In our previous post, we were talking about “The Insult” and how you can use this counterintuitive approach to get people to pay attention to what you have to say and to actually take notice of the product.
If there was one weakness of that angle though, it’s that you can’t use it all the time. While very effective, it’s something that you have to use here and there and on occasion. It’s not a “workhorse” angle.
Today, I want to talk to you about another marketing angle that you don’t have to use so sparingly. This is something that you can use with pretty much every single affiliate marketing campaign you run, if you choose to do so.
It’s a little something I call “The Vendor Case Study,” and essentially what you’re going to be doing is telling the origin story of the product vendor and how the particular product you’re promoting came to exist.
With the vendor case study, you’re looking to answer a few questions…
- Who is this product vendor?
- How did they go from working a normal job to selling this product?
- What struggles did they face along the way?
- Why does this particular product now exist? What problem does it solve?
Make no mistake, that with “the vendor case study” you are looking to tell a story.
The good news is that most of the answers are going to be right there on the sales page for the product. Also, you don’t need to write the next great American novel.
You just need a couple of paragraphs explaining the backstory for this product vendor.
You are looking to humanize this person. The goal is to make this product vendor more than just some dude selling a random product on the Internet.
Case Study: The Home Business Academy
Consider The Home Business Academy, founded by Mike Hobbs and Paul Hutchings. Before establishing this platform, both Mike and Paul faced challenges familiar to many aspiring entrepreneurs. Mike, after serving in the military, ventured into online business to achieve financial freedom. Paul, with a background in network marketing, sought a sustainable way to empower others in building successful home-based businesses. Their combined experiences and challenges led them to create The Home Business Academy, aiming to provide quality, simplicity, and people-first values in the realm of online entrepreneurship.
I’ve used the sales page, product vendor blogs, YouTube channels, About me pages, even emailed product vendors every once in a while to get the information I need for an angle like this.
It might sound like a pain to do a little bit of research but to be honest with you it’s usually really easy to find this information. Product vendors want people to know about them.
Pretty much every person who sells things on the internet has an origin story and they are usually not shy about sharing it.
So, when you are creating your message, the key here is…
- to start with the vendor origin story,
- move to the problem,
- move to the solution they discovered,
- and then move to the product they created to help other people who were having that problem.
For example:
“John Smith didn’t start out making hundreds of thousands of dollars teaching people about online traffic…
Actually 3 years ago he was completely broke, lost his job, wife just left him, and he couldn’t even afford his own internet.
It was so bad that sometimes he even had to visit the local food pantry for free canned goods. What a difference 3 years makes, right?
So, what happened? How did he go from that horrible situation to making all that money online?
Well, it all started at his local library…”
That’s the origin story. Just an example here, you can’t just make stuff up. It needs to be real.
In any case, now I’m going to move into the problem, then I move into the discovered solution, and then I move into the product that our hero created to help others.
Implementing the Vendor Case Study Angle
When promoting a product like The Home Business Academy, structure your content to cover:
- Origin Story: Share the founders’ backgrounds and the challenges they faced.
- Identified Problem: Discuss the gap they noticed in the market or the specific issues they aimed to address.
- Discovered Solution: Explain how they arrived at their solution, leading to the creation of their product or service.
- Product Introduction: Present the product as the culmination of their journey and solution to the identified problem.
The vendor case study is a great marketing angle and really goes nicely after a hard promotional message.
So, the next step is to visit a few sales pages and try writing your own version of a vendor case study message.
Practice is the key. Bruce Lee himself could teach you Kung Fu and you’d still get your butt kicked a few times. You have to implement a strategy to perfect it. It’s a discipline. So, make sure you are practicing this stuff.
By weaving the vendor’s story into your marketing content, you create a narrative that resonates with your audience. This approach not only informs but also builds a connection, making the promotion more authentic and compelling. The Home Business Academy serves as a prime example of how personal journeys can lead to impactful solutions in the marketplace.
For a more in-depth understanding, you might find this HBA review insightful.
