Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm
Blogging is very popular today. The two main blogging platforms are blogger.com and WordPress. The platform that will work best for you depends on many factors. Learning the advantages and disadvantages of each will help you make that decision. Blogger allows you to put up a blog quickly and easily. There is no need for you to have a website or a domain name. Blogger hosts the blog for you. Registration is free and takes only minutes. Once you are registered, you can immediately begin to set up your blog. Templates are provided for you to use and can be easily changed at any time to give your blog a new look. When you add a post, you simply name it and, if you have a website, link it to your site so visitors can easily visit your site by clicking on the title. Type in your text and preview it to be certain it looks good. Then publish it. Your blog is now live. If it's this easy, why would you not simply choose Blogger and be done with it? When you get done posting, you need to ping your blog. Let blogging networks know you have just updated your blog. You can do so by going to Pingomatic.com and entering the name of your blog and the URL address of your blog. Click on the websites you want to ping and you're done. If you don't take time to ping, there's a good chance no one will find your blog. This pinging is not hard, but it is an extra step you need to take when you post, unless you are posting for just family and/or friends. The fact that Blogger is hosted at Blogger also means they can delete your blog at any time. You don't have total control over your blog. Chances are this will not happen, but it does tend to make many marketers worry a bit. WordPress, on the other hand, is hosted on your hosting service. You use your domain name and the WordPress blog is in it's own folder. You have total control over your blog. Once setup, it is very easy for you to post to it. You go into the administration area and write a post. When you are finished, you click to publish it. If you have setup WordPress properly and have listed auto posting at Pingomatic, your post will automatically be pinged to the blogging networks. You do not have an additional step. There are also many templates for you to use and it is possible to configure these templates to fit your needs. Once again, you have more control. However, WordPress can be a little complicated to install and, to take full advantage of it, there are many different plugins you will need to install as well. This can be a bit of a daunting task and something you might not want to be bothered with. You do have to have a domain name and you have to have web hosting set up. These costs may limit the number of different blogs you might want to publish, whereas Blogger allows you to make as many blogs as you want on different subjects and you never pay anything. Some people have blogs using both platforms. You need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each and make your decision accordingly. The best way is to dive in and give it your best shot.
Tom Taylor BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)
http://online-business-centre.com/
Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm
This article may be republished so long as the resource information is left intact.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Affiliate Marketing with a Twist - The Free Way to Easy Money
Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm
Article marketing is nothing new. But applied to affiliate marketing it is the easiest way to make money online. And best of all, you can do it without spending a dime using only free tools available online. This is all you will need: - A free keyword research tool - A free text editor - A free Clickbank account - A free Blogger account Do a quick search on your favorite search engine and you will find these free tools very easily.
Quick cash blue print:
1 - Keyword research: Using your keyword research tool, search for low competition keywords. Those are keywords that have at least 300 searches a month and that have less than 5000 competing pages in Google (when entered between quotation marks like this "keyword"). Try to find 5 to 10 good keywords related to the same topic. The idea is to focus on keywords for which you can get a first page ranking in Google, Msn and Yahoo. Hint: If you have no idea of which market to target, start by checking popular phrases like: how to, purchase, get rid of, help, cure, tips, etc.
2 - Find a digital product to promote Go to Clickbank.com and find a product related to your topic. Choose one that pays at least $15 to $20. Generate your affiliate link and write it down or save it in a text file on your computer.
3 - Article writing: Write an informative article (approximately 400 words) focused on each of your keywords. Put your keyword in the title and in the first and last paragraph of your article. Also sprinkle it throughout your copy. You can also throw in a few other keywords related to your topic. This will help you rank well. Most important, write a great bio box that will make people want to learn more and click on the link to your blog. Put your keyword in your bio box as an anchor text link to your blog.
