MAKING MONEY ONLINE WITH
AFFILIATE MARKETING - A YOUTUBE SCREENPLAY
SC.1. INT/EXT.
A SERIES OF FRAMES. A
REEL OF POPULAR ONLINE BRANDS. COVID 19 PANDEMIC FLASHES. PEOPLE SITTING IN
THEIR HOMES AROUND LAPTOPS. (SUB-TITLES)
VOICE
OVER
In the last few years,
making money online has become quite fashionable. This situation became even
more prevalent when the Covid 19 pandemic kept everybody in their homes for
ages. The fact was that people had to survive. This meant that they had to look
for a means of livelihood. Since they couldn’t go out to do this, it
meant that they had to do it from their homes
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TO
SC.2. EXT/INT.
A SERIES OF FRAMES. A
COUPLE WITH BACKPACKS ON A TRAIL/ROAD. THE COUPLE SITTING IN A RESTAURANT WITH
THEIR LAPTOPS OPEN WITH GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE RESULTS FROM PAGES SHOWING RESULTS
FOR “MAKING MONEY ONLINE” AND “AFFILIATE MARKETING” (SUBTITLES).
VOICE
OVER
Most people’s
journey into making money online usually starts with affiliate marketing. The
term affiliate marketing is so popular that, almost everybody you talk to about
the subject of making money online is referring to affiliate marketing.
However, what does this mean?
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TO
SC.3. INT.
LADY SITTING WITH LAPTOP
IN COMFORTABLE SURROUNDINGS. CLOSE UP OF LAPTOP MONITOR SHOWING “AFFILIATE
MARKETING” ON WIKIPEDIA PAGE. QUOTED WORDS ARE HIGHLIGHTED AS THEY ARE BEING
READ. (SUBTITLES)
VOICE
OVER
A quick visit to
the Wikipedia page on the subject says that “affiliate-marketing is a type of
performance-based marketing in which a business rewards one or more affiliates
for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliates own marketing efforts.”
This is a very precise definition but, what does this mean in simple English?
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TO
SC.4. INT/EXT
FOUR SETS OF FRAMES IN
SEQUENCE EACH WITH A DIFFERENT SET OF PEOPLE. SOMEBODY GIVES AN ITEM TO ANOTHER
PERSON WHO GOES AND SELLS IT. HE/SHE RETURNS MONEY AND PART OF IT IS GIVEN
BACK. (SUBTITLES)
VOICE
OVER
In simple English,
affiliate marketing is an arrangement between two people, whereby a person who
has a product or service to sell allows the other person to advertise and sell
for him in exchange for a commission. It’s as simple as that. This is an
arrangement we’re all familiar with. The only difference with this one is that
everything is done on the internet, that is, online.
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TO
SC.5.INT/EXT. GRAPHICS.
A SERIES OF
FRAMES. A WELL-DRESSED SALESMAN WITH HIS BRIEFCASE WALKING INTO THE MONITOR OF
A LAPTOP. A GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF THE 4-WAY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE VENDOR
- AFFILIATE NETWORK - AFFILIATE - CUSTOMER. IT MUST HAVE ARROWS SHOWING
THE MOVEMENT OF MONEY AND PRODUCTS. (SUBTITLES)
VOICE
OVER
An affiliate
marketer is an online salesman. However, that would be the situation in an
offline line scenario. In an online scenario, the arrangement will be among
three people. The first is the guy who owns the product or service. The second
is the guy who wants to sell it for him and the third is the guy who creates
the environment for such an arrangement to work seamlessly and fraud-free.
Everything happening online. Understand this: these three guys will never meet
each other physically in most cases, yet, they may be engaged in a business
relationship for years.
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TO
SC.6. INT/EXT. GRAPHICS.
A SERIES OF
FRAMES. JOE IS WORKING ON HIS LAPTOP. HE THROWS UP HIS HANDS IN ELATION.
HE IS HOLDING UP A FLASH DRIVE. WE SEE JOE WORKING ON JOE.COM. HOLDING
THE FLASH DRIVE IN HIS HANDS, HE WALKS THROUGH THE MONITOR TO MEET ANOTHER MAN
WEARING A T-SHIRT THAT READS “AFFILIATE NETWORK” WHO COLLECTS THE FLASH DRIVE
FROM HIM AND SHAKES HIS HANDS. THE” NETWORK” GUY NOW WALKS OVER TO A GROUP OF
PEOPLE EXCITEDLY HOLDING PLACARDS WITH “AFFILIATES” WRITTEN ON THEM. ONE OF THE
“AFFILIATE” GUYS HANDS OVER THE FLASH DRIVE TO A HAPPY GUY WITH “CUSTOMER”
WRITTEN ON HIS T-SHIRT. THE “CUSTOMER” GUY GIVES THE “NETWORK” GUY CASH WHO
THEN SPLITS IT BETWEEN JOE AND THE “AFFILIATE” GUY. (SUBTITLES).
