3) Establish a line of communication with the merchant.

You might have to settle for the affiliate program manager, or a related department, but the idea is to try to acquire anything you can, above and beyond what is offered to regular affiliates, that will help you gain a promotional edge.

Branded articles, ebooks, special offers, free trials, etc.

You might even be able to gain access to the product or service you're promoting if you explain that you'd like to review it for promotional purposes (it can't hurt to ask ..;)

4) Build a sub list of targeted prospects.

Would you believe that I, personally, have built campaign designated email lists of less than 100 members, that have actually accounted for more sales than my main list ... that goes out to thousands of subscribers?

 Why?

Laser targeting, my friend. Offer a campaign related update, course, report, or other form of freebie to attract them.

In addition, you'll now have a ready made list for future promotions made by the affiliate merchant.

5) Search engine optimize your promotional pages.

... for keywords and phrases relevant to your offerings, and run pay per click campaigns targeting the same and comparable terms.

The search engines shouldn't, by any means, be your sole source of promotion (email, forum, offline marketing ... to name just a few methods) but they could potentially play an important part.

I recommend investing in a course like Brad Fallon and Andy Jenkin's 'Stomping The Search Engines' , which covers both SEO and PPC pretty extensively ... and effectively.

Work these 5 tips into your affiliate program promotions, and I'm sure you'll enjoy success.

Sidenote:

If you're participating in a multiple tier affiliate program, and you have access to your downline referrals, make sure you take the time to train them to succeed.

Remember ... their success is YOUR success!

About the Author:Mike Merz is the owner/webmaster of Internet Marketing For Newbies LLC, publisher of The IM4Newbies Update, administrator of The IM4Newbies Internet Marketing Forum, and has had articles published on many of the internet's most popular sites, his main focus being Internet Marketing start up consultation, specializing in affiliate program related campaigns.