AP 0592: Can I Build a Business Around Affiliate Sales?

Episode Transcript

Pat Flynn: Hey what's up everybody, Pat Flynn here and welcome to Episode 592 of AskPat. Thank you so much for joining my today. As always I'm here to help you by answering your online business questions five days a week.

We have a great question today from Gill but before we get to Gill's question I do want to thank today's sponsor which is a company that I'm very familiar with because I use them myself. This is Harrys.com, H-A-R-R-Y-S.COM. Started by two guys who found this major pain and solved it and the major pain was just how expensive razor blades and shaving products were, and I actually use Harry's now because it's so much cheaper and the quality is amazing. These German engineered blades which just; probably the close the shave I've ever had besides actually going to a barber shop and having them do it with a blade, and they're half off the price of the leading brands, I mean, this is crazy.

Over a million guys actually made the switch already and you can too. You can get the starter kit for just 15 dollars. You get a razor, moisturizing shaving cream and three razor blades. Like I said I've been a customer ever since I heard them on somebody else's show. So here I am passing it along to you, and Harry's is going to give you 5 dollar off your first purchase with the promo code AskPat. So go to Harrys.com and use the code AskPat at checkout to let them know who sent you.

All right, here today's question from Gill.

Gilliam Wallace: Hi Pat. My name is Gill from Las Vegas. You can find me on Twitter. My question is could someone do passive computer sales using live streaming or a podcast with affiliate marketing for Amazon?

You know, such as gearing computer hardware and software reviews towards a certain demographic like parents looking to shop for a new computer for kids going to college, or an entry level video editor looking to get a new computer.

There would be building value with things like touring them around and teaching them certain features for free and offering suggested bundles or affiliate links to purchases they could consider. I would think that someone offering advice online would be less stressful than being with an actual person face to face who just wants to schmooze and wine and dine you just for a sale based on commission.

Does that sound feasible?

Pat Flynn: Hey Gill, thank you so much for the question today and I like this model of serving people, with free content, amazing value and just earning a commission on the products that you recommend that relate to that and guess what, that's exactly how I run my business at Smart Passive Income.

In addition to the products that I'm creating in the books and the courses and obviously the advertising that comes on board; I get paid that way too, but one of the best ways that I've been able to generate an income is by sharing a process that has been helpful to somebody, looking for information about that and earning an income by sharing and recommending the products that go along with it. So when it can to building websites for example, I share BlueHost. A lot of you know BlueHost is one of my top affiliate because people who want to start a business need a website and they're the company that I know can help and serve the most people and one that I've used before myself, so that works.

In a more specific example, I've showed people how I've created a website from scratch or businesses from scratch. Walking people through every step of the process, just like how you're helping people with these computer sales. I really actually like the idea of targeting specific kinds of computers and gear and whatnot, programs probably too related to different professions and different use cases for why people would buy a computer in the first place.

There's challenges that go along with this kind of business model which is, well how do you get in front of people? So, there's a lot of different ways to do that, from cold traffic to guest posting on other sites; I think that's actually where you want to start is by becoming this expert in tailoring custom made computers for specific kinds of people.

So, you might want to go on, for example, a design website and talk about, you know, guest post by providing this amazing article about the best kinds of computers that designers can use. Architects for example, is one that comes to mind with Autocad and whatnot, and what kinds of computers and equipment would they need. People who are musicians, what kinds of stuff and programs would they need? Hardware equipment that go along with that.

Yes, you could absolutely link out to Amazon and become an Amazon Associate or an affiliate and generate an income with these packages that you sell, which are essentially just links to these affiliate products on Amazon. So that could definitely work for sure.

Anyway, going back to my example; I've helped people by sharing these specific things that I do myself. So for example, with SecurityGuardTrainingHQ.com I walk people through the whole process of how I actually built that business from start to finish and that included my recommendation for a hosting company, keyword research tools, other pieces of software that went along with that, and because it was just integrated into my process and I shared with people how I did it, it wasn't ever a hard sell. It wasn't ever just, like you said, a wine and dine that leads to a sale. It was just part of the process.

So, I think, if you could create a website that has a lot of these different kinds of packages I think it could work out really well, but again the challenge is how do you get in front of people? I think doing what I said earlier; targeting specific websites and actually sharing massive value with them in terms of, well what kinds of computers do that need?

So what I would do is, for example like I said earlier, the designer, the architect website. Those ones are kind of obvious but there might be other ones like somebody who is a construction worker who could be using their computer all the time. Are there computers out there that are more durable, that can withstand dust, all these other things. Are there protectors that they could use, for example. Think out of the box but you want to get in front of those audiences that already exist. Maybe you could become a guest on a certain podcast and talk about the equipment that these people who that podcast already serves, what they need.

So again, you might want to think out of the box for that one, but yes these tutorials and resources using affiliate links could definitely work; similar to what I do. So keep going Gill. I really appreciate your question and I wish you all the best.

So, thank you so much Gill. We're going to send you an AskPat t-shirt for having your question featured here on the show, and for those of you listening, if you have a question that you'd like potentially featured here on the show just head on over to AskPat.com. You can ask right there on that page and thank you again so much for everybody who is asking questions.

As always, I love to finish with a quote and today's quote comes from Bo Bennett. He says, “affiliate marketing has made businesses millions and ordinary people millionaires.”

Yup. Cheers, take care, and I'll see you in the next episode of AskPat. Bye.