What is Product Belief?
When it comes to affiliate marketing and choosing a program, one of the most common mistakes a program participant makes is choosing to sell a product that they do not believe in or fully stand behind one hundred percent.
As a marketer who happens to be a Christian, this was something I personally struggled with when I first started my whole make-money online venture. Although you may be making money, you may also be creating a bad name for yourself. That is why it is important that you promote or sell products that you believe in.
When it comes to promoting a product that you believe in, one of the most commonly asked questions is “how?”
The best way to promote a product that you believe in is to actually try out the product. For instance, if you are promoting an e-book, you may want to think about reading the e-book in question. In fact, some vendors in whose products you like to promote are more than obliged to provide you with a “review copy”, especially if it’s a digital product simply by you asking.
Affiliate programs set up by retailers, like Amazon, are a little bit different. Since most items sold are physical and not digital, you will most likely not be able to request a review copy of the product.
In this case, you may want to test the waters by buying the product yourself. At the very least, try placing a small order to get a first-hand look at exactly how the affiliate program works for that particular retailer. This way you at least know if it’s a good retailer or not before you recommend them and their products.
Perhaps, the greatest reason why you should test out a product is that if you don’t like it, there is a good chance that your followers won’t like it either. In a way, you can look at it as providing a service to the general public, or an insider’s tip to your loyal followers.
By not agreeing to sell a poor quality product, or recommend retailers/vendors who don’t hold up their end of the deal, you will be saving other consumers, just like yourself, time, money, and even frustration. In fact, you should be proud of yourself for refusing to do business with an affiliate program who don’t live up to its promises.
As a Christian marketer, I’m very mindful that not only is my reputation on the line but also whom and what I represent as a follower of Christ. As it was mentioned above, you may be making money with an affiliate program, even if the product being sold isn’t as good as it could have been, but you are risking your reputation in the long run.
You need to remember that people talk. If a customer was not satisfied with the product that they purchased, they will likely talk to their friends, family members, and coworkers. They may even write negative reviews online. These negative reviews may cause other consumers to avoid purchasing the product that you are recommending, as well as your whole website in general.
The money that you can make, right away, may seem nice, at the time, but you need to remember to think long-term. Do you know what you want to do in the future, whether it is now or in a few years? If you are like many people, there is a good chance that you have no idea. What if you want to create your own products to sell online?
What you do online now can come back to haunt you. That is why it is important that you think about your future, in the business sense, and what it may entail.
If your dream is to one day start your own online business, you will want to refrain from bad publicity; bad publicity that may come in the form of a poorly run affiliate program that you may have recommended.
Also, testing out a product yourself isn’t your only option. You can also research a product online. Reading customer reviews, both good and bad, may give you insight into the product you may like to sell. Better yet, it may help you decide whether or not it is a product that you want to be associated with.
Promoting affiliate products that you will believe in will not only make you feel better about yourself but can help to increase sales too!