How to Boost Your Affiliate Marketing Performance with These Essential Soft Skills (3). Tan background, Blocks of wood stacked. SOFT in black letters on the top. SKILLS in black letter on the bottom Scatted blocks in the background out of focus. Left side block " E" fore front and right side top half of a " V" laying on its side.

How to Boost Your Affiliate Marketing Performance with These Essential Soft Skills

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How to Boost Your Affiliate Marketing Performance with These Essential Soft Skills (3). Tan background, Blocks of wood stacked. SOFT in black letters on the top. SKILLS in black letter on the bottom Scatted blocks in the background out of focus. Left side block " E" fore front and right side top half of a " V" laying on its side.

Why do some affiliate marketers excel while others falter, even with equal technical know-how?
The answer often lies in soft skills.

In this post, we cover the role of emotional intelligence (EI) in affiliate marketing. Next, we explore emotional intelligence’s impact on affiliate marketing. Then, review measuring soft skills and resources for soft skill development. This post concludes with a recap, further reading, resources for soft skill development, and a FAQ section.

Affiliate Disclaimer: I’m an affiliate of Wealthy Affiliate, Jaaxy, Fiverr and Poshmark meaning I may earn a commission if you use their service through my links, at no cost to you.

Table of Contents

Soft skills:
  • Encompass personal attributes and interpersonal abilities, such as communication, empathy, adaptability, and problem-solving.
  • These skills are crucial in affiliate marketing as they facilitate relationship-building, audience understanding, and problem-solving.
  • Unlike technical skills, which involve knowledge, soft skills focus on interpersonal interactions and handling diverse situations.
  • Success in affiliate marketing often relies on both knowledge and practical interpersonal skills, with Emotional Intelligence (EI) playing a pivotal role.
The Role of Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence:

  • (EI) encompasses our ability to recognize, understand, and manage our emotions while also tuning into the feelings of others.
  • EI is a foundational element in affiliate marketing, where building relationships and effective communication are paramount.
  • It affects our understanding of partners’ needs, the tailoring of content to resonate with audiences and the handling of campaign challenges.
Harnessing the Five Components of EI:

Dr. Daniel Goleman identified five core components of Emotional Intelligence, each vital for success in affiliate marketing:

1. Self-awareness:
  • Definition: Recognizing and understanding one’s emotions. This involves being aware of one’s feelings and their underlying causes.
  • Relevance to Affiliate Marketing: A self-aware affiliate marketer can discern how emotions influence decisions, such as selecting partners or shaping marketing strategies.
    • For example, recognizing a specific product or brand preference can lead to more objective choices.
  • Tips for Improvement: Engage in regular self-reflection and journaling to recognize emotional trends and triggers. Mindfulness meditation can also bolster self-awareness by honing focus on the present.
2. Self-regulation:
  • Definition: The capacity to manage and redirect potentially disruptive emotions and impulses.
  • Relevance to Affiliate Marketing: Challenges, whether campaign hiccups or partner disagreements, are part and parcel of affiliate marketing. Self-regulation ensures calculated, constructive responses to these obstacles.
  • Tips for Improvement: Embrace coping techniques such as stepping back when overwhelmed or sharing feelings with someone trustworthy.
3. Motivation:
  • Definition: An internal drive and passion fueled by inner ambition rather than external rewards.
  • Relevance to Affiliate Marketing: Intrinsic motivation propels marketers to innovate, set ambitious targets, and remain persistent despite obstacles.
  • Tips for Improvement: Define clear personal and career goals. Visualize success and frequently reconnect with the overarching vision to boost motivation.
4. Empathy:
  • Definition: The skill of understanding and mirroring another’s emotions, effectively placing oneself in one’s position.
  • Relevance to Affiliate Marketing: Empathy facilitates a deeper understanding of an audience’s needs, yielding more impactful marketing strategies. It’s also a cornerstone for fostering robust relationships with partners and stakeholders.
  • Tips for Improvement: Practice active listening and consistently seek feedback, genuinely reflecting on it to grasp other viewpoints.
5. Social Skills:
  • Definition: Abilities that foster the development and management of healthy social relationships, encompassing effective communication and conflict resolution.
  • Relevance to Affiliate Marketing: The world of affiliate marketing revolves around relationships. Social skills enable optimal collaboration, fruitful negotiations, and trust-building with audiences.
  • Tips for Improvement: Attend networking functions regularly, solicit feedback about communication habits, and participate in team-building exercises.
EI’s Impact on Affiliate Marketing

Example of EI in action :

Mark is an affiliate marketer. Instead of merely focusing on a wellness product’s features, Mark tapped into his EI, recognizing the prevailing stress people were facing. He tailored his campaign to emphasize the product’s ability to bring calm in turbulent times, resonating deeply with his audience.

