It was a great day today, do you know why?  I found an affiliate check in the mailbox! Now I’m not going to retire on the income but the check will pay to fill up a tank of gas in my car… not a bad return on investment, right?

Affiliate marketing is not hard, it just takes a firm conviction and belief in the product you are referring.

Tips on How to Promote Your Affiliate Link:

1. Write a Blog Post: Writing a blog post as a review about the product you are promoting is a great way to link (indirectly) to the affiliate product you recommend. For example, write a short 1 or 2 page summary on your blog about what you have learned from being a VAinsider Club Member. Here’s some ideas:

The ProActive Virtual Assistant Series by Yvonne Weld – Have you gained  ideas from Yvonne about how to market your business locally or create a contingency plan?  If so, then write a short review about how this knowledge affected your business and why it would help others. Make sure you add the VAinsiders Affiliate Banner or your affiliate text link to the end of the post to direct people to the VAinsiders URL. Once you have the blog written then tweet about it, add it to Facebook or send it to your mailing list (if you are building one).

2. Video Testimonials: Video is a powerful medium for any type of Internet marketing promotion. Think about purchasing an inexpensive Flip video and make your own video testimonial about a VAnetworking product. It doesn’t have to be in depth or long… just make sure your personality comes through and that you are convening the benefits of the product. Here’s some sample text you might want to use.

“After choosing to begin my Virtual Assistant career I soon realized that there was so much more involved than just sitting at my computer typing documents. I was soon introduced to the Virtual Business Start Up System written by  Tawnya Sutherland of VAnetworking social network for VAs.  I couldn’t believe how much information was included in the product. I was immediately able to get my business up and running in less time than if I started from scratch. I’m all about not inventing the wheel so if you are looking at starting or moving your VA business to a different level, consider saving your time and purchasing the Virtual Business Stat Up System, it will be the best investment you make.“

Whatever you choose to do, create a blog post, a video testimonial or even audio testimonial just remember to be genuine and authentic…affiliate marketing is all about just creating conversations…SO GO FOR IT!

Twitter has got to be one of the best tools for affiliate marketing out there! Why do I say that?  Because it’s quick, to the point communication with other “like-minded” twitter enthusiasts.

For most Virtual Assistants, you probably follow plenty of other VA’s, makes sense, so it makes even more sense that those VA’s would enjoy reading your “tweets” about all things VA. So how do you then go about using Twitter as an affiliate tool?  Read on and then try it out…

1. Mask Your Affiliate URL:  Use a Twitter tool such as Hootesuite or Tweetdeck to manage your affiliate account. These programs will automatically shorten your affiliate URL to make it fit into your tweet.

2. Show Your Genuine Side: Twitter is all about being sincere so let your sincerity come through in your tweets. If you genuinely received concrete value from a Virtual Assistant product or service you purchased, then your “tweets” will reflect this. If you need suggestions about what to tweet, check out our product pages on this site for some great suggestions.

3. Case Studies Sell: If you experienced a good outcome from using a specific Virtual Assistant product or service, then describe your situation – for example: “Just became a VAinsider Club member, responded to an RFP and am now 1 more client richer” - (add affiliate link through shortened url)

4. Listen and Respond: Twitter is a 2-way communication channel. If you send out an affiliate tweet about how fantastic it is to be a VAnetworking member and someone responds to you with a question, respond to the conversation and create an ongoing dialogue – you’ll be more apt to gain an affiliate sale that way!

5. It Makes a Difference Who You Follow: If you are a Virtual Assistant, there’s a good chance you are following a bunch of other VA’s who are your colleagues or friends. Be conscious of your tweets and respect your colleagues when tweeting about them.

6. Tweet in Moderation: Change up your tweets and then occasionally throw in an affiliate tweet but don’t overload your followers by pushing a product.

• Tweet regularly about many different subjects
• Always ask questions
• Promote other people’s blog posts
• Regularly retweet other followers tweets when they post something interesting or relevant to your followers
• Be complimentary
• AND always be genuine…be yourself!