10 Ways to Be Successful with Affiliate Sales

Affiliate marketing is one of the fastest and most affordable ways to get started making money online. In essence, what you are doing is selling other companies’ products for a commission. You can make money without developing your own product or building your own sales site. All you do is promote the product and send the customers to the company’s site to make the purchase.

Of course, I don’t want to make this sound too easy. It does take work, commitment, persistence and time like any other business. By following the ten tips below, your affiliate sales should increase and thereby increasing your monthly income.

1. Personal Recommendation – You always want to try the product before you start promoting it so you can give it a personal recommendation. A personal recommendation can be very powerful in persuading people the product is “real”. This is especially true if you are already established online and have a good clean reputation. If you are not well-known a personal recommendation will still carry a lot of weight.

2. Quality Products – Be sure to only represent quality products that you would actually use yourself. People might ask you if you do or would use the product yourself. This is another reason for trying the product before you sell it or at least do extensive research on the product.

3. Know the Product – This is another reason you need to do extensive research on the product. People will ask you questions about the product and you need to know what you are selling.

4. Know Your Target Market – What type of people come to your site/blog? What are your readers’ needs and wants? If you have a health and fitness blog, you probably won’t want to promote a dessert cookbook or movies because these things will not benefit your readers. Be sure to match the products to your target market.

5. Reliable Company – Be sure to also check out the company before you sign up with them. Research any reviews, complaints, awards, etc. this company might have. Contact other affiliates and ask how the company manages their affiliate program and payouts.

6. Product Updates – Keep abreast of all product updates so you can keep your readers and visitors updated as well. Check out the company’s product info frequently. Always know the latest about the product you are representing!

7. Sales Material – Most companies will provide professionally written sales materials for their affiliates to use. They will have ezine ads, solo ads, email signatures, graphics, etc. Take advantage of these sales materials instead of trying to create your own.

8. Be Selective – Find just a few quality products to promote rather than signing up for every affiliate program you can find. Choose a few good products that complement your site and each other. This will enable you to focus more on the products and promote them more effectively.

9. Spread the Word – Don’t make the mistake of just slapping one of the company’s ads on your site and think the sales will start rolling in. Promote them on your social networking sites. Add a blurb in your email signature. Post them on forums, groups, etc. Add them to your article resource box. Mention them to your mailing list on a regular basis. You need to promote them heavily and consistently to make a good amount of sales. Keep abreast of new and innovative marketing strategies.

10. Test and Track – As with any online business you should test and track your marketing and sales strategies. Find out what is working and what is not. Concentrate more on what is bringing in sales to raise your income.

Affiliate marketing can be an effective way to make money online by itself and it can also be a supplement to your main business. Unfortunately, many people will sign up with an affiliate program, paste an ad on their site and think that is all they have to do. When I first started online, I too signed up for any program I could find and just threw up a bunch of ads on my site. This is a common mistake that can be overcome.

Affiliate marketing will not work for you unless you make it work. It is a business like any other and needs to be given the same attention and commitment!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don’t be one of the 95% of people who fail at their online business. Terri Seymour can help you make money online. Find out how to increase your traffic and sales with her popular “How to Build Your Online Business” ebook for FREE at: ==> http://www.SeymourProducts.com

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

How to Generate Low Cost Website Traffic

How to Generate Low Cost Website Traffic

There is one hard and fast rule in generating income for your website: A steady flow of website traffic. If no one goes to your site, it hardly stands any chance of generating an income. Many sites have tried and failed in doing so, and these results in the sites demise. It takes money to maintain an income generating site; it also takes money to make money, but, it does not take a whole caboodle of cash to generate website traffic for your site.

Ever wonder how big hit sites drive traffic to their site? Most of them are spending tons of money to drive the traffic to their sites, investing in many advertising campaigns and different forms of marketing schemes and gimmickries. This is all worthwhile because, well, they are what they are now, high earning, and big hitting websites.