Building Resilience Through EI:

Setbacks are common in affiliate marketing. Campaigns may not always go as planned, and market trends can shift rapidly. EI shines by enabling affiliate marketers to regulate their emotions effectively, adapt to changing circumstances, and maintain a positive outlook despite adversity.

Practical Strategies to Enhance EI:

To actively cultivate EI, consider the following exercises:

  • Emotion Journaling: Track daily emotions to recognize patterns.
  • Active Listening: Engage in conversations fully, understanding the speaker’s viewpoint.
  • Empathy Practice: Develop the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

As affiliate marketing evolves, the interplay between EI and success becomes even more pronounced. Affiliate marketers can navigate challenges, build lasting relationships, and potentially achieve unparalleled success by understanding and harnessing the full spectrum of Emotional Intelligence.

Leadership, at its essence, revolves around guiding others towards shared objectives. In affiliate marketing, leadership transcends mere team management, extending to creating robust partnerships.

In an environment underscored by relationship-building, negotiations, and collaborations, the significance of Emotional Intelligence (EI) is paramount.

Building Trust:
  • Overview: Trust is more than a mere virtue; it forms the bedrock of effective leadership. Leaders with a refined sense of EI foster trust, resonating with their teams’ and partners’ emotions and needs.
  • Affiliate Marketing Context: Trust is the linchpin in delivering authentic product recommendations or addressing partners’ concerns. An affiliate marketer grounded in EI is uniquely positioned to nurture and sustain this trust.
Effective Communication:
  • Overview: Genuine communication transcends mere information relay; it’s rooted in understanding and forging connections. The pillars of such communication are active listening and insightful feedback.
  • Affiliate Marketing Context: Transparent communication curtails misunderstandings during a product pitch or in the nuances of campaign metrics. Through EI, marketers discern the spoken words and underlying emotions, paving the way for enriched interactions.
Practical Exercises to Boost Your EI:
Emotion Journaling:
  • What It Is: Write down your feelings daily to better understand your emotions.
  • Why Do It: It helps you see patterns in your emotions and reactions.
  • How to Do It:
    • Write your main feelings at the end of the day.
    • Think about what caused these feelings.
    • Look at how you reacted and think of other ways to respond.
Active Listening:
  • What It Is: Focus when someone is talking to you.
  • Why Do It: It helps you understand people better and respond in the best way.
  • How to Do It:
    • Pay full attention to the person talking.
    • Don’t interrupt or think of your reply while they’re still speaking.
    • Try to understand their point of view before you answer.
  • Tools: Check out “Active Listening” from MindTools for tips.
Role-playing:
  • What It Is: Acting out different situations to understand how people might feel and react.
  • How to Do It: Act out tough situations like disagreements with a friend. After acting it out, talk about how you felt and reacted.
  • Resources: Try “The Empathy Game.” It’s a card game where players discuss different topics to better understand each other.
Breathing Exercises:
  • What It Is: Using deep breaths to calm down when you feel strong emotions.
  • How to Do It:
    • If you feel a strong emotion, stop and find a quiet place.
      • Breathe in slowly, counting to four.
      • Hold your breath, counting to four.
      • Breathe out slowly, counting to four.
      • Do this a few times until you feel calmer.
  • Why It’s Good: It helps you calm down and think before you react.
  • Resources: Use the Breathe2Relax app. It guides you through deep breathing to help you handle stress and emotions.

Practicing these exercises can help you better understand and handle your emotions. This can lead to better relationships, smarter decisions, and personal growth.

