Katya [not her real name] is a prospective new client of The Voice Bureau.

During our exploratory phone conversation the other day, I asked her if she’d considered adding affiliate marketing to her lifestyle brand’s site, since she already has a nicely built-out resources page sharing her favorite picks from perfume to bedside table reading to organic cotton t-shirts. “No,” she told me. “I’d considered it, but my web guy won’t have anything to do with it. He told me he doesn’t believe in affiliate marketing. He doesn’t like that stuff.”

It’s time to take another look at affiliate marketing as a viable income stream for integrity-filled, values-based microbusinesses who market on the web.

First, what is affiliate marketing?

In brief, affiliate marketing is an agreement to promote the work of another business in exchange for a commission when a customer purchases the offer through your ‘affiliate link.’ The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires affiliate sellers to clearly disclose each and every time they’re sharing an affiliate link, so that the buyer is aware the seller is receiving income from the sale. This is why you’ll usually see people sharing an affiliate link on social media with the word ‘aff’ following it.

In this corner of the online business webiverse, affiliate commissions are generally 30-50% of the product sold. The creator of the offer sets the percentage according to what he or she feels is fair.

Affiliate marketing is one of The Voice Bureau’s ongoing income streams, albeit a modest one in comparison to our service-based revenue.

The same was true pre-Voice Bureau, when I was a freelancer doing business as Abby Kerr Ink.

Since Fall of 2012 alone, The Voice Bureau has endorsed a video-making course from Monica McCarthy at Show & Tell Stories, Paul Jarvis’ digital book Be Awesome at Online Business, a high level mentorship for writers called Your Captivating Book from Jeffrey Davis, and an intensive coaching program for women called Playing Big from Tara Mohr. (Note: none of these are affiliate links, though there are affiliate links in the posts they link to.)

I also frequently promote other creative professionals’ work just because it’s great stuff, with no thank-you monies on the line at all. Sharing other people’s good stuff — no strings attached — is part of doing business in the community of values-based business owners.

Now, it’s important to note that affiliate marketing is a complete business model for some people. Some people set up sites specifically designed to drive traffic to an offer that they’re an affiliate for. Businesses like this don’t create their own products or services, they just hype other people’s. This brand of affiliate marketing understandably gets a bad rap; we mentally associate it with sales pages with cheesy graphics and lots of yellow highlighter. Also, videos in which people gesticulate wildly and use lots of hyberbole (“Within 6 months, you can tell your boss to SHOVE IT and join me on the beach in Bali!”).

Obviously, this is NOT the kind of affiliate marketing I’d advise any client or colleague of mine to get involved in. This isn’t values-based marketing, it’s marketing done with the intent to drive traffic toward cashola, regardless of whether the seller believes in the product or not.

But affiliate marketing can be done with integrity. Here’s my rationale behind affiliate marketing as a small, solo-owned business:

Here are 6 questions you can ask yourself when evaluating whether an affiliate marketing opportunity is right for your business and brand:

Here are 3 things affiliate marketing is NOT:

1. A substitute for a thoughtful business solution of your own, at least not here in the values-based microbusiness community. It’s hard to get behind the value of someone else’s offer when you haven’t any practice making offers of your own.
2. A 100% guaranteed-for-all-time character reference for the offer creator. You can’t control other people’s behavior in business or in their personal lives. You can do your due diligence and vet the offer to the best of your ability.
3. A popularity contest. We see Big Name Brand affiliate pushes every year (i.e. “Buy Such-and-Such Program through MY affiliate link and I’ll also throw in A, B, C, D, E, F, and G!”) and we sometimes grow weary of them. If you are an affiliate for someone else’s offer, or if you’re going to be inviting people to be affiliates for your offer, be very aware of the campaign’s tone and style. Does it resonate with you as clean and in-integrity?

Considering that I’m currently an affiliate for Tara Mohr’s Playing Big, I reached out to her before writing this post to let her know what I had in mind.

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This is the 3rd piece in a 3-post series on the ABCs of Voice Values, featuring H-P.

Today we wrap up our alphabetical run-down of what your Voice Values can teach you about designing a brand your Right People will love, and a business they’ll love to buy from.

‘Q’ is for Qualifiers

Specifically, Right People Qualifiers. What makes someone a well-qualified client for you? Ideal client characteristics differ from brand to brand, and fascinatingly, only sometimes and partly have to do with “the type of person I (as brand creator) would like to hang out with.” Right People Qualifiers have more to do with who, specifically, in your “target demographic” needs the solution you provide AND wants to buy it from you.

