Recently at a family dinner I heard ‘V’ (my wife) raving about how much she loves her pillow (I don’t know how that came up). Since she bought us new pillows (Denton pillows) she says she’s not had a bad night’s sleep.
I chuckled to myself as I heard her as it’s a conversation I’ve been hearing a lot lately – V’s become an evangelist for Denton pillows.
I joked on the way home from dinner to V that my whole family would be sleeping on Denton pillows by the end of the month.
The next afternoon my phone rang and it was my brother in-law. He and my sister were out shopping and wanted to know the name of the pillow.
Converted!
As I thought about my wife’s persuasive powers it struck me that she’d be great at affiliate marketing.
Here’s some of the characteristics that she possesses that I think bloggers wanting to generate income from affiliate products need to have:
- she’s a connector – Malcolm Gladwell talks about ‘connectors’ in Tipping Point as people who have wide social circles. The amount of people that V connects with on a daily basis makes me (a real introvert) want to curl up in the fetal position and rock backwards and forwards. Sure I have a lot of people read my blogs – but she’s at her best when she’s surrounded by people in real life and has an incredible ability to connect with each person as though they’re the only one in her life. This ability to connect with many people and to still give them individual attention is a great skill to have an a strong one if you’re a marketer.
- she tries lots of stuff – V isn’t one to hold back on trying new things. She’s always experimenting with new recipes, products, movies, places, restaurants etc. I think there’s something about trying something new that she finds quite energizing. This is why she’s an endless supply of knowledge on things to try – because she’s done them all. This sets her up as an expert in many things (another great attribute of internet marketers).
- she’s the type of person people seek out for advice – as a result of being well connected and trying lots of things out – she has a constant stream of people coming to her advice (on all facets of life). I think this is a key to internet marketing. If you can become the type of person that people seek out for advice instead of someone that has to push advice upon others – you’re already one step ahead of the field.
- she’s enthusiastic/positive – V has a wonderful way of putting a positive spin on life. While she’s not afraid to tell it like it is if something isn’t right (see below) she’s incredibly enthusiastic when things are right – and not in a false or cringe inducing way. I think a lot of internet marketers could learn a thing or two from this. Instead of bombarding their potential clients with tonnes of hyped up emails raving about a product – one single, genuinely positive review could have a big impact.
- she’s an evangelist – V can’t help herself – when she finds something that she loves (and she does only ever love or hate things – perhaps another characteristic worth mentioning) she tells everyone about it. This was the key last week with my family – she loves those pillows – so her natural first reaction was to share it. I emphasize ‘natural’ because I think this is something that some internet marketers miss out on. This last week I’ve been hit by one such marketer with at least 15 emails promoting his new product. The emails are all very excited – but every time I get one I get the sense that the excitement is more about the money he’s making and less about the product he’s selling.
- she’s brutally honest about the things she doesn’t like – many people will tell you about what they love – but they keep their mouths shut about what they don’t like for fear of offending. V’s not like this. If she tries something and doesn’t like it she’s as likely to tell people about that as she is likely to talk about what she loves. I think this makes her all the more credible as an evangelist. Again – this is something that I see missing in some internet marketers. The only thing you ever hear them talk about is the things they’re promoting (and making money off). While this appeals to some – my suspicion is that many tire of it.
Now I just need to get V to start blogging!
My wife is exactly the same! I’ve just set her up with a Ballroom Dancing blog to try and convert some of her enthusiasm into dollars, fingers crossed.
Nice one, my wife helps my with product reviews as well.
Hey, what do ya know…. you could eventually have a family blogging business running!!
Great tips there Darren, I’m sure that your wife will/would have been flattered after she read this!
Probloggeress or Mrs.Problogger would be a great domain name
aaaaaawwwwwww…that is a nice post. My hubby would never let me write about him like that…especially show his picture…he is an eye roller when it comes to blogging. But hopefully she will love it as much as all your readers will.
So what keeps V from blogging? I bet she’d have a lot of readers. I know I’ve been trying to get the hubby to do it for years but he still resists. I figure with him being so opinionated he’d get lots of responses both good and bad.
Very good article!
I am sure that she will be very good and creative in blogging, but maybe because she loves to try new things and you are blogging for a while now maybe she will find something new and exciting to try. So – she may lead you to some new creative ideas heading to web 3.0 :)
Nice post! I’ve had similar thoughts about friends and family members, but often feel a bit like a geek when I suggest that they should blog.
“so her natural first reaction was to share it.” – That’s definitely a quality that both good bloggers and good marketers share.
Too bad offline products don’t have a way to track referals..
I thought she is a blogger already.What does she do?
Good luck. I put together a blog for my wife several months ago and, while she has several readers from her friends and has picked up a few from people who have found her online, blogging is not something she wants to do. Her blog is Quilts….etc..
Good post, but is there a post in here that lists or makes recommendations to what kinds of products are good as affiliates or maybe how to find affiliate deals?
Well Darren, then you two have a great combination together.
