One of the beauties of being an affiliate is that you do not have to create the product or write (or have written) the sales copy to go along with it. However, your duty as an affiliate is to be able to assess the effectiveness of the copy that is made available to you. I cannot express the importance of this enough. Once you have determined that a product is a good fit for your audience or list (more on lists later…), the one thing that will make or break your promotion is the sales copy that you send your audience to view.

Some affiliate products will send the prospect to a catalogue type page. This will not be as effective as a direct response sales letter in conversion. A confused mind says “no” so there has to be a clear presentation of what is being offered.

Some of the more professional affiliate programs out there may have actual stats for conversion rates of people that view to those that buy. That will always vary depending on the targeting that we just discussed above (i.e. the more targeted the prospect, the better the conversion, all else being equal). Generally speaking a conversion above 2% is very good.

Most of the time, this will come down to you being able to assess the quality of the copywriting that the company provides to you to promote their products. If you are unfamiliar with copywriting this may seem intimidating at first. I have included a few tips of things to assess and look for to determine good copy from bad:

• Be sure the headline is compelling and grabs the reader’s attention.
• Be sure the sub-headlines through out the letter flow naturally and keep the reader interested.
• When reading the letter, ask, “Does this clearly tell me what I get or do I have to figure it out?” The letter should clearly define the core benefits of what the reader will get.
• Are there misspellings or poor grammar? (Professional appearance is a big deal).
• Is there plenty of “white space” on the borders and between sub-headlines, etc? The copy should be easy on the eyes and flow well down the whole page.
• Is there a strong call to action at the end of the letter? (The call to action is even better if it includes an expression of the pain associated with not making a buying decision).
• Are there strong PS’s at then end of the letter? PS’s may not seem like a big deal, but they are imperative. They should in some way catch the attention of the reader and remind them of the benefits derived and/or re-state urgency of a purchase

There’s obviously much more to copywriting, but just being familiar with some of the common factors that make for good copy can make a big difference for you. You certainly don’t need to be a copywriter yourself to assess good from bad copy.