Current Phase
Over the last few days (where did they go?) we've been working on the next phase of our Zaps system.
The main goal (everyone sets goals, right?) was to create a Zaps Affiliate Program that anyone can join and earn hard cash by selling Zaps.
The requirements for the program were in a previous blog post - see
Zaps affiliate program progress
To complete that goal we set the following objectives
- Find an appropriate supplier of affiliate program services that allows us to start small and be able to scale up. We settled on E-Junkie:
- free for first 90 days, small monthly / yearly fee afterwards
- fast email support
- coupon code support
- good, long-term track record
- Provide the resources that an affiliate needs to help them sell. To include
- A dedicated Zaps sales page for affiliates to link to via the affiliate program - no links away from this page as they have been shown to reduce conversion (thanks Tracy Trends!)
- In addition to existing Zazzle storekeepers, our intention is to target internet entrepreneurs who want to earn the commission / volume bonus arising from referred sales.
This means we need to provide information about signing up for Zazzle. Affiliates targeting them then have an easy way to show them how to.
- Set up a dedicated informational Zaps website
- We settled on the name ZapMeCash.com
- We used a lot of the information originally created on this blog.
- We wanted a clean, simple and responsive design, to allow for the increasing proportion of mobile devices being used.
- Many of the resources needed by affiliates are now hosted on the site. They fall into two categories:
- The ones the affiliates want to see.
They can view the info, decide what they want and then copy and paste it wherever they want. These all have a navbar:
- The ones the affiliates want their potential customers to see. They don't have a navbar. These are:
- the Zaps sales page
This is the one affiliates can send people to if they don't have their own dedicated sales page with its own buy button.
- the one about becoming a Zazzle associate
If someone's not already a Zazzle storekeeper, they need to open a Zazzle account so they can get their associate id (aka referrer id) and have somewhere to be credited for their referred sales.
- Set up a Google Plus community for Zaps affiliates
- Zaffpro is an invite-only community that people can request to join
- Purpose is to provide a central place for affiliates:
- to get the resource links they need
- exchange promotion ideas
- get help with the affiliate program
- get details about issued Zaps coupon codes
- chat about related stuff
We're happy to say that all the above have now been done :)
Next Phase
The next phase on the cards is to continue to improve and expand on selling the Zaps affiliate program. We've already got a
dedicated page describing Zaffpro but we still need video and sreenshot tutorials for potential / new Zaps affiliates, showing them how to do things like:
- get an overview of why they should join the program
- get their affiliate code
- when / how to use the hop link as opposed to the add-to-cart-and-buy-right-away buttons
We've also got to figure out a promotion strategy for Zaffpro now that the initial set-up of it all is complete. It's going to be in three parts:
- For the internet entrepreneur, we're considering:
- list Zaffpro in the E-Junkie market place
- Advertise via the Google Adwords platform
- For existing storekeepers
- Promote their products by using Zaps ourselves on our blogs / social media
- Let them know it's been done and, for any showing interest, guide them towards using Zaps for themselves
- Use their store contact button (if they have one) and
- give them a link to their post
- tell them we have other promotional blogs
- give them a link where they can sign up to a mailing list to stay updated on what my promotional needs are for their products
- The around once-a-month newsletter's mailing list is My Niche Blogs To Promote On (sign-up here)
- Occasionally we'll take out an ad in that newsletter with the purpose of getting folks to sign up to the Zaps News and Offers mailing list
- Once they see how effective it is, funnel them towards the Zaps affiliate program
- For existing members of Zaffpro, help them with their promotion of Zaps
- Issuing new coupon codes will give them something to shout about and a reason to share or post about Zaps
- Any general promotion we do about Zaps will raise its profile and this has to be done in a non-spammy way:
- Continue to raise interest directly on the Zazzle forum
- Keep watch on the various POD-focused groups we're a member of on Facebook and raise Zaps when the opportunity arises either as new topics (very rarely) or in response to something that someone else brings up
- Do the same for Google Plus and communities
- Keep posting to this Razamazazzle blog about progress and updates
We've also got to work out a strategy for issuing coupon codes:
- Possibly issuing some privately to Zaffpro members
- Some short-duration ones to be announced publicly
- We may also issue some privately to individuals we're in direct contact with as an inducement to make the "buy" decision
So that's where we are with Zaps and Zaffpro.
Until next time,
Happy Zazzling, Happy Promoting, Happy Zapping!
~~Mark
comments, likes, +1s, tweets are always welcome! :)
