Affiliate Internet Marketing | affiliatemarketing
By · CommentsAffiliate internet marketing is a great way to make money promoting someone else’s product. When you sign up as an affiliate, you receive an affiliate ID and URL. If you already have a website then you can start promoting their product on your site. Whenever someone visits your site and you make a sale then you get a commission.
The commission is usually a percentage of the purchase price of the product. If you do not have a website then you will need to get or make one. Sometimes the company you are working for will provide one to you and all you have to do is start getting traffic to the site. There are many ways to drive traffic to your site.
Do some homework and find a product that you think would be a good item to promote. Sign up to become an affiliate and if you are selected by the company then you can move forward and get everything in order to start making money. There are more steps involved so make sure you do not miss or skip over any of them. It will only take longer to make some extra cash.
Should you have to build you own site you will also have to buy a domain name and pay to get it hosted. The cost for a domain name is minimal at only about $10 a year. When you buy a domain name you are basically staking your claim on a parcel of the internet. Just like when the pioneers staked their claim on parcels of land, you now own a piece of the internet.
The domain name you choose is very important. It should have the keyword for the product you are promoting in it. Do some keyword research to find the best keywords to use. A good keyword is one that has high searches every month but that also has low competition. A keyword like this is like money in the bank. Download a good keyword tool and spend some time looking for a good one. Check out some long-tailed keywords, you might find your little golden nugget has four or five words in it.
You will need a good content management system, or CMS, to install a blogging platform on your affiliate internet marketing website. Your web hosting service may install a blogging platform automatically on your site. The all you have to do is keep it updated and interesting. Use some backlinks to your website to help drive customers, or traffic, to your site.
People will respond to your blog if you keep it professional and sound like you know what you are talking about. To make the sales people have to believe that you are an authority on the subject. They need to trust you.
Now that your affiliate internet marketing site is up you can start posting reviews pertaining to the product you are promoting or you can write articles describing the product and it’s benefits. Ask former customers to write testimonials and post them, too. One satisfied customer might bring in maybe as many as five to ten others looking for the same product.
Jeevan Gosein is the Owner of http://HomeBizManagers.com. Check us out anytime for marketing tips and a free subscription to our cutting edge newsletter. Check out Millionaire Society -> http://www.HomeBizManagers.com/?rd=av2Kprkz
In tough and uncertain economic times, people are taking charge of their economic future and turning to the Internet to earn money. The Internet is filled with legitimate ways to earn from home if you know what to look for. This article provides realistic advise on how to earn from reputable online sources and run your own profitable home-based business successfully.
Let’s get started. Here’s what you need to know to make money online consistently and legitimately.
1. Do set yourself up with an online place of business – get a domain address. For $10 or so per year, it’s worth it to book your own domain name. It makes you look more reputable, permanent and more accountable. Separate yourself from the sketchy programs out there by having your own domain name. Your website with a domain name is your place where you do your business and the location for all your programs, products, services or resume. If you have other websites from various affiliate programs you are involved, that’s fine, you can add the links to those programs on your domain based website.
2. Do book a website hosting account with a reliable hosting company. It doesn’t matter if you use WordPress to create your site, or a Content Management System provided by your host, but DO get an account that gives you 100% control over your site to add content, pages, widgets, images, video, search engine optimization, stats tracking, sub-domains etc. The days of a 3 or 4 page bland static website are long gone. Today, website owners can (and should) add tools, gadgets, blogs and other resources on their site to make it more customer friendly, search engine friendly, and social media friendly. Effective sites engage the visitor with live chat options, video, member areas, commenting and more. If your hosting provider doesn’t include site analysis and traffic tools, Google offers a free program that is very helpful for tracking important data related to your site traffic. It’s called Google Analytics. Website hosting will be in range of $10 – $50 per month.
Now let’s look at proven successful revenue sources.
