When I first started out online as an affiliate marketer, I have to admit - I struggled. With no website and no list and no idea of what I was doing, it was hard to even make a few dollars. I often tell the story of my first sale - which netted me an incredible $20! I was soooo excited! I had made money online! But realistically, it takes a lot of $20 sales to make a living.
Then I joined the Internet Marketers Club. At the time it was being run by Corey Rudl. Corey passed away a few years ago in an automobile accident. His close friend and associate Derek Gehl runs things now. But nothing has really changed. It is still a great source of information if you are trying to learn the internet marketing business.
One of the first things I learned from them was about something called "back end products". Newbie that I was, I had no idea what these were. I found out pretty quickly that they are cash in the bank!
What are back end products? Very simply, they are the products you sell your existing customers after your initial offer. It is much easier to sell additional products to repeat customers than it is to continually try to find new customers for your one main product. For example, my brother-in-law, the chef, has an online cooking class for single guys. Once they sign up for his class, it's very easy for him to promote all types of household and kitchen gadgets to them. He plays on the fact that women love a guy that can cook and since most men don't normally have well stocked kitchens, he makes quite a good sum of money selling them the things they need to use what they learned in the cooking class.
To be effective, back end products have to be compatible with your main offer. Mark makes money selling kitchen items to people who find him through his cooking class. He and his wife are also in my Fortune downline. They don't mention the business opportunity or the many FHTM products to the leads this list. Chances are these guys aren't looking for a biz op, vitamins, or a cell phone! By targeting his offer to his ready made market, he is much more successful.
Back end products also work for affiliate marketers. Just about every affiliate product I promote has a selection of other products already designed to complement it. Site Build It! - main product the Site Build It! system. But there are also ebooks available on many subjects that can serve as back end products. Magnetic Sponsoring - I market the Magnetic Sponsoring course, then follow up with Black Belt Recruiting or one of Mark Dillard's other great courses.
If your affiliate product doesn't already have a ready made back end, look for another affiliate product that is compatible and offer it. Or create one of your own.
Bottom line - back end products can make a huge difference in your online success. Find them, create them, but do use them.
