Author Topic: Promoting The Right Clickbank Product  (Read 12667 times)

Offline Mark Austin

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Promoting The Right Clickbank Product
« on: May 29, 2010, 01:44:49 PM »
Promoting The Right Clickbank Product


Do you know how to choose the right product from Clickbank?

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.


Clickbank Gravity

What exactly is "Clickbank gravity"? This is a question that continues to baffle many Clickbank 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 extremely 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. Because most products below that just 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 sales letter, cost and commissions. By understanding how the Clickbank gravity score works you can be more confident that you are picking the most profitable products to promote.


Evaluating the Clickbank Product's Salesletters

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 and does it point out the benefits of the product effectively?
- Also, 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.


Commissions, Cost & Continuity

Choosing a profitable product from the Clickbank marketplace to promote involves more than it's gravity score & effectiveness of the salesletter to convert visitors into customers ... 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.



“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that,
but the really great makes you feel that you, too, can become great.”
~ Mark Twain

Offline Jim Burney

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Re: Making Money With Clickbank
« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2010, 04:02:16 PM »
Mark

Another great in depth report.

Thanks for sharing this valuable information.

Jim

Cheap SEO

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Re: Promoting The Right Clickbank Product
« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2010, 12:15:36 PM »
So I have to assume these impressive reports are eventually going to wind up in a ebook and sold? It's what I've done with my best blog posts, articles and newsletters. And I know a lot of other Internet Marketers that have done the same thing.

Just wonderin'...

Offline Mark Austin

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Re: Promoting The Right Clickbank Product
« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2010, 01:27:27 PM »
Hi Cheap SEO,

Welcome to the forum!

No, I have no intention of selling these posts. They're just for forum members.

Thanks,
Mark
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that,
but the really great makes you feel that you, too, can become great.”
~ Mark Twain

Offline padre

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Re: Promoting The Right Clickbank Product
« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2010, 07:38:10 AM »
I love these reports you do Mark, they are informative and to the point.

One thing you didn't touch on in this one is the opportunity to create HopAds.  They look very much like Google Adsense ads with the banner style.  They also have a tabbed version.

These ads allow you to offer all the options in a certain are (like 'weight loss') without having to choose a winner.  Since people like to shop this seems like a very functional option.

And since your CB code is already installed, it saves the trouble of signing up for each individual product.

Have you, or do you know of anyone that has tested these?

I go to the affiliate page of the high-gravity products to grab a banner/skyscraper ad and then use the HopAds as filler (so to speak).  Unfortunately, my sites are still too new to judge the efficacy.
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Offline Mark Austin

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Re: Promoting The Right Clickbank Product
« Reply #5 on: October 19, 2010, 09:45:57 AM »
Hi Padre,

Yes, I have used CB's HopAds and I like them. They're good for certain sites, but I've had higher conversion rates with hand picked CB products.  You will have to test your conversion rates as it will vary from site to site.

Mark

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that,
but the really great makes you feel that you, too, can become great.”
~ Mark Twain

Henley

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Re: Promoting The Right Clickbank Product
« Reply #6 on: October 19, 2010, 02:35:04 PM »
I've also used Hopads but had very little back from them.

I initially thought that they might outperform a similar sized Adsense block, but on most of the sites I have tried, the adsense block has outperforme the HopAd block.


Offline padre

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Re: Promoting The Right Clickbank Product
« Reply #7 on: October 20, 2010, 06:10:05 AM »
Thanks for the replies gentlemen.  The sites I've put them on are young so it will take some time to tell.  Your experiences with them are interesting.  Like Henley, my guess was that they would do at least as well as adsense ads since they look so much alike.  I'll give it a month or two before making any conclusions and then check back in with the results.  *type*
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promomxr

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Re: Promoting The Right Clickbank Product
« Reply #8 on: October 20, 2010, 08:05:37 AM »
Thanks Mark for another great report.

How do you feel about CB's payment policies? I have lost hundreds of dollars to them because I don't have the number of buyers each month to meet their minimums.

Howard

Henley

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Re: Promoting The Right Clickbank Product
« Reply #9 on: October 20, 2010, 08:17:29 AM »
I believe their restrictions have been relaxed a little.

promomxr

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Re: Promoting The Right Clickbank Product
« Reply #10 on: October 20, 2010, 11:33:55 AM »
Hey Henley... what's a little?? LOL

Henley

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Re: Promoting The Right Clickbank Product
« Reply #11 on: October 20, 2010, 01:24:02 PM »
It used to be a requirement that you had received payment from 2 types of credit card, and you had to have at least one Mastercard payment and at least one Visa card payment.

Now you only have to have one Paypal payment and one credit card payment.


Quote
ClickBank will withhold payment of any account balance until the following criteria is met:

Sales made with 5 or more different credit card numbers; and,
Sales made with two different payment methods (either Visa, MasterCard, or PayPal). Note: PayPal purchases do not count toward the minimum 5 different credit card numbers.

This requirement is in place to help prevent Affiliates from abusing the ClickBank Affiliate program by using their accounts for the sole purpose of fraudulently collecting rebates and/or discounts on their own purchases.

Once you have met the Customer Distribution Requirement, your account will begin issuing payments normally, in accordance with our Accounting Policy, beginning on the next payment issuing date.

promomxr

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Re: Promoting The Right Clickbank Product
« Reply #12 on: October 20, 2010, 02:28:58 PM »
Henley I don't want to sound negative but you need to reread the requirements...

Sales made with 5 or more different credit cards AND
Sales made with 2 different payment methods... etc.

The key word is and not or.

In addition, PayPal does not count toward the 5 different credit cards!

So when it comes to clickbank unless you have a least 7 customers buying all with different cc numbers monthly, well you'll lose the monies you have made for the month.

In other words they gotcha!
Howard

Henley

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Re: Promoting The Right Clickbank Product
« Reply #13 on: October 20, 2010, 03:03:02 PM »
Sorry, Howard, but you have that wrong.

It's not monthly ... it's in total.

So, yes, you need 5 different credit card numbers, so that's sales to 5 different people.

Plus a Paypal, so that's got you up to 6 sales.

You just have to reach that one time. You don't to achieve that every month.

So you might make 2 sales this month, 2 sales next month, 2 the month after, and you're about there.

Once you've qualified, you never have to meet those requirements ever again.

If you're serious about your online business, you should be looking to achieve more than this number of sales per month, otherwise it's a hobby not a business.


Having said all that, I think the requirement for the number of credit cards should be reduced by PayPal, as payment by PayPal is becoming more prevalent, so the percentage of payments made by credit card is reducing.


promomxr

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Re: Promoting The Right Clickbank Product
« Reply #14 on: October 20, 2010, 06:36:14 PM »
Ok I know when I wrong! And I'll admit it!

But having said that, I still don't like their policy as it is counter-productive for those who are new to the program. Again, maybe I'm wrong?

I guess what I do is more of a hobby even after 10+ years of hard work? But I still give it the ole' "try to succeed". Someday, maybe I'll see the light! LOL

Howard