3. When it comes to earning from online sources here are some proven successful ways to making money online:
a) Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate marketing means that you sign up with a company as an Affiliate, refer business to those companies and you collect a commission for sales. You will be amazed at the growing number of large brick and mortar companies that offer affiliate programs. You’ve likely heard of Amazon but what about the Affiliate programs offered by WalMart, Pay-Less Shoes, Orbitz, Old Navy, G.I. Joes, ABT Electronics and American Express to name just a few. How each company pays commission and how much varies but with a high traffic website and precision marketing you can generate tidy income from affiliate marketing sources. Don’t be afraid to look outside of recognizable retailers for good Affiliate Marketing ideas. ClickBank.com for example, allows you to promote thousands of digital products. Vendors post their digital product to ClickBank, you promote it, when a sale is made you collect a commission. ClickBank handles payments and refunds so your only job is to pick the products you want to sell, promote, and collect commission. Pick a number of solid reputable affiliate marketing programs, but only a few so you can focus on those and only those to see success. I have to include a shameless plug here for my own company, Worldprofit.com. Worldprofit includes in our Earn-At-Home Program a number of Affiliate Marketing products, reseller opportunities as well as a comprehensive sales and marketing training program. As the economy has fumbled, affiliate marketing and work at home programs such as what we offer at Worldprofit have exploded.
b) Blogging: Don’t stop at Affiliate Marketing, money can be made from popular blogging sites by adding in advertising revenue from sources like Google Ad Sense, this is called Monetizing. Food bloggers, celebrity gossip bloggers, expert columnists and many more are generating sweet advertising revenue by including ads on their high traffic blogs. The ads are generated from an Advertising program such as that offered by Google and many others. They key to this revenue source is high and ongoing traffic. You will also need really unique frequently posted niche content to generate a following and get steady traffic.
c) Sale of Products: Of course you have seller options such as E-Bay for selling products either new or used. E-Bay is not a new idea for making money online but it is a source that many people have been relying on for years. Wholesale items, overstock products, collectors novelties, bankruptcy sale items, fire sale items, garage sale items – even houses – are just a few examples of what people are selling on E-Bay. Those who are reliable sellers earn status as trusted sellers and can earn significant money selling products.
d) Site Flipping: Flippa is a website that through an auction process, allows you to buy or sell complete niche websites, many with an existing customer base and verifiable traffic. If you are clever and have built up a successful online property you an sell it on Flippa. It’s a similar concept as buying a home, fixing it up and selling it. In this case though you create a site for a nice market, monetize it, grow traffic, a prospect list and a customer database, then simply sell the site. For someone who doesn’t have the interest in creating a site and all the work of building traffic and customers, a ready-made website can be purchased. Take a click over to Flippa.com to see new for sale listings, active listings, browse, price range, sold sites and more.
e) Freelancing: If you have a specialized skill or knowledge, have a look at freelancing sites such as Elance.com. Over 1/2 a million jobs are posted every year on Elance. This is a site where you can post your unique skills. Both companies and freelancers (called contractors) can post their jobs/skills. It’s unique in that you can access specific jobs including work for programmers, writers, designers, consultants and so forth. There are so many options, take some time to review these mentioned and keep an open-mind about what is available. Other sites offering a similar service include FreeLancer.com and Freelancejobs.org By posting your profile to these sites and taking on contact work you can earn considerable income.
f) YouTube.com Not everyone is destined for instant success like Justin Beiber after simply posting a video to YouTube. There IS money to be made with YouTube, that fact is a certainty. YouTube’s partner program allows you to post videos and earn revenue as your audience grows. Remember the scared baby video? What about the talking dog videos? Those videos and lots more are generating a steady source of income for someone due to the popularity of those videos. Initially the income can be very small, but if your video becomes hugely popular your commission checks will grow at the same time. Get good at it, get a following and then release videos to keep that source of income growing. Visit YouTube’s Partner section of their website to read success stories and how the program works.
g) Multiple Streams of Income. Here’a final thought on earning from online sources. Multiple streams of income is the key to consistent revenue, pick a few programs or options and focus on those to EARN something before you move on to the next. Make sure you are not spread to thin and can devote adequate time to building those sources of revenue. You need to have the time, commitment and an advertising budget to promote on a consistent basis.
4. Realize you must work your business every day to expect to see results. Don’t expect overnight success, or even success after a few weeks. If you are in this for a hobby fine, but if you want to build an online business with a steady source of full time income realize that it will take time. It’s a slow build and a lot of work.
5. Understand that CONSISTENT marketing and promotion is critical to your success. Ever notice that Coke is always advertising? Coke is continually in your face reminding you they are there. They sponsor events, they run TV ads, Super Bowl commercials and taste-test booths. The reason is simple. Every business, big and small must constantly promote their product or service. Your online business is no different. Promotion is a daily task. How much you earn is directly related to how much time and effort you invest in marketing your product. Learn about the power of social media including FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digg, YouTube, and so many more. If you don’t have a blog get one, and post unique content daily with rich key words related to your products/services/business and include integrated links to social media for maximum exposure.