You do not have to do this if you do not have their resources. There are many ways to generate low cost website traffic without having to spend what you do not have or cannot afford. Many people have banked on high cost methods and have ended up losing their shirt over it.

Here I present to you the top five ways to generate low cost website traffic that could help your site a whole lot. Even if you only get a small percentage of visitors, it still works especially if you get a high number of page views.

Exchange Links

This is a sure and proven method. Rarely would you see a site where there are no links to another site. Many webmasters are willing to exchange links with one another so that they can produce more public awareness about their sites. You will soon see and feel the sudden upsurge of the traffic coming in to your site from other sites.

A major prerequisite in exchanging links with other sites is having the same niche or content as the other site. They should share a common subject so that there is continuity in the providing of service and information to what interests your target traffic.

Exchanging links also boosts your chances of getting a high ranking in search engine results. It is common knowledge that search engines ranks high those sites that have inbound and outbound theme-related links. With a good ranking position in the search engines, you will generate more traffic to your website without the high costs.

Traffic Exchange

This is like exchanging links but on a different higher level. This may cost a bit more than exchanging or trading links but could be made cheaper because you get to earn credits. You can use those credits when viewing others traffic, while you earn credits when someone views yours.

Traffic exchange services are the viewing of anothers site or page. This is done vice versa where a site can use your sites contents and so can you to his or her site. You both benefit from each others efforts to generate traffic. The other sites visitors can go to your pages and know more about your site as well as theirs. Once again the public awareness of your sites existence is boosted.

Write and Submit Articles

There are many ezines and online encyclopedias on the internet which provide free space for articles to be submitted. If you want to save costs, you can do the articles yourself. There are many freelance writers who are willing to write for you for a small fee, but to save money, it is wise to do those articles yourself.

Write articles that are themed along with the niche of your site. Write something that you have expertise on so that when they read it, they can feel your knowledge about the subject and will be eager to go to your site. Write articles that produce tips and guidelines to the subject or niche your site has.

Include a resource box at the end of your article that can link them to your site. Write a little about yourself and your site. If you provide a light, information-laden and interesting article, they will go to your site for more.

Make a Newsletter

This may sound like hard work because of all the articles you may need to use to build a newsletter but on the contrary, this is not so. There are many writers and sites that are willing to provide free articles as long as they can get their name in on your newsletter. This will also provide free advertising for them as well. As your newsletter gets passed around, you can widen your public awareness and build an opt-in list that can regularly visit your site.

Join Online Communities and Forums

This only requires your time and nothing else. You can share your knowledge and expertise with many online communities as well as your website. You can get free advertising when you go to forums that have the same subject or niche with your site.

Share your two cents and let them see how knowledgeable you are with the subject. As you build your reputation, you also build the reputation of your site, making it a reputable and honest business that could be frequented and trusted by many people.

Don Jeffre Seven Important Reasons To Build An Email List

Seven Important Reasons To Build An Email List

Are you actively building at least one list in your niche right now? If not, you’re missing out on quite a bit of potential growth and income. Let’s talk about seven reasons why you need to build a list.

Build A Relationship With Your Readers

The main reason to build a list is to be able to build a relationship with your readers. They have to know like and trust you before they ever consider buying something through your site (be it your own product or an affiliate offer). A list allows you to stay in touch and gives them that chance.

Connecting With Your Target Market

Not only are you building a relationship with your subscribers, you’re also connecting with your target audience. This means that once you have a list, you can ask them what they want to learn more about, what problems they are facing and the likes.

Bring People Back To Your Site

An email list also allows you to bring visitors back to your site. How many times have you been surfing the net, ended up on a really great site…but half an hour later you can’t remember what it was or how to get back to it (unless you spend a lot of time going through your browser history, which no one does). With an email list, you can continually send them more and more great content that includes links back to your site.
Branding Yourself As The Expert

And speaking of great content…it, in combination with a list allows you to brand yourself as an expert. Your readers get great advice from you over and over again on a certain topic. It won’t take them long to figure out that you know what you’re talking about…which again builds the trust you need to create a profitable and sustainable online business.

