Would you like to earn 5-digits extra income in just 30 minutes?
It sounds like one of those MLM catchphrases but I’m talking about my last Black Friday experience.
It was a Saturday and my family and I booked a stay in a hotel in Ortigas for a short staycation to celebrate the birthday of my two kids.
I was apprehensive to leave the house because that day is one of the most anticipated online shopping events of the year not only here but also in the U.S. It was Black Friday and it was about to be over in a few hours. I just wanted to stay home and surf the interwebs for the best deals when it comes to shoes, clothing, gadgets, and even online services and courses.My inbox was bombarded with sales and promotion emails from various online stores and services including internet marketers and bloggers that I am subscribed to.
Apart from thinking of spending on stuff, my entrepreneurial brain was also working.
I knew that like me, with the Christmas bonus and the holiday spending mood, people’s wallets are opened wide and most are ready to spend during this short period of time. My online marketer friends were on it too. Allan Ngo and J3 Patino offered special Black Friday sales of their courses to their followers. I thought I could do the same thing with my first course recently launched last November. However, I thought the time is just not ripe to reopen the course, especially that I am still busy taking care of new students. Also, I didn’t have enough time to put up my own Black Friday course promotion.
So going back to my story, it so happened that our hotel room was not yet available and we were waiting at the lounge. My wife decided to go to the mall first with the kids and I took that window of opportunity. I told her to just give me 30 minutes to figure something out.
The 30-Minute Plan
What I decided to do was post on my two private Facebook groups about my affiliate links to two of my highly recommended web hosting platforms, SiteGround and Bluehost. If you do not know what being an affiliate is, it means that for every person who purchases a hosting account from these two platforms using my link, I earn a commission of up to $60 per sign up. Note that there are no additional charges when using an affiliate link so it’s a good way for followers to help you earn extra income.
Now, what are web hosting platforms? A web host allows a blogger or cyberpreneur to have his own land (the web host) where he can build his own house (the blog). Since I teach blogging in in-person and online workshops, my current and past students are naturally looking for a web hosting service.
So that’s what I did. In a span of 30 minutes, I wrote a post (see below) reminding them that it’s the last day to avail of a special discount of up to 60% off from these two services. I also decided to send the same post to my small email list of about 2,000 subscribers. (Just a back story, I posted about the discount the previous day too, so I was able to inform my followers about the sale which will be closing the next day.)
And so after posting about the sale on Facebook and sending to my email list, I turned off my laptop and ran off to the mall to join my family and enjoy the start of our staycation.
The Results
After having a sumptuous lunch, we went back to the hotel to check in and see our room. The kids were so excited to jump on the soft hotel bed. As for me, I was ready to rest when I thought of checking my phone. I was in for a surprise! In my email inbox, I received 6 messages informing me: “Affiliate Sale Generated!“
Crazy! I made $360 or P16K typing on my computer for just 30 minutes! Imagine how much I would have made if I spent more time promoting my affiliate links?
I was so glad and I thought I’d share my key takeaways (in preparation for next year’s Black Friday):
- You have to build your following now through a blog, podcast, or a YouTube channel
- You have to be consistent in providing content that’s valuable to your followers
- Build a community around your best customers
- Sign up for affiliate accounts relevant to your audience and topic
- Start promoting that affiliate link on your blog and social media channels
- Watch out for promos from those companies
- Prepare for the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales
- Be prepared to answer questions about the product you are promoting
- Block off your Black Friday and Cyber Monday (PH and US)
- Make this a yearly campaign
In this episode, I also talk about how affiliate marketing works and I share some of my tried-and-tested techniques in creating an effective affiliate campaign.
Links and Resources
No one will remember a long link. Use short links from here:
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