Have you ever bought something, love it, use it and think your audience will love it so you promote it, but you earn nothing?
I have.
One of my niche sites is such where I buy stuff for my house because I need/want it and it’s a good fit for my audience.
If I like it and use it a lot, I promote the stuff and yet sometimes, even though I think it’s really cool/useful, the promotion falls flat. And that’s promoting to 37,000 people with a 10% to 15% open rate.
And then there’s one type of product that’s available/applicable to many niches, that sells easily and offers above-average commissions.
In fact, this type of product has earned me by FAR the lion’s share of affiliate revenue over the years. Hundreds of thousands of dollars across a few niches. Not quite a million, but getting close.
What type of product is the best to promote as an affiliate?
Answer: Software
What type of software?
All kinds. Cloud, downloadable software, apps, plugins, themes, hosting, business software, subscription-based (a real gem if pays recurring), one-time commission… it doesn’t matter as long as the software is good, sells well and pays a decent commission. Cloud is my favorite, but as long as it’s good software, it sells.
In fact, you’d be amazed at how many different software programs are available for many, many niches. I’m not talking the obvious niches like blogging, finance or small business.
I’m talking about hobby niches, beauty, weight loss, cars… you name it, there’s software and apps for it.
Example:
Once upon a time, I was really into weight lifting. I was obsessed. This was back in high school. I made big gains and while I’m not nuts about it anymore, I still lift moderately a few times a week.
One of my first niche sites was in weight lifting as a result of my interest in weight lifting. I had moderate success in the niche, especially promoting a Clickbank product called “The Muscle Maximizer“.
The Muscle Maximizer is still a huge seller by Kyle Leon on Clickbank. This guy is a Clickbank phenom with numerous best selling programs.
What made “The Muscle Maximizer” such an easy sell is it’s more than just a diet program or workout program. It includes all that, but what it markets itself as is a simple online software that tells you your body type via a series of questions. From determining your body type, it spits out a specific diet plan and workout program.
Obviously the diet plan and workout program is a template for the determined body type, but the whole process has a nice sense of personalization via very simple software.
The entire sales process focuses on the premise of “if you want results, you need the right diet/workout program for your body type. Our product helps you determine your body type and then provides a customized diet and workout.”
The sales pitch is convincing. In fact, so much so, I did the program and followed the diet to a certain degree. I got results (but then if you follow any half-decent sensible diet and workout, you get results).
The point is, The Muscle Maximizer sold so well because it offered a “software” component to the diet/workout crowd. I should clarify that it’s not software people want, but the personalization software offers.
What does this mean for you?
This means that you may very well increase your earnings in your niche by looking for some form of software that serves your niche.
Regardless of which niche you’re in, spend some time looking for software that you can promote as an affiliate. You might be surprised.
An interesting discovery
In one niche, I earn $2,000 to $3,000 per month from promoting software. I’m the only niche site that does so to the degree I do, which also helps. Most niche publishers in many niches don’t consider software as an integral product in the niche. This can give you an added advantage.
In this particular niche, I was selling a ton of one particular software product. So much so, the merchant increased my commission by 7% and offered me an amazing exclusive coupon code for my audience (which fuelled more sales).
I was curious to see how far I could take this. I asked the merchant “how much in monthly commissions are the top affiliates earning? $100K per month?”
The merchant’s response was “you’re our top affiliate by far“.
It’s cool being a top affiliate, but it would have been nice to know that the potential was so much more than what I was doing.
I nevertheless doubled down and ramped up promotions and continue doing so to this day… being one of the only publishers in this niche making good coin from software.
Advantages of promoting software
- Good software that solves a need is usually worth far more than it costs. Think about your favorite software – I bet you’d pay way more it than you did.
- Not a lot of competition in niches where software isn’t the obvious product.
- High commissions (compared to physical products).
- Converts well (people perceive software to offer high-value).
- An absolute golden way to attract subscribers in droves (this is an absolute goldmine of a tip).
Jon Dykstra is a six figure niche site creator with 10+ years of experience. His willingness to openly share his wins and losses in the email newsletter he publishes has made him a go-to source of guidance and motivation for many. His popular “Niche site profits” course has helped thousands follow his footsteps in creating simple niche sites that earn big.
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