How To Get Approved As A New Affiliate Marketer
This article is for new affiliate marketers who want to get their affiliate links approved. We’re talking about getting your affiliate links approved on platforms like WarriorPlus and JVZoo.
Hello, aspiring super affiliate!
So you’re the new kid on the block, hm? 🙂
Awesome, nice to e-meet you!
Let’s dive in.
Prefer To Watch The Video?
Why Should You Listen To Me?
While I’m not a super established, high-profile affiliate marketer by any means - I know how to get results as an affiliate marketer.
And because of that, I know how you can get your affiliate links approved, even as a total beginner.
I’ll show you how you can get review-access to new products, so you can start working your way up the affiliate leaderboards.
Sounds good?
Then let’s continue.
Turning The Table
I don’t make the following statements to demotivate you, quite the opposite.
But first, you’ve got to understand why many established product vendors and creators don’t even take the time to respond to your requests and offer no explanation whatsoever on why they decline your affiliate (link) request.
Why is that the case?
Try to see the situation from their perspective:
- It’s a known fact within the industry that 90%+ of all affiliate sales come from about 1% of all affiliates (and usually, it’s the same guys all the time)
- Now you come out of the blue. Nobody has heard of you and nobody has a clue who you are.
- Most vendors simply try to protect themselves and their numbers/statistics from scammers and floods of low-quality, cold and unrelated traffic. If their EPC (earnings per click) statistics go down, less affiliates - especially high caliber ones - are attracted to their offer.
- Most product vendors are busy with completing their offer or putting on the finishing touches at the same time you ask to get your affiliate link request approved
- New affiliates with no or near-zero sales history on the platform are absolutely not the vendor’s priority at this point, and there are likely hundreds of affiliate link requests hitting their inbox
- Some review-access requests are just the (bad) try of freebie-loaders to get their hands on a new product for free
- The bigger the launch and the more established the product vendor is, the harder it will be for you to get through the noise and get approved
- If you don’t take the time and put in a bit of effort to introduce yourself properly, explain your situation and what you’re trying to achieve, how exactly you plan to promote this offer and why you might be of value to the vendor, even as a beginner, as someone totally new, a completely unestablished affiliate, your chances of getting approved are near-zero.
The last point is crucially important, you might want to read it again.
Now that we better understand the vendor’s point of view, it’s time to prepare a plan of action and then get to work.
Getting Approved, Step-By-Step
Welcome to the party!
If this wasn’t a digital product, but if this was more tangible…
… like an event or cocktail party at which you just arrived to and you don’t know anyone…
How would you approach that situation?
Your honest answer here - provided you are not totally crazy - comes close.
You’d probably not scream around and you’d probably not be very demanding from the get-go, and you’d probably not be behaving like a douchebag, right?
You’d probably be rather polite and smiling, maybe you’d try to spot someone you know (so you have a common reference and he/she might even introduce you to some people), and you’d probably briefly introduce yourself to strangers, right?
Well, then let’s apply this behaviour online as well.
Introduce Yourself Properly
If the product vendor - from who you’re trying to get affiliate approval - has never heard of you, you want to introduce yourself appropriately.
That means, you neither want to be too short nor do you want to tell your life-story since kindergarten - nobody has time for that and it’s not relevant.
Here are a couple of points you absolutely have to include in your intro:
- your name
- your brand/company (if not a personal brand)
- your website and YouTube channel
- your contact details
- if appropriate, results with a similar product
But it’s not only about providing this data, you also want to make it very easy and convenient for the product vendor to quickly check/verify your information.
That means, you use links if you can, you are specific and to the point, and you want to make it easy for the vendor to get back to you with questions - in case he/she has any.
That’s why you absolutely must include your (FB) messenger, skype and email details in your contact details.
You might want to include a short line why you want to promote this specific offer (for example, you might see a good fit with your audience), and you might want to include past, produced results with a similar offer, if you have any.
How Do You Want To Promote The Offer?
Now you want to briefly explain how exactly you plan to promote the offer.
Besides being sold all the time, there really are no “secrets” in this industry.
What I mean is this:
While - on the product side - our industry constantly is offering new, shiny, “hidden” or “secret” traffic methods and tricks, in reality, there are no secrets.
And guess what:
The way-more-experienced-than-you product vendors know that, too. 🙂
So there’s absolutely no reason for you to “hide” or leave out, how exactly you try to promote this offer.
Nobody will “steal” your super secret but powerful traffic source, trust me. lol
Seriously, if you don’t go into some details here and you don’t have a sales history on the platform, you can stop here, because nobody serious will ever approve you.
Instead, what I suggest is you briefly explain how you generate most of your traffic, include your way to convert this traffic into leads (if you have one), how big your email list is (in case you have one) and why you see a good fit with the offer.
Plus:
How exactly do you plan to promote this offer?
Will you email your list?
Will you create a written review on your website, will you create a video review on YouTube?
Will you create a bonus page?
Will you create a custom bonus package?
Will you buy ads on Facebook or Google?
Explain in one or two sentences what your plan is.
If you plan to create a review of the product, you might want to ask politely for review-access here.
If you have done something in the past for a similar product - ideally for a well-known product creator - you might want to mention it here.
But keep it short and simple - and don’t expect to get review-access or anything else if you’re completely new.
