If you don’t consider yourself a successful affiliate and you’re wondering how to take your affiliate business to the next level then you may just need to change the way you’re currently thinking about marketing. It’s very common to get started in affiliate marketing finding a method of promotion that works, but struggle to find a way to scale it. Once you figured out what PPC keywords are working and which landing page brings the highest returns, you can’t simply keep bidding up or finding long tail keywords, especially if your marketing a very niche product or service. This is where creativity comes in. You need to change the way you think in order to see the opportunities.
I stumbled upon a website the other day called BustAName.com that’s a good illustration for what I mean. We’re all familiar with domain name registrations and the common problem of trying to find a good domain when you need one. As a successful affiliate, this is exactly what you need to look for. You can choose to market domain registrars through SEO, PPC, mailing lists, on your blog, etc., but to really add value, you need to look for ways to solve problems. This is exactly what BustAName.com has done. Let’s take a closer look:
The site allows you to simply enter ‘key’ words and it will automatically find available domains that contain combinations of the key words you’ve entered. It’s a great solution to a common problem. In Step 3 you can view the list of available domains, sort by a number of different preferences and then choose which domains you like the best. Now enter the integration of the affiliate business model. In step 4 you can conveniently register these domains through a number of registrars, all of which will send you through their affiliate link.
BustAName goes a step further and adds some really nice options like grouping key words and searching for two or three word combos to name just a few. You find these options below in an effort to keep the main task as simple and intuitive as possible. But all these options make the service more powerful, especially to those who use the service over and over, which is another important point. When you find a way to solve a problem, you’re more likely to be shared by others and get repeat customers. Both of these are extremely difficult to achieve if you’re simply creating landing pages.
The idea of combining words to find available domain names isn’t even that unique. There are other services out there that will do the same thing. But what’s important to note is by creating this service that solves a need, you’re no longer competing with the common affiliate. You can market your site differently to compete in a space that is far less competitive.
Start looking for problems with the products and services you’re currently promoting and see if you can think of any solutions. It’s the first step in transforming your affiliate hobby into a sustainable business.