6. Factor in that you will have to allocate and spend some of your hard earned money on advertising. Any successful business requires that you put money back into it. If you think you will build your earnings relying exclusively on free methods of advertising you will be disappointed. Yes, you can promote your business using free sites, and free services, but accompany that with actual paid ads at reputable sites. Don’t limit yourself to the major search engines like Google and their Ad Words program. Also consider Safelist Advertising and Traffic Exchanges. Safelist advertising once spurned as the poor man’s advertising vehicle has gained popularity and is free to get started with very low cost advertising options. Traffic exchanges work in a similar way and are worth consideration. For best results in either Safelists or Traffic Exchanges be prepared to pay for ads to see the best results. If you are on a tight budget combine both free and paid methods of advertising, and make sure you have an Ad Tracker software program so you know which ads are generating clicks and from which source.
7. Set goals. Are you going to make $100 today? $500 this week? How much? Once you have set your goals, set your plans for how you will accomplish this. What are the daily, weekly, monthly tasks you will do to make your financial goals a reality? Don’t allow your self to get distracted or pulled down with tasks that don’t get you closer to where you want to be. If your day ends with no commission report or sales report that says you earned SOMETHING today, rethink your plan for tomorrow. Get up early and get busy.
8. Have a positive attitude, I can’t stress this enough. Put a smile on your face, believe, then do. In my work as a trainer and consultant, I talk to people everyday who have had mixed success in building an online business. The people I have watched grow and build their own successful business are those who think positive and take action. Don’t be brought down by negative people, the know it alls, the ones that rain on your parade. Be mindful that while they are talking you down, you are doing something to improve your financial situation. Let that negativity slide off your back and propel you forward to work harder, and smarter.
9. Accept that you will have failure. Get over it. Learn from your mistakes. Move on. If it was easy to build a successful online business everyone would be making millions.
10. Find a mentor or training program that fits for you. The web is filled with software, e-books, training programs, webinars and more. You have all of this information at your fingertips. Find the best sources and get started. Don’t make the mistake of learning, study, analyzing but never actually DOING anything. You won’t find success thinking about it, success is the results of DOING something to make it happen.
**** What are your thoughts on online money making programs? Submit your comments below.
About the Author
Sandi Hunter is the Director of Website Development at Worldprofit. Worldprofit provides training, support, software, hosting, blog content, traffic, and site design for small and home based business. Now in it’s 18 year, Worldprofit’s Home Business Bootcamp has earned status as the #1 Earn-At-Home Training program. Republished with author’s permission by Jeevan Gosein http://HomeBizManagers.com. Check out Ruthless Income -> http://www.HomeBizManagers.com/?rd=fm1UyMOc
I don’t know who came up with the phrase, “Always Be Closing” but it’s brilliant. In sales circles it’s known more simply as ABC.
If you are in sales, this simple catchy phrase will help keep you on track to making sales.
Here’s some insight into sales and how to increase the number of sales YOU make.
Buyers like to get the sales person off track.
They like to ask questions, lots of questions.
They ask:
Does it come in blue?
What’s the guarantee?
Buyers like to stall, hedge, avoid.
They say:
I have to ask my wife.
I want to look around.
I think I can get a better deal somewhere else.
Buyers like to know that their business matters, that they are getting some personal attention to earn their business.
But sales people, know the ABC’s of sales – Always Be Closing.
Smart, successful sales people know that happy customers and good sales people go hand in hand.
They know that spending a little extra time with a serious buyer, or creating a personalized offer can be exactly what is needed to clinch a sale.
The buyer wants their questions answered so they can make the decision to buy. The smart salesperson wants to answer those questions and move the person ever closer to buying.
My colleague, Dr. Jeffrey Lant talks about the sales dance. He likens the sales process to a type of courtship. The sales person approaches, the buyer is shy, aloof. The sales person comes closer, offers the right words, and assurances. The buyer plays hard to get but shows interest. The sales person is more engaging, tries harder with a better offer, always moving toward the close.
