Affiliates Are Anti-Social Trolls

People who operate online businesses have a well-earned reputation for doing stuff like making money in their pajamas, drinking Red Bull and/or vodkas at eight in the morning, and generally not cooperating with social norms of various sorts.

However, the gloriously anti-normal history of the online business community should not be taken as an indication that having social skills is not important if you are looking to make large amounts of money through affiliate marketing.

On the contrary, the cultivation of certain social skills is highly profitable in the affiliate marketing industry.

Meeting and Greeting Can Pay Off

If you’ve ever attended Affiliate Summit or some other affiliate marketing conference, you know that these events can be pretty uncomfortable simply because so few people in attendance are social butterflies by nature.

You will often find yourself, at a gathering of affiliate marketers, standing there silently as no one within earshot has any idea what to say, so the whole deal is just plan awkward.

Fortunately, if you are willing to build up the social skill of “meet and greet,” you can make some valuable acquaintances with other affiliates.

Customarily, the best way to start up such a conversation is to ask questions and try to get the other person talking about themselves (everyone’s favorite topic). But please go beyond, if possible, the standard, “So, what do you do?”

This is mad lame!

Instead, ask a more specific, even impudent question about a legitimate business topic.

“What did you think of that last speaker? He seemed kind of off.”

“My landing pages suck. What about yours?”

“Are you having any success with Facebook ads? I hear they’re a total waste of money.”

Questions like these are great for getting the other person talking. And before you know it, they might be talking about how they can help you make more money. There is no better way to learn affiliate marketing than to learn from your successful peers.

But be aware, too, that in the affiliate marketing business, asking too many questions up front can be a bad move. Many affiliates are paranoid that you want to steal their ideas.

Affiliate Marketing Manners Are a Bit Different Than Regular Manners

Your mother or some other elder worthy presumably taught you most of what you know about manners. When you’re in the affiliate marketing world, that set of manners your mama gave you can be productively modified without losing the basic idea here.

Affiliate marketing social interactions are best when:

-- You’re direct and get to the point quickly, especially over email
-- You don’t get butt sore if someone doesn’t get back to you
-- You don’t spam people’s inboxes
-- You check up on the progress of partners you care about
-- You offer legitimate criticism that can make your peers better
-- You help new affiliates get the hang of it

Being direct and to the point is one social skill that we really recommend you build into your affiliate marketing repertoire. Any email that starts with a bunch of niceties and ends with a long, drawn out goodbye will earn you the ire of busy online marketers.

Get to the point and get to it quickly. That’s good manners when it comes to affiliate marketing, and a social skill that every affiliate should aspire to mastering.

Of course, a well-placed thank you is always good, too.