Member-only story
AFFILIATE MARKETING
How I Became A Persuasive Affiliate Marketer Without Even Knowing It
A short guide to getting more referral sign ups
I’ve tried affiliate marketing before but gave up quickly because I found it was too hard. I was to trying sell books via Amazon Affiliates, but to be frank, why go buy hardcover books when you could to the library and read them, or buy the ebook?
Then, I began blogging on Medium with some success and thought why not put a referral link at the bottom of some of my posts? And, woohoo some people signed up — I’m grateful for them too.
It took me a while to realize that doing this was affiliate marketing. Basically, writing good content to drive readers to the website and sign up for membership. So, in this article, we’ll look at my method to get a few referred members.
1. Personal Stories over How-Tos, Whys, and other Article Types
Many people would rather write how-to guides and lists. I get it. Impersonal is easy to write and you make yourself look like an expert. But, to be frank, most people don’t care about experts, they much rather prefer reading stories than how-to guides and lists. Also, even if you write a list, how many people actually read the content below the numbered subheadings?
I don’t have many referred members, so take these statistics with a grain of salt, but so far in my writing career, 80% of members signed up via a ‘personal story’ compared to 20% who signed via a ‘why’ article. I’ve got no idea why but that’s just what I found.
Furthermore, I’m not sure how I exactly did it too. Simply, all I wrote were my exact experiences. I didn’t try to be particularly didactic in my writing. It was simply my failures, reflections, and what I would do next time. These personal stories not only drove more referrals but also more traffic as well.
I guess you know what the takeaway point is here, ‘personal stories’ are your go-to article type to have more people engage more deeply with your content.