ABC – Always be Closing means this:
Answering relevant questions, eliminating obstacles to the sale being made, helping with payment plans, reassuring the buyer, making special offers, sweetening the deal, whatever it takes to get the sale.
Closing the sale means finding out from the customer, what it will take to get them to buy NOW, not next week, or next month. The best sales people are listeners. They listen to what the buyer wants and they determine a way to get it for them so the sale is made, today. You can HEAR someone who wants to buy, if you stop talking long enough to listen.
ABC means doing your job right so the customer gets a great deal and you make a great sale!
Most of us have been on the receiving end of a poor sales person, and we also remember that warm happy feeling when you’ve made a purchase that you feel good about. We like to feel special, a good sales person can make that happen or alternatively with the wrong approach can make you walk away.
Happy customer’s who feel they got a good deal can be a repeat customer or a customer for life. Unhappy customers help you learn what you could perhaps be doing better. The right approach with an unhappy customer can convert them into a happy one! In fact, they may end up being your best customer because they see you actually cared and tried to make better a problem situation.
Got a sticky note? Write ABC on a sticky note, and post it on your computer. It will help remind you when you are talking to a customer, or answering an email, or sending a quote, or posting an offer, remember to Always Be Closing.
*** We invite your comments below.
About the Author
Sandi Hunter is the Director of Website Development at Worldprofit Inc. Worldprofit provides a number of services for the small and home-based business community including hosting, design, webconferencing, traffic, advertising, SEO, safelists, traffic exchanges, training and resources. This year Worldprofit marks their 17th year in business. Republished with author’s permission by Jeevan Gosein <a href=”http://HomeBizManagers.com”>http://HomeBizManagers.com</a>. Check out Commission AutoPilot -> http://www.HomeBizManagers.com/?rd=pk53N2Em
Today I am tackling one of the BIGGEST problems faced by new online marketers. The problem is this, the inability to market effectively. This causes so many marketers incredible frustration! The result, they throw up their hands in despair and quit long before they see any results.
This is what I hear from people day after day in my role as an online Home Business Consultant. “I am posting, and promoting but not getting any leads or sales! Help me!” If this is you, keep reading, I am going to tell you what you need to know about marketing.
It is true that you can be promoting every day but if you are making one or all of the 5 common mistakes I’ve outlined here, you won’t get the results you want. Take note, this is important stuff if you are really serious about making money online.
1. The first mistake made by new online marketers is this:
Not knowing WHAT to market.
I talk to people daily, nice people who want to sell something online and earn some extra money. They sign up or this and for that, they get Affiliate Memberships all over the web hoping to get better results by being involved in everything they can get their hands on. There intentions are good, they are motivated but they stumble right off the bat by not knowing what to market.
Here’s a quick guide for you on WHAT to Market: -Pick products to market that are DIGITAL. Digital products are those that can be bought and sold instantly online. You get your commission sooner, the buyer gets their product instantly! It’s no-fuss no-muss and the best way to start your web marketing experience and see some results. -In most cases there is no cost to be a product Reseller or Affiliate – hurray! -Pick Reseller products from a reputable long-standing company that specializes in helping vendors connect with affiliates to sell products online -Pick products or affiliate programs that provide advertising copy, banners, and sales aids along with referral links so you can easily promote the products -Pick products that catch YOUR EYE! Newest releases, products with catchy names, trendy topics, those with positive buyer feedback, and return guarantees are best! -Look for Joint Venture releases so you can be one of the first to promote the products when first released for sale Finally, FOCUS! Keep your eye on the prize – profits – don’t spread yourself too thin. Narrow your efforts to a few products and put 100% effort into your campaign.
2. The second most common mistake made by new online marketers is this:
Not knowing HOW to market.
I am always surprised at the answer people give me when I ask how they are marketing online. They look at me perhaps thinking what a ridiculous question that is! They tell me they are sending out their website address. When I look at their website I see a site that is oh so boring! It reads like a brochure with company history, and a few pages of fluffy copy. Yes, of course it is important to promote your website address BUT if you wish to capture leads you must do this – get the prospects contact information!
