One great strength shared by successful ClickBank vendors is their ability to network. Vendors need to be able to entice lots of affiliates to promote their products to thousands of people in order to build a large list of customers.

Some people think they can simply launch a product on ClickBank and sit back and watch money fly out of their computer. That may have happened to a few people, however, it is more realistic to expect that you’ll have to build strategic alliances to increase the reach of the product or service you want to sell. This is where networking comes in.

Here are my top tips for networking and building a strong foundation before a launch:

1. Know your product or service. To start, you should write down a one-line sentence describing your product that would be easily understandable by any person you meet. For example, “A coaching programme for people who want to start a business.”

It’s also important to project product sales so you can work toward that goal. Many people write down a figure that represents the amount they want to earn in a tax year – $50,000, $100,000, $250,000 – and the number of paying customers they need to obtain to reach that figure. For instance if your product is $50 you’ll need 1,000 customers to hit your target of $50,000 in a year (plus there will be expenses on that figure to account for).

2. Build your credibility online. Find five websites in the same niche as yours. Slowly get more involved with those sites, become a regular reader and commenter and offer to write a guest post for their site. This will generate a link back to your site and help build your credibility online.

3. Determine social network targets. I’ve set a target for myself to achieve 10,000 connections on the three major social sites:

* 10,000 Twitter Followers
* 10,000 Facebook Likes
* 10,000 YouTube Friends

Your figure could be lower but it’s something to aim for before you launch your product or service. As a rule, if you plan to promote your product through social networking channels, you’ll need to get your social figures high since most people are so distracted online that only a small percentage will read and click on your links.

4. Email the experts. Make sure you have an email process in place to do so. You’ll need a plan for writing to the well-known bloggers and site owners. Keep these emails to a few lines, show enthusiasm and be as helpful as possible. You’ll be amazed by what help, advice and opportunities you might get back from the “Internet celebs.”

5. Attend industry events. Determine which relevant events are taking place over the next 12 months and make a point of going to five events. Spreading these dates out will ensure that you have a constant flow of emails to and from new contacts and opportunities from a variety of sources. Additionally, the contacts you make in “real life” can be more powerful than online.

Networking is a continual process and is a huge part of business. Scheduling networking time into your calendar is just as important as scheduling time for product or service creation, if not more!

About the Author

David Edwards is the founder of www.asittingduck.com and is currently the SEO Director at Webfactore Ltd.

About Molly Lane

Molly is the Marketing Specialist for ClickBank and shares insider tips, industry best practices and the latest updates on ClickBank features designed to help you earn more with Internet marketing.

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