Easy To Automate

One of my favorite aspects of list building is the fact that it’s so easy to automate. I set up my list once, I drive traffic to the pages of my site that contain an opt-in box and then I start adding email messages to my autoresponder. Each of these things I only have to do once, but they will continue to work for months and years to come… growing my list, making money from my list etc.

Making Multiple Offers

Another big advantage of having a list is that you can make multiple offers. Think about this…if you are passionate about gardening, you’re not going to buy just one gardening book, subscribe to one magazine and buy one set of tools. Instead you’re going to get several of each and you’ll keep spending more and more on your hobby. Your target audience is no different. By having a list you can make them multiple related offers (again, both your own products or affiliate offers or a combination of both).

Being Able To Generate Income With The Push Of A Button

Last but not least, let’s talk about the reason that brings me the biggest peace of mind. If you have a responsive list (even if it’s relatively small), you have the ability to generate extra income at the push of a button. There have been many a times when we needed a few hundred extra dollars for unexpected bills. Each time I was able to come up with the extra cash just by sending a special offer to one of my lists.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope this convinces you that having a list for your online business is important and that this article encourages you to get started right away. In fact, I’m so passionate about this, I’ve put together a great resource for you. Sign up for this free ecourse on setting up your first email list in 7 easy steps at http://www.affiliateecourse.com/listbuilding/

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Blog Management – How to Work Interviews Into Your Blog

Blog Management – How to Work Interviews Into Your Blog

Being a subset of journalism, it is no surprise that blogging shares many traits with its parent. In particular, blogging strongly resembles the feature or editorials pages of many newspapers. Not beholden to quite the same rules of timeliness or AP style guidelines as the news sections, these sections focus on matters of personal interest to the writer, or on a specific topic of particular relevance or human interest.

So, given that blogging tends to be derived from these sections, it is reasonable to look into the tactics that bring traditional journalists such success in their writing and to borrow the best ideas from them. In particular, many bloggers have discovered the value of including interviews in their publications.

An interview is fairly straightforward: a conversation between the blogger and another party, generally about a topic of mutual interest to the blogger, the subject and the readers. Some interviews are scripted, some are more extemporaneous, but at their heart they all have the mission of illuminating the thoughts of the interviewee to the audience of the publication in order to shed some extra light on the subject being discussed.

In the world of blogging, there are generally three approaches to integrating an interview into a blog.

The Writeup

This is the general, news-story style form of an interview. The blogger contacts the subject, does their interview, then writes a story around the interview using the subject’s quotations as a framework. It tends to look something like:

Recently I spoke to branding icon John Doe, asking his thoughts on the importance of personal identity. “You really need a strong name, something people can get a hold of and never forget, that’s the first thing.” When I asked him for details, John commented, “Well, if you don’t have a name that people remember, they’ll just refer to you as ‘that one guy’ or any old thing.”

The structure is easy to follow, and very much suited to blogging as a style of writing. It doesn’t have to be in first person; it is easily adapted to any blogging style. It has the value of letting the blogger do most of the writing. This way, their style remains intact and the interview is presented on their terms to the readers, maintaining a unique voice.

The weakness of this style is that it tends to raise questions. Did the blogger use the whole interview? Are they editorializing in their choice of quotes?… and so on. For example, in the choice above, When I asked him for details could actually have played out as “Well, that’s obvious. Could you be more specific?” and our imaginary blogger simply rephrased to make himself look less confrontational. The Reprint

The alternative is simply to reprint the entire interview, without editing other than to remove little asides such as “um” and other verbal tics. This tends to look as follows:

BenjaminBrandBlog – Hello, John.

John Doe – Hello. Thanks for interviewing me.

BBB – Glad to talk with you. So, what would you say is the first thing that comes to your mind when talking about branding?

JD – You really need a strong name, something people can get a hold of and never forget, that’s the first thing.