4 – Set up your blog. More and more article directories will not let you put your affiliate link in your bio box. So your blog is going to be your landing page. The idea here is to put up a simple blog that will presell (not sell) your product and make people click on your Clickbank affiliate link to go to the sales page. Hint: set up a blog for every product you promote and give it a keyword-focused name.
5 – Submit your articles to article directories. You will need to find article directories with a PR of 5 or more. These are the ones Google likes and it will help you get a first page ranking in the search engines and drive tons of free traffic to your blog. Post one article a day on each article directory and do not post the exact same article to more than one directory. Hint: Your best choice is Ezinearticles.com. You will need good quality articles, but it is the most powerful directory online. Alternatively you can use Goarticles.com.
6 – Rinse and repeat! Article marketing is a game of numbers. The more articles your submit, the more money you will earn. But every product is not going to be a winner. Some will do well, some will not. So test a new product every week putting up 5 to 10 focused articles each time. That is all there is to it. This may seem to good to be true, but it really does work. Off course it will take a couple of weeks for money to start rolling in on a regular basis but the magic of this method is that once you write a money making article it will generate residual income for months and maybe even years -- without ever costing you a single dime.
Tom Taylor
BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)
http://online-business-centre.com/
Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm
This article may be republished so long as the resource information is left intact.
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm
Article marketing is nothing new. But applied to affiliate marketing it is the easiest way to make money online. And best of all, you can do it without spending a dime using only free tools available online. This is all you will need: - A free keyword research tool - A free text editor - A free Clickbank account - A free Blogger account Do a quick search on your favorite search engine and you will find these free tools very easily.
Quick cash blue print:
1 - Keyword research: Using your keyword research tool, search for low competition keywords. Those are keywords that have at least 300 searches a month and that have less than 5000 competing pages in Google (when entered between quotation marks like this "keyword"). Try to find 5 to 10 good keywords related to the same topic. The idea is to focus on keywords for which you can get a first page ranking in Google, Msn and Yahoo. Hint: If you have no idea of which market to target, start by checking popular phrases like: how to, purchase, get rid of, help, cure, tips, etc.
2 - Find a digital product to promote Go to Clickbank.com and find a product related to your topic. Choose one that pays at least $15 to $20. Generate your affiliate link and write it down or save it in a text file on your computer.
3 - Article writing: Write an informative article (approximately 400 words) focused on each of your keywords. Put your keyword in the title and in the first and last paragraph of your article. Also sprinkle it throughout your copy. You can also throw in a few other keywords related to your topic. This will help you rank well. Most important, write a great bio box that will make people want to learn more and click on the link to your blog. Put your keyword in your bio box as an anchor text link to your blog.
4 – Set up your blog. More and more article directories will not let you put your affiliate link in your bio box. So your blog is going to be your landing page. The idea here is to put up a simple blog that will presell (not sell) your product and make people click on your Clickbank affiliate link to go to the sales page. Hint: set up a blog for every product you promote and give it a keyword-focused name.
5 – Submit your articles to article directories. You will need to find article directories with a PR of 5 or more. These are the ones Google likes and it will help you get a first page ranking in the search engines and drive tons of free traffic to your blog. Post one article a day on each article directory and do not post the exact same article to more than one directory. Hint: Your best choice is Ezinearticles.com. You will need good quality articles, but it is the most powerful directory online. Alternatively you can use Goarticles.com.
6 – Rinse and repeat! Article marketing is a game of numbers. The more articles your submit, the more money you will earn. But every product is not going to be a winner. Some will do well, some will not. So test a new product every week putting up 5 to 10 focused articles each time. That is all there is to it. This may seem to good to be true, but it really does work. Off course it will take a couple of weeks for money to start rolling in on a regular basis but the magic of this method is that once you write a money making article it will generate residual income for months and maybe even years -- without ever costing you a single dime.
Tom Taylor
BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)
http://online-business-centre.com/
Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm
This article may be republished so long as the resource information is left intact.
