Posted by: Dush Ramachandran, VP of Business Development

In my job, I speak to our largest publishers and affiliates pretty much every day. Just the other day after a conversation with one particularly successful publisher, it struck me that there is a common thread that runs through all successful publishers.

While their businesses may be different and the areas of their specialization may be diverse, they all have very similar habits. As I continued my conversations with these publishers, I jotted down the common habits that distinguish these successful people, and here they are for your enjoyment and edification:

1. Stay close to your passion: The most important thing is to create a product about which you are passionate. That passion and commitment to the subject matter will show through, as will the lack of depth and insincerity if you are merely recycling material you may have found elsewhere. Being passionate about your topic will also help tide you over in lean times when sales of your product suffer a dip, as even the most popular products do.

2. Work hard: Contrary to all the hype you hear about making money in your sleep, the most successful publishers will tell you that they work extremely hard at their products. Whether it’s creating updated versions of their products, staying on top of their customer service or putting together material for affiliates, it is serious work. The good news is that you’re working for yourself; you can usually choose the hours you work, spend time with your family and devote time to your hobbies and passions. And the rewards for the hard work are handsome indeed – not just a pat on the back by the boss.

3. Don’t be afraid to pick an obscure topic: Passionate about the migratory patterns of the monarch butterfly? Write an ebook about how to attract them to your garden. Consider yourself an authority on the arcane topic of growing miniature Bonsai trees? Write an ebook on the best how-to tips for cultivating a Bonsai garden. The beauty of the long tail ClickBank model is that no matter how obscure your topic, there are affiliates who would like to promote the product and customers who will gladly pay for it. You don’t have to write another Internet Marketing ebook – unless that’s your passion.

4. Collaborate: An amazing number of our very successful publishers collaborate with one another, offering suggestions and helping each other. Internet marketing is not all cut-throat competition, it would appear, as the successful publishers have proven that it is better to collaborate constructively than to compete destructively. Consider joining a Mastermind group in your specific area of interest or subject matter. There is a lot of good information that is shared at these groups.

5. Price your product right: Top publishers have figured out that a lower price is not necessarily more attractive. In fact, one publisher told me that his product converted much better at a price of $67 than at $37. In the digital product world, with no other cues to the quality of the product, price is often seen as the indicator of value. How do you figure out the optimal price for your product? That brings me to the next habit of successful publishers.

6. Test relentlessly: Another trait common to successful publishers is that they test everything extensively. The price of the product, sales page copy, the colors used on the site, the size and color of buttons, testimonials, audio, video – everything. Seemingly something as trivial as the font used on the page or the color of the ‘Buy Now’ button has a significant effect on conversions.

7. Be generous with your commissions: Successful publishers realize that affiliates make the difference between success and failure for publishers. Since publishers have no fixed costs, and only pay commissions when their products sell, being generous with commissions makes business sense. The most successful publishers seem to offer commission above the 50% mark with a good number of them at the very top end at 75%. See Bob Dunlap’s post on offering generous commissions for more detail.

8. Provide impeccable customer service: Our most successful publishers tell us that they will usually go to any lengths to provide exceptional customer service. And if the customer is unhappy, give them a refund – no questions asked. Affiliates quickly discover publishers that have excellent customer service and line up to promote their products. As it is often the affiliates’ reputation that’s on the line, they tend to guard their reputations,and will shun products if they feel that the publisher doesn’t have satisfied customers.

9. Believe in yourself and your product: Another common trait amongst the top publishers is their passion and near fanatical belief in, and enthusiasm for, their product. That kind of belief and confidence is inspirational and infectious, and comes through in whatever you attempt. People can’t help being moved by it. After all, would you buy something from someone who isn’t completely sold on it himself? Enthusiasm sells.

10. Do not be deterred by failure: Every one of our top publishers will tell you that before they hit upon the product that made them successful, they had a few (or more than a few) that were duds. But they learned from their failures and figured out what not to do. And undeterred, they picked up and went on.

By emulating the habits of the most successful publishers, you too can belong to the growing group of ClickBank success stories.

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