needs to know that integrity is respect towards their target market, towards their clients/customers, and in everything they do.

So, you go-getter leaders … Instill these 5 fundamentals into your downline’s everyday activities. Drill it into their heads. When you do this, the liklihood of success is considerably greater. Their adherence to just these affiliate marketing fundamentals will build their business, and thus is huge for you and of course, the corporate office will be ecstatic!

Next week’s blog article will show you how I have built my Affordable Affiliates team. Go to the site by clicking on the banner below. Sign up for free and click on the Top 100 affiliates. In the past month, 8000 affiliates have signed up. You will find me as Top Affiliate number 21.

Now go out there and build your team and lend them a hand!

Faith Renee Sloan