Golden Goose Marketing

When it comes to affiliate marketing, system is key.  Whether it’s a system for sitting down to work, or a system for cranking out new campaigns, you need to have one – probably more than one.  What I’m going to talk about now, though, is a solid system for finding your competitors so you can do solid research on what’s currently working for competitors.

1. Define your niche. Pick an offer so we know what we’re looking for.
2. Pick keywords.  Use a free tool like Google’s External Keyword Tool to find related keywords.
3. Search Google. Look at both free and paid competitors.  Pay especially close attention to which relevant keywords have fewer competitors – these may be hidden opportunities, but it could also be a sign that the keyword isn’t profitable.  Either way, it’s probably worth testing if there isn’t much competition.
4. Search EZineArticles.com. Look for articles that optimize for your keywords, along with AdSense ads on the page.  If you see a lot of articles on a topic, there’s a good chance that it’s a winner for affiliates.  Check the article bylines to see what pages the articles point to.  This may give you some insight about how to build your landing page.
5. Check popular social media sites like Squidoo and Twitter. Do you see affiliates pushing the product(s) you’re interested in?
6. Check PPV traffic if applicable.  If you have a computer you don’t use, you can install popular browser toolbars that serve popup ads, then visit related sites and see if other affiliates have ads popping up.

With a little practice, you’ll have no trouble differentiating the affiliate pages from portal sites, authority pages, or merchants.  Once you reach that point, you’ll be steps ahead of many other affiliates in figuring out what’s working for other people and how you could fit yourself into a crowded market.