Pre-empting the Buyer: How to Increase Affiliate Conversions and Advertising Sales

I recently signed up as an affiliate for Aaron Wall’s SEO Book (aff) and took a good look at the salesletter, which was apparently rewrote by Brian Clark late last year. The copy for the new sales letter was well done and I think the main improvement was the reduction in its length as well as the strategic insertions of recommendations from notable personalities like Seth Godin and Wharton Professor J Michael Steel.
A more subtle but equally powerful change was moving the specific call to query or feedback all the way down to the bottom of the page. Here’s a side by side comparison of the old (left) and new (right) sales letter.

The old newsletter puts a list of additional recommendations and reviews below the call to query and potential buyers who are as yet undecided might be swayed to click on them instead of the designated query link.
This is a bad move because these links point to reviews or webpages that may not be effective in taking advantage of the buyer’s interest in SEO Book. It also assumes that the buyer requires more detailed information or sales pitches when this might not be the case all the time.
On the other hand, the new sales letter removes all the external links and leaves the call to query right at the bottom. This is more professional and gives the effect that all information has been duly presented and laid out before the buyer.
Having had the impression of perusing all there is to know about the SEOBook, the buyer will be persuaded that clicking on the link is the final option available.
Here is a screenshot of what shows up when you click on the “if you aren’t ready to buy, click here” link:

Collecting feedback from your potential buyers or advertisers is a tremendously important process because it allows you to customize your product price or ad offering to suit their needs.
Implementing the Call-to-Query on your own Blog or Affiliate Landing Page
Here are two very quick and simple steps you can undertake in order to increase the likelihood of affiliate conversions and advertiser signups

1. Create a short one-liner that pre-empts the potential customer by suggesting that they are still indecisive about buying a product or committing to an arrangement. Include this at the bottom of your sales page or Advertising options page on your blog.
2. Develop a customized feedback page and point the link in the one-liner to it. For bloggers, I would suggest creating another Contact page with a customized message for advertisers. Something like Aaron’s feedback box would be ideal.

And you’re all set. Potential customers and advertisers can be rather hesitant when it comes to spending money and this little trick allows them to directly communicate all concerns they might have with you one-on-one.
This feedback loop also allows you to enter into a two-way negotiation process which ultimately gives you more willing and long-term buyers or advertisers.