You probably know by now that earning as an affiliate marketer is hard...
Should that stop you from accomplishing anything though?
Well today you're going to learn how Kam a self proclaimed "redneck" went from being sick and unemployed to being a top 10 super affiliate.
You'll discover the methods that he uses to succeed in his affiliate marketing and what you could do if you're starting from scratch.
This is just one of the many NicheHacks success stories you can use for a source of inspiration.
This is your chance to take advantage of what you learn here, so don't just read, take action and implement what you learn!
Let's do this.
1-For anyone who doesn't know you who are you, what do you do, and where can we find out more about you?
Hey what is up everybody! My name is Kam Jennings (aka ZeroFatz, aka Kam Fatz).
I create and release information products, do affiliate marketing, and run a membership site called Adventuresontheriver.com which started out focusing on how to sell physical products on Amazon.com but as broadened its scope to cover internet marketing and making money online in general.
People can find me on my blog.
Or on Adventures On The River.
Or on YouTube.
Or on twitter @zerofatz
Or on ZeroFatzReturns
Or email me at [email protected]
It is truly good to be here. I hope I can say something that helps some people today.
- How did you get started with online marketing and how far have you come since then?
I was a telemetry technician at a hospital (I watched heart rhythm’s).
I made pretty decent money.
What happened was I started getting sick that year and I didn’t know what was wrong with me.
I ended up losing my job from calling in sick.
I figured out later that my gallbladder had gone bad and that was causing me to get sick all the time.
Looking back on it…the whole thing was a blessing.
I might still be at that crazy 12 hour nightshift job. It sucked at the time though.
I signed up for community college the day I was fired to study business.
I was turning the page man. I was going back to school for business.
This was my grand plan that I formulated while going home from my ex-job.
I would collect unemployment if I could get it, use my 401k and I would go back to school.
I still remember walking out the door of the hospital and heading home.
The sun was shining. It was beautiful day.
I felt like crap (my gallbladder still wasn’t working right at that time) but they had awakened a sleeping giant.
I felt extremely motivated to not fail. I think that is often the case when your back is against the wall.
I was home long enough to tell my wife what had happened. I told her I was going back out though because I was going to sign up for community college. I was going back to school to learn business, I had already decided.
Looking back on this I will say that I am lucky to have a wife who believes in me enough to back me up on whatever I want to do. She really does.
That being said, I can tell all of you that the key to people believing in you is you believing in yourself.
If you come across as someone who knows exactly what they want and you are decisive about it.
People will respect that. Not only that, many times they will follow you.
Anyways, while at community college I figured out I could get my college books much cheaper on Amazon.com than through the college bookstore.
Also I figured out I could keep them in decent condition and resell them once my college quarter was over.
I found this guy on Craigslist wanted to sell around a 1,000 church books for 100 bucks.
So I gave him a call and it turned out that he had bought a church building.
He had the entire church library in there and he didn’t have any use for those books.
Anyways, I got there and the guy was cool as hell.
Turns out he didn’t have just 1,000 church books.
He had over 3,000 books in that room.
I am talking hymnals, bibles, Christian fiction, non-fiction…you name it man.
It was literally a whole church library sitting there.
So yeah… I bought the entire library for 100 bucks.
How could I lose?
I now owned 3,000 books. At the very least I could recoup my 100 bucks.
I had no idea where I was going to put those books.
My wife was not having them in the house.
Then I set about listing them all systematically on Amazon.com.
Very shortly after that I started making money on them and I breathed a little easier.
I knew I had made a good decision buying them.
Those books allowed me to make a full time income using Amazon.com.
So anyways, what happened was I decided to write an eBook about selling books on Amazon.
I was going to utilize Amazon’s KDP program. I thought this was going to be the greatest eBook since sliced bread man.
Lol. It wasn’t.
“Broke to Boss: A Lean Guide to Successful Online Book Selling”
The book was good and you know…it taught everything I had learned about online book selling up to that point.
I did not make a lot of money off it though.
I sold a few copies but not enough to quit a job or anything.
So I asked that question that many Amazon KDP authors ask themselves, “How could I get more sales to my eBook?”
I decided I would do a YouTube channel and talk about some of the things that I talked about in my eBook.
I had a YouTube channel already that I had given up on a year ago.
It was a channel where I was going to try and vlog about my weight loss.
My diet failed and I only made 2 videos.
I called the channel ZeroFatz.
I just kept the name, ZeroFatz and I retooled the channel to talk about making money on Amazon.com.
My plan was to do this as a way to promote my eBook and I would put a link to my eBook in the description of all my YouTube videos.
