In this blog post you will learn:
- What not to say when applying for affiliate programs
- 4 Tips for getting approved for almost any affiliate program you apply to. (including CPA networks)
- An example of EXACTLY what to say.
So, I wrote this blog post because these days, more and more vendors run a ‘Closed’ Affiliate program.
I like to call these “in house” programs.
I’m thinking of moving to an “in house” affiliate program myself but I’m not sure.
Warriorplus as a tool, is great but the products and [some] vendors on it absolutely stink to hell.
But anyway…that’s another conversation altogether.
From time to time, subscribers ask me about certain programs (which will remain nameless) and how to get approved for them.
Rather than answer each one individually, which I did, I decided to write this post expanding on the answers I gave.
I’m both an affiliate marketer and a vendor.
So I can give you both sides of the coin.
This is a screenshot of how many affiliates I CURRENTLY have pending RIGHT NOW.
As in, as I write this:
As you can see, I have 487 pending requests.
That’s pending.
That means neither approved or denied.
Meaning I haven’t reviewed the request as of yet.
I’ve actually denied, at a guess I’d say about 200 on top of that number.
In total I have approved 167.
And of that 167, just 34 are on my VIP affiliates list.
So all together I’ve had:
654 Requests and just roughly 26% of them I’ve approved.
And of THAT 167 approved about 20% – 30% actually send traffic / sales.
Then a small portion of THAT…are affiliates who can hit hard and do serious damage if they want to (AKA drive a ton of sales).
These are usually the TOP 5% – 10% affiliates. (and you only need a few of these)
Below is a small sample of REAL affiliate requests I get every single day (as do a lot of vendors, I can think of a few straight off the top of my head) and these are prime examples of what NOT to say when you’re trying to get approved for any affiliate program.
(also keep in mind every single one of these have ZERO track record in WarriorPlus…meaning NO sales):
Like I say, this is a just a few I picked at random, I reckon I’ve got about 300 like this (at least) and myself and other vendors get these every single day.
All of them have NO sales or any track record.
(Inside the vendor admin inside WarriorPlus we can see immediately any given affiliates stats.)
I’m not saying all affiliates would send an email like this, but TONS do and a lot of decent affiliates get lumped in the ‘sh*t pile’ because of idiots like this lot.
And seriously, whoever is teaching people to say this crap needs to knock it off.
Because it’s not helping newbies, it’s hindering them and the honest ones are getting canned.
I reckon there’s at least 100 affiliates who I should approve but I haven’t because it’s just too damn time consuming to go through every single one of them individually.
Now I just approve what grabs my eye.
- I’m too busy running my business.
- It’s easier that way.
Below are a few tips for how to stand out from the pile and actually have a decent chance of getting approved for ANY program in ANY niche.
If you follow what’s below, I’d say your approval rate will be at least 80%.
I say 80% because you can’t win them all.
(I promise you, everyone get’s knocked back sometimes it doesn’t matter who you are).
Approval Tip #1
Buy the damn product.
I’ve put this at number 1 because this one thing alone will put daylight between you and all the other affiliate marketers.
Even if you have no track record, no reputation. no sales…if you buy the product first you’re as good as approved.
Because when you buy the product first, it tells the vendor 2 things:
- The intention is there
- You care about the product to a certain extent.
Vendors notice this.
Approval Tip #2
Connect with the product owner on social media.
Connect with product vendors on Social Media, like, share and comment on their posts.
Sharing their posts will help you stand out and they will appreciate the share as it will help drive more traffic for them.
Be careful here.
Don’t over do it.
Approval Tip #3
Tell them how you’ll promote.
You don’t need to go into great detail here.
Just simply providing links to your website, blog or Youtube channel will do.
Approval Tip #4
Never say: “I’m a student of [Insert course/marketer here]
By never, I mean just don’t.
There’s a few reasons for this…
Firstly, they might not like the marketer behind it.
Secondly, they might not like the course and what the course teaches.
Especially if it involves SEO by ranking for “Scam” terms.
This usually looks something like this in the Search engines:
“[Name of Course Scam? Don’t buy it without reading this review first]”
Then the review will actually be a positive review about how good the course is and how it isn’t a scam.
A lot of courses teach this and vendors hate it like a wart on their butt.
Because even though the review is positive, vendors just don’t like the tactic.
Bottom Line: It’s common for courses to tell their students to mention the marketers name and his or her course in the approval application and that’s probably the worst thing an affiliate could do.
Why they teach this, I have no idea.
Don’t do it.
Here’s an example of a message I received that I approved:
I’ve blanked out this persons websites/properties for privacy.
A few things here:
When I checked this person out, I could already see they were a customer of mine.
The message outlines very specifically how they intend to promote it and they also linked to web properties they own.
Not all messages have to be exactly like for whatever affiliate program you’re applying for, but you get the point.
This sort of message will do well with most vendors and Affiliate / CPA networks.
