This month we take the opportunity to acknowledge the achievements of Redfoot - huge congratulations for winning our July Affiliate of the Month Award.
Over the last couple of years Redfoot has successfully developed his PPC campaigns and online presence to promote our adult products whilst gradually building up a substantial 2nd tier following. Read Redfoot’s full interview and find out more about one of our constantly successful affiliates.
Congratulations, how do you feel about winning AOTM?
Actually, I was a bit shocked. I feel really honored to be picked out of a group of really great affiliates.
Tell us a little about yourself, where are you from, what’s your background?
I am 25, from a small town in Michigan, USA. I had no prior experience in marketing, web design, or sales prior to 2005. My friend introduced me to affiliate marketing, and after about a year I found MN. I knew there was money to be made through affiliate programs, but I had never struck it rich with anything at that point.
What were the key factors to get you here today?
In a word, perserverance. The one thing that people need to realize, especially in PPC, is there will be fluctuations. There is rarely a case where I can put up an ad for a product, start making sales, and let it ride for months or years on end. This is a job, and hard work must be done to achieve results. Test ads, markets, positions, keywords- everything. It is easy to sit back and watch the money roll in when times are good. It’s also easy to get discouraged and want to quit when you’re not making sales. It’s important to keep working to achieve your goals and to set new ones.
How long did it take you to make your first sale?
I think it was about 3 months before I saw my first sale. At the time, my desire to work on ads was very low. I hadn’t seen any real results, making it hard to justify the hours and money spent on ads. I remember seeing the first sale notification on my phone and just being excited. After that, I started working harder at it, two or three hours a night after my regular job. I started seeing the sales roll in every day.
Why did you start promoting Size Genetics?
The payout. As a beginner, I focused on different supplements, and the transition was pretty easy for me.
What support have you received from MN?
What support haven’t I? The affiliate support at MN is the best of any company I’ve worked with. It really feels like they focus on helping their affiliates learn how to make sales. The resources are great and the guides are fantastic. When I started to work on my first page for SEO, Sandis emailed me links, tips, and critiques for weeks- even though my site was awful and I didn’t have any record of success with the site. I have received emails out of the blue from Andrew, just checking how things are going. It’s great to know that your efforts are noticed, and that someone cares enough to help.
Is there anything you could suggest us to improve?
Although I think MN does a great job with support, I would like to be able to email my sub-affiliates. Many people sign up for a program, don’t make a sale right away, and forget about it completely. It would be nice to be able to encourage them, answer questions, and mentor them towards sucess. That is about the only suggestion I have. The staff is great, and the interface of the site is easy to work with.
Come on, share some of your methods with others, what works for you?
As I said, I’m mainly a PPC marketer. My method is to start out small until I see results. When I do, I push hard into new markets, new search engines, new keywords, anything I can do to maximize the potential for sales on something I know to work. It can be hard to keep track of multiple campaigns on different sites, but it’s the best way to get your ads out there.
In your opinion, what makes a great affiliate program?
Not only are the resources and support great, but MN has held on to great affiliates. The forums have constant activity, with people actually helping each other. Times are tough, but affiliates here still take time to share tips for success. This makes it feel more like a group working together than a bunch of individuals working against each other. This spirit is cultivated by the personal touch from the MN staff, who actually email you personal responses, instead of sending a link to some guide or page.
What are the most important factors to succeed in affiliate marketing?
The hardest part of working on affiliate marketing, is there is no one to make you work. There is no hourly wage, no boss to worry about, only your own goals. It is very important to set goals for yourself, whether it be a dollar amount in sales, or pages written per week. Keep working long enough, and you will see results.
Ok, what are your further plans with affiliate business and MoreNiche?
I plan to keep working on marketing, and to diversify my products a bit more. I want to double sales in the next few years, and I would love to be the first affiliate to get a car from MN as an affiliate prize.