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Jim Cockrum is that vaunted creature: someone who's been able to quit his corporate day job because he's earning more with his Internet business than he did in the "offline" world. He has a best-selling product on the info-product affiliate site Clickbank.com. His ebook is called "The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay" and discusses how he made his eBay business successful, and then how he made even more success with an info product telling other people how to be successful. Although Jim's initial success was with selling event tickets on eBay, he advocates creating and selling your own info product(s), which then become your own personal "Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay."
MES spent some time on the phone with Jim in an effort to discover the secret to his success. He has said in the past that he makes good money via the sum total of all his affiliate sales, so we focused on that.
MES: Jim, Internet sellers hear a lot these days about affiliate programs. With your extensive experience, what affiliate programs are legitimate, and what programs or types of programs should people watch out for?
Jim: My rule is that I don't promote items that I don't understand and believe in. If you are promoting too many affiliate programs to your ezine subscribers or on your website, you'll lose credibility.
Your most important asset on the Internet is your reputation. Protect it by running your business with integrity.
Watch out for any program that doesn't have a name associated with it. If I hear of a business opportunity, I immediately check the name of the person associated with it. I then research that person's reputation on Google, etc. There are names that I no longer trust because they don't have a good reputation.
MES: Do you think affiliate sales are a key part of an online marketer or merchant's business, and why or why not?
Jim: If you establish a reputation of dependability and honesty with your online customers, you can make a lot of money by helping them sort through the clutter of online offers and pointing out the hidden gold.
I spend almost as much time pointing out scams as I do pointing out opportunities to my readers. They trust me as a result, and when I find a true gem, they are interested.
This represents a significant portion of my income.
MES: Is it more profitable to recruit a lot of affiliates for your own product, or to try to sell other people's products? Or both?
Jim: I think true success is based in your own product. It only takes one minor success to propel you to greater things. I think you need to have your own product or website to have true success. I can't think of any successful Internet marketers (earning 6 figures) that don't have their own product.
That being said, you can make great money just promoting other people's products. My top affiliates earn $1,000 per month for doing very little work, and I'm just one program that they promote.
MES: Can you tell us anything about your own affiliate strategy? Do you try to focus on a few, big affiliates, or just a few sites that are able to give you a lot of sales or traffic?
Jim: I do both.
One strategy has been to simply tell people how to be an affiliate within the product I am selling. The process of joining my affiliate program and getting results is spelled out in my book, so anyone can see results quickly.
I also contact websites that have a good ranking on alexa.com that are a good fit for my product. I send them an email with everything they need to begin getting paid to sell my book. I have several affiliates that I contacted that way that are making several sales per day for me.
MES: How do you think an Internet merchant who is just starting to develop an affiliate strategy should begin? What is most effective to do first?
Jim: First, have a good product. People that have read your book or used your software are the best candidates to promote. Endorsements sell far better than advertising of any other kind.
Next, make it easy on your affiliates to join your affiliate program. That's why I love Clickbank.com.
MES: Is Clickbank the only affiliate software you use, or are there others you can recommend? (Check the MyEZsale Resources area for a list of some major affiliate networks at http://myezsale.com/cab/pages/affiliates).
Jim: I am a 100% Clickbank man! I have the privilege of being ranked as a #1 seller on Clickbank.com, so I'd be crazy to move anywhere. That #1 ranking gets me a lot of sales.
I like Clickbank because I add affiliates almost daily without even knowing how they found me.
MES: Thanks, Jim!
Jim Cockrum is the author of the ebook, "The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay," available at http://hop.clickbank.net/?aucbytes/silentsale. He's also the #1 Top Seller on ClickBank.com.
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