Affiliate Marketing: The Good Words

You can make more money from affiliate marketing by using well-chosen words that cause people to become excited about the product you're promoting. Here are five awesome words that can supercharge your affiliate marketing efforts, no matter what your product:

1. Free

The word "free" is one of those instances, similar to Tiger Woods in the sport of golf, when the #1 on the list is way, way better than the #2 on the list. "Free" is the one and only indispensable word to making more money through affiliate marketing. Don't leave home without it!

Free may mean that you're giving your visitor something free, such as an ebook or an email tutorial. Free may mean that you are hoping to show up in Google searches for "free + product." Free may mean nothing other than you're blatantly exploiting the power of the word free.

Whatever free means in any particular context, it means more sales more often than not.

2. Guarantee

The Internet can be a scary place, especially when someone you've never met before is asking you to reach for your credit card. Conquer consumer fears by saying "guarantee." And then saying "guarantee" again, and then saying "guarantee" again, then once more at closing.

Timothy Ferriss has noted the power of the word guarantee in his excellent treatise, The Four-Hour Work Week. On the Internet, Ferriss argues, guarantees are a must.

The word guarantee asks the question: "What do you have to lose?" When the answer to that question is "nothing" because of a guarantee, sales skyrocket--that's a guarantee.

3. You

Yes, you. By speaking to your visitors as if they're real people (hot tip: they are), you can make a connection with a person. Or, in the case of the Internet, 5,000 people per day.

Using the word "you" shows that you know your customer. You know how they feel, you know what they're going through, and you want to help them find what they need.

"I" works, too, but "you" is the pronoun that pays the best affiliate marketing dividends.

4. Lifestyle

People want to money and things, that's clear. But why do people want money and things?

Often, the real reason people want money and things is because people want to live a certain lifestyle. People want a pool, to be able to travel, to quit their soul-killing corporate job.

Mention the money and the things, but realize that it's the certain lifestyle that people really, really, deep down want. Use the word "lifestyle" to appeal to those deep-seated desires.

5. Industry Jargon (CAUTION)

So far, we've used general words that can apply to any product. Now it's time to emphasize the effectiveness of using specific words. Terms that "industry types" know and love.

If you're promoting tax planning software, for example, use key industry jargon to establish credibility and add value: itemized deductions, phase-out limits, contribution limits, etc.

Be careful with over-using industry jargon, but understand that speaking specifically is a tried-and-true method for affiliate marketing success. Smart people respect specificity.