Building a Business Selling Other People's Stuff
Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm
Do you want to work online? Do you want to build your own business? Do you have a dream of working for yourself, from home, where you could work as many or as few hours as you like and still make a good living?
A lot of people have that dream too, but what's the best way to make it come true?
Chances are when you start on this journey, you'll end up joining some get-rich-quick schemes and multi-level marketing programs; but you'll soon realize that only a select few make money this way, and unfortunately the odds are against you.
However, there are in fact many multi-millionaires being made online.
Most of them are selling their own products they've developed; but nearly all of them are also selling products as affiliates.
What does that mean? Selling as an affiliate means working as a commissioned salesperson, or making money selling other people's stuff!
While the product owner takes care of billing, customer service, refund requests, tech support and so forth, the affiliate just recommends the product to others, and gets a hefty sales commission for doing so... which can often be as high as 50-75%, and sometimes even 100%, for digital downloadable products.
Why would a product owner offer such high commissions? They do it because 25-50% of your sales, and every other affiliate's sales, add up to a lot more than 100% of their own sales. In other words, they wouldn't be selling those products at all without you.
Why would anyone offer 100% commissions? Because they want to give you a good reason to promote their product (usually at a fairly low price point so they don't mind giving up the sales money) in exchange for building their list of opt-in subscribers. Everyone who pays you the 100% commission for the product also ends up signing up with the product owner to download it, so it’s a win-win scenario.
Now here's the biggest question: how do you get people to buy products through your affiliate link when it seems everybody online is promoting the same thing?
There are numerous ways to get the attention of a customer, which leads them to buy through you.
1. Pay per Click Direct-to-Merchant
Many people are making great money online by purchasing clicks from Google AdWords or other pay per click search engines, and sending that traffic directly to the product owner's sales page through their affiliate link. This can be very profitable if done right. The main drawback is that only a couple of people can use the same domain name when promoting through AdWords, so rather than using your affiliate link as it is, you should create a redirect link. The other drawback is that the traffic you have purchased may be interested in other products you're promoting, but you don't have contact with those people once they've clicked through to the sales page, so that’s a lost sales opportunity.
2. Pay per Click to a Landing Page
This method uses the same type of pay per click advertising, but sends people to your own landing page first. You can offer a review of the product or some other type of unique content, before offering the visitor your affiliate link to click on if they like your review. Again, once the people click through to the sales page, you won't be able to contact them anymore.
3. Combination of Pay per Click and List-Building
This method is very similar to #2, sending people to your own landing page first. However, the idea is to have them opt in to your newsletter list before they get to see your review or the sales page. Once someone is on your list, you'll be able to send him or her related offers down the road. But be careful that your landing page is not just a "squeeze page" with an opt-in form and no content, which goes against Google’s AdWords regulations.
4. Combination of SEO and List-Building
If you don't want to pay for traffic or worry about operating within Google’s pay per click terms, you can go the natural search way and build traffic through SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization. This takes a different resource – your time -- in order to properly optimize your page. You will also want to research how to do it the most effectively. However, many super affiliates are to the point where all their traffic comes naturally from the search engines, and they get thousands of visitors a day.
To combine SEO with list building, you would once again offer an opt-in form to the visitor so that you can keep contact with them. Otherwise you’re letting them leave as easily as they came, which is a waste of your SEO efforts.
As you can see, there are numerous ways to get traffic to your sites and build your affiliate marketing business. If you choose an option that involves opt-in list building, then you'll also have a growing list of subscribers who know, like and trust you, and will buy much of what you recommend.
Another way to stand out is to offer a bonus or rebate that nobody else offers. You'll make less on each transaction if it's a cash rebate, but not everyone will cash in on your offer, and you'll also have more sales overall.
With a little ingenuity and effort, you can be a super affiliate in no time.
Tom Taylor
BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)
http://online-business-centre.com/
Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm
This article may be republished so long as the resource information is left intact.