The Role of EI in Customer Trust:

What It Is:

  • Trust is the base of any business relationship. Trust between the marketer and the audience is super important in affiliate marketing. Emotional Intelligence (EI) helps build and keep this trust.
Understanding Customer Needs and Concerns:
  • What It Is: Empathy, a big part of EI, means understanding and connecting with how others feel and what they need.
  • Why It Matters in Affiliate Marketing: By understanding what the audience wants and worries about, marketers can give better advice and content, helping build trust.
Authentic Communication:
  • What It Is: Being real, honest, and clear when talking to others.
  • Why It Matters in Affiliate Marketing: When suggesting products, being clear about the good and bad points and any affiliate ties helps build trust. People like honesty, and EI helps marketers be more genuine.
Handling Feedback and Criticism:
  • What It Is: Everyone gets feedback, good and bad. How you react, especially to criticism, can greatly affect trust.
  • Why It Matters in Affiliate Marketing: Using EI to understand feedback helps marketers better address concerns. This shows the audience that they matter and are listened to.
Building Long-Term Relationships:
  • What It Is: Trust takes time. It grows through regular good experiences.
  • Why It Matters in Affiliate Marketing: Using EI to understand and help the audience build trust over time.
Ethical Decision Making:
  • What It Is: Making choices that are good for others and are right.
  • Why It Matters in Affiliate Marketing: Choosing not to suggest bad products to make money shows the audience they come first. This builds trust.
Adapting to Changing Needs:
  • What It Is: People’s needs can change. Being able to see and react to these changes is part of EI.
  • Why It Matters in Affiliate Marketing: Marketers show they care and pay attention by noticing and reacting to what the audience now wants or needs.
Using EI to Bounce Back in Affiliate Marketing:

What It Is:

  • Affiliate marketers can use EI to become more resilient and handle challenges better.
How to Boost EI and Resilience:
  • Know Yourself:
    • Take time to think about how you react to problems.
    • Spot patterns in your emotions and learn how to handle them positively.
  • Be Understanding:
    • Remember that tough times affect everyone, like your partners and team.
    • Be kind and understanding when you talk to them. This creates a helpful and positive work environment.
  • Talk Clearly:
    • Work on your communication.
    • Make sure you can explain what you need and listen well to others.
  • Stay Flexible:
    • See change as a chance to learn and get better.
    • Keep updating your plans based on what you learn and how the market changes.
Tools to Help:
  • Apps for Mental Well-being:
    • Headspace: This app offers meditation and mindfulness exercises. It can help marketers handle stress, control their emotions, and become more resilient.
Practical Ways to Boost Team Resilience with EI:
  • EI Training:
    • What It Is: Training sessions to improve the team’s emotional understanding and reactions.
  • Regular Team Check-Ins:
    • What It Is: Regular meetings where the team discusses their feelings and worries. This helps find solutions together.
  • Tools:
    • Trello: A tool to help with team check-ins and track tasks and progress.
    • Microsoft Teams: A platform for online team meetings and chats.
  • Conflict Resolution:
    • What It Is: Using the team’s EI to solve disagreements positively. This helps the team move on faster after conflicts.
  • Resources:
    • Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation Offers advice, articles, and courses on solving conflicts and negotiating.
Understanding and Managing Emotions in Affiliate Marketing:

What It Is:

  • In affiliate marketing, EI is the key skill to know, understand, and handle your emotions.
  • It’s super important when dealing with the ups and downs of this field.

Why It Matters in Affiliate Marketing:

  • Affiliate marketers can face problems like campaigns not working, getting negative comments, or the market changing.
  • Knowing how you feel in these situations is important. This helps marketers think clearly and avoid making quick decisions that might worsen things.

How to Improve Your EI:

Empathy in Affiliate Marketing:

What It Is:

