Its great having a large list of email contacts to market our products to, isn't it? Affiliate marketing is a fantastic way to boost your income without having to create new products.

Put yourself in the place of the people on your list. There certainly are a lot people selling out on the Internet, aren't there? How does a person know who is going to provide products with real value and who's just trying to make a buck? That, my friends, is the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question!

There are several strategies we can use to become known as "go-to" people for great products. I'm going to list the ones that have worked for me, to help get you started.

Strategies for Building Credibility

• Offer Great Products! This one's my favorite, because it's the simplest to do. I work hard to make sure the products my affiliates sell have worthwhile information that truly helps people. When you're deciding what to market to your list, make sure it's something you would buy.

• Be a Real Person! Sounds obvious, doesn't it? The truth is, on some sites you can research, buy, and receive information products and still wonder if a computer just sold you something! Stand out from those automated, faceless online businesses by letting your personality shine through your marketing systems. Add personal testimonials to your landing page. A photo of yourself on your website lets people know who they're dealing with. Develop your own "voice" in your auto responders, blog posts, and web content. One more great way to establish you as a real, live person on the Internet is to add audio or video clips that play on your landing page. Someone needs to reach across the Internet divide to clients, and it might as well be you!

• Actually Know the Product! Here's a conversation I don't want to have with a prospect, "Buy this great product, it's only $19.95 and it will CHANGE YOUR LIFE!" "Really, how is it going to do that?" "Don't know, but the man who wrote it says it's going to CHANGE YOUR LIFE!" If you want to be credible as an Affiliate Marketer, it's a good idea to know what you're selling!

• Always Deliver What You Promise! Broken promises are the pathway to client divorce. Keep your relationships strong with clients by doing what you say you're going to do. If you promise to send them a free report on property investment, have a system in place to do that. Everybody gets busy, so make sure you have the structure you need to deliver on your promises.

• Stay on Top of Issues! One of the negatives of doing business online is not being able to drive to a store if you're unhappy. If someone contacts you about not receiving your newsletter, take it seriously. That person is motivated enough to let you know, which means they value what you're offering. Make sure prospects have a way to contact you, and stay on top of your email!

• Don't Overload Them with Offers! I believe in "touching" my list frequently, but if I send them five fantastic offers a day, they'll be clicking the "unsubscribe" link! If you're marketing several information products at once, target different segments of your list with each and set up a rotation schedule for your auto responders. Its fine to offer everything to everyone (IF they're a good target market!), but you don't have to send everyone everything at the same time!

I want you to have amazing success as an affiliate! One of the best ways to do that is to strengthen your relationships with your prospects and clients. If anything on the list above was an "Ouch!" for you, stop and figure out how to make it happen. All you have to gain are more sales!

E. Alan Cowgill