Nine Secrets to Choosing Profitable Affiliate Products

There are many different types of online business models but affiliate marketing is one of the simplest and cheapest to start. Having said that simple and easy are not the same thing at all. There is no magic bullet to affiliate marketing, no set it and forget it. Yes, there are hundreds of sales pages that offer just that, but it is a pipe dream. I earn five figures a month from affiliate marketing and spend hours a day writing. To make this work you need great training and hard graft. But, and this is the kicker for me, affiliate marketing has few moving parts than almost any other online business. However choosing profitable affiliate products is crucial to your success. Just because a product has a great sales page, does not mean it is a great product.

Some Housekeeping

There are only five points to get right as an affiliate marketer, but before we get to them, we must cover why you need to know your audience. First, you have to choose an audience and then understand them. I didn’t make a penny from affiliate marketing for years because I tried to talk to everyone. It didn’t end well for me, and it won’t for you either. The training below put me on the right path.

The Best Internet Marketing Training.

Know Your Audience.

As an affiliate marketer, understanding your audience is crucial because it directly impacts your ability to connect with potential customers and drive conversions. When you know who your audience is—what their needs, preferences, and, most of all, their pain points are—you can tailor your content, product recommendations, and marketing strategies to resonate with them on a deeper level. T

This targeted approach has two advantages. First, it builds trust and credibility, and people buy from people they know, like, and trust. Second, when you speak to the heart of your audience’s problem, they resonate with your content. Once they are truly engaged, they are more likely to buy through your affiliate link.

Once I truly understood this, my conversions went through the roof. Without this insight, your efforts will probably fail, (sorry to be brutal). I am telling you this because I don’t want you to miss opportunities to make money.more and more sales are being made online and everyone can do this.

The Five Crucial Points to Bring it All Together.

Get these five points right, and sales, aka commissions, will automatically follow. You know your audience. You know their pain points because you have spent hours on social media reading and listening to what questions they are asking and what problems need a solution. Now, it’s all about introducing them to products or services that genuinely benefit them.

I hope you read the last sentence correctly. Promote products that genuinely benefit people, not products that make you the most money. I know that you want to make money; you would not be reading this if you didn’t. Promoting products that give you the most commission is a short-term and, frankly, wrong strategy. Let’s talk real money here. You can promote products with great sales pages but products that don’t deliver. Or. you can be authentic and real and promote products that genuinely help people. However you can with a little research find profitable affiliate products that align with your goals. THis applies in all profitable niches, its not restricted to the make money online niche.

When I write an article like this, I imagine all my readers around the kitchen table (all five of you. I thank every one of you.) No, I imagine a big wooden table in a kitchen full of friends. We are all having a beer, and I am leaning against the kitchen door jam, listening to you all and jammin’. When I recommend something to you, I use it all the time. I have been a member of Wealthy Affiliate for 17 years since 2007. I watch at least three new training videos weekly, and I always learn something. So, I have no hesitancy in promoting it because I know it genuinely helps people build a sustainable online business.Start your free account here. Just as an aside, I always think of my readers as friends; if you think of them as strangers, you will not be able to address their problems. I have had the same issues over the years so I know them.

1. Choose Products that Solve Real World Problems.

Let’s imagine you have a splitting headache. You will reach for a painkiller rather than suffer your headache. You know what you need to do, and you don’t have to read a long-form sales letter to get there. You want to solve the problem with the least possible disruption to your life. If you have just gone through a traumatic and painful breakup, you may well be looking at solutions to get your ex back. If you are still a lanky teenager you may well buy a 12 week training program that shows you how to build muscle in 12 weeks. Marketers who are struggling to get their pages seen by more people will investigate how to learn and use Search engine optimization.