VOICE
OVER
Let’s illustrate
what we have just said with an example. It’s like when my friend Joe developed
unique software that could cut an organization’s dependency on a large
accounting staff to the bare minimum and do the job faster and accurately in a
tenth of the time, he knew he had a winner. Joe then created a website to
market his app. He then decided that he needed to maximize sales, so turned his
product into an affiliate product. Therefore, Joe as the owner of the app is
the merchant. Joe now approaches an organization that acts as a go-between for
guys like Joe and people who want to assist in advertising and selling his
product for a commission. These guys are known as affiliate networks. The guys
who visit the networks looking for products to promote on behalf of their
owners are the affiliates. The last part of the equation is the customers, the
guys who the excitement is all about.
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TO
SC.7.VECTOR GRAPHIC.
A BIG GOLDEN KEY
IS PORTRAYED AS THE AFFILIATE LINK. (SUBTITLES)
VOICE
OVER
What happens is that,
when an affiliate picks a product to promote, he is given a unique link
attached to his promotion so that when anybody buys the product through him;
the merchant and the network know and he is paid a commission. That’s how the
deal works. It’s quite simple, isn’t it?
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TO
SC.8. INT/EXT
SERIES OF FRAMES. A MAN
IDENTIFIED AS AN AFFILIATE WALKS OVER TO A GROUP OF PEOPLE IDENTIFIED AS
CUSTOMERS AND RUDELY THROWS A FLASH DRIVE AT THEM WHILE STICKING OUT HIS HAND
AT THEM ASKING FOR MONEY. A SECOND GUY WALKS OVER TO THE CUSTOMERS, HANDS OVER THE
FLASH DRIVE AND A SET OF WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS THEN WALKS AWAY. A THIRD GUY
HANDS OVER THE DRIVE THEN SMILING ESCORTS THE CUSTOMER TO A LAPTOP WHERE THEY
BOTH SIT DOWN AND WORK TOGETHER. (SUBTITLES)
VOICE
OVER
There are three types of
affiliate marketers. First, we have the type we call unattached marketers.
These guys when promoting a product are very disconnected from the process.
They do not have any connection to the product or, service and don’t pretend to
want to. They don’t have skills relating to what they are promoting. They have
no authority about its usage. Their general attitude is that they are not
interested in anything except getting paid.
The second type of
affiliate marketer is the type that is attached. This guy is the complete
opposite of the first one. First of all, he cares enough about what he’s
selling to want to know about it. He is relatively knowledgeable about his
wares and can confidently speak about their benefits and usage. Although his
customer relations are much better than the first guy, it needs very drastic
improvement. The third type of affiliate marketer is the involved one. Of all
the three, this guy is the one who is primed for success. He knows the product
inside out. He is skilled at its usage and knows everything that is to be known
about it. His knowledge is authoritative and deep. However, what makes this
fellow unique is his deep knowledge of his customers. This knowledge is borne
out of a need to help and, sincerely alleviate their pain points. He has
empathy for his customers. This attitude guarantees that he will be extremely
successful in the industry.
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SC.9. INFOGRAPHIC /
VECTOR.
GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION
OF AFFILIATE MARKETING INDUSTRY AND AN INCREASING PILE OF GOLD COINS.
(SUBTITLES)
VOICE
OVER
With all the hullabaloo
about affiliate marketing, it is necessary to ask this question - Is affiliate
marketing truly profitable? The answer to that question is in the numbers. You
can’t argue with numbers. According to Statista, the highly reliable database
company situated in Hamburg, Germany; the affiliate marketing industry is
expected to grow from 5.4 billion US dollars in 2017 to over 8.2 billion
dollars in 2022. According to the report, these figures are very conservative.
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TO
SC.10. VECTORS
A COLLAGE OF VARIOUS
OUTSOURCING PLATFORMS. (SUBTITLES)
VOICE
OVER
The point is that, given
the increased attitude of organizations in favor of out-sourcing and remote
workers, a huge shift toward freelancing; and the pervasiveness of the
new economic reality. Affiliate marketing as an industry is still in its infancy.
