Learning how to be an effective affiliate marketer on one of the top affiliate programs is a great skill to have for entrepreneurs and anyone looking to star

Advantages of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Word of mouth referrals come with built in levels of trust that ensure higher conversion rates and better returns, making it a great 'low hanging fruit' marketing hack.
Far too little attention is given to good old fashioned word of mouth.
Most companies focus on sexy marketing strategies like paid advertising (PPC), social media likes, tweets & follows, and organic search traffic from Google.
I thought I would contrast the huge differences between traffic to my own businesses and compare and review the benefits that I have noticed arising from people making natural recommendations to their friends, families and colleagues.
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SEMRush (SEO)
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SocialPilot (Social)
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AWeber (Email)
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HubSpot (Inbound)
So, if you are working hard to build up a client/customer base using a wide range of online marketing strategies, take a quick time-out and check out what your business may be missing out on.
What is word-of-mouth?
I think it's worth quickly defining what I mean by word of mouth when it comes to growing a business online.
In other words, you have not solicited a review - there is no incentive offered to them from you. Word-of-mouth is, more often than not, a passive form of marketing.
It doesn't matter what medium it takes place on either. It could be over Facebook among friends, it could be at a convention down town, or in a forum, or at a church bake sale.
What are the benefits?
Ok, aside from the obvious fact that having people talking about company is good news, there are some pretty subtle advantages that you may not expect.
Why?
- Understanding: People who have been recommended to your site, generally have a good idea of what they are doing there. They understand what they are going to get because someone has already explained it to them.
By contrast, people who drop in from other traffic streams might still need a complete explanation of what you offer, and this takes effort, which in Internet speak translates to "lower conversion rate".
- Trust: If someone you know well trusts and recommends something to you, it is far more likely that the level of trust you have in that product or service is higher than an average person.
Trust is also a commodity that is in short supply in the online world.
- Proof: If someone you know had a good experience with a previously unknown company, it is a good indicator that you will too. In other words, new customers completely bypass the usual suspicion and skepticism that goes with trying something new online.
- Positive approach: Many people who arrive expecting great service tend to be very positive in their outlook. For example, if they have a problem, they won't hesitate to drop you a line and ask (because they know that your support will handle their query efficiently - because their friend told them).
By contrast new customers are often hesitant to engage with complete strangers.
I guess the quickest way to sum up the benefits is by saying that:
People arriving from advertising , organic search traffic, and other online marketing channels still need to be convinced. They are a step or two up the sales funnel.
How to get more word-of-mouth traffic
It is really difficult to get people talking about your site/service in a meaningful way - especially when your business is small and online.
Here are the areas you can focus on:
- Customer service
- Support
- Engagement
- Special offers & deals
- Loyalty offers
- Friendly
- Professional
- Efficient
- Generous
- Proactive
I guess the magic ingredient is really contained within a combination of factors that boil down to your approach to people in general. Whatever combination of strategies works for you, there should be one overriding goal,
Here are a few examples to consider:
- Offer refunds to customers for virtually anything because if they didn't get the service they were after, you don't want to take their money. Go after loyal customers who are going to stick with you - people who drift in and out have a significantly lower lifetime value to your business.
- Ensure queries are dealt with efficiently and professionally.
- Be proactive about support. Complaints are a gold mine waiting to happen because people using your products and services often have great insight into how you can improve.
- Take note of complaints. Acknowledge there is room to improve (if there is). Show how you are going to deal with those problems and follow up once they're resolved.
Work hard to reach a positive outcome. Happy customers are often more than willing to share their great experiences. Don't be shy about asking them to do exactly that.
Competition in the world of online marketing is fierce - I mean really fierce - making it vital to choose the best possible marketing strategy to deliver sus
Having a great product or service is simply not enough to enjoy strong sales (especially online), which is why it is crucial to build strong relationships with other organizations.
But recognizing that your enterprise can succeed or fail depending on the quality and quantity of the business relationships around you is one thing - finding and nurturing those partnerships is another thing entirely.
This article highlights three techniques that have proven themselves to be invaluable when it comes to ensuring that your company is constantly growing a powerful network of allies.
If you're in the business of making and selling unique stuff then the marketing strategies you use should reflect the creativity of your products in order to reach out to the right people.
Fortunately the Internet is full of the "right people" just waiting to place an order. But your message has to find them in the right place in the right way.
That's why it pays to think creatively about marketing instead of following the pack and doing the same old "tried and tested" things.
Check out this list of ten great hyperlocal marketing strategies, by Carlo Pandian, that can help to drive local consumers to your site.
Use three quick and easy steps (plus a few secret SEO & marketing hacks) to research competitors online, learn what they are doing to succeed an
Starting an affiliate program to market your business online is a great way to get real growth - but it comes with dangers that you must manage pro-actively from the start.
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Recently, however, I have been forced to concede that organic traffic from Google is no longer reliable enough.
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As a business owner, you probably don't have time to set up a free trial on every site around, so it helps to know which one can get you started the easiest.
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