What do you know!
It worked.
My eBook sales increased a little bit.
Still not that great BUT I affected sales.
And on top of that my YouTube channel started picking up steam and it was making money too.
Awesome.
So now I knew how to make money on books through Amazon and I knew how to make money on YouTube also! Fantastic! This is going to be the greatest YouTube channel ever, I thought!
It was SWEET…until it wasn’t.
YouTube shut my channel down.
Didn’t tell me why either.
Instantly, I lost around 500 or 600 bucks a month. That might not sound like a lot to you guys, but to me at that time it hurt pretty bad. It was demoralizing.
So I kept selling my books.
I branched out to other things besides books.
I learned more about eBook sales. I read books about YouTube and marketing.
And then I read a book by Perry Belcher called Membership Sites that Make Money. It was a 2.99 eBook on amazon. It’s safe to say that this book changed my life. It’s funny looking back on it how the strangest things can affect you.
Another “eureka” moment was taking place in my crazy redneck brain.
I thought, “Dude…why I don’t just take that eBook, “Broke to Boss” and make a video for each chapter. I will then open up a website and sell the thing as a course instead of an eBook.”
I thought, “I will charge 10 bucks for a membership and I will drive traffic to that from YouTube instead of driving traffic to Amazon.” So that is what I did.
I didn’t open my next YouTube channel until AdventuresOfTheRiver.com was finished and ready for business.
And then I launched my second YouTube channel and I called it zerofatzreturns. Every single video linked back to my membership site. At first I made no money and I was like, “Oh man here we go again, another fail.”
One night I was messing around with my website though, and I actually tried the checkout process.
It didn’t work. My checkout process was broken.
Let me tell you something…sales started flooding in once I fixed that checkout process.
So once adventuresontheriver.com started making money things were great.
The YouTube to membership site strategy is a simple but very effective model. Its strength is the simplicity of it. Its weakness is the simplicity of it.
So that’s the LONGGGGG story of how I got started making money online.
From there it was on to other digital products, learning from people like Frank Kern and Jeff Walker.
When I took my membership site from a one-time fee to a monthly membership fee it was a big moment for me.
More lessons from Perry Belcher.
I think it’s good for everyone who wants to run a membership site to start with a onetime fee.
Have a solid course in there and start with a onetime fee.
This takes the pressure off of you because you don’t have to release new material every month.
Once you are getting regular sales though and you have grown in members to a couple hundred people it’s good to switch it over to a monthly re-occurring fee.
You grandfather all your existing members in so that they do not have to pay a re-occurring fee.
What I did was I advertised for like a month leading up to the release of a big add on module and sold the point that if people got in before the release then they would be grandfathered in and wouldn’t have to pay the re-occurring monthly fee.
This boosted sales.
What I learned was that people are willing to buy AND commit to something if they feel like the value outweighs what they are paying.
Also…don’t take people cancelling membership personally.
Nobody stays forever man.
I still like those people even after they cancel. They are still a part of my audience.
They are still interested in what I am doing and products I am releasing.
Yeah, though…I have come a long way since I bought those books off of that guy out there in the middle of nowhere.
2. I've seen you competing in the same affiliate competitions as myself for product launches on JVZOO and placing in the top 10 which is not easy, what's your process for selling enough affiliate products to land those top 10 spots? Can ANYONE do it? Is there a system you have you can share that others can follow?
My process is not focused around my email list.
It is instead audience based. It spans YouTube, branches out to Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and I’m starting on Tumblr and a couple of forums.
It’s heart is at my blog and my membership site and my email list but the audience transcends all of those individual things.
So for me when I plan a strategy I will try to plan for a 6 day campaign. They will be largely video based with my audience in mind, then I will reach out to my list at the same time to keep them updated on what’s happening.
Generally, I like to focus on a bonus that offers a lot of entertainment as well as value for damage control.
I do this because I am getting ready to send my audience to another marketer.
I want to help them, I don’t want to lose them. So the idea of a very good bonus that is equal to or exceeds the product I am promoting is a good strategy.
It would look something like this:
Day 1: Pre-Launch (morning before open cart)
Pre-launch video – I want to talk about the marketer I am promoting and why they are awesome. I want a story about them. I want to know their story. I will convey this to my audience. I will lead that into the product they are launching tomorrow. I will talk about the product and what problem it solves. I let everybody know that this things launches tomorrow and I believe in it, I am going to buy it and I believe that they should buy it too. (that’s all true by the way. I’ll be first in line to buy the product I am getting ready to send a bunch of other people to buy. I’m not going to ask anybody to do anything I won’t do myself.)