The reprint is rather an unusual choice, very rarely seen in blogging or in print journalism. This is because it has some obvious weaknesses. For example, not every question in an interview ends up being relevant. Not all interviews follow a particular script; some go down tangents, interesting or dull asides, and so on. It is the job of the journalist to edit the content so that the material that stayed on subject gets to the readers.

However, there are some cases in which reprinting an interview is an interesting alternative. If a conversation was purely illuminating, if it covered some amazing ground that people didn’t expect, and the writer wishes to share it, then by all means share the interview itself.

The Podcast or Video

Similar to the reprint, this is the process of using recording equipment to make an audio podcast or videoblog of the interview in question. This has a number of advantages over the simple reprint, because it allows the personality of the two subjects to shine through in a way that text doesn’t always quite capture. Sarcasm and wit come through a bit more readily when tone of voice or body language are added into the subject matter, making the whole process more dynamic and interesting.

The difficulty of these formats is in their complexity. The logistics of getting recording software to work, of cleaning up audio and video for proper use on the net if they aren’t your blog’s primary medium, etc. can all make this a bit out of reach for the average blogger. They require the dedication of actual time and effort to produce, share and refine as a series. Further, not everyone is as suited for speaking as they are for writing; some just aren’t as comfortable in a spoken medium, and a skilled writer isn’t always a stunning speaker.

That said, there is strong value in this type of process, as it can add variety and interest to the usual presentation of a good blog.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enzo F. Cesario is an online branding specialist and co-founder of Brandsplat, a digital content agency. Brandsplat creates blogs, articles, videos and social media in the “voice” of our client’s brand. It makes sites more findable and brands more recognizable. For the free Brandcasting Report go to www.BrandSplat.com/ or visit our blog at www.iBrandCasting.com/.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Advantages of Advertising on Facebook

Advantages of Advertising on Facebook
Posted: 11 Jul 2011 07:46 AM PDT

A friend of mine was recently in a car accident. His wife posted a Facebook status update reading “Hubby in a car crash – thankfully nothing serious”. By the end of the day, she’d received twelve phone calls from insurance companies offering her no win no fee claim, services.

Where did the insurance companies get their information from? How does a Facebook status update become a targeted sales opportunity?

Let’s start with the obvious. Advertising on Facebook is advantageous because everybody uses it. There were 600 million active Facebook users as of January 2011.

Facebook offers advertisers the ability to geo target their advertising, by country; by state/province/county; and by city. It also lets them target advertising according to specific keywords, phrases and interest areas. When a user signs up for a Facebook page, he or she fills out information on his or her profile page that describes his or her interests. Facebook advertising lets the advertiser target his or her ad according to those interests.

There’s a less tangible advantage to advertising on Facebook, which is involved with the site’s own history. Facebook has always sold itself on the idea of exclusivity. You can’t see someone’s profile page unless he or she lets you. And you can’t be friends with someone unless they accept your request. The whole atmosphere of Facebook is about permission – permission to interact, permission to join groups and share interests. When targeted advertising pops up on your Facebook page, it feels like you have asked for it to be there – or at least that you have allowed it to be there. And that makes you more susceptible to its message.

Social media is constantly evolving, with Facebook as its apogee. Other Internet megaliths are getting in on the act – Google, for example, has just started trialling its “+1”, which shows you sites relevant to your search that people in your social network have tagged. The idea is one of backwards advertising. Consumers are still being directed towards products they might like to buy – but their own preferences, their likes and their plus ones, are taking them there.

The difference between advertising on Facebook and arriving at a product as a result of a +1 (which is similar to a Facebook “like”), is that the Facebook advertiser is not part of your social network. He or she is recommending his or her product rather than one of your friends. And that’s the ultimate advantage, right now, of advertising on Facebook. An advertiser, who knows exactly how to word and structure to encourage you to buy, can use Facebook to give himself or herself the status of “friend”.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nilanjan is a Website Designer at TemplateKingdom, He is a regular blogger of the Templatekingdom.com where he writes about web design inspiration, photography and Internet Marketing.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources Inbound Links for Search Engine Optimization, Do You Deserve Them?

