Promoting Intangibles, part 2
Part 2 of an ongoing series
click for part 1
Hey WA friends
I decided to create an ongoing series called “Promoting Intangibles.” Intangible products are the opposite of tangibles ones! This niche involves quality of life education, coaching, consulting, spiritual teaching, among other things. And those who are in this niche are immediately at a loss as to how to promote it through affiliate marketing. Maybe this ongoing series can bring clarity to our pursuits.
Now this is not to make light of the challenges of affiliate marketers who deal with tangible products, but ours is the unique challenge of promoting something that cannot be bottled up and shipped somewhere.
So, I first began to notice the unique challenges about a month into the process and decided to write about it. That blog was called “Funding your work.” At that time, I thought it was going to be a one time post. But now I have come to realize that this is going to be an ongoing discussion simply because the definitive strategy has not yet be formulated. And maybe it never will be.
So, I decided to create a series of blog conversations. And to start this, I had to go back and rename the original post from “Funding your work” to “Promoting Intangibles” in hopes that it will create a broader network and discussion.
So, the original post is now called “Promoting Intangibles, part 1.” (click for part 1) And in that post, I introduced funding (donation) ideas apart from affiliate links.
In part 1: click for part 1
The proposal was that outside funding from individuals and organizations was a realistic way of generating income. But reading that might have given the impression that affiliate links were not going to work. And so, I felt the need to do a part 2.
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THIS IS NOW, PART 2
And here, I want to list other ways of generating income to keep your work going.
1. Affiliate links:
Affiliate marketing will involve affiliate links. I don’t want to give the impression that working with intangibles automatically eliminates affiliate work. That’s not true. The links will be about education products. For example, if you are teaching a spiritual lesson, you can promote an affiliate book that is relevant to that teaching. And in this sense, it is classic affiliate marketing and involves strategic and relevant placement. And so, education products, consulting and training products, audios, videos – these are all fair game. The downside is that the commission might be very low. And it might be extremely difficult to sustain this endeavor. And this stark reality hit me pretty hard in the beginning. I could sell a whole bunch of books and make enough to buy a cup of coffee! And so, I'm an Amazon Associate, but honestly, I am not excited about it.
2. Services: Counseling, Consulting and Training
Your main product is education and quality of life. And education naturally extends itself into services such as counseling, consulting, and training. This service can be provided in person or via skype or another way. Over the past 30 years, I have spent countless hours doing this type of work. And the rewards are a thousand times greater here in terms of spiritual blessings to you and the people served and the remuneration that follows.
Post your comments and experiences and how you are going about promoting your intangibles.
Having discussion here will benefit all of us trying to figure this out
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Ha..ha... intangible products ... I was selling intangible products several years ago, guess what is it, lol. :)
I was a financial advisor for more than 10 years before I came to help my hubby's business, lol. ;)
This is a great ongoing dialogue! Will have to chat more later though, lol. I have work to be done!:)
yes, I would welcome your insights as you are also doing some work with intangibles, right?
That is for certain! Last night I kept waking up and each time I awoke my last dream was answering emails,lol. Because I had just done that before going to bed!:)
No, I am just wrapping up emails and then going to work some on a review I am trying to complete. Besides I still have beans waiting to be cooked for refried beans, lol.
Reminds me of a Keith Green song lyric: "...like a moth to a flame whenever I hear Your Name."
Oh I like Keith Green! Would you mind taking a look at my post from tonight so you could lift Brandy in prayer, she is going through a difficult time!
Pastor Tae, I believe you are truly a God send sir. I just read both your articles in this ongoing series, and I had a revelation that we share something in common (other than our Christian faith) regarding our classification of niche.
I am going to need to find some type of "tip" or donation widget(s) as well. Like yourself, the majority of products I might sell would be low priced books, which would not yield much commission. There are a few other merchants, but many have more of a trend program, which is inconsistent.
My niche represents a paradigm shift in the national and international ecosystem. It is more about an economic idea whose time has come, and my desire to evangelize and recruit the masses into acceptance and participation.
I share the activities of educating and training, just as you do in your niche. I suppose I am offering an educational service to the masses of the uninformed public.Nevertheless, I can't see myself just writing blogs, and never really have the opportunity to make money.
Of course, if I and others involved in my crusade are successful in awakening the masses, the financial rewards will follow. This will be a result of the increased price and value of this monetary system and developing applications of the technological protocols.
Pastor Tae, I would appreciate any mentoring and other device I could glean from you. I am in the exact same affiliate marketing path you are on.
David, this is great to know that we are walking the same path. We need to stay connected. I really felt compelled to write that blog today as I trying to figure this out. Let's keep writing to each other and sharpen each other. Thank you so much. I read your blog about intangibles. Keep it up.
Very interesting. I use to do some coaching/counseling online and over the phone. A lot of visitors for info and free downloads. Many getting first session free but always had to work in order to get monetization.
Yes, this is the nature of the work. Like any service industry, there has to be a proactive approach. I've been counseling for almost 30 years and I have to admit that I often just waited for people to ask for counseling. There has to be more than just waiting. And in the early years, I was passive about the remuneration and often ended up not getting anything. In the past 10 years, I've implemented some administrative strategies that have fixed that. I hope to articulate some of that later. I welcome your insights into this. Thanks
Awesome series Tae, really like the name "Promoting Intangibles" thought it was pretty catchy. Anyways I don't really think that it is Germane to what I really want to do, but I do want to start a site where I am providing services, then sure I will definitely use this series as a reference, it has some pretty detailed info that I find helpful. Thanks for the info Tae, thought it was really great, will probably help others that it does pertain to :)
yeah, you're part of the majority which has concrete products. And that's great. And I appreciate the kind words. Just trying to figure this out since the training here at WA is more focused on tangible products.
It really is, intangible products are kind of hard to put a price on. Good luck with this though, I'm sure others will have productive comments to add to the post :)
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I really liked reading this Pastor.
Myself,I have worked in the health and safety human resources field for over 16 years. I am a charismatic positive person that can take a snapshot of most workplaces and determine the weakness through-out the entire system from the top down. I would like to be able to market and sell my services to employers around the world. My ultimate goal (cause everyone needs and ultimate goal) is to have my own TV show kinda like Undercover Boss or Bar Rescue. Maybe The Boss Whisperer!
Thanks for your insight and I have a better idea of how I can market myself.
Awesome. We need high level consultants like you