Maximize video – I will share this video on blog, Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook profile, Facebook page, and my 2 Facebook groups.
Write an email to list letting them know I just updated my blog with a new video and let them know a little bit about what I am getting ready to promote and why I believe in it but mostly just lead them to the video.
I will re-send this email later in the day or the evening.
Day 2: Launch Day – Morning (open cart)
Launch day video – Generally I will shoot this video the night before and schedule it to go live the exact time the product launches
This video is about teaching. I want to teach my audience something in this video. I want it to be something that I learned from the marketer who I am promoting. This is a way for me to build trust with my audience as well as show them that the dude I am promoting is legit. (whiteboards are cool for this video but not necessity). This video will also transition into talking about price and relating it to other things that people have no problem paying for in that price range if they solve a problem. If it’s a 5 dollar product that could easily be a meal at some fast food restaurant. Mention your BONUS. Lead this out with letting them know that you have bought the product and tomorrow you are going to show them inside it.
Share this video everywhere you have an audience
This video should link to product for purchase
Mention your email in there if people have any questions because you know all about the product and will help them.
Launch Day email – basically you let your list know the product has went live and you want to share with them something that you actually learned from the marketer. You lead them to your video. Also you mention your BONUS.
Day 3: Inside the Product Video
Your smart if you record this video the night before and schedule it to release in the morning of the second day (I don’t always do that and probably lose money).
I show people inside the product. This is mostly about letting them know that I would not ask them to do anything I don’t do and believe in myself.
I talk about all the included content and I will mention really specific parts that I thought was awesome. I don’t go too far into any of it though because, you know, it’s for sale. I want them to take a shot on it. I talk about the BONUS’s in there if there are bonuses (usually there are).
I start to transition to my BONUS offer in this video. I will talk about what’s inside my bonus offer and how it’s worth the price of admission alone.
I will lead into what I am going to do tomorrow.
Day 4: The Journey Video
This video is special. I want to shoot it in a variety of locations. I essentially want to take the viewer with me on a trip. We can start at my white board and I’ll be like, “you know what guys, I have a point I want to make with you today but to do it I want to show you a very special place. And then maybe I will shoot a clip of driving and maybe talking in the car. And then I will shoot a video of “this place.” This place could be anywhere that is relevant to you. I once took my audience to an old abandoned shower house at the beach. I related it to the fact that sometimes in internet marketing people give up too early on something. Basically this whole video is story, entertainment, and teaching. It ends with a hard pitch for the marketer and the product you are promoting.
The corresponding email should point people at this video.
Resend email that evening
Day 5: BONUS PUSH VIDEO
This video should show people inside your BONUS offer. This video will be ALL about your bonus offer and how awesome it is. Let people know that the way to get this thing is to go BUY that thing.
It’s worth it to create a BONUS offer that will be specifically for this launch and will come off the market for a while after this launch is over OR be priced at a higher price than the offer you are promoting. That’s sometimes a lot of work though.
Email should focus on your BONUS as well.
Day 6: Last Day Thank YOU Video
First and foremost thank everyone who bought the product off of you. Make sure they know that you have the product and understand the product and if they have any questions DO NOT HESITATE to email you and ask you. You answer all your emails.
Second if you have used any of the tactics in the product already to make money, let them know and tell them the story about it. This works really good if it was a tactic that you already knew and used BUT it is taught in the course you are promoting
Focus on Scarcity Now. If the Product will not be coming off the market then focus on the BONUS that you offer being removed after today. YOU MUST DO THIS IN A COOL WAY!!! You cannot be a mega dick man. Just be like, “hey and for everybody else, who hasn’t taken advantage of this offer, move quick because the gates close on this one after today. You don’t want to be the “I almost bought that…” guy. Dude you can’t get anywhere if you don’t jump sometimes.
Send another email in the evening to your list letting them know that the product is shutting down in a few hours and you just wanted to give everybody a last chance to take action. Presupposition is pretty awesome here, “I’ll see you guys in the BONUS area!”
That’s the basic formula.
I am always learning and tweaking the process but what’s mapped out there is my basic formula.
Generally, my big money days are 1,2 and the last day.
Even as I write that I think to myself, “How can I make the other days big money days.”
Yes. I think you have to find your own voice.
When you find this voice and you are being genuine, you will attract a core audience. Not everyone will like you, but enough will.
It’s all about attracting more and more of those people.
Anyone can do this.
You have to be able to learn what other people are doing and WHY it is working then process that through your filter of originality. The originality thing is important.
It’s not just about the content. It’s also about the entertainment value.