  • Empathy is a key part of emotional intelligence. It’s about understanding and sharing the feelings of others.
Why It Matters in Affiliate Marketing:
  • Empathy is crucial in affiliate marketing. By understanding how partners, customers, or team members feel, marketers can solve problems and avoid misunderstandings, which helps build trust and loyalty.
Tools to Boost Empathy:
  • Empathy Mapping Templates:
    • What They Do: Help you see and understand the emotions and needs of your target audience.
    • Tool: Miro
  • Customer Feedback Surveys:
    • What They Do: Let you get feedback from your audience to understand how they feel and what they need.
    • Tools:
  • Collaboration Platforms:
    • What They Do: Make talking to and working with partners and team members easier.
    • Tools:
Cultivating a Positive Outlook in Affiliate Marketing:
Why It Matters:
  • In affiliate marketing, not all campaigns will be successful. But by focusing on what you’ve learned and how you can do better next time, you can keep moving forward.
Strategies to Stay Positive:
  • Mindfulness Practices:
  • Gratitude Journaling:
  • Constructive Self-Talk:
    • What to Do: Positively talk to yourself. When things get tough, remember the good things you’ve done and how you’ve overcome problems before.
    • Learn More: “5 Tips to Improve Your Self-Talk”
Tools to Help:
  • Happify App:
    • What It Is: An app with activities and games to help you feel happier and more positive.
    • Benefits: A fun way to work on having a positive attitude.
    • Learn More: Happify
Enhancing Adaptability in Affiliate Marketing:
What It Is:
  • Adaptability is a key part of emotional intelligence (EI). It’s about recognizing and dealing with change in a good way.
Why It Matters in Affiliate Marketing:
  • The digital marketing world is constantly changing. Adaptability is not just a good skill for affiliate marketers—it’s a must.
Strategies to Boost Adaptability:
  • Stay Informed:
    • Keep up with the latest news and trends in the industry.
    • Tip: Think of this as using a compass to find your way in the changing marketing world.
  • Experiment and Innovate:
    • Try new things in your campaigns.
    • Tip: Remember that trying new things can lead to finding the best strategies.
  • Seek Feedback:
    • Get feedback from partners, customers, and your team.
    • Tip: This feedback mirrors what you’re doing well and where you can improve.
  • Embrace Technology:
    • Use new tools and tech to help with your marketing.
    • Tip: Think of technology as a powerful helper in your marketing work.
  • Network and Collaborate:
    • Connect with other people in the affiliate marketing world.
    • Tip: Networking is like having a group of people to support and inspire you.
Resources to Help:
  • Stay Updated: Check out MarTech Marketing Land for the latest news and trends.
  • Learn New Strategies: The HubSpot Blog and Buffer have many articles on different marketing topics.
Building Supportive Networks in Affiliate Marketing:
Why It Matters:
  • Social skills, a part of emotional intelligence (EI), are about making and keeping good relationships.
How It Helps in Affiliate Marketing:
  • Strong relationships with other marketers, mentors, and partners mean you have people to support you. This can be especially helpful when things get tough.
Strategies to Build Your Network:
  • Affiliate Marketing Communities:
    • What to Do: Join online groups and forums for affiliate marketers.
    • Benefits: You can connect with other marketers, ask questions, and learn from what others have done.
    • Where to Go: Check out
  • Networking Events:
    • What to Do: Go to conferences, seminars, and webinars for affiliate marketing.
    • Benefits: These events are a great way to meet new people and learn from experts.
    • Some Events to Consider:
  • Local or Virtual Meetups:
    • What to Do: Look for affiliate marketing meetups or groups near you or online.
    • Benefits: This is a good way to connect with other marketers in your area or your niche.
    • Where to Go: Check out
The Bottom Line:
  • Having a good network in affiliate marketing can lead to new partnerships and give you access to helpful resources. It’s a key part of being successful in this field.
Self-regulation and Stress Management in Affiliate Marketing:
Why It Matters:
  • Emotional intelligence (EI) components like self-regulation and stress management are crucial in the unpredictable world of affiliate marketing.
  • They help professionals handle challenges and high-pressure situations effectively.
Self-Regulation:
  • What It Is: The ability to control or redirect disruptive emotions and impulses, especially in challenging situations.
  • Benefits of Affiliate Marketing:
    • Decision-Making: Helps in making calm decisions and avoiding impulsive choices.
    • Conflict Resolution: Enables productive resolutions by navigating conflicts with composure.
    • Adaptability: Allows marketers to adapt to new trends without feeling overwhelmed.
Stress Management:
  • What It Is: The ability to cope with and reduce stress effectively.

