What Do Girl Scout Cookies & Affiliate Marketing Have In Common?
This is the first year I let Cassandra do Girl Scouts. That might sound mean, but for those of you that know me – you know I have a daughter with special dietary and then medical needs when something goes wrong.
With everyone doing everything remote last year, I went ahead and signed up Cassandra for Girl Scouts.
The activities were fun, but then Cookie Season started! That’s when my world
widened quite a bit…but I started to see some of the same challenges with selling Girl Scout Cookies as I saw with affiliate marketing!
Here are a few of the similarities I noticed:
#1 - They Both Have Rules On How To Sell
Did you know that I cannot publicly post the link to my daughter’s digital cookie store online? Yes, I do wonder if the powers that be at the Girl Scout organization understand how the internet works…but, I followed the rules anyway!
Affiliate marketing also has rules. For example, you can’t post your affiliate link directly on Facebook. Facebook will actually block the post and give you a strike for violating their policies. It’s happened to me and plenty of people have had their Facebook accounts shut down over it.
#2 - You Can Do Well Selling Because The Brand Is Known
Girl Scout cookies have been around for a long time, so people know about them. When we were doing the booths at various grocery stores around the area, we didn’t have to sell.
We just had to present the product – people wanted the cookies, and we just connected them with the opportunity to get them.
Affiliate marketing is the same way! Some of the easiest sales I’ve had were to people who were already familiar with the product…I just had to present them with an opportunity to make the purchase.
I’m not going to say that affiliate products are as easy to sell as Girl Scout Cookies…I mean, some people would buy $100 or more in COOKIES and we didn’t do anything but take the money and give them their cookies.
#3 - You Basically Earn A Commission When You Make A Sale
I don’t like to use the word “commission” in either example, but it’s the easiest thing people link to the money you make when you sell.
For Girl Scout Cookies, the girls earn an amount of money for each box they sell to go towards Troop activities like earning badges, going on trips, going to camp…fun stuff like that. They also earn credits for the Girl Scout gift shop. While they don’t get money in hand, they do earn from their sales.
In affiliate marketing, you earn a referral fee of sorts when you make a sale. It’s more commonly referred to as an affiliate commission, but commission indicates you are an employee – and you are NOT an employee when you are an affiliate. Like Girl Scout Cookie Sales, you make money as a percentage or fixed amount for the sale.
#4 - You Only Make Money From A Sale
Speaking of employees – our entire troop is made up of volunteers and the girls.
We don’t have paid employees in our group. To help offset costs, we sell cookies! But, we only make money when we make the sale.
I’m sure the Girl Scout organization has other methods for generating money, but when it comes to our Girl Scout Troop – we only generate money from a sale. So, the girls have to put the time and effort into making sure they get the cookies in front of people to make those sales.
Affiliate marketing is the same way! Like with Girl Scout Cookies, you have to put in the time and energy to get in front of people to let them make a decision. You don’t make money off of effort, only results.
#5 - Opportunities Are Limited
Thankfully (yes, thankfully), Girl Scout Cookie season comes to an end – in fact, it ends in just a couple days!
This means anyone who wants cookies needs to reach out to their local Girl Scout Troop – or, if you are in the USA and want to order from my daughter online for delivery, free shipping on orders of 6 boxes or more (all ends on March 27th), feel free to reach out to me through the contact page or the Facebook group.
Affiliate Marketing also has limited opportunities. There are plenty of opportunities along the way, but the really good ones tend to come and go. One really good opportunity is coming up – you can get training from the #1 affiliate on ClickBank, Robby Blanchard!
He actually put together a quick video and free book that you can get right now!
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If you are new to affiliate marketing, I recommend you claim the FREE course: How To Make A Full-Time Income With Affiliate Marketing.
You can claim your free affiliate marketing course here.
Last reminder – get Robby’s Case Study (HERE) and make sure to sign up for his free training through that link. Yes, he is promoting Commission Hero Pro (you can see my Commission Hero Pro Review HERE) but his free training is always AMAZING.
About The Author- Dr. Kim Christian
Thanks for taking the time to read my content! I am Dr. Kim Christian, but the only person that calls me that is my daughter when she’s pretending she’s opening a business!
Most people just call me Kim (or mommy when my daughter isn’t playing business owner).
My priority is to help other entrepreneurs and small business owners build sustainable online businesses (or for “real world” businesses, expand to online).
In addition to publishing articles, I also offer free training through the Little Biz Resources Membership area. Claim Your Free Course: How To Build A Full-Time Income With Affiliate Marketing
To Your Success,
Dr. Kim Christian
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