You have to understand they are not investing in just this one thing, they are investing in you.
3. You release digital products / training in the online marketing niche, have you found that to be a good income source? What advice would you give to someone who'd like to profit from digital products?
People start out and they have big dreams and ambitions, which is good.
Then they start creating a product and trying to launch it and think, ”Damn man, this is a lot of work.”
Generally, they are following some checklist or some video training to the letter and are just checking ticks off as they complete each task.
They probably aren’t trying as hard as they should be, they are focused on getting those tasks checked off and they’ve never done it before so they don’t really know yet.
My advice is put heart and soul into your product.
Don’t think but KNOW it can help people.
You should be building a relationship with your customers all through that product.
You can do that with stories and pictures, with video, with logo.
You need to give it some entertainment value.
Next, get the sales copy done.
Get the graphics for the sales page done.
Get the copy and the sales page done for the JV page.
You want this done before you start contacting the targeted affiliates.
If you have never written copy before you are not good enough to do it yourself. I mean, you can…but you will sell less.
Here’s the thing dude.
That affiliate campaign process I mapped out above you guys…one thing is certain to happen when I run a 6 day campaign like that…I am going to lose email subscribers.
So I need to know your sales page is decent so that I get conversions when I send traffic.
Also I need to know your product does not suck because I am getting ready to tell my people that you’re awesome.
Be wary of the affiliates that want to promote your product through jvzoo and you don’t know them, they just contacted you blindly.
If you have a bunch of affiliates who are promoting for you and they are driving a bunch of traffic to your sales page and none of that traffic is converting…it’s going to drive your EPC down.
I will tell you right now that the best time to network and find good affiliates for your product launches is when you are not getting ready to release a product. Help them.
Find people who launch products in your niche and use your skills and influence to help them. This is how you really build relationships with people.
Anyways, the other thing I would say is that not committing to a singular path is really probably hurting the most people right now.
If you have committed to launching 6 products this year and that is what you are doing for money…
Then do it man!
Make each one better than the last.
Don’t get distracted on Facebook, or Warrior Forum about the next cool thing that you want to try.
Stick to what you are doing and have confidence on your greatest investment, yourself.
- Often friends and family don't "get" this whole online marketing thing and I know you have a wife and kids. How do yours feel about it and how did they react when you first told them your plans?
My wife was very supportive.
My children are 9 and 6 so they are cool with me getting to be home more.
They don’t always understand, daddy has to record videos and write emails on the computer today.
Generally, if they see me they feel like I’m available. It works because my wife helps me.
That being said man, I have to divide my time.
You know, when you work for yourself there is always something else you COULD be doing. You have to shut it off and go to bed, or shut it off and play with your kids, or shut it off and take your family to the movies man.
I actually gave myself hours so that I know there is a time to be working and a time to leave it alone.
People respect you more if you speak with certainty and confidence about what you plan to do. To this I hold true.
Most of my family though, they do not understand what I do for money.
There is a stigma that goes along with making money on the internet.
My father was a construction worker and so was his father before him and on back. I come from a long line of construction and factory workers. What I do is very different than that.
I come from generational poverty so the idea of me sending an email and making 300 bucks on that, or launching an information product and making a 1,000 bucks in less than 15 minutes is not fathomable to most people around me.
They feel like I am cheating people out of money or not really working a real job.
You go into this online world and you’re like someone people respect and ask for help.
You leave the online world and people are like, “you do WHAT for money?” Then they look at you like your not being responsible.
People tend to downgrade and disrespect what they do not understand.
Then you hear them complaining about their jobs. The thing is they complain out of habit. It’s a ritual.
They are slaves to their own comfort zones. It’s sad too because their comfort zones aren’t necessarily happy places.
If someone asks me what can they do to make money online, I will tell them and often they will just look at me with dazed eyes or they will say, “dude you’re so smart.”
The only difference is, I want it, I am not willing to give up, I believe in myself and my ideas, and I won’t accept failure.
That’s it.
They have no idea how powerful they could be if they only took a stand and said, “You know what…I am only going to make money doing this one thing.” Forget work, forget everything else.
I am going to learn this one thing and I am going to be a bad ass at it.” They would manifest destiny.
I know this to be true.
I spent years being clueless, grinding it out in jobs I hated before I figured this out.
It took getting fired and forced out of a job that I had for 7 years before I finally started to wake up.
I wasted a lot of time. I would be a millionaire by now if I would have walked my own path and not been so afraid earlier.
..... to be continued
Article source: http://nichehacks.com/sick-to-super-affiliate/
Good Read!
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