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TO
SC.11. GRAPHICS.
COLLAGE OF OPEN SOURCE
PHOTOS AND GIFs OF PAT FLYNN. GOOGLE ADWORDS LOGO. SACKS OF GOLD COINS
EMOJI WITH LOVING EYES. (SUBTITLES).
VOICE
OVER
Now, let’s get real. Are
there any affiliate marketers out there that we can point to as role models?
Sure, there are. According to popular legend, at the very top of the affiliate
marketing totem pole is a dude called, Pat Flynn. Pat said that he got into
affiliate marketing in 2008 after he was fired from his job. He created a site
called LEED blog and decided to monetize it. He used GoogleAdsense as his
campaign instrument and by 2013 he had made over $50,000. He has not looked
back ever since and is a bonafide seven-figure operator. Pat’s core affiliate
marketing value is rooted in the principle of service. Pat believes that your
audience, that is people who visit your site, who are on your email lists, who
listen to your podcasts, who watch your YouTube videos, who never miss a
webinar, and, for reasons of relationship, trust you. He believes that you
should treat these people like they’re your blood. You should know their needs,
empathize with them. Feel their pain points. And then recommend solutions to
these pain points through the products and services you promote.
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TO
SC.12. GRAPHICS.
COLLAGE AND OPEN SOURCE
PHOTOGRAPHS AND GIFs OF KIRSTY McCUBBIN. AEROPLANES. EXOTIC BEACHES
(SUBTITLES).
VOICE
OVER
Another affiliate
marketing superstar worth mentioning is Kirsty McCubbin. According to Kirsty,
she got her first job in 1999 as an SEO specialist. One of her assignments was
to assist in the creation of an affiliate marketing site. She got trained on
the job, that is, affiliate marketing; and she was hooked. From that point on,
affiliate marketing has been her profession and passion. She now travels around
the world with her husband and kids enjoying the life of a true digital nomad.
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TO
SC.13.GRAPHICS
COLLAGE AND OPEN SOURCE
PHOTOGRAPHS AND GIFs OF JOHN CHOW. BAGS OF GOLD COINS. (SUBTITLES).
VOICE
OVER
Another affiliate
marketing superstar worth mentioning is John Chow. John is at the head of
digital warrior entrepreneurs in the Canadian homeland. John said that he
entered the digital life in 1999 when he created a site called Moto’s Project
504. It was about a computer that he had built by himself. Sure enough, after
he had worked on it for some time it acquired its domain name and a list. With
this done, he started The Techzone and joined the Maximum PC Network. His
monthly checks grew from $250 to $2500 in short order. This is how quickly his
list grew. John has not looked back since then.
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TO
SC.14. GRAPHICS.
COLLAGE AND OPEN SOURCE
PHOTOGRAPHS AND GIFs OF IAN FERNANDO. E-COMMERCE GIFs. AZOOGLE LOGO. BAGS OF
GOLD COINS. (SUBTITLES).
VOICE
OVER
Another guy worth
checking out is Ian Fernando. Ian has been in the game for 15 years. According
to him, he started in eCommerce and then moved into affiliate marketing through
AzoogleAds. He quickly learned the importance and correct uses of keywords and
his income blew. From making $100 a day to making $1000 a week, to making $1000
a day, all through knowing the right keywords to use.
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TO
SC.15. INT/EXT.GRAPHICS.
SERIES OF FRAMES.
PICTURES OF PAT FLYNN, KIRSTY McCUBBIN, JOHN CHOW, AND IAN FERNANDO. A WINNER
OF A LOTTERY. A GUY WEARING A MASK WORKING ON A LAPTOP. A PERSON PLANTING A
SEED, GROWS INTO A SMALL PLANT, THEN INTO A TREE. FINALLY, THE TREE BEARS
FRUITS. THE FRUITS ARE LOW-HANGING AND ARE EASILY PLUCKED. THE PLUCKED FRUITS
MORPH INTO PILES OF GOLD COINS. A LONG-DISTANCE RUNNER. (SUBTITLES).
