Affordable Online Business Strategies
Affiliate Marketing
Learn How To Blog Before You Pay For Hosting
Aug 8th
If you’ve been online for any time at all, you know how popular blogs are. If you have a hosting account with Cpanel and Fantastico, you can easily get a WordPress blog set up.
If you’ve never blogged before, and it’s all new to you, getting used to how your blog works can be a challenge. The default themes are pretty dull, so you’ll probably want to install a different theme. And there are a lot of plugins available that can further add to the effectiveness of your blog.
It can be kind of confusing at first. If you already have hosting, then I will repeat myself and tell you to set up a “test” blog so you can learn how it works.
If you don’t have a hosting account, then you can still get started with blogging by signing up for a free account at blogger.com or wordpress.com. There’s no reason to spend money on hosting until you’re ready for it. And with these free blogs, you can learn a lot.
Don’t worry about making your blog look professional, or worry that your posts won’t be very good. What you’re after is the experience of posting to a blog, so that when you set up your own site and blog, you’ll be ready.
They don’t have to be long. 300 words is plenty. If you want to use PLR articles, that’s okay too. This is just practice for now. (Don’t use PLR articles on a blog you’re trying to get traffic for).
Try writing reviews of products from ClickBank or Amazon. You can get an account for free. This way, you can practice putting links into your posts. And you can add images to your post as well.
Again, don’t worry if your posts don’t come out right the first time. This is for training. If you get it right, who knows, you might make a few dollars in commission while you’re learning.
When you’re ready to start your money making blog or site, here’s a way to speed up your progress. Get everything you need to quickly build a six figure affiliate business. Get templates – wordpress, xsitepro, and html – tools, methods and action plans. Creating review sites that profit from free traffic is easy when you use this method. Click here for more info…
3 Ways To Make Your Review Page More Effective
Jul 30th
There’s a lot of people using review sites. And for good reason. Every affiliate marketer has one main goal – to make a commission. And to do that you have to get people to see your link. And you have to get them to click on that link.
One of the best ways is to create a review page. But if there are dozens of other marketers doing the same thing, what can you do to stand out?
These ideas come from viewing a lot of review site myself. I buy a lot of Internet Marketing products. So I search to see what others are saying about the product. And what follows are the three things that made me sit up and take notice. And maybe they are worth you trying on your own review pages.
1. Tell me if there is a secret discount.
Have you ever gone to a sales page, read through it, and decided to leave the site? Maybe you decided not to order, or were going to think about it for a bit. Sometimes, when you try to leave, there is a pop-up with a message to stay at the site for a discount.
Sometimes there is a discount code, and it will be included in the review. Sometimes their is a “secret” link on the page that leads to a discount.
I like a discount, and if a reviewer tells me how to save money on a product that I’m already interested in, guess what? I’ll be very likely to click on THEIR link.
2. Let me know if there are any One Time Offers, what they are, and if they are worth considering.
For me, when I read through a sales page and decide to order, it’s because I’ve decided that the cost of the product is reasonable to me. I have the money in my budget, and I’m willing to part with it.
When I’m hit with an OTO, it can be an unpleasant surprise. It’s not that One Time Offers are a bad thing. It’s just that I didn’t plan on spending any more money.
If the review site tells me that there is an upsell, and “Reviews” the OTO, I’ll know what to expect. I’ve come across review sites that do this, and sometimes they’ll point out that the offer is worth it. And sometimes they’ll recommend that I pass on it. Good info to have.
3. Let me know if there is a monthly continuity built into the product.
Some sales pages are very vague on this point. One of the bonuses is access to a private forum or site free for 30 days. Sometimes it’s not clearly pointed out that if you don’t cancel, you’ll be charged a monthly membership fee.
This is good marketing. When it’s out in the open and clear. If not, it’s an unpleasant surprise. A review page that points out any continuity attached to the product, as well as a review it, is a good site in my book.
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How A Book Report Is Like A Review Page
Jul 25th
It can be kind of difficult to write a good review for a product. I know it is for me. When you’re promoting stuff as an affiliate, you HAVE to get good at writing reviews. That’s what you have to do. Tell people about a product and get them to click through to the site.
The thing I’m trying to do is to be different from the “crowd”. What do I mean by that? Well, what I do is search on “Product Name Review” and see what other affiliates are doing. In a lot of cases, the sites are very similar.
Some of these reviews are almost like the car salesman commercials that I’ve seen on my local television stations. The guy is talking really loud and fast, waving his arms, and telling me to get to his dealership right now and buy a car. Very pushy and high pressure.
There’s no real substance to the review, just a lot of opportunities to click the link to go to the sales page. I already know how to get to the sales page. What I’m looking for is more information on why I should consider buying the product. I already know that the affiliate wants me to buy. We all want visitors to buy from our link. What I’m looking for is the “Why”.
What I’m doing for my own reviews is two-fold. One is that I try to write like I’m talking to one person. I’m telling that one person who I imagine is sitting across the kitchen table from me about the product. The second is that I look at writing a review kind of like writing a book report.
Remember writing book reports is school? You read a book, and write a summary of what the book is about. Writing a review is a lot like that.
You start off explaining what the product is. Then you go into what the product does, what it solves, and how people will benefit from buying it. You summarize what you’ve said and tell them how to get it.
It’s as simple as that. Explain, and don’t rant. You wouldn’t recommend something to a friend or family member by talking fast and loud, waving your arms, and telling them over and over that they should hurry up and buy a product.