What all of these examples have in common is the fact that people are in pain. The pain doesn’t have to be physical. Your job as a successful affiliate marketer is to show them products that ease their pain. Preferably easily
This brings us succinctly to the next point………………

2. Match Products to Your Audience’s Needs

The products you promote must resonate with and be tailored for your audience. For example, if someone is suffering from a cold, you wouldn’t recommend a laxative to stop them sneezing! Equally, if they are constipated, they don’t need tissues. At the same time, the product you recommend must provide real value. To go back to an earlier point, you don’t want to be one of those many sleazy, scuzzy affiliate marketers who promote products that underdeliver. Sure, I am sure you will get lots of sales. I have never promoted a product just for money, so I can’t say this from personal experience, but I am sure the refund rate will be through the roof. What is the first thing you would do if you bought a shoddy product? I am certain you will try to get your money back. And I am pretty sure the second thing you would do is stop listening to the advice of the affiliate who promoted it. I have definitely done the second bit I stop listening to affiliates who promote shoddy products. This is a hard line thing for me: one strike and you are out.

3.Pick Products That Are Hot and In Demand

The vast majority of wannabe affiliate marketers never get off the ground. Generally, they tend to be followers, always believing in the latest and most popular trends. Older, proven methods and products may work… but they are often forgotten because newer always seems better. So they are always chasing the new shiny object. It may work, but the chances are they won’t spend the time trying to make it work. They want instant results and will never stay long enough to make it work. Profitable Affiliate Products can be found in new products as well as old.

As a senior affiliate marketer, let me give you real-life example. the Atkins diet was all the rage back in the day and has been proven to get results – but no one mentions it these days. i can attest that as a teenager, this was my go to diet. I lost fifty pounds with it. It was written by a doctor, the eponymous Dr Atkins, it was strict. Lots of raw fruit and vegetables, but it worked.

Today all everyone talks about is keto diet and Dash Diet.

Stop digressing, Catherine, and get back to affiliate marketing. For years I thought that promoting these new shiny objects was a sleazy way of doing business, and I refused to do it. Nowadays I realize I am not responsible for what people want to buy. So jump on the bandwagon and promote what the people want. Don’t try to ‘bring back’ products that have been forgotten. Justin Timberlake tried bringing sexy back and even he failed. Of course point onw and two stand. Choose Products that Solve Real World Problems and Match Products to Your Audience’s Needs
Promote what sells and make sure these are profitable affiliate products

An example of this in real terms back in the day I knew an affiliate marketer from the UK. His name was Ben Fletcher, to be fair, his name is still probably Ben Fletcher. Here is something from an old sales page I used to think promoting new shiny objects was morally wrong, it took me years to understand my mistake. Actually to be fair I think it was actually talking to this guy, that put me straight. There is no need for me, or you to make judgements on why people buy products, you just have to make sure they are profitable affiliate products, they align with your goals and they are reputable.

But here’s what I’ve come to realise…
Most people who buy this won’t do anything with it, nothing, zilch nada…even though the content is solid and I’ve emptied my soul into this  “warts n all”. 
They’ll just move on to the next ‘goo-roo pump & dump “answer to their prayers” piece of crap product and guess what, they’ll do nothing with that either…so no threat to me there!

Ben Fletcher.

This is a link to one of Ben’s products that is till under $10. It is over three years old, but still as relevant today it teaches you so methods to be a super affiliate, he has more modern products, but this is still solid and relevant. Don’t get me wrong all his products are relevant and all worth buying. Ben Fletcher

4. Sales Funnels Mean More Cash

If you’re an Amazon Associate, you know that Amazon is a selling machine.The guy who clicks on your Amazon affiliate link for a magnesium supplement might end up buying a pool table for his house.The entire Amazon site is a sales funnel. They’re always showing you related products and telling you, “People who bought this also bought this?”
Oh really? Did they?
No one knows. But what we all know is that Amazon does billions in sales.
Similarly, if you’re promoting products from other vendors on platforms such as ClickBank, ecommerce stores, software sites, etc. you’ll want to check if they have a sales funnel with upsells and downsells.

If there are related and useful upgrades in the funnel, a significant percentage of your leads will also buy these products. Your commissions will increase considerably when you leverage products that have a funnel. So it’s best to promote products with a sales funnel to maximize commission.

