You may not know that when Dave and I got started
with our businesses we were complete computer
idiots. We painfully struggled to do the simplest
tasks. We quite literally had to build our
businesses from scratch.
Even when we figured out enough to bang out a
basic website, we still struggled because we had
no idea what to promote on our websites.

The first product I promoted was a video game
called “Halo.” I’m not a “gamer” but I
heard that the market was hot for this game so I
gave it a go.

Big Mistake.

I did get a sale or two….but dumped a few
hundred dollars in the process.

For a guy working on a shoestring budget, this
hurt. Nonetheless, I kept plodding forward.

My problem was that I had no idea what to make my
websites about! I designed close to 300 different
web pages without a whole lot of success.

(My friends and family secretly wondered when I would
stop pissing away all my time and money on this
Internet pipe dream.)

I refused to quit.

Then something big happened one day in March of
2006. FINALLY! I found something that worked. At
the time it was rare to get more than one sale in
an entire day. However, with this product I got 3
sales inside an hour!

I remember checking my stats and seeing those
sales and it was a thrill. I felt like I had won
the damn Olympics!

There was a good reason why that product worked
while others were utter failures. (The thing that
worked was a financial product that I had used myself and I knew how it
worked inside and out.) I put all that  information on the website and the people loved it…which is why I got the flood of sales.

Let’s recap as to why this worked while so many
other products failed:

First, I knew the product inside and out.
(Nowadays I don’t promote ANY product without
using it first.)

This is a really good idea. It is very difficult
to promote a product that you haven’t used
yourself.

Your customers are pretty good at sniffing out BS
so if you try to fake it, you’ll be facing an
uphill battle.

On the other hand, if you know a product
intimately, you can share your experiences about
that product and your customers will actually
feel a bond with you.

For example, I am creating a new site where I am
promoting a product called the “Kindle” which
is a hand held reading device. I like to read
books, try to read 2 books per month, and I feel
like the Kindle is the “bees knees” for
people who like to read.

I take the thing everywhere I go and I find
myself telling random strangers how cool it is
and how they need to get one.

From my experience I am able to tell you all the
following things about the Kindle:

-    I can tell you that it takes approximately 60
seconds to download a 200 page book

-    I can tell you how to transfer your ebooks and
mp3 files from your pc to the Kindle

-    I can tell you that the battery lasts forever
– but only if you disable the wireless device

I could go on with dozens of little tid bits of
information which you won’t find on the
manufacturer’s website. However, potential
customers LOVE this info.

Ok back to the story. The second reason why I
started getting sales on that financial product
is that I worked PERSONALITY into the website.

This financial product was for people with a large amount of student
loans. So, I told my story about my student loans and how it was difficult
to pay them back since my salary was so low, but
then I talked about the company and how they helped consolidate
the loans.

People responded to this PERSONALITY because it
was coming from another person – not a big
corporation.

Do you see how this works?
Who would you trust more – a friend
who used a product you might buy, or
the company who is trying to get your money?

With that being said, if you’re struggling to
find your place as an Affiliate Marketer,
remember two pieces of advice:

1. Consider promoting those products you know
well or have a real interest in (if you think you might
promote a product you have NOT used, buy and try
it first. Just use your own affiliate link )

2. Work personality – Your Personality – into
the website This type of advice is just a snapshot of the
material we covered in Chicago.