Benefits of Affiliate Marketing:

  • Improved Focus: Helps maintain clarity in work.
  • Enhanced Problem-Solving: Enables clearer judgment.
  • Healthy Work-Life Balance: Reduces burnout.
  • Long-Term Well-being: Contributes to overall health.
  • Resources for Stress Management:
    • Mindful.org: Online resource for mindfulness and stress reduction techniques.
Tools for Self-Regulation and Stress Management:
  • Trello: Project management tool for organizing tasks.
  • RescueTime: Digital activity tracker for time management.

Affiliate marketers can better navigate the complexities of their industry by harnessing the power of emotional intelligence. While success is influenced by various factors, developing self-regulation skills and managing stress are essential steps toward achieving one’s goals in affiliate marketing.

Growth Mindset:

What It Is:

  • A belief that effort and persistence can develop abilities and intelligence.
  • It’s about seeing challenges as opportunities to grow and understanding that effort is a path to mastery.
Why It Matters in Affiliate Marketing:
  • Resilience: Marketers with a growth mindset are more likely to bounce back from setbacks and view them as learning opportunities.
  • Adaptability: The affiliate marketing landscape is ever-evolving. A growth mindset ensures marketers remain flexible and open to change.
  • Continuous Learning: Embracing a growth mindset means always being open to new information, strategies, and techniques, ensuring marketers stay ahead of the curve.
How to Cultivate It:
  1. Embrace Challenges: Instead of shying away, see challenges as opportunities to learn and grow.
  2. Stay Updated: Dedicate time to continuous learning. Whether it’s new marketing strategies or understanding audience behavior, always seek to expand your knowledge.
  3. Feedback is Gold: Actively seek feedback and view it as a tool for improvement, not criticism.
Measuring Soft Skills in Affiliate Marketing

Overview:

While technical skills can be easily quantified, measuring soft skills presents a unique challenge. However, assessing these skills becomes crucial when interactions are often virtual and ever-evolving.

Affiliate Marketing Context:

Soft skills, such as communication, adaptability, and emotional intelligence, are pivotal in building relationships, understanding audiences, and navigating challenges in affiliate marketing.

Measuring and improving these skills can significantly enhance performance and outcomes.

How to Measure Soft Skills:
  • Feedback and Reviews: Regular feedback from partners, customers, and team members can provide insights into communication effectiveness, relationship-building capabilities, and adaptability.
  • Self-Assessment Tools: Various online tools and quizzes are designed to evaluate soft skills. These can offer a baseline understanding of one’s current state and areas for improvement.
  • Performance Metrics: While soft skills are intangible, their impact can often be seen in tangible outcomes. For instance, improved communication might lead to better campaign performance or increased customer satisfaction.
  • 360-Degree Feedback: This comprehensive approach involves receiving feedback from all directions – superiors, peers, subordinates, and even self-evaluation. It provides a holistic view of one’s soft skills.
Tools and Resources for Measuring Soft Skills:
  • SurveyMonkey or Typeform: Use these platforms to create feedback forms or self-assessment quizzes.
  • Truity Personality and Careers Test: This online test offers insights into various soft skills and how they relate to professional life.
  • MindTools: Offers resources and tools for assessing and improving soft skills.
Soft Skills in the Digital Age:

Overview:

The digital age, characterized by rapid technological advancements and virtual interactions, has renewed the emphasis on soft skills. These skills are essential for navigating the complexities of digital interactions and ensuring effective communication.

Affiliate Marketing Context:

  • With the rise of digital platforms, affiliate marketers often interact virtually with audiences, partners, and teams. Soft skills ensure meaningful, genuine, and effective interactions, even without face-to-face communication.
Key Soft Skills for the Digital Age:
  1. Digital Communication: The ability to convey ideas clearly and effectively through digital channels, be it email, social media, or webinars.
  2. Virtual Collaboration: Working effectively with teams and partners in a virtual environment, ensuring productivity and cohesion.
  3. Digital Empathy: Understanding and resonating with the emotions of others, even when interactions are through digital mediums.
  4. Adaptability to Tech Changes: The digital landscape is ever-evolving. It is crucial to be open to learning and adapting to new technologies.
Strategies to Enhance Soft Skills:
  • Online Training: Platforms like Coursera or Udemy offer courses on soft skills tailored to the digital age.
  • Virtual Workshops: Attend workshops on improving digital communication, virtual collaboration, and other relevant soft skills.
  • Regular Feedback: Seek feedback on your digital interactions to continuously improve.
Conclusion

We covered

  • The role of emotional intelligence (EI) in Affiliate Marketing.
  • Emotional intelligence’s impact on affiliate marketing.
  • Measuring soft skills
  • Resources for soft skill development.