VOICE
OVER
Now, let’s get down to
how we are going to do our own affiliate marketing business. The most
fundamental issue is your attitude towards the business. If you’ve noticed
anything about the successful people we have spoken about, is that they took
their time. Affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick game. It’s a business,
and like any other type of business, it has a growth cycle. It takes time to
grow any business and affiliate marketing is no different. If you are the type
that wants to start today and get rich today, then affiliate marketing is not
for you. No type of business is for you. It’s better that you take up scamming
and be ready to pay the price. This game is a marathon, not a sprint. You must
cultivate a resolute attitude, a never-say-die attitude. You know that the
industry is legitimate and growing. You know that there’s money to be made in
the business. You know that any average Joe can do the business. You know that
if you follow simple tested techniques you will get the desired results. It
means that all you need to have is the correct attitude. Stick to it, until it
happens for you.
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SC.16. INT/EXT.
GRAPHICS. VECTORS.
SERIES OF FRAMES.
A BRILLIANT-LOOKING STUDENT WAITING TO WRITE AN EXAM. A GROUP OF MARINES
ENTERING A COMBAT SITUATION. BANNERS OF EVERGREEN NICHES FOLLOWING ONE ANOTHER
- HEALTH - WEIGHT LOSS - WEALTH - INVESTING - RELATIONSHIPS - DATING - TECH -
GAMING - ANTI-AGING - SPORTS - LIFESTYLE - FOOD - LEARNING - DEBT RELIEF.
ARCHER SHOOTS ARROWS AND CONTINUOUSLY HITS BULLS-EYE. (SUBTITLES).
VOICE
OVER
After making sure that
you are mentally prepared for the job at hand, the second step in your
affiliate marketing business journey is for you to choose a niche. This is very
important. Don’t spread yourself thin by choosing several niches at the same
time. You will only delay your progress. Choose one of the evergreen niches and
then own it. A friend of mine usually said that it is better to be one inch
wide and a mile deep, than to be one inch deep and a mile wide. What does this
mean in plain English? It means that if you concentrate on one thing, you will
go much further than when you scatter your concentration on a lot of things.
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SC.17. INT/EXT.
GRAPHICS.
SERIES OF FRAMES.
SOMEONE ADDRESSING A CROWD. A COUPLE SITTING BEFORE A LAPTOP WORKING ON A
NICHE. LOGO OF GOOGLE ADSENSE. LOGO OF SEO. A MAN CLIMBING A LADDER.
(SUBTITLES)
VOICE
OVER
Your next step is to
start growing an audience. You can do this by starting a site on your niche and
offering solutions to your niche’s challenges. If you are financially able, you
can drive traffic to the site using paid advertising. If you don’t have cash
then you have to quickly teach yourself SEO. No matter what, you must grow your
audience by growing your email list. On the other hand, you may rent another
guy’s list while growing your own gradually. I recommend the second option. You
can quickly scale up your earnings using this framework.
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SC.18. INT/EXT.
GRAPHICS.
A LISTENING CROWD WITH A
SUPER-IMPOSED REEL OF POPULAR AND RELEVANT WEBSITES, SOCIAL MEDIA, YOUTUBE, POD
CHANNELS. (SUBTITLES).
VOICE
OVER Make
sure that your voice is on all the platforms - websites, social media, YouTube,
and podcasts. Make sure you gather an audience on all these platforms by making
yourself useful to their needs and challenges.
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TO
SC.19. GRAPHICS.
A COLLAGE OF OPEN SOURCE
PHOTOGRAPHS AND GIFs OF PAT FLYNN. BANNER LOGOS OF GOOGLE ADSENSE AND S.E.O.
SCREENSHOT OF EMAIL LIST ON LAPTOP. (SUBTITLES).
VOICE
OVER
I’ve always believed in
sitting on the shoulders of giants. Our giant is one of the best, Pat Flynn.
Using Pat’s advice, you first understand your niche inside out. This is the
only way you can understand the challenges and pain points of that niche. Then
you begin to build your audience in that niche. Pat said he used GoogleAdwords
for this chore. Even when you’re using this, you must know about SEO. Search
Engine Optimization, SEO, is easily learned, you don’t need more than grade
school comprehension to grab them. Even if you have limited financial
resources, a rudimentary knowledge of SEO will make a difference and assist you
in building your list.
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TO
SC.20. INT/EXT.
SOMEBODY CHEERFULLY
SERVING A GROUP OF PEOPLE WITH NOURISHMENTS. (SUBTITLES).
VOICE
OVER
Build a relationship
with your audience by supplying quality continuously. Give value and nurture
trust. Your slogan should always be - Audience first, always. This is an
online business, always look for and, feed your audience with information that
is useful and factual. This is how to develop a relationship and build trust.
