Today, I thought I’d let you get a glimpse of an affiliate at work…
First Thing on Today’s ‘To Do’ List:
Create a new Squidoo lens on a particular topic today. It’s all written – I just need to add a few banner ads to it, which is the next thing on the list.
Second Thing on the ‘To Do’ List:
Find one or two ebooks on a specific topic that have banner ads to use in the lens.
So, I go to Clickbank since it’s the one-stop shop for ebooks. I click on the ‘View Pitch Page’ link for the first product – site looks homemade, has a cheesy domain name, lots of misspelled word. I wouldn’t buy the product and neither would anyone else. Next…
The next site looks good [read: trustworthy], the price is right for the market, lots of testimonials… yep, it’ll sell. But… there’s no link to an affiliate page. I need a banner ad so on to the next…
The next site looks good and has an affiliate page, but when I click to go there, it’s a squeeze page. If I don’t enter my email address, I can’t get to their ‘Affiliate’ page. I don’t want to but I need an ad, so I bite the bullet. And after I fill it in, it takes me to the next page, and look! No ads.
[Grab my 'To Do' list and add "Unsubscribe from that seller's list" to it]
Victory! The next site sells AND it has lots of good-looking graphics to choose from. I right-click on a banner ad to save it to my computer and grab my affiliate link for that product.
Yea! One down, one more to go. 
When I try to go to the next site, ForceField pops up a warning saying the site is known to be malicious. Yikes! I hit my ‘Back’ button to get out of there FAST!
The next site looks lousy. The text is w-a-y out to the edges, the headline is weak, it’s written in broken English… One sub heading says this ebook will show you how to bring in thousands of dollars in your first week but there’s a testimonial from one user who says he brought in a measly $200 in his first month. I shake my head wondering what some sellers are thinking when they build a site and expect to make money off it and move on…
Next one… no ‘Affiliate’ page.
Next one… the graphics on the ‘Affiliate’ page wouldn’t make anyone want to click on them.
Next one… site looks cheesy.
Next one… have to jump through hoops to get to the ‘Affiliate’ page [I'm not falling for that again]. Next…
Victory! I finally find another banner ad. The site doesn’t sell as well as I’d like (the ‘Look & Feel’ and the sales copy could definitely be improved) but they have an ad that’ll work, so screw it. Good enough.
Cross this off my ‘To Do’ list.
Third Thing on ‘To Do’ List:
Find a banner ad for a specific product (not an ebook) to tie in with this Squidoo lens. This time I go to ShareASale.
The first one I see doesn’t instantly approve affiliates. I want to get this lens up today so I don’t have days to wait for them to approve me. On to the next one…
The next one doesn’t have any ads.
The next one has lots of banner ads and instantly approves affiliates. Yea! I grab the code for the ad I want to use along with my affiliate link.
Cross this off the ‘To Do’ list.
Feeling satisfied as I am finally making progress and getting things done, I unsubscribe from that one seller’s list and cross off another thing on today’s ‘To Do’ list.
And so it goes day in and day out. [Bet you thought the life of an affiliate was a little more glamorous than this, didn't you?]
If only more sellers knew what they could do to fix their sites to make them (and their affiliates!) more money, we’d all be happier! And richer! 
The next time you hear a seller complain that their site isn’t making them any money, please, please, please tell them to check out www.Affili-Fix-ation.com. It’ll show them what they can do to make their site better and make them (and their affiliates!) more money.
On behalf of affiliates everywhere, thank you!
Speaking of graphic ads… I just finished a Squidoo lens on how to create ads that’ll drive traffic to your site. Click here to check it out.
