Promoting Profitable Clickbank Products

[Mark Austin]

Promoting Profitable Clickbank Products

When it comes to choosing and promoting Clickbank products it is a good idea to have a solid criteria that you can use to decide if the product is going to be profitable and worth your time and effort. A few of the key things you should look at are gravity score, competition, the salesletter, the commission rate and the price of the actual product.

Let's start with the Clickbank gravity score and how it will help you choose the right products to promote.  What exactly is Clickbank gravity? This is a question that continues baffle many affiliates. According to Clickbank the gravity score is:

The number of distinct affiliates who earned a commission by referring a paying customer to the vendor's products. This is a weighted sum and not an actual total. For each affiliate paid in the last eight  weeks they add an amount between 0.1 and 1.0 to the total. The more recent the last referral, the higher the value added.

It doesn't actually have anything to do with the total amount of sales that have been made for a particular product. In layman terms a high gravity score indicates that affiliate marketers are earning plenty of commissions on sales from the product. A low gravity indicates that there haven't been many sales for the product at all.

So as you can see the actual gravity of a product is an important indicator of how successful a product is selling. 
Here is a quick example of how you can interpret the gravity score. Let's say for instance that the product has a score of 447, that means that 447 affiliates have made a sale for that product within the last eight weeks.

Keep in mind that this doesn't reflect the amount of sales made by each affiliate. It could be that 447 affiliates made one sale each or that three affiliates made 149 sales each. There is really no way to tell for sure. But it can lead you to the conclusion that a high gravity score often means more competitors.

It is important to keep in mind that it will be more difficult to make money from a product that has a large number of affiliates promoting it. A good rule of thumb is to aim for products that have a referral percentage below 65%. This means you will have less competition.

If you don't mind the competition it is perfectly OK to promote products with a higher gravity score. Simply because these products have been proven to be successful sellers and you can be sure that  there is a market for them.

Then again, there are lots of valuable products on Clickbank that have a far lower gravity score with less competition. Of course the choice is completely up to you, but I recommend that you keep your product choices limited to ones with a gravity of 20 or higher. Most products below that most likely won't make any money for you no matter how much you promote them.

After you have found several products that meet your criteria based on the gravity score you can begin looking at the other variables like evaluating the salesletter, cost and commissions.

Evaluating The Products Sales Letter

When it comes to choosing profitable products from the market place it is important that you consider factors other than the gravity. You must take into consideration that gravity scores can be elevated by vendors selling their own products through affiliate accounts, so you can't rely on gravity alone.

The effectiveness of the salesletter to convert visitors into customers will have a big impact on the amount of commissions that you make by promoting the product. That is why you should take some time and evaluate the salesletter of the product's that you are thinking about promoting. Just because the product has a high gravity score doesn't mean that it will convert into sales for you.

Have a look at the salesletter and determine whether or not you think the product will sell well for you.  Keep in mind that this is the website that you will be sending your subscribers and customers to and it will impact your business in more ways than one.

You should evaluate the sales copy to see how well it's written.

- Ask yourself if you would like to buy the product?
- Is the copy easy to read, believable?
- Does it point out the benefits of the product effectively?
- Look for proof and testimonials.

When someone is considering a product to purchase, proof of results and testimonials from other customers carry a lot of weight when it comes to the decision making process.

- Does the product owner offer any type of proof that the product works?
- Do the offer any sample results or trial offers?
- Are there any testimonials from happy customers?

If they do provide this type of data on the sales page be sure to check it out and make sure it is real. When possible take the time to check out the people that provided the testimonials as well. Make sure that they are real and don't be afraid to ask questions.

- Does the product have a good guarantee?

You will also want to see if the product has a good guarantee. Providing a thirty or even sixty day risk free guarantee provides a good impression to the customer and because they can get a full refund they are not satisfied it removes some of the risk associated with making the purchase.

It is also a very good idea to use the product yourself. Especially if you are planning on promoting it heavily. After all if you are going to suggest it to your subscribers and customers you must be sure that it does what it says it will and the only way you can be sure of this is to give it a try yourself.

CCC: Commissions, Cost And Continuity

As we discussed above, choosing a profitable product from the Clickbank marketplace to promote involves more than it's gravity score. It also depends on the effectiveness of the salesletter to convert visitors into customers and as we will be discussing today it also involves commissions, cost and continuity.

It is important that you take all of these factors into consideration before you choose a product to promote. After all you will be investing time, energy and possible advertising dollars to promote the product properly. As part of your criteria you will want to consider these things.

What is the commission?

As an affiliate, you should try to find products that offer a commission of at least $20 per sale. Anything below that amount usually isn't worth your time and effort to promote heavily. Especially if you are planning on spending advertising dollars to promote it. While there are exceptions to this rule depending on what market you are in, it is a good guideline to add to your criteria.

Keep in mind that it will take just as much effort to market a low priced product as it will to market a higher priced product. You will find products in the Clickbank marketplace that range anywhere from few dollars to hundreds of dollars. The key is to find one that meets your criteria and fits well into your overall marketing strategy.

How much does the product cost?

This is important because if the price is set too low not only mean less profits for you it often leads the customer to believe that the product is of little or no value to them. On the other hand, prices set too high can have an impact as well, because it can prevent interested customers from making an immediate purchase. If they have to take time to think about making the purchase chances are they will leave the site and never return.

Continuity is another factor that you may want to consider.

In addition to commission and cost, another thing you may want to consider are products with continuity. Continuity products are ones that offer a monthly membership program to their customers. These are often a great addition to your product line up because they will pay you commissions on a regular basis, usually monthly. They make very nice back end offers as well.

Often these products offer a lower commission rate, however the fact the you will be earning a residual income from them means that you have the potential of making far more over time.  Just like with other products, it takes the same amount of effort to market a product with continuity, so make sure that it meets your other criteria for profitability as well.

As you can see it take a little bit of time and research when it comes to choosing profitable Clickbank products to promote. But, by taking the time to choose the right product you will save yourself  from wasted time, effort and money promoting products that just don't sell.

When it comes to choosing profitable products you need to decide on the best criteria for your business, that includes the proper gravity, a good salesletter, nice commissions at the right price. If you can match up all the factors in your criteria then you can be confident that you've chosen a good product to promote.