Inbound Links for Search Engine Optimization, Do You Deserve Them?
By Scott Buresh (c) 2011

As part of a comprehensive search engine optimization campaign, gaining inbound links to your website is critical. But what exactly does this entail, and how should you most effectively go about gaining these types of valuable links? When an arduous task presents itself, it is human nature to try to find a shortcut. Sometimes, these shortcuts work, and the quality of the end result is not sacrificed. But often, the shortcut either turns out to be a short-term fix or worse, it backfires, leaving you worse off than you were before. And, in my experience, such is the case in regard to building quality inbound links to your website as part of your search engine optimization campaign.

After many years of trying to find shortcuts myself, I finally recognized that the best, highest impact, longest lasting links that point to a website are EARNED, not bought, begged for, or stolen. And how does one go about earning quality inbound links? By actually offering something of value, whether it is value found on your website or value you provide to other websites. Below are a few simple ideas that take a good deal of work, but when applied appropriately, almost always pay off for your long-term search engine optimization efforts.

1. Building an Educational or Resource Section
As I have written about many times before, an educational section of your website serves a variety of purposes. It adds additional pages to your website that can be optimized for critical keyphrases. It can shorten your sales cycle by educating your prospects online rather than over the phone. It can also garner a large number of quality inbound links, simply because you are offering content that doesn't just scream "buy here" - you are instead offering intellectual capital that helps the visitor to make informed decisions, stay on top of industry trends, etc. These are all ideal outcomes of a search engine optimization strategy. People will often link to this valuable content without even being asked, but if you do initiate an effort to reach out to webmasters in your industry asking for inbound links, they are much more likely to comply if you are offering something of value in exchange.

2. Writing and Submitting Expert Articles
Chances are that your company has a few in-house experts in your industry on staff. But did you know that by promoting these hotshots ideas, you can help your search engine optimization efforts by getting inbound links? More than likely, these staff members have important things to say about your industry where it has been, where it is heading, and what issues it currently faces. By having these experts write articles (or having them ghostwritten by a professional writer after he or she interviews your expert), you can then submit this material to popular industry websites, and thereby share that insider wisdom.

The upside to this approach and benefit to your search engine optimization goals is obvious, getting inbound links (generally provided in the author bio). In addition, people who may not have heard of your company, but are knowledgeable about your industry can find out about you from visiting a popular industry portal rather than by only finding your website. Again, the basic premise of expert article submission is that you are trading something of value for multiple benefits, one of those benefits being inbound links to support search engine optimization.

3. Creating and Updating a Blog
Much like submitting expert articles to industry publications or providing a general educational section on your site, a blog is a very specific, popular way to show off your expert knowledge of your industry, albeit in a more informal manner.

Blogs are a great part of search engine optimization, as they give your site a boost by offering fresh content (and gain inbound links from interested readers). They also help you to show off your current knowledge of industry trends and events by serving as a publishing platform for these newsworthy items as they unfold, sending a clear sign to your visitors that you are staying on top of all current issues relevant to your industry.

Over time, others in your industry will recognize the value of the information that you are providing, and many will share it with others via a link from their own site. Once again, you are providing something of value for multiple gains.

4. Offering Free, Informational, Industry-Related Tools
In almost every industry, there are tools that people might rely on as part of their decision making process, and by utilizing a valuable tool, you can actually promote inbound links. Mortgage sites offer free, online mortgage calculators. Car dealers offer similar tools such as payment calculators. This principle can also extend to most industries.

Do you sell consulting services? If so, consider offering a spreadsheet that allows people to evaluate a certain aspect of their business. Do you offer remodeling services? Then consider creating a tool where a visitor can provide room dimensions and then add the features of the room that they desire, allowing them to see what it might look like. Use your imagination.

