The Product Launch Merry-Go-Round, The Pros

"Gordon Bryan"
Written by gordino

This article is the first of 2 articles looking at an element of the internet marketing world which can have people clapping their hands or pulling their hair out, quite often both at the same time..!

It’s something that can be rewarding, or frustrating. Something that can make money, or make no money. It can seem appealing to the newcomer, and daunting at the same time.

So, what is it? Well, it’s…

..the product launch merry-go-round.

Like most things, it has pros and cons, and in this article I’m going to take a look at the pros, so let’s get stuck in…

The product launch merry-go-round is based on the affiliate model, which is that if you sign up to be an affiliate for someone else’s product, you can send traffic to it, and if that traffic buys, you get paid a commission in the form of a percentage of the sales price.

It’s a real model, and it can be used for all the different types of products – physical product, services, or information.




The model was probably first put out there in big way by amazon, who were well ahead of the curve in this one. You can still go to your local amazon site and sign up as an affiliate today.
As it happens, they offer what might seem only a small percentage commission, but these can add up to massive amounts if the traffic then goes on to buy further things while on the site.

When it comes to information products, and this is the area I’m going to concentrate on, and certainly applicable to what I like to focus on, which is using your own passions turn into profits, it’s a different ball game, and has led to this product launch merry-go-round that I’m talking about…

The percentage commission with information products is higher. A lot higher, because once the product is set up, production and delivery costs are negligible. We could look at 50% commission as a starting place.

Hang on! 50% commission?

Oh yes, and that’s just a starting place! If a product creator has a launch coming up, they want as many affiliates as possible, sending as much traffic as possible. So, if you have a list of suitable buyers, and a record of sending this buying traffic to previous offers, the creator of the new product will be happy to pay you more than 50% commission. A lot more actually.

75%? Yes, and how about all the way up to 100%! Oh yes, if an established internet marketer knows that each customer to their launch will convert into buying more expensive products from them down the line, they are happy to give affiliates the full sales price of that first lead-in product, known as the ‘front end’ product.

The big names in the field have affiliate competitions, paying massive prizes to the affiliates that bring in the most sales, and some of these prizes can be huge, precisely because the creator knows the value of the new customers, and the bigger prizes attract and encourage the bigger affiliates to go all-in with their promotion of that particular launch.

You can see how this is a ‘pro’ of the product launch model, and here’s the thing – that’s just one product launch from one creator! Because this model has been refined by the internet marketing community so well over time, it can work very well. So each creator might bring out a new product every couple of months, see a huge wave of traffic and profits each time.

As an affiliate, you can promote each of these new launches, and also do the same for the other big launchers in the field – and there are lots of them, *lots* of them!

You’ll get to know which launch people will bring you affiliate profits every time, and then you can simply plug their regular launches into your schedule – it means that not only do you never need to create your own product, you don’t even need to *think* about it!

If you *are* also a creator, the model can be refined further – either you can put your products as a bonus for anyone buying through your affiliate link, or you can make a special deal with a launcher that might have your product as a tie-in, so the other launcher creator will actually promote your affiliate link.

These refinements are tweaks which bring in more sales for you, more sales for the launcher, more of the win-win for everyone.

If you spin the model around, there is yet another plus that you can throw in, and it’s where we get to the merry-go-round part of it…

If you’re promoting all these launches to your list, seeing lots of sales, and helping to build the lists for buyers for all these other marketers, you can then create your own launches, and have the other marketers promote for *you*! The win-win aspect of you promoting for others now works the other way, and the win-win of profits for both creator and marketer is doubled as the roles simply swap over.

Can you see how these are the pros of the model?

As ever, there are no guarantees. The product launches need to be done effectively. You need to be able to send traffic that buys. You need to build up your own recognition with the other marketers already on this launch merry-go-round. If you don’t have any of those in place, you won’t make any money.

So, while the potential for profit is clear, don’t get sucked into the idea that it’s guaranteed – it isn’t, it can’t be, and anyone saying otherwise should be treated with a huge red flag.

Having said that, hopefully you can see the clear pros of this model. Lots of launches, lots of sales for both creators and affiliates. You can tap into these pros either as just an affiliate, or just a creator, or as both.

No downside, right? With all those pros, where are the cons I talked about?
Well, apart from the fact that none of the sales can ever be guaranteed as I’ve mentioned, it’s not all rainbows and sequins. There are definitely pros of the model as I’ve covered her, but there are also most definitely some downsides.

I’ve experienced these too, so in the next part of this 2 part article, I’ll be looking at those downsides of the product launch merry-go-round.

Ok, as ever I’d love to hear what you think!

‘Til next time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.P.S. Here’s part 2 of the Product Launch Merry-go-Round, looking at the downsides of the model!
P.S. If you’d like to find out more about turning your passions into profits, do watch my free video series covering the basics of my Passion Profits system

Do leave a comment!

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2 Comments

  • Hey there Gordon great post. I have been on the so called Product Launch Merry go round for a while now and have had some success. One thing you do need to mention is that you need to also be getting fresh leads from other methods as well. One of my lists was becoming very saturated as I was promoting fairly heavily and I found that the response rate was falling. I started to tag my emails as promos and info and I found that my open rates increased dramatically. Giving value is an important aspect of marketing and hammering my list with constant promos diminished that value somewhat so a balance needs to be found.
    Thanks for the post I will read part 2 now
    Jenelle

    • Hi Jenelle,
      Yes, the churn and burn is a big problem in my view, when it comes to how the actual customer is being treated.
      So, you put in your email subject whether it is info or a promo? Interesting, and sounds a good idea 😉
      Cheers,
      Gordon