Quick start
Your first promotion in about 10 minutes
Follow these steps once and your first email or post can go out today. Below them you’ll find a short playbook for each channel: where to start, how often to post and the mistake to avoid.
Steps
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Read the rules 2 min
Most of it is common sense. The two points that catch people out are direct linking from paid ads, which isn’t allowed, and bidding on our brand name, which needs our written approval first.
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Get your link 1 min
Enter your ClickBank nickname and give this first promotion its own tracking ID, such as
email1, so you can see its results on their own. -
Pick one swipe that suits your audience 3 min
Each swipe is labelled with its angle and the audience it suits, so choose the one closest to your own readers.
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Make it yours 5 min
Your link is filled in already. Swap the first-name tag for your email service’s own, and replace the line in square brackets with one true sentence about your own dog or your readers.
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Send or post it 1 min
Keep the disclosure line next to your link, then send it.
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Check your ClickBank account the next day 1 min
Your ClickBank account shows the clicks and sales, and its reports can split them by tracking ID.
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Follow up a day or two later 5 min
Send the next email in the same sequence, or a post with a different angle.
The fill-in spots in the swipes
Highlighted spots in the swipes are yours to fill. Most of them fill themselves in.
| Spot | What goes there |
|---|---|
| {{AFFILIATE_LINK}} | Your HopLink. It fills in across the area as soon as you save your link. |
| {{first_name}} | Your email service’s first-name tag. Type it once on the Emails page and every email uses it. |
| [Add one honest sentence…] | One true sentence about your own dog or your readers. If you don’t have one, delete the line. |
| {{AFFILIATE_NAME}} | Your name or brand, in the brandable PDF and its emails. |
| {{PDF_LINK}} | The web address of your own branded PDF, used in the PDF’s delivery emails. Fill it in by hand once your PDF is online; it isn’t your HopLink. |
A simple plan for an email list
Secrets to Dog Training sells all year, so there’s no launch date to work to. This spreads five emails over about a week.
| When | What to send |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | A story email, such as Major and the recall word, or Jen and her German Shepherd Aladdin |
| Day 2 or 3 | A practical tip from the book, with the link as the next step |
| Day 4 | What’s inside, the $39.95 price and the 60-day money-back guarantee |
| Day 5 or 6 | Your own bonus if you offer one, or the cost of a trainer compared with the book |
| Day 7 | A short P.S.-style reminder with the link |
Seasonal emails fit around this: holiday puppies in December and January, the start of the long spring and summer walks, and back-to-school routine changes.
Channel playbooks
Pick the channel you already use.
Email list
- Best asset to start with
- The email sequences: start with a story email from the warm-list sequence if your readers know you, or the cold-list one if they don’t.
- How often
- Space the emails in a sequence a day or two apart, with ordinary newsletters in between.
- Example hooks
- The word you should never use to scold a dog
- The tip a dog trainer saves for owners who come to him for advice
- She sold her car because of one bite
- Mistake to avoid
- Sending the link on its own. A short story or tip around it gives readers a reason to click.
- Disclosure
- Put the disclosure line directly under your link and keep the P.S.
YouTube
- Best asset to start with
- The video scripts and the YouTube description, plus the 1280 × 720 images for thumbnails.
- How often
- One review or tip video, then mention the book in later videos where it fits the topic.
- Example hooks
- Why rubbing a puppy’s nose in a mess teaches it nothing
- Training secrets that dog experts use every day
- The leash technique Dan Stevens says takes ten minutes or less
- Mistake to avoid
- Burying the link and the disclosure at the bottom of a long description. Put both in the first few lines.
- Disclosure
- Say early in the video that you earn a commission, and write it in the description too.
Blog and SEO
- Best asset to start with
- The review and how-to articles, with the product images.
- How often
- Publish the review first, then link to it from your other posts on house training, barking and walks.
- Example hooks
- Secrets to Dog Training review: what’s inside the 256-page guide
- Why dogs stop coming when they’re called
- How to stop a dog jumping up at visitors
- Mistake to avoid
- Publishing the article unchanged. Your own photos and a line or two from your experience make the page yours.
- Disclosure
- Put the disclosure at the top of the page and next to the first link.
- Best asset to start with
- The pins and the 1000 × 1500 pin images.
- How often
- Pin a few designs to different boards over a couple of weeks rather than all on one day.
- Example hooks
- Six ways to stop a dog jumping on visitors
- House training without rubbing noses in it
- Your posture tells your dog more than your words do
- Mistake to avoid
- Using the same pin text on every board. Match the words to each board’s topic.
- Disclosure
- Add #ad or #affiliate to the pin description.
Instagram, TikTok and Reels
- Best asset to start with
- The reel scripts, captions and bio lines.
- How often
- Short tip videos most of the time, with the book mentioned when the tip comes from it. Keep the link in your bio.
- Example hooks
- Stop saying “come” when you’re cross
- What your dog reads in your posture
- The house-training habit that teaches a puppy nothing
- Mistake to avoid
- Talking about the book before giving a real tip. Lead with the tip and let the book be the next step.
- Disclosure
- Switch on the paid-partnership label, or put #ad at the start of the caption.
Facebook groups and forums
- Best asset to start with
- The discussion starters and short posts, where the group’s rules allow links.
- How often
- Answer questions most of the time and share the link only when it fits a question someone has asked.
- Example hooks
- A German Shepherd called Aladdin and a very expensive bite
- Has anyone else’s dog learned to ignore “come”?
- Mistake to avoid
- Dropping a link into a group whose rules ban promotion. It gets you removed and annoys the members.
- Disclosure
- Say in the post itself that it’s an affiliate link.
Podcast
- Best asset to start with
- The stories from the emails and the review article, used as talking points.
- How often
- One mention in an episode about dog behavior, with the link in the show notes.
- Example hooks
- How one bite cost a dog owner her car and her savings
- How “come” turns into a dog’s cue to run away
- Mistake to avoid
- Reading a swipe word for word. Tell the story in your own words.
- Disclosure
- Say on air that you earn a commission, and put the disclosure in the show notes.
Paid search and native
- Best asset to start with
- The keyword sets, negatives and ad copy, sent to your own review or tips page.
- How often
- Small test budgets, one change at a time, and keep the campaigns that pay for themselves.
- Example hooks
- Step-by-Step Dog Training Guide
- Help for Barking and Biting
- 256-Page Dog Behavior Guide
- Mistake to avoid
- Linking ads straight to your HopLink. Direct linking isn’t allowed, so send clicks to your own page first.
- Disclosure
- No bidding on our brand or product names without our written approval.
Review and comparison sites
- Best asset to start with
- The honest review and the FAQ article.
- How often
- Keep the review up to date with the price, the contents and the guarantee.
- Example hooks
- Secrets to Dog Training review: who it suits and what’s inside
- A dog trainer at $50 an hour or a $39.95 book?
- Mistake to avoid
- Comparing it with competitors by name. The rules don’t allow it, so compare it with the cost of a trainer instead.
- Disclosure
- Put the disclosure at the top of the page and next to the first link.