As I start building my brand new passive income online business selling digital products as an affiliate marketer, one of the main components is how I will find customers.
The first thing I want to do is generate traffic to my blog and email newsletter list. My blog has a lot of general content and stories about how I am building this business that others can mimic if they want to build an online business too, and the people on my email newsletter list will get even more exclusive content and product offers that no one can get anywhere else.
There are two traditional strategies I have learned that most online marketers use to get traffic; organic and paid traffic.
Organic is about producing content on social media platforms whether it is Facebook, YouTube, etc., and getting followers and subscribers as an audience. Over time some of these people will be interested in joining an email newsletter and purchasing some digital products. Organic traffic is free, but takes time to create the content to post.
Paid traffic is about buying media, aka placing ads on social media platforms, forums, and anywhere else that might be worth placing ads on. Ads cost money but can take less time to set up than organic traffic.
I have been in sales for almost 17 years now and have tried both organic and paid ad strategies. They both work in different ways.
Right now, as I start things off, my focus is going to be on organic traffic. Once I start to make some money, I plan to use those funds to buy ads.
Here is my general strategy for both organic and paid traffic:
Part 1: Create the basic components to promote and sell digital products as an affiliate.
- Create a Lead Magnet, which is essentially a piece of educational content in the form of a brochure, article, video, report, e-book, newsletter, etc. that people would be interested in. A good option for a lead magnet is a newsletter since this permits sending emails to the person over time. As my Lead Magnet, I am going to offer a bunch of really good training videos on how to build an online business for free and access to an exclusive newsletter.
- Set up a special webpage called an Opt-in Page (also referred to as a squeeze page). On this page, people who want the educational content (aka Lead Magnet) will input their email addresses. The content gets emailed to them immediately.
- Set up an Affiliate Email Address. The email address is used to send content to the people on the email list (the email list is all the people who opted in on the Opt-in Page). Products will largely be offered through email in the form of discounts, special offers, product explanations, ratings or training, and much more.
Part 2: Generate Traffic- get people to the Opt-In Page
- Identify a social media platform and/or advertising platform to begin sharing content and information. On the social media platforms, put a link to the Opt-in Page. On the ads, use the Opt-in Page as the clickable action step.
- Start with one or two platforms and consistently share content that is relevant and useful to potential customers. This could be in the form of educational videos, blogging, and/or writing posts. It should be educational-based at this stage. Or, if doing advertising, work with one ad platform to drive traffic to the Opt-in Page.
Part 3: Convert traffic into customers
- The traffic generated in Part 2 should result in people taking a look at a blog or social media content. Some will click the link to the Opt-in Page and input their email address to get the Lead Magnet content. If advertising, then people click the link in the ad to go to the Opt-in Page, and a certain percentage will input their email address to get the Lead Magnet content.
- The people who opted in will be added to an email list. The first email they get contains the Lead Magnet content.
- Send periodic newsletter content that is high-end and valuable. This helps build a relationship with those on the email list.
- Send an occasional offer to buy a product using the affiliate website. A focus can be on discounted pricing, special offers, product overviews, training, or ratings, and anything else that would be valuable to those interested in the products.
- Some people will buy the product. Part of the profit goes to the affiliate as income/revenue.
Over time, more people will join the email list and more potential customers will receive content from the newsletter or other emails, as well as content on social media platforms. The audience grows and customers should grow.
The long-term focus is on automating as many components of the process as possible so that it becomes a true passive income online business!