‘R’ is for Relationships

What nature of relationship feels comfortable to you to have with your readers, your prospects, and your clients/buyers? You’re already naturally wired to want a certain type of professional relationship. For some values-based business brand creators, professional relationships look and feel much like friendships, while other brand creators prefer a more traditional, “inside the lines” rapport style. Your Voice Values can shed light on why you’re best-suited to certain relationship styles with your audience, and why your audience is drawn to you because of it.

‘S’ is for Sustainable Systems

The bottom line is, every business needs systems in order to thrive. And the systems that work are the ones you’ll use. And the systems you’ll use are the ones that serve you in working with your Voice Values (not against them). For instance, a person with a high Enthusiasm value might feel completely energized with a wall-size graphic calendar in front of her at her desk, covered with Post-It notes and inspirational graphics. A Clarity or Accuracy value, on the other hand, would be overwhelmed by such a visual array and would prefer something much more streamlined.

‘T’ is for Timing

In business (especially when it comes to selling), timing is everything. Okay, it’s not everything, but timing is really important. It’s why publishing an important blog post on a Friday is rarely as effective (in terms of clickthroughs and shares) as publishing on a Monday through Thursday. Understanding advantageous timing is about understanding your Right People’s lived realities (see ‘L’ in this post). What’s their lifetime cycle of interest in the products and services you offer? When during the year, or during a particular quarter, are they “open to buy” as opposed to blind to new opportunities?

‘U’ is for USP (Unique Selling Position)

USP may be one of the unsexiest terms in the business lexicon, but it’s quite possibly the sexiest concept. Your USP is your differentiator, the thing that sets you apart from every other business that offers something like what you do. If a peer or a competitor can claim this “thing,” too, it’s not really a USP. At The Voice Bureau, we believe that strong USPs arise largely from understanding your Right Person in an intimate way, and creating an offer specifically for him or her. Your Voice Values help point you toward what your differentiator might be in the eyes of the people attracted to what you’ve got.

‘V’ is for Value Proposition

At The Voice Bureau, we call it Brand Proposition, to remind you where the value gets expressed (through your brand and its entire suite of signals). Your Value Proposition (Brand Proposition) is a clear statement of who you serve, what value you offer, and how you do it. Unlike your USP, your peers and competitors might very well have the same Value Prop/Brand Prop as you. Your Voice Values help you express your Value Prop/Brand Prop in a way that your Right People will resonate with.

‘W’ is for Work-Life Balance

Ideal work-life balance is particular to every individual brand creator. Some of us happily work 70 hours a week on our businesses, while others are madly productive (and fulfilled) in 30. Also, some of us see our businesses as an extension of ourselves, a place to explore personal and professional development simultaneously, whereas others of us like to keep a boundary firmly in place between our two worlds. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ approach — just what works for you. Your Voice Values can help you understand yourself and your work-life proclivities in a deeper way.

‘X’ is for Xylophone

Just kidding. X is always for xylophone, is it not? That or X-ray. ;)

‘Y’ is for You

One of the neatest things about being a values-based microbusiness brand creator is that YOU get to step into whatever role in your business you create for yourself. The possibilities for who you can be and the potential for what you can do are limitless. How will you define your own role within your business? Your Voice Values can help you make decisions about what showing up in your business naturally and powerfully means for you.

‘Z’ is for Zoning

I’m not talking literal zoning — the division of a city into townships, school districts, commercial zones, residential zones, etc. I’m talking ‘zoning’ as far as ‘zone of genius.’ What’s on the table and off the table in your brand conversation? If you’re a web designer, do you blog, tweet, and Facebook about web design and interior design and fashion? Web design only? Do you address copywriting and content strategy, too? If you’re a birth coach, do you talk about the transition to parenthood once the mother has given birth? Or do you provide care (and content) only up through delivery? Zoning your conversation is key to staying on-topic and in-genius, and your Voice Values play a role in understanding just how “big” of a conversation your Right People want to hold.

ANNOUNCEMENT:

As I shared in the last post, I’m working on Voice Values Profiles for an April 2013 debut. These beautifully designed digital dossiers will explore and explain how your natural, innate Voice Values work to serve your Right People and help you sell more of your products and services. There will be a pre-sale in March 2013 with a one-time-only-and-ever discount. And it will be generous. To hear about this announcement (which will not be made publicly), sign up for Insider Stuff below with your best email address.

In the comments, I’d love to know:

What are you most curious about from the list above?  (If you say xylophones, I’ve got nothin’.) ;)

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This is the 2nd piece in a 3-post series on the ABCs of Voice Values, featuring H-P.

What can your Voice Values teach you about your business brand beyond just how your brand sounds? Today we’re in the middle of the alphabet.

