Jan. 14, 2010 – The most promising growth strategies for affiliate marketers in Europe will be the topic of discussion for ClickBank’s Dush Ramachandran, vice president of sales and business development, at Affiliate Summit West 2010, Jan. 17-19 in Las Vegas.

Drawing from his experience working with more than 22,000 affiliate marketers in Europe, Ramachandran will speak about “CPA Affiliate Marketing Opportunities in Europe.” Joining him for this panel discussion will be Jim Banks, CEO of Global Direct Media, James Little of AffiliateFuture, and Matthew Wood, managing director and founder of Existem. The discussion will be held on Monday, January 18, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in the Tropical room of the Rio Hotel & Casino Convention Center.

Overseeing sales operations in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, Ramachandran is frequently invited to speak at the largest and most prominent national and international affiliate marketing meetings. He serves on the advisory boards of Affiliate Summit and Affilicon, its international counterpart.

ClickBank has drawn top vendors and affiliate marketers from around the globe since 1998. To date, the company has paid out the equivalent of €1 billion in commissions.

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Posted by: Michel Fortin, Guest Blogger

Do you know the most important marketing strategy in your business?

In a world filled with marketing experts extolling the virtues of duplicating proven practices, I have a bit of a contrarian view. That’s because relying too much on copying others can actually work against you in your quest for long-term success.

Whether you are marketing your own products or services or promoting other people’s products as an affiliate, positioning is key in determining your long-term success.

By developing an intimate understanding of positioning and applying it to your writing for your own marketing materials and to those of your clients, you’ll build stronger and more persuasive campaigns.

What is Positioning?

Positioning is the process of placing your firm or product above your competition in the prospects’ mind in a way that pulls prospects to you.

Marketing pioneers Jack Trout and Al Ries wrote the definitive work on the concept, entitled: “Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind.” Even though this book was written several years ago, it is still vital in business today.

In every business or product category there are thousands of competitors fighting for the same market. The goal of positioning is to be the top choice to do business with and buy from.

Positioning is not about competing, but differentiating. To be specific, the goal is to differentiate yourself (or the product you are promoting) to the degree that you become the only viable choice in the customer’s mind.

Many companies try to outperform their competitiors by offering discounts and lowering their prices. Positioning, on the other hand, eliminates the need for price-based promotions and focuses on creating a consumer mentality where you are considered the most desirable option, no matter what the cost.

Pretty powerful stuff!

Of course, understanding what positioning is does nothing in and of itself. You need to learn and apply the tools of positioning in order to gain any benefit at all. It’s the application of these strategies that will put you in the favorable position of being that top-of-mind choice within your target market.

Vive la Difference?

Loosely translated from French, the phrase “Vive la Difference” simply means “celebrate the difference.” The first step towards the effective use of positioning within your marketing is to define how you are different from your competition.

Without differentiation, there can be no hope of achieving a strong positioning edge. As I often say in my work: don’t duplicate, differentiate. Be different so that you gain, and maintain, a top position in the mind of your market.

It’s quite common to receive marketing advice telling you to research your competition, but without care, this can be a deadly practice. It’s all well and good to know what your competitors are doing; after all, no business exists within a vacuum. You should absolutely keep tabs on and know what your competition is doing.

What you must avoid, however, is the trap of assuming that in order to be successful you should be replicating what the leaders are doing.

All this accomplishes is the creation of a series of copycats that remind the consumer who the leader is, and reinforces the message that they should buy from the leader. When you engage in such practices, you’re effectively paying for the advertising edge of your competition.

In other words, copy what others do and you’ll only remind people of them and not you.

The only way to avoid becoming a victim of copycat syndrome is to develop your core identity based on how you are different from your competition, and create a unique identity on which to hang your promotional hat.

Anything else is bound to come across as less than genuine in the minds of your target market and certainly won’t help you rise above the crowd.

Determining Your Positioning

Determining your positioning can seem like a daunting task, especially in a highly competitive market. Fortunately, it often isn’t as difficult as it initially seems.

For one thing, most businesses don’t spend much time at all developing their competitive edge through positioning. This means that as someone aware of positioning, it’s usually fairly easy to spot an opportunity.

For another, even if a strong, marketing savvy competitor exists, as a copywriter or marketer you likely already have the creativity you need to make the breakthrough you are looking for.

Before you begin brainstorming ways to help your audience come to a favorable impression, it’s important to note that differentiation need not be drastic. This is where your research skills and any experience you have within the industry is priceless.

In some cases there may be no difference at all other than the fact that no one else in the industry is actually stating it. For example, several years ago there was a car campaign that used the statement that seven out of 10 drivers who test-drove their car, bought one.

What the campaign didn’t say is that the statistic was true for everyone else in the industry, too. It was just that no one else had used this little-known fact before in their promotional efforts.

The best part is, it would be impossible for anyone else to successfully come in after the fact and not sound like a “me too” copycat. If they do they will only remind your market of you.

This brings about another factor that is essential to positioning. In order to gain the most traction from your efforts, you must be first. Or, at least, be perceived to be the first in some way, shape or form.

The difference you choose to exploit needs to work towards the building of a perception of originality. Granted, differentiation is only the beginning. Being different than or superior to the competition is one thing, but to consistently maintain that position is another story altogether. But that is a story for another day.

Until next time, practice unveiling the differences that can set you apart from the competition to develop a strong foundation and create top-of-mind-awareness. As a result, you will have a stronger marketing edge in your copywriting efforts.

Michel Fortin is a marketer, copywriter, and author of many books and courses. For more information about Michel, including how to get your hands on several free ebooks, visit his blog at http://www.michelfortin.com.

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Posted by: Bob Dunlap, Director of Marketing

Ever wonder why some products are wildly successful while others struggle? Not an easy question to answer, but successful products do share a number of characteristics. First and foremost, they all meet a specific need or solve a current problem for the prospective consumer. Additionally, they all deliver real value, are well positioned and marketed, and are priced right.

With ClickBank products, there is one other critical consideration — will affiliates promote the product?

Virtually all best-selling ClickBank products benefit from a significant number of affiliates actively promoting them. These affiliates risk their own resources, both time and money, to drive qualified traffic to products that convert and return a profit. These affiliates have a huge variety of products to choose from, so make sure yours gets their attention. Remember, affiliates are looking for products that sell to a specific niche, offer good quality and value for the consumer, convert well, and, last but not least, pay enough commission to earn the return on investment they require.

When you are new to ClickBank, you may be thinking “I can’t afford to offer 50% or higher commission to affiliates.” The real question you should ask is, can you afford NOT to? Here are some statistics that deserve careful consideration. Listed below are the average commission percentages for ClickBank accounts with affiliate-referred sales in 2007:

Top 10 selling accounts- 74% commission
Top 100 selling accounts- 69%
Top 1000 selling accounts- 60%
Average for all accounts- 55%

Commission offered to affiliates is not a singular determinant for product success. With that said, I believe this data speaks for itself. So remember, if you’re a ClickBank product publisher just starting out, or if you’re looking for ways to improve existing sales, take a second look at the commission rate you offer affiliates. Generosity is often rewarded.

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