The Harmonious Blend of Skills:

  • In affiliate marketing, success isn’t solely determined by one’s prowess with the latest tools or understanding of algorithms.
  • While these technical competencies are essential, integrating them with soft skills, especially Emotional Intelligence, distinguishes a truly adept affiliate marketer.

Digital Progress and Authentic Engagement:

  • As the digital world expands, the significance of genuine human interaction remains undiminished.
  • Soft skills, particularly EI, ensure that the essence of true connection, understanding, and collaboration with others is preserved amidst emails, digital campaigns, and virtual meetings.

The Irreplaceable Human Element:

  • Even as automation and AI make significant strides, there’s a unique human touch they cannot emulate.
  • Affiliate marketing, the capacity to empathize, communicate effectively, and genuinely resonate with audiences remains invaluable.

A Path of Ongoing Development:

  • Soft skills, especially facets of EI, are not static.
  • They grow and evolve with experience, reflection, and feedback.
  • They’re dynamic, offering continuous opportunities for enhancement.
Share Your Journey and Tips:

We would love to hear about your experiences and any tips you have to share about soft skills. What advertising methods do you use? What challenges have you faced, and what successes have you celebrated? Your insights can inspire and help others in the community. Share your stories, tips, and advice in the comments below.

Further Reading
Resources for Soft Skills Development

For those looking to enhance their soft skills in affiliate marketing, here are some resources:

Coursera: A platform with numerous courses dedicated to soft skills, from communication to leadership. Explore Soft Skill Courses on Coursera.

LinkedIn Learning: Offers professional courses, including a section focused on soft skills to boost interpersonal capabilities. Check out LinkedIn.

Udemy: Features a range of courses on soft skills development for different expertise levels. Browse Soft Skills Courses on Udemy.

MindTools: A resource-rich platform with articles, podcasts, and videos on various soft skills. Explore MindTools.

Toastmasters: A global organization aimed at enhancing public speaking and leadership skills. Explore Toastmasters.

Consistent practice and real-world application are key. Seize every chance to learn, adapt, and evolve.

Frequently Asked Questions FAQ

Q1: What are soft skills in affiliate marketing, and why are they important?
A1: Soft skills in affiliate marketing refer to interpersonal skills and personal attributes crucial for building relationships, understanding audiences, and navigating challenges. They are important because they enhance communication, trust-building, and effectiveness in this field.

Q2: Can you provide examples of soft skills in affiliate marketing?
A2: Soft skills in affiliate marketing include communication, relationship building, emotional intelligence (EI), negotiation, empathy, problem-solving, adaptability, time management, self-motivation, ethical judgment, and a growth mindset.

Q3: How can I improve my emotional intelligence (EI) for affiliate marketing?
A3: Improving EI involves self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skills. You can enhance EI through exercises like emotion journaling, active listening, emotion labeling, empathy practice, mindfulness meditation, feedback seeking, role-playing, and breathing exercises.

Q4: What role does emotional intelligence (EI) play in building customer trust in affiliate marketing?
A4: EI plays a pivotal role in building customer trust by helping marketers understand customer needs and concerns, communicate authentically, handle feedback effectively, build long-term relationships, make ethical decisions, and adapt to changing customer needs.

Q5: How do I measure and evaluate my soft skills in affiliate marketing?
A5: Measuring soft skills involves self-reflection, performance metrics, peer reviews, personal development plans, feedback sessions, online courses, feedback integration, staying updated, training and workshop feedback, journaling, feedback tools, and project management tools.

Q6: How do soft skills apply in the digital age of affiliate marketing?
A6: Soft skills are crucial for virtual communication, digital collaboration, online etiquette, cultural sensitivity, and understanding digital body language. They ensure effective interactions and collaborations.

Thank You for Reading!

Have any thoughts or questions? I’d love to hear from you.

Drop a comment or reach out directly:

Website: Marketing with Kerri 

Email:  kerri.o@marketingwithkerri.com

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Until Next Time,

Kerri

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