I want to cover an aspect of affiliate marketing that is very important if you want to have a profitable business. In a perfect world, you should buy every product that you have an interest in promoting so you can see if it is something that will provide value to the people you recommend it to. Unfortunately, that can add up to a lot of cash up front, especially if you’re entering several markets or testing out new ones.

You don’t have to buy the product to see if it’s any good. Still, there are two important steps I recommend that you take before you take the time to create a marketing campaign for an affiliate product.

1. The first thing you can do is to do a search for reviews of the product you have in mind. Enter “product name review” and start visiting the sites that come up. A lot of these sites are going to be other affiliates that are promoting the product. Some of these sites will be pretty basic and just a pitch for the product. Other sites will be really good, and worthy of taking notes. Again, don’t copy, but learn from what they do and use this information to create your promotions.

Another thing that you should look for are forums that come up in the search engine results. Here is where you can see what people who have actually purchased the product think of it. This is pure gold! If the product is good, and the customers are happy, you’ll be able to read why they like the product. You can take notes and use these notes to craft your promotion. It is also a good indicator that the product will sell well. If there are a lot of complaints, remove this product from your list and move on to the next one.

2. Go and read the sales page for each product that you are considering. I mean really read it, word for word. Does the sales message draw you in? Are the testimonials well written and convincing? Does the sales letter do a good job of selling the product with bullet points and benefits for the reader?

This is so important because if you’re going to spend the time and/or money to promote a product, you want to presell the reader and let the sales page get the visitor to click on the order link and buy. If the sales page is full of typos, has bad graphics, or is just a poor excuse for a sales letter, don’t waste your time.

The good news is that there are so many products out there for you to promote that you don’t have to settle for any of them. Don’t just look at how much you’ll make for each sale. That won’t do you much good if the product has a lot of refunds and complaints, or if the sales page is not good at converting visitors into buyers.

Marlon Sanders Free video shows you how to promote anything in 3 easy steps. Click here for free access.