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Picking up from my post on getting started in affiliate marketing, today I want to give you some information about making a pre-sell. Affiliate marketing can be a little cut throat with regards to advertising. Years ago, using PPC systems like Google AdWords to link directly to a ClickBank (aff) affiliate URL made for quick profiteering. Many refer to that time as “the good old days”.

Now, because AdWords won’t allow two ads to show at the same time with the same display URL, the one with the higher contextual keyword bid will be shown. This means that bidding wars would occur causing high CPC (Cost Per Click) with a fixed commission, resulting in less income and potentially a loss.

In order to work around this, a strategy has come about of providing a simple website with a “landing page” used in the advertisement. Many affiliate marketers using this technique will provide a short review to pique the visitor’s interest, followed by their product affiliate link.

As I learned through the help of my fellow forum posters in the affiliate marketing scene, an even better strategy is to not include the affiliate link on this page. Instead, include an opt-in form whereby your visitor can provide his or her email address (and any other information you want to capture such as surname) set up through an auto-responder series such as AWeber (aff). The auto-responder series should send out various emails that the reader will find useful with the inclusion of a tip. Follow up with your affiliate link for the product you’re marketing.

For those who are familiar with HTML but unskilled in the art of design, there are numerous sites available that offer free site design templates with due credit. Here are a few of my favorites.

1. Open Source Web Design
2. Open Web Design
3. TemplateWorld

If you are not so keen when it comes to HTML, don’t worry! Here are a few suggestions to help get you started.

1. XsitePro (aff) - XsitePro is an affordable alternative to professional website development suites. It is geared towards the Internet marketer, simplifying common practices such as URL cloaking, AdSense ad implementation, automated meta tag creation, and more.
2. Elance - Elance is a simple service that allows people to find others around the world or country to complete projects. Simply provide the details of what you’re looking for and how much you’re willing to spend, and others seeking work will request the opportunity to work on your project.

Lately there has been a growing trend in setting up a blog instead of a standard website in order to perform a pre-sale. The reason is that most blogs (e.g. WordPress) are designed up in such a way that they can generate higher traffic sooner. Blog posts can quickly and easily be pinged to sites such as Technorati, IceRocket, and Sphere. Furthermore, Google has been weighting blogs higher in search engine results since they tend to have more up-to-date content on them.

For an example of a pre-sale page I’ve made in the past, take a look at Home Wine Secrets. As I mentioned above, you can see that I provide a few basic points to induce the visitor to join the mailing list. The mailing list provides a series of tips and links to affiliate products in an effort to make a sale. Good luck getting started!