What tools do you use internally that might be of benefit to your visitors (tools that you don't mind sharing, of course)? If it is a fresh and useful idea, you might be surprised at the number of websites that will provide you with inbound links. But again, there are other benefits for this value that you are offering, including more visitors, more brand recognition, and potentially a sense of gratitude from prospects who found your offering invaluable.

These are only a few ideas on how you can trade value for links as part of your search engine optimization strategy. We haven't touched on opportunities that exist with video, interactive games, and a variety of emerging technologies. But the main idea here is very simple, you earn inbound links by providing value. Moreover, these efforts are not geared simply or specifically for the express purpose of building links. Each of the previously mentioned examples has multiple benefits apart from link building. Of course, it may seem like a lot of work, but your efforts are sure to pay dividends in the long run.

================================================================
Scott Buresh is the founder and CEO of Medium Blue, a search engine optimization company (http://www.mediumblue.com/), which was awarded a prestigious American Marketing Association award in both 2008 and 2010. Buresh has been featured in respected publications such as Entrepreneur, Success, Direct Marketing News, Business to Business, Search Marketing Standard, Public Relations Tactics and the Atlanta Business Chronicle. His articles have appeared in numerous online publications, including ZDNet, WebProNews, MarketingProfs, DarwinMag, SiteProNews, ISEDB.com, and Search Engine Guide. He was also a contributor to How to Build Your Own Web Site with Little or No Money: The Complete Guide for Business and Personal Use (Brown, 2010), The Complete Guide to Google Advertising (Atlantic, 2008) and Building Your Business with Google for Dummies (Wiley, 2004). Medium Blue is an Atlanta search engine optimization (http://www.mediumblue.com/profile.html) company with local and international clients.
================================================================
Copyright © 2011 Jayde Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
SiteProNews is a registered service mark of Jayde Online, Inc.

Ways To Increase Your Site's Organic Traffic

Ways To Increase Your Site's Organic Traffic
By Jason Bartholme - Thu, 06/09/2011 - 8:54am.

Keeping Your Audience Interested

Many leading web sites are actively engaged in finding new ways to increase their online profile. As OnlineSocialNetworking.com talked about in an article, search rankings aren’t everything but they are incredibly important. But it’s dangerous to only take one approach. As many companies have done in recent years, there’s far too much emphasis placed on a site’s search and keyword rankings. Many are told that this is the only way to have a successful business but it’s not true. It’s true that an SEO Company is integral to online success, you want to also increase your organic traffic and there are a few ways to get you started.

Drafting Unique Daily Content

It’s tough to get people to your site but what’s even more difficult is keeping them once they get there. You can use SEO or other tools to get people to your site but if you’re not providing them with unique content on a regular basis you won’t be seen as an authority or viable online voice. For any user that spends a good amount of time searching the web, it’s obvious when you come across a site that’s thrown together with articles that don’t say much. Creating relevant and relatable material is essential to compete with other leading social media resources that put out massive amounts of material every day. You can also hire freelance writers to create articles for you to supplement your online content.

Content Sharing

When it comes to the Internet, there are many sites and companies that simply have greater resources than you. But one of the best things about the web is that it’s a great leveler of players. If you devise a plan to share content among other small bloggers or businesses, you can create a win-win situation for everyone. Doing things like guest blogging connects you to a whole new network of readers and provides content of the host. The more relevant and compelling the piece, the greater the reward. Using Social Media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are some of the best ways to build a greater presence.

Link Building

Link building isn’t a topic that everyone is familiar with but it’s terribly important. You don’t want it to be the main approach but not using it could result in bad things. If you’re not sure what this is, link building is the process of creating inbound links to your site. This can be through other sites, directories, newsletters, etc. It’s simply getting people to link to you. It seems a necessary evil and most SEO companies will help you with this.

You can create and work the search rankings but unless you get people to your site, you won’t be able to tell them about your products and services. Increasing your profile is only the first step in the process. Look for ways that keeps you relevant to your audience and keeps them interested.

Originally published on jasonbartholme.com

AlternativeNet is powered by Blogfather