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm
Do you want to work online? Do you want to build your own business? Do you have a dream of working for yourself, from home, where you could work as many or as few hours as you like and still make a good living?
A lot of people have that dream too, but what's the best way to make it come true?
Chances are when you start on this journey, you'll end up joining some get-rich-quick schemes and multi-level marketing programs; but you'll soon realize that only a select few make money this way, and unfortunately the odds are against you.
However, there are in fact many multi-millionaires being made online.
Most of them are selling their own products they've developed; but nearly all of them are also selling products as affiliates.
What does that mean? Selling as an affiliate means working as a commissioned salesperson, or making money selling other people's stuff!
While the product owner takes care of billing, customer service, refund requests, tech support and so forth, the affiliate just recommends the product to others, and gets a hefty sales commission for doing so... which can often be as high as 50-75%, and sometimes even 100%, for digital downloadable products.
Why would a product owner offer such high commissions? They do it because 25-50% of your sales, and every other affiliate's sales, add up to a lot more than 100% of their own sales. In other words, they wouldn't be selling those products at all without you.
Why would anyone offer 100% commissions? Because they want to give you a good reason to promote their product (usually at a fairly low price point so they don't mind giving up the sales money) in exchange for building their list of opt-in subscribers. Everyone who pays you the 100% commission for the product also ends up signing up with the product owner to download it, so it’s a win-win scenario.
Now here's the biggest question: how do you get people to buy products through your affiliate link when it seems everybody online is promoting the same thing?
There are numerous ways to get the attention of a customer, which leads them to buy through you.
1. Pay per Click Direct-to-Merchant
Many people are making great money online by purchasing clicks from Google AdWords or other pay per click search engines, and sending that traffic directly to the product owner's sales page through their affiliate link. This can be very profitable if done right. The main drawback is that only a couple of people can use the same domain name when promoting through AdWords, so rather than using your affiliate link as it is, you should create a redirect link. The other drawback is that the traffic you have purchased may be interested in other products you're promoting, but you don't have contact with those people once they've clicked through to the sales page, so that’s a lost sales opportunity.
2. Pay per Click to a Landing Page
This method uses the same type of pay per click advertising, but sends people to your own landing page first. You can offer a review of the product or some other type of unique content, before offering the visitor your affiliate link to click on if they like your review. Again, once the people click through to the sales page, you won't be able to contact them anymore.
3. Combination of Pay per Click and List-Building
This method is very similar to #2, sending people to your own landing page first. However, the idea is to have them opt in to your newsletter list before they get to see your review or the sales page. Once someone is on your list, you'll be able to send him or her related offers down the road. But be careful that your landing page is not just a "squeeze page" with an opt-in form and no content, which goes against Google’s AdWords regulations.
4. Combination of SEO and List-Building
If you don't want to pay for traffic or worry about operating within Google’s pay per click terms, you can go the natural search way and build traffic through SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization. This takes a different resource – your time -- in order to properly optimize your page. You will also want to research how to do it the most effectively. However, many super affiliates are to the point where all their traffic comes naturally from the search engines, and they get thousands of visitors a day.
To combine SEO with list building, you would once again offer an opt-in form to the visitor so that you can keep contact with them. Otherwise you’re letting them leave as easily as they came, which is a waste of your SEO efforts.
As you can see, there are numerous ways to get traffic to your sites and build your affiliate marketing business. If you choose an option that involves opt-in list building, then you'll also have a growing list of subscribers who know, like and trust you, and will buy much of what you recommend.
Another way to stand out is to offer a bonus or rebate that nobody else offers. You'll make less on each transaction if it's a cash rebate, but not everyone will cash in on your offer, and you'll also have more sales overall.
With a little ingenuity and effort, you can be a super affiliate in no time.
Tom Taylor
BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)
http://online-business-centre.com/
Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm
This article may be republished so long as the resource information is left intact.
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