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You walk down the street can come across two shops selling DVDs.

The first shop looks run-down with faded posters of Rocky II and Terminator decorating its entrance. Dim lights imbue the place with a creepy aura, and the guy behind the counter is staring back at you with a toothpick between his teeth.

You take a look at shop number two, and immediately your eyes are drawn to the bright orange walls, neon lights and the big screen TV playing a scene from Fast And Furious II: Tokyo Drift. Someone opens the door and says “Welcome sir, come on in!” You happen to spot a few cute girls inside.

The choice is stunningly obvious.

In any type of marketing, the universal rules of professionalism holds true. People will always choose to do business with the establishment that is updated, clean, friendly, and has a pleasant outlook. The first glance is powerful, and people judge a book by it’s cover even if they will never own up to it. Good impressions last, bad impressions spread. Enough said.

Price, product range, functionality and most other factors associated with a sale aren’t as important as the buying experience itself. The fact is when people feel good about buying, they will buy more, and continue buying.

So what’s this got to do with you as an affiliate marketer, trying to convince people to click on your affiliate links and make a purchase, sending you some much-appreciated commissions?

Everything!

Early on in my web marketing days, I learned the hallmark of professional affiliate marketers. I discovered that by being just a tad more “pro” than 99% of the other “caveman affiliates” out there, I can also make much more than they do without any extra effort.

The most obvious sin committed by these caveman affiliates is that they don’t bother to “dress up” or “package” their affiliate links. They proudly display long, horrible affiliate links that they will never be able to dictate on the phone, something like this:

http://www.anyshoppingcart.com/affiliateid=3i4ud98fdf&merchant_id=934idf5

Compare that URL to the one below; which one would you click?

http://www.yourblog.com/recommends/boostyourtraffic

The choice, again, is obvious.

But why bother to be professional?

The truth is no one likes to click on ugly affiliate links with strings of codes that do not register with the average human brain (if you’re a programmer, you’re exempted) and therefore do not mean anything to them.

The second link on the other hand immediately tells your readers a few things:

• That the link has something to do with “traffic”, which they may be interested in
• That you took the time to make the link attractive
• You’re not insulting their intelligence by making it obvious that you’re about to get some money if they buy after visiting the link (hint: the word “affiliate” in the example above)
• That you are professional, and hence probably also reliable or trustworthy

Now look at these links, for variations on how you can dress up your affiliate links:

• http://www.yourblog.com/go/affiliateproduct
• http://www.yourblog.com/recommends/affiliateproduct
• http://www.yourblog.com/goto/affiliateproduct
• http://www.yourblog.com/ninja/affiliate/power/affiliateproduct
• http://www.yourblog.com/anything_you_like/affiliateproduct

Clean, meaningful, and from my experience, sinfully effective. It increases your CTR or Click-Through-Rate which means you can probably make more affiliate sales without getting any more traffic than you are right now.

You can create such professional looking short links instantly with an affiliate tool smart enough to create professional looking URLs for you.

The picture above shows how easy it is to turn the BAD into the GOOD with the MBP Ninja Affiliate plugin for WordPress. Transform ugly, un-readable links into neat, professional ones. Using the plugin you can also automatically convert keywords to links, cloak and redirect links, create sub-campaigns, see all your referrer stats, and much more.

But professionalism cannot be stated; it must be observed.

You cannot tell someone “I’m a professional marketer” – they must come to that conclusion themselves by observing how you do things, how you present yourself, and most importantly how you sell.

It must be integrated into everything you do as a business owner and as an affiliate marketer. It must be consistent too – you can’t afford to say “When I make more money I’ll get a professional affiliate link system..” – you need to be professional right from the start!

Remember that professionalism pays, and it pays big. Do it right, and the world will open new doors for you, inviting you into the realm where the big boys play and the ‘caveman affiliates’ stay away.

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