‘H’ is for Handbook

When you’ve grown your business to the point where you need a small team to help you run things, it’s time for an Organizational Handbook –  a guide to the principles and protocol that establish the tone of the brand conversation and norms of doing business. As you might’ve guessed, a brand with a high Audacity value is a different animal than a brand with a high Intimacy value, and the norms will reflect that.

‘I’ is for Insider Status

Every brand has an ‘insider’ component to it. As brand creators, we can design special opportunities for the innermost circle — or uppermost tier, if you prefer to think of it that way — of readers, subscribers, clients, etc. (those who are most highly engaged). How different would the insider communications of a brand with a high Transparency value be from that of a brand with a high Power value?

‘J’ is for Joint Ventures

When brands high in certain Voice Values get together with brands high in other Voice Values — it’s a beautiful, compelling thing that makes good intuitive sense to all who see it. But there are certain Voice Values that should never intentionally mix (at least not in a joint venture or collaborative project). Can you guess which Voice Values would be complementary to your own, and which would be anything but?

‘K’ is for KISS Principle

You know the KISS Principle: Keep It Simple, Not-Very-Nice-Word. While simplicity aids clarity and clarity is something most brands could use an extra helping of, ‘simple’ looks different from brand to brand. A brand with a high Depth value will render clarity differently than will a brand with a high Playfulness value.

‘L’ is for Lived Realities

Do you grok life as your Right Person knows it? Is your Most Likely To Buy Person more than a thumbnail sketch to you, more than a creative writing exercise, more than a theoretical proposition? Successful business brands marinate themselves in the lived realities of their Right Person’s experience — past, present, and future — so as to understand what will connect with her and why, and what will miss the boat. (This is what we help our clients do in Empathy Marketing.)

‘M’ is for Market-ing

While there are best practices in marketing that we highly encourage you to learn about, market-ing is a highly specific process. It’s about preparing your offers for the marketplace where your Right Person will encounter and receive them. It’s an intimate and exciting endeavor, and market-ing looks different from one Voice Value to the next.

‘N’ is for Needs

Needs. We’ve all got ‘em, including your Right Person. Just what are his needs in the context of what you provide? Understanding your Right Person’s core needs on a deep level is the beginning of crafting an offer he would love to buy from you. Moreoever, understanding the needs that draw him to you because of your Voice Values can provide many clues as to what he wants to buy. People drawn to a high Legacy value need something quite different than people drawn to a high Innovation value.

‘O’ is for Oversights

We’ve all got blind spots, and so do the brands we lead. That’s okay to some degree, because as brand creators, we aren’t here to speak to all people’s needs — just our Right Person’s. But in the context of our Voice Values, it’s easy to go so far in one direction that we stop seeing the forest for the trees. Learning more about your Voice Values can sensitize you to where your own blind spots may be in relationship to your Right People.

‘P is for Packages

What suite of solutions or services does your Right Person want to buy from you in a single transaction? What’s the core offer and the complementary features she’ll be looking for? Your Voice Values hold some clues. Someone buying from a high Excellence brand is looking for a different sort of package than someone buying from a high Community brand.

I’m currently in the creation process for Voice Values Profiles. These beautifully designed digital dossiers will explore and explain how your natural, innate Voice Values work to serve your Right People and help you sell more of your products and services. There will be a pre-sale with a one-time-only-and-ever discount. To get on the list for this announcement (which will not be made publicly), sign up below with your best email address.

In the next post, I’ll introduce ‘Q’+.

In the comments, I’d love to know:

What are you most curious about from this list above? What are you already noticing about how your Voice Values inform your business and your branding?

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I remember, in kindergarten, when I learned how to read. It felt like the whole world cracked open for me.

Suddenly, I was privy to all kinds of knowledge, insights, and ideas that had previously been hidden away — in plain sight. This world of insights was available to me (and to every other reader), but I didn’t yet have the ‘eyes’ to see it or the ‘ears’ to hear it.

Until I did.

That’s sort of how I think about branding, too. Learning to ‘read’ your own Right People (even before you’ve had one as a client!) — and learning to read your own natural voice for cues as to what those would-be eager buyers are looking for — is the key to cracking your whole gorgeous brand wiiiiiiide open.

This three-part post on the ABCs of Voice Values is a celebration of that eager-to-learn spirit which I know The Voice Bureau’s Right People have. When I shared the above photo of my soon-to-be-six-year-old niece, Lexi, on Twitter yesterday, Crystal Williams from Big Bright Bulb said, “So that’s what unquenchable glee looks like!” Oh, that Lexi’s got a high Enthusiasm value for sure.