No. You would walk up to them and start a conversation -
“I just found out about this product, and I think you might be interested. It might be just what you’re looking for. Here’s what the product will help you with:
Benefit 1
Benefit 2
Benefit 3
I’m really happy with the product and I think you might like to take a look at it for yourself. Here’s how to find out more.”
Kind of like a book report. Not full of hype. Just good information that will make the buying decision easier. And that’s what a good review page should do. Make it natural for a visitor to want to click on your link.
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One Of The Most Misleading Offers I've Seen
Jul 18th
I just came across a product recommendation that made me mad. I mean really mad. The sales page was so misleading and made such outrageous claims that I couldn’t believe it.
I’m not going to reveal the name of the product or the marketer that recommended it. One thing you can count on is that I have unsubscribed from that marketers list.
While I’m not going to reveal the product name, I will go over some of the things that I found disturbing on the sales page.
First, they claimed that there are thousands of companies out there that need people to place ads on the Internet. Apparently, these companies don’t have the time to place all of the ads they need, and that opens up the opportunity for you and I to place the ads. And the companies would be happy to pay us to do it.
Sounds a lot like Pay Per Click to me. Instead of coming out and saying that you could become an affiliate marketer by using PPC, they suggest that all you would be doing is placing ads. In the sales copy, it was stated that all you had to do was fill out simple forms, submit the ads, and get paid for doing it. It clear that this is talking about PPC. And with PPC, you aren’t certain that you’re going to make money. In fact, a lot of people lose a lot of money fast.
The sales copy also stated that the companies would pay you every week or two. Sounds like ClickBank or similar affiliate sites.
This product is along the same lines as some of the recent products that have come out saying that you could advertise on PPC networks for free. If you read the copy closely, what they’re really saying is that you’ll get more money in your commission checks than your advertising cost. You still have to pay for the ads.
And remember that you have to pay for the ads whether you make any sales or not. And you have to pay for the advertising first, and then hope that either you make enough to cover the cost of the ads, or that you have enough credit left to cover your ad costs.
Don’t believe that you can get paid for placing ads because thousands of companies don’t have time to do it themselves. It’s not true, and you’ll be wasting your money and getting your hopes up if you buy this or any similar product.
Here’s The Simplest Possible Way To Generate Commissions As An Affiliate WITHOUT PPC. Click for more info…
Getting The Most Out Of Your Affiliate Commissions
Jul 10th
While affiliate marketing is an effective way to generate a good income, there is a drawback that all of us have to deal with. Your job is to generate traffic to your offer and get visitors to the vendor’s site so you can get paid.
Once your visitor sees your offer, they leave your site, either by clicking through to the offer or they decide they aren’t interested and they leave. They will probably never return to your site.
So you have to constantly work to drive new visitors to your offers. This isn’t an issue if you’re building a list with your visitors. But if you’re not, it can be hard to keep the traffic flowing.
You’ve probably noticed that there a lot of membership sites popping up. The type of membership site we’re interested in is one that charges a monthly fee. Here’s why…
In the same way that a lot of products offer an affiliate program, a lot of membership sites also offer affiliate programs.
Your profit per sale from products that have a one-time cost will usually be higher up front. They are also more expensive than monthly cost products.
Memberships and products that are delivered monthly will get you a smaller commission up front, but you are going to get paid for as long as someone remains a customer.
And the typically lower cost of the monthly membership can make recurring billing products a lot more attractive and easier to sell than higher cost one-off products.
If you get a 50 percent commission from a $97 product, you’ll get $48.50 per sale. If you get a 50 percent commission from a membership site that sells for $27 a month, you’ll get $18.50 per sale.
At first it looks like you’re better off selling the $97 product. But remember that you only get paid once for that product. With the recurring billing product, you’re going to get paid for as long as the customer stays subscribed.
Promoting recurring billing products can pay you month after month and make your life a lot easier because you’ll keep getting paid for getting the sale once. Instead of having to begin each month trying to figure out how you can generate the commissions you need to pay your bills, you can look forward to getting a check for the work you did in previous months.
Hope this helps…
Customers Only Care About What They Want
Apr 17th
Let’s assume that you’re just getting started with your online business. You decide to sell other people’s products for a commission. You decide to become an Internet marketer. Now you’re ready to make some money…
Here’s a question:
What’s more important – selling the product, or selling yourself?
What brought this to mind was an article I came across today. It advised that the best way to have a successful online business was not to sell the product, but to sell yourself first. Once your visitors get to know you, they will be more likely to buy from you.
In the case of affiliate marketing, I wouldn’t agree, unless you are building a list. Sure, if you’re building a list and sending out offers to your subscribers on a regular basis, you need to keep them interested and willing to click on your links.
If you don’t have a list, why waste the time? The vast majority of all the visitors that come across your offer – your web site, ad, or article – will either click through to the merchant’s site or click to another site. And they will probably never be back.
Why waste your time to be likeable? The fact is that you don’t have the opportunity to get people to know you. They didn’t come to your site to find out about you. They came to find out more info. Your only concern is getting them to click on your link.
The reality is no one cares about you or me. They only care about what they want. And how to get it. Your job is to tell them about what you’re selling, what it will do for them, and how to get it.
The product owner has the task of convincing the visitor that what he is offering and the benefits he/she is offering is what they want.