You are a great blogger and your wife a great internet marketer.
Could there be a more greater combination?
Darren – V sounds like everybody’s dream customer.
Don’t forget to tell her I sell some great bed and bath stuff on our plumbing site!
Darren, since you refer to her as “V” to protect her privacy, I’m assuming you used someone else’s picture in the wife banner. I hope that doesn’t cause any friction! (Ha ha.)
I second the nomination to get V blogging! We need more smart and talented eMoms in the blogosphere! ;)
This is a cute post and one to pay attention to. I think everyone of your wife’s characteristics that would make her a good internet marketer are worthy of imitation.
Here’a my challenge: I’ve been at this whole blogging thing for a little less then 2 weeks now. I want to connect to other bloggers, but am usually stuck tweaking my blog (doing technical stuff) to make sure that people who do visit get the best experience. I’m constantly seeing how I can lay it out better or differently. By the time I’m done, I’m usually tired and don’t feel like connecting with others.
So, If “V” were to decide to start blogging tomorrow, what would be your (or anyone’s) advice to her so that she doesn’t go through the “burn out” that I’m starting to feel?
Would you recommend that she gets someone else to do the technical stuff so that she can focus on enjoying blogging and connecting to others?
Is there a period of time that new bloggers should expect to spend perfecting their blogs before they can expect to actually enjoy blogging and connecting? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.
Darren,
LOL. love the post. Won some wife points there :)
@Spice.
No ‘V’ is his wifes nickname, and yes that is her in the picture. She is lovely, I’ve met her.
My wife is x’y and loves Victoria Secret, i told her she could write something about damn underware lol. She is kind of same as yours Darren. I mean essentially all woman are like that. Some more some not. They “females” are more open to woman likes dislikes then to man.
In other words they will do anything to get that ninja in your brain and slowly cut your nerves until you explode.
Hi Darren:
Lucky is the man, who has a wife, that will support him in the things he loves to do (besides sex). My ex-wife would NOT support me in what I wanted to do in life. I was a handwriting analyst, she was not interested. I loved to buy old houses and renovate them (did 10) and she would not help.
I planted gardens and she did nothing to help me. She never so much as mowed the lawn.
I was big on a healthy diet and she was not interested. I loved to study religions and she couldn’t care less. I was very interested in all types of investments and that stuff bored her. I was strict with our four kids because it is a bad world out there, and she was much to liberal.
What did she love to do, and did, with almost all of her spare time, during our 30 years marriage? She read novels, one after the other.
V seems to be very likeable, lucky man.
Don’t worry, I’m very happy with my girlfriend ;-)
you did win a couple more cool points from me Darren
:) I love that you linked “V” into a posting especially in such a loving way
that and I had to laugh because I relate – I am the type of person to pitch the best marketing for products and services I love!
honest – if you saw a little surge in ProBlogger since I got here – yes. that was me lol
and yeah.. I agree with an above poster – too bad theres no way offline products could be tracked by “affiliate”
Apple, Bally’s, Maggy Moo’s Icecream..
….
I’ll stop here lol :)
Such a sweet post! I thought you were going to tell us she was persistent. (I’m sure you’re much to gallant to use the term “nag.”)
I with you in appreciating natural reaction and delivery Darren…
Richie *cough* Rich *cough* is just getting so damn rich these days. :)
Does your kid blog yet?
Nice words on V…
Love the post. I took a marketing class last semester that included The Tipping Point as required reading. Your wife sounds like she is definitely a connector.
I’ve bookmarked a site already where we’ll likely be buying a couple of these pillows.
Thanks for the tips.
Is she for hire? ;)
I think that might just be why companies are searching out moms and women for all those reasons to market too. We have a tendency to be so viral.
It sounds like your wife and I would be good friends!
Good job V, others are interested in good products, yet many of us are reluctant to try new products unlesss we are validated by a friend.
http://www.24hourapartments.com
http://www.roommatesville.com
Is she Aries? All the best to you and your family.
Great post. What does she do for a living now? ;)
You know, I feel like I’m looking at myself when you describe your wife. I’m exactly like her. Somehow, people keep asking me for information or advice. Even on some things I have never even heard of. I don’t know where they got this idea that I know about everything. It’s actually quite flattering, actually.
Hmmm.. maybe I should make it a point to know about everything. Well, maybe not everything. :)
I agree with Natasha. I wish I had more that character in my own personality.
I have an American friend, and he’s like that. I try to imitate his enthusiasm.
That’s one of my goals for this year – to get my wife blogging. She has lots of things that she is passionate about and I think once she gets hooked, she’ll do well. Of course, I can show her a thing or two about monetizing it :-)
Darren,
after reading this post, now i know you’re married.
i though you’re single guy.
in Malaysia, there are not many married guy that is still blogging. they don’t know blogging can really make money.
thats why they keep their day job and quit blogging.
for me, blog is a life; and life is a blog. that’s why i’m still blogging for about a years now.
thanks for inspire me.
p/s: i’m still bachelor. ;)