So I’m presenting the ABCs of Voice Values, in a 3-post series. (This is Part 1, featuring items A-G.) 26 things your brand voice can teach you about connecting with your Right People readers and buyers, and ultimately making more sales.

When I designed the Voice Values paradigm for branding — the basis of all the creative work we do for clients here at The Voice Bureau — I knew that I was designing something that could take people further than “this is what I sound like when I write.” It was important to me to give people a stable foundation in building a brand conversation and a content strategy that was highly specific to their Right People, the people who’d be attracted to them for the solution they provide.

Need to figure out your top Voice Values? Subscribe with your best email address in the top righthand corner of our site for access to our complimentary self-assessment, Discover Your Voice Values.

Beyond just increasing your “know, like, and trust” factor, the Voice Values approach is really about observing your Right People’s lived realities (more on those in the next post) and meeting their core needs through a solution only you can develop for them.

In sharing the Voice Values paradigm with almost 1,700 e-letter subscribers over the past few months, I’ve noticed just how wide-reaching are the insights people glean from learning more about they communicate most naturally and powerfully.

Here’s a round-up of business and brand-building topics you’ll get insight on by learning more about your Voice Values:

‘A’ is for Acquisition

Specifically, customer acquisition. In other words, how do you get a new customer? What are the techniques you use? What’s the process? Where do you have to show up to do it? While a brand with a high Community value might lean heavily on “extreme social proof” (think Marie Forleo’s beautiful testimonial site for B-School, featuring video testimonials and written interviews with past grads) to help acquire new customers, a brand with a high Intimacy value may prefer to invite prospects into a narrow corridor of straight-to-their-Inbox missives (what’s sometimes called “closed door selling”).

‘B’ is for Business Model

Do you feel called to serve many different people in varied ways, and you like the flexibility of being able to change your mind quickly? If so, you may have a high Enthusiasm value. If that’s true, what could this tell you about a business model you would enjoy (that could also become profitable quickly)? If sheer numbers of clients don’t matter to you, but you like the sound of deliberate, carefully scripted engagements that provide a high quality result? You probably have a high Excellence value. So what kind of business model would this preference lend itself to?

‘C’ is for Content Strategy

Every online brand needs content. Content are the materials (written, drawn, audio, video, or something else) you create and/or share on a regular schedule to help people engage with your brand and your message. All content shared should serve a purpose. But what purpose is that? Depending on your Right People’s needs and your Voice Values, your best-bet content strategy is going to look a lot different from the next guy’s.

‘D’ is for Design

Likewise, visual brand identity — web design and other collateral — is a negotiation between reflecting back to your Right People one or two Voice Values they share with you, and letting the Voice Values they don’t share with you play counterpoint. (Your people are drawn to you, in part, because they sense they can grow or expand in some way when they interact with your brand.) A web design for a brand with high Love and Playfulness values is going to look completely different than a design for a brand with high Audacity and Depth values.

‘E’ is for Experience

As a brand creator, you have the opportunity to design an experience for your Right People. Brand experience happens multifactorily, on many levels. It’s created through your site design, your copy, your color palette, even the way you’re addressing the camera (or not) in your headshots. It’s in the way you show up on social media platforms (or don’t). It’s in the rhythm of your e-newsletter sends. It’s in the tone and style of your sales pages. Brand experience also happens off of your site — like when you’re networking at a live event. And, you guessed it: every Voice Value suggests an entire universe of experience for your Right People — the universe they’ll be drawn to.

‘F’ is for Follow-Up Touches

Your Right People want a certain frequency and style of interaction from you after they’ve opted in, purchased, or publicly tweeted you. As a brand creator, you get to decide what that frequency and style is. But if you lead with a high Power value, you’ll want to finesse these follow-up touches in a different way than you would had you a high Helpfulness value — because your Right People are wanting that from you.

‘G’ is for Genesis Story

“In the beginning, there was . . .”People love a good origin story, especially the origin story of their favorite brand. How did you, as the brand creator, get the great idea that sparked your business? How’d you earn your credibility? The way you frame your founder’s experience rests largely on the Voice Values you’re leading with. Did you get fired from your comfy day job with the Cadillac of benefits packages? Did you get a divorce and suddenly need quick income you could earn from home? If you’ve got a high Innovation value, you’ll tell your story in a different way than you would had you a high Transparency value.

In the next post, I’ll introduce ‘H’+.

In the comments, I’d love to hear:

What are you already noticing about your Right People and what works for them from getting more familiar with your Voice Values? Do you have an example to share from the A-G list above? Or what are you hoping to get a better sense of?

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