Through this interaction, you are better able to understand your
audience. With this knowledge, you can choose and promote products that
serve their needs.
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TO
SC.21. INT/EXT.GRAPHICS.
SERIES OF FRAMES. A
PARCEL BEING DELIVERED. THE PARCEL IS UNWRAPPED AND CONTENT IS EXAMINED. THE
PERSON IS WORKING ON THE LAPTOP. SCREENSHOT OF LAPTOP -REPORT. AN AUDIENCE IS
BEING ADDRESSED. (SUBTITLES).
VOICE
OVER
When you’re doing this,
you must follow a fail-proof procedure. First, you should buy and use the
products yourself. There’s no risk in this since practically every product or,
service comes with a money-back guarantee. If the product is okay, you do a
personal and thorough assessment of the benefits and the drawbacks, if any.
This is apart from the sales pitch of the product’s manufacturers. Then you
introduce it to your audience using the following procedure.
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SC.22. INT/EXT.
GRAPHICS.
SERIES OF FRAMES.
BANNERS OF PLATFORMS - WEBSITES, SOCIAL MEDIA, YOUTUBE, POD CHANNELS. AUDIENCES
BEING ADDRESSED AND MEMBERS RAISING THEIR HANDS AND STANDING UP TO ASK
QUESTIONS. (SUBTITLES).
VOICE
OVER
When introducing the
product, you don’t go straight ahead to make a pitch. The first thing you do is
to demonstrate it using all your available platforms. This automatically gives
the product a human face and, since you are already intimate with your
audience, they are more receptive to your offer than they will be to a cold
call. It is at this point that you begin to answer the questions that are both
spoken and unspoken regarding challenges and pain points that your offer is
going to take care of. At the same time, you are building confidence in the
potency of the product to solve a problem.
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TO
SC.23. INT.
A HAPPY INTERVIEW
SETTING. (SUBTITLES)
VOICE
OVER
If it is possible
you schedule and air interviews with the product’s manufacturers as guests.
This shows that there are real people behind the stuff you’re pushing on to
your audience. An interview further legitimizes the product in the minds of
people.
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SC.24.SERIES OF FRAMES.
SERIES OF FRAMES. PEOPLE
HAPPILY HUGGED EACH OTHER, GIVING EACH OTHER HIGH FIVES AND SHAKING HANDS.
SOMEBODY IS BEING FLOGGED. SOMEBODY RUNNING AWAY AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. SOMEBODY
EATING DELICIOUS CANDY. (SUBTITLES).
VOICE
OVER
Make sure that you show
proof all the time. Your reputation and financial well-being are at stake here.
You are not looking for a one-off purchase, what you want is a repeat customer.
Human beings are very timid when it comes to money. Once they get burnt the
first time, they run away with their wallets. At the same time human beings
have spending habits, one of them is that, if a person buys something from you
the first time and, is satisfied, the person will continue to buy from you
forever. This is what people in marketing call brand loyalty.
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TO
SC.25. INT/EXT.
GRAPHICS.
SERIES OF FRAMES. A
DELICIOUS FOOD STALL ON PUBLIC DISPLAY WITH A GOOD-LOOKING SALESPERSON BEHIND
IT. AN ATHLETIC RELAY TEAM HOLDING UP EACH OTHER’S HANDS IN VICTORY. A PERSON
HOLDING TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF HAMMERS IN EACH HAND WITH A QUESTIONING LOOK. A
COUPLE DRIVING HAPPILY AWAY IN A SUPERCAR. (SUBTITLES)
VOICE
OVER
The crunch! Get your
product in front of your audience! Always do this. Most people are very shy
when it comes to selling. This is because of the fear of rejection. They do a
fantastic job in the build-up, but when it gets to the reason for the build-up;
they freeze up.
You should always put a call to action in every aspect of
your promotion. A call to action shows that you are a serious businessman. The
CAT, that is, call to action - the action of buying. Make sure that you
sprinkle your affiliate link liberally throughout your promotional efforts.
Never be shy about asking people to purchase what will solve their problems.
It’s the ultimate win-win scenario. That’s the reason why we are in the
game of affiliate marketing.
A note of warning here,
never recommend more than one of the same kind of product to your valuable
audience. What you will succeed in doing is to confuse them. Confused people
don’t bring out their wallets. Although some people say that you can do this
for differentiation. My take is that you should be on the side of caution -
don’t do it. Affiliate marketing will continue to grow and has come to stay as
a business model. It is never too late to join the party. Have fun guys.
BLACK