What is A Sales Funnel?

A sales funnel is a strategic process that guides potential customers through a series of steps designed to lead them from initial awareness of a product or service to the final purchase. The funnel is USUALLY divided into stages: the top of the funnel (TOFU), where leads are generated and awareness is built; the middle of the funnel (MOFU), where leads are nurtured through targeted content and engagement; and the bottom of the funnel (BOFU), where prospects are converted into paying customers.

Each stage of the funnel requires different strategies, such as content marketing, email campaigns, or personalized offers, to move prospects closer to making a purchase. The ultimate goal of a sales funnel is to increase conversion rates by systematically addressing the needs and concerns of the target audience at each stage of their buying journey.

How Can you As an Affiliate evaluate a sales funnel

one of the ways I do that is to promote products from people I know make sterling products every time. Yes they have fantastic sales pages. Here is one from ony of my favorite Internet marketers Kevin Fahey. He has a very heavy Cork Accent (Irish), but he knows his stuff. He also is an excellent PLR Seller, here is one of his best products about Email marketing

This targeted approach has two advantages. First, it builds trust and credibility, and people buy from people they know, like, and trust. Second, when you speak to the heart of your audience’s problem, they resonate with your content. Once they are truly engaged, they are more likely to buy through your affiliate link.

Once I truly understood this, my conversions went through the roof. Without this insight, your efforts will probably fail, (sorry to be brutal). I am telling you this because I don’t want you to miss opportunities to make money.more and more sales are being made online and everyone can do this.

5. Balance Low-Ticket and High-Ticket Items for Profit.

In the ‘make money online’ scene, there’s often a lot of talk about only promoting high-ticket products because the amount of effort required to promote these products are the same. TO BE FAIR THAT IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE.
but, of course, there is a caveat. What you’re often not told is that most people can’t or won’t pay for costlier items. By neglecting the hordes who have lower purchasing power, you’re leaving money on the table.

Normally, I would always recommend promoting high ticket offers, but the world is changing. We are living in uncertain times and a lot of people think that there will be another crash. Now in 2024, I strongly suggest mixing low and high ticket products.

For example, if you’re promoting a page building tool to online marketers, you may choose to promote Systeme.io which has a $27 monthly plan. This will appeal to most newbies who are on a tight budget, by clicking hte link you can start your free account and see what I am talking about.

But you can mention that while Systeme.io’s page builder is decent, it comes nowhere close to OptimizePress’ awesome page builder that creates pages that make people sit up and take notice.

Currently, OptimizePress costs $199/year for one site. Their affiliate program pays 30% for every front end sale which is $82.80.

Your audience, who reads your recommendations will now have a choice.
They can either go for a cheaper but still reliable Systeme.io – or they can go with the fantastic OptimizePress which will create high-converting and aesthetically-pleasing sales pages.

You are effectively targeting both types of buyers. Those who prefer spending less… and those who wish to spend more to get more.One way or another, you’re making sales and getting paid

6. Partner with Well-Respected Vendors

When promoting products online, some products will be stellar while others are so atrocious you would want to ask for a refund and send them back even if they were free.
This is especially true in the ‘make money online’ niche. You always want to promote products from reputable vendors because your reputation is directly tied to theirs.
If they’re selling rubbish products and you promote them blindly, your customers will be upset, and you’ll get tarred with the same brush.
As an affiliate, building trust and credibility with your audience is crucial for encouraging them to act on your recommendations. Always prioritize your audience’s needs over immediate profits. This may seem counter intuitive, but I promise you in the long run it is the best strategy.

Promote solid, proven products that deliver – from reputable vendors who provide good customer support. Once you have the reputation of someone who promotes dodgy products, it does not matter how many times you reinvent your image. Your past will haunt you, I have nearly three decades of affiliate marketing behind me and I have seen this many times. Choosing profitable affiliate products is easier with this strategy.

7. Rely on Reviews to Ensure Quality.

Before promoting a product/service, do your research online and check if there are reviews for the products. You want to look for customer reviews and very often these will be on the deeper pages in your Google search.