Keep the vendor’s perspective in mind:
Chances are, you barely provide any value to him/her, you even represent a (small) risk to him of being a scammer (how should he/she know better?!), and nobody has ever heard of you.
Make it easy for him/her to say yes…
Be A Nice Person And Let’s Get In Touch
I mentioned earlier in this article, you want to make it easy and convenient for the product vendor to reach back to you in case he/she has any questions, right?
Now is the time to get in touch with the vendor in several ways:
On the product-related JV page, most vendors provide links to their profiles on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Some vendors also show their skype details.
Now, don’t be too aggressive with this, but:
One good way of getting in touch with the product vendor and - at the same time - making it easy for him/her to get back to you to clarify any questions or to start a short conversation is to connect with the vendor on these platforms.
Keep in mind, especially as a newbie, at this point you want something from the other person - not the other way around!
That means, although you ultimately try to promote their product, it’s not the time to be demanding or behave like a douchebag.
Instead, simply be kind, answer all questions of the vendor or affiliate manager honestly and in time, and just try to be of as much value to that person as possible.
How To “Do More” Than Most?
- How can you differentiate yourself from most beginners?
- How can you provide more value, be more authentic, have a bigger impact, influence more people, and convince the vendor of your skills?
- What’s your “USP”?
It’s absolutely worth thinking thoroughly about these questions.
Come up with some unique, powerful answers!
Here are two examples or “bonus tips” that you might want to use to differentiate yourself from other affiliates who also ask for approval:
Bonus Tip 1 - Create A (Selfie-Style) Video
Most new affiliates will not take the time and effort to do this. (hint hint)
Their lazyness could be your advantage! 🙂
Actually, my suggestion is very easy to do and only takes a few minutes, including the upload of the video (as unlisted) to YouTube:
Create a short selfie-video and introduce yourself to the vendor.
Again, it’s easy to do, doesn’t take long but still - barely anyone does this.
Why?
As Jim Rohn said so eloquently:
“What is easy to do, is also easy not to do.”
Bonus Tip 2 - Start Creating Your Review
I’ve never seen anyone teaching or heard anyone doing this.
But I did it, it only took me 10 minutes or so and my affiliate link request was approved immediately, although I was a complete newbie on that platform.
Here’s what you could do:
Simply start creating your review.
If your regular review blog posts have a title image and an introduction, go ahead and create that.
You neither need review access to the product for this nor do you need to publish your work.
Then, simply take a screenshot of the work you already did and attach it to your affiliate link request.
Briefly mention to the vendor that you already started working on your review and you’d like to be approved (and ideally get review-access) to finish your review of his/her product.
Show the work you’ve already done/started.
If you combine this with the selfie-video (bonus tip 1) - you’ve clearly seperated yourself from the other affiliates.
But sometimes… And no matter what you do…
… No matter how much effort you put into getting approved as a newbie affiliate marketer…
Request Declined! (Or Ignored)
If your request gets declined:
Simply move on.
Especially when you’re brand new to a platform (like WarriorPlus, JV Zoo, …) this happens.
Just move on.
Don’t fall into the “overthinking”-trap at this point.
Maybe the vendor had bad day, maybe your request came at the worst time.
Chances are, it wasn’t even seen and/or completely ignored.
Maybe your face reminded him of his horrible math teacher back in school, maybe someone from your country betrayed or scammed the vendor before.
Who knows.
So don’t take this personal, it might have absolutely nothing to do with you as a person.
Maybe the launch was simply “one size too big” for you at this point.
Look again at your request, and see what you could improve the next time.
Then move on to the next product.
Depending on your character and attitude, you might even be able to use the rejection as motivation.
Seriously.
Try to get on the leaderboard of the next product launch, try to win the next sales contest and “prove them wrong!” 🙂
I Got Approved - Now What?
Awesome! 🙂
Your affiliate link request was approved.
Now what?
- Get organized. Create a simple text document (or calendar entry) with all the important details in it. Get an overview.
- Create your bonus package. Come up with and create your bonus package. Create the necessary graphics. Create a bonus delivery page or a bonus delivery email. Shorten/cloak/brand your affiliate link. Integrate your bonus delivery link into the platform. (affiliate link details)
- Create your review. If you promised to create a review, do so. Now. If you said you’ll create a campaign, prepare it. Now. If you mentioned something else you’d do to promote the product: Get going!
- Deliver. Do your best during the launch.
- Review your performance/results and stay in touch. Did you fail to deliver? If so, analyze why. Find flaws in your approach. If you created and published a review, share it with the vendor and ask for feedback. Try to find ways to improve your process the next time. Stay in touch with the vendor. His/her next product might be “the big one” for you.
- Rinse and repeat. Improve your performance on the next product launch. Create a better bonus package. Create more value. Create a better review. Reach more people. Get noticed! Connect/network with more vendors and super affiliates. Have a bigger impact. Provide more value! Master branding (yourself). Master affiliate marketing. Rock the leaderboards!
Closing Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on how to get approved as a beginning affiliate marketer.
Thank you for reading and stay awesome,
Tim for Online Business Dude
PS: Start And Grow Your Own, Profitable Affiliate Marketing Business And Become A Super Affiliate:
==> This Is How.