Many skilled affiliates promoting the same product will have glowing reviews ranking high on Google. While these reviews may seem convincing, there’s no denying that the affiliate ALWAYS has an agenda to get sales.So, dig deeper and look for verified customer reviews. This principle applies whether you’re on Amazon or any other site.
On Amazon, it’s easy to check a product’s stats. You can see the number of units sold, the star rating which ideally should be around 4-5 stars… and there will be many customer reviews which you can go through.
With thorough research, you’ll be able to determine whether a product is high-quality and understand what people appreciate about it. Promote it if it meets your criteria.

8. Focus on Evergreen Niches.

An evergreen niche is one that does have huge seasonal changes. For instance promoting Halloween costumes is a very niche area. It is profitable but only for about 6 weeks a year. Some examples of evergreen niches are weight loss, survival (prepper), making money online , reducing stress,holistic health, mindset, positive thinking, etc.
By focusing on an evergreen niche, you’ll always have an audience to market to. Be aware here that over time you will blog in hundreds of articles. I use affilininja a WP plugin, if for any reason your links change you can change them with one click.

9. Negotiate a Discount With the Vendor.

The reason I love using this strategy is that few affiliate marketers use it. Not sure why, maybe they can’t be bothered to network and establish a relationship with a vendor. When you build a good relationship with a vendor, you’re both invested in each other’s success. As you drive more sales, the vendor benefits from increased revenue, and you benefit from higher commissions. This symbiotic relationship encourages both parties to work together towards common goals and that is creating profitable affiliate products

Vendors are more likely to provide affiliates they trust with exclusive deals, discounts, or early access to new products. These special offers can be used to attract more customers and increase your conversions, which in turn benefits both you and the vendor.

For example, if a new make money course sells for $97, but you can get it for just $47 for a week or so, the special discount will help you get a surge of sales if you promote it to your list or on your blog.
People love getting a discount. This is one reason why the AppSumo site is so popular. The special deals are a big draw.
Of course, you’ll need to network and ask the vendors if they’ll offer you a discount coupon or a special for your audience.
If you have a sizeable audience, most of the time, you’ll get a “Yes!” because it’s a win-win-win for all 3 parties involved – the vendor, the customer and you! However, don;t try it if you are just starting out, because with an online presence of traffic there is no incentive for the vendor.

Finally…
In affiliate marketing, it’s all about connecting with your audience and offering real value.
When you focus on what genuinely matters to your readers and stay ahead of trends, you’ll build trust and stand out.
Nail these 9 secrets, and you’ll see your affiliate income grow like never before.

Many skilled affiliates promoting the same product will have glowing reviews ranking high on Google. While these reviews may seem convincing, there’s no denying that the affiliate has an agenda to get sales.
So, dig deeper and look for verified customer reviews. This principle applies whether you’re on Amazon or any other site.
On Amazon, it’s easy to check a product’s stats. You can see the number of units sold, the star rating which ideally should be around 4-5 stars… and there will be many customer reviews which you can go through.
With thorough research, you’ll be able to determine whether a product is high-quality and understand what people appreciate about it. Promote it if it meets your criteria.

“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.”

jEFF Bezos

Conclusion to Nine Secrets to Choosing Profitable Affiliate Products

Be very clear what your objectives are when choosing a product to promote. Be aware that every product you promote has the ability to make or break your reputation as an affiliate. Once your reputation is broken online it’s tough to repair it.By choosing profitable affiliate products is about more than just picking popular items. It requires a strategic approach that balances market demand, product quality, and personal alignment with the brand. By focusing on these nine secrets—from understanding your audience to building strong vendor relationships—you can maximize your chances of success in affiliate marketing. Remember, the key is to offer value to your audience while also ensuring that the products you promote are both trustworthy and lucrative. With careful selection and consistent effort, you can build a profitable affiliate marketing portfolio that benefits both you and your audience..

Faq’s For Nine Secrets to Choosing Profitable Affiliate Profits