Getting the contact information from a prospect is often very difficult to do with a standard corporate site. The answer to this problem is to create what are called LANDING pages, or Squeeze pages. These are single page sites that have one purpose and one purpose only – get you a LEAD – and better yet lead to a sale! Some companies provide Landing Pages for you when you become a Reseller for their products. Landing pages help you build your marketing list. Every person may not be a buyer today, but on your mailing list they may enjoy future products you offer. Offering an option to join your mailing directly on your Landing Page gives people 100% control over opting in to your mailing list or not. You build your list while ensuring that people have voluntarily joined your mailing list.
Here’s a quick guide to creating responsive landing pages:
-They should be FAST Loading! Skip any animation, video or annoying distraction that just makes people click OFF! -Use images that are colorful, directive, and related to the theme of your product -Your copy MUST be short, punchy, laden with benefits – speak directly to the reader -Your copy should tell readers what they get if they ACT now! Limit the offer, even better! -Capture the contact information of the reader so you can deliver what they asked for -The more goodies, freebies, offers, and cool stuff you can give people the BETTER the response! -Always include an option for people to join your mailing list and give them GREAT reasons to want to do so!
Unlike a website, a landing page should be EXCITING, BENEFIT-LADEN and accomplish this:
Look reader! You get this! Do this to get it! Do it NOW and also get this BONUS!
3. Here is the third most common mistake I see new marketers making:
Not KNOWING WHERE to Market
Marketing is NOT simple but if you know what you are doing it can be. The key is to find the sites, the niches where you can target your market. Market to the right people instead of the masses with solid products and you will get instantly better results.
Here’s a quick guide to knowing WHERE to market:
-Do a Google search to find sites related to what you are promoting, then target those sites for your marketing campaigns -Use every available niche market you can find and post there, this includes Forums, Classified Ad Sites, Banner Exchanges, Twitter and Social Networking and Bookmarking sites. -Do not discount FREE and low cost advertising options like Safelists, and Traffic Exchanges. These are excellent ways to target a specific market -You do NOT have to spend ridiculous amounts of money on advertising. Find the sites where your target market exists, then place low cost ads including safelist posts, banners, and classified ads. Don’t even think about buying pay-per-click ads at sites like Google unless you have deep pockets and know what you are doing. -Learn what backlinks are and why they are SO VERY important to generating traffic and achieving better search engine indexing for your site, products or business. -If any of the terms above are foreign to you, you have some homework to do, I have included some resources below.
4. Are you ready for the fourth and perhaps most fatal mistake made by new online marketers?
Not knowing how to TRACK your promotional campaigns
If you are going to spend time and money to promote a product or service you MUST, you absolutely MUST know where you are getting your results. Ad Tracking is a 100% requirement! If you are not tracking your ads, and the clicks you get and from where, you are promoting blindly. What happens when you don’t watch what you are doing? You can fall in a hole! Online this can be a hole where you fall in and throw your money into wasted ad campaigns. I’ve seen more people allow paid advertising to eat up their entire budget than I want to think about. Smart marketers that get results know exactly the ad campaigns that get results, and the sources they came from.
Get an Ad Tracker Tool. Some advertising sites provide you with data on number of clicks to your ads, or impressions. This is important, just be sure you understand what those terms mean. A click is usually far more powerful for you then a “view”. You want ACTIVE respondents, real people actually clicking on your ad to see it. This is much different than an “exposure” or a “view” with the latter being considered passive and very weak marketing, often provided free. For best results you will ALWAYS get better results from paid advertising than from free advertising but don’t discount free promotion, it is a good way to earn advertising credits if you have a small advertising budget. If you buy advertising be SURE you get some kind of way to validate the promotion, the click rate, and actual IP addresses of unique respondents to ensure the hits are legitimate and not computer generated. Make sure your respondents will be geographically specific too, from countries that you wish to target. For example, Canada or the USA. If you have your own domain you are fortunate, as you can benefit from an Ad Tracking tool that tracks all your promotional activities and traced to your website domain address.
5. The fifth common mistake I see online marketers making is very straight-forward.
Not being realistic or giving it enough consistent time and effort to see results.
I know we live in an instant gratification world but if you are new to online marketing you will need to be more realistic. Promotion takes a lot of CONSISTENT effort using a number of strategies at a number or web sites. By tracking your ads you can see instantly where your efforts are being productive. Be prepared to try various copy, be cognizant that some products will sell better than others, some advertising resources will deliver better than others. Vary your offers, change up your products as needed, update landing pages, post to a number of sites and track the results. Take some time to learn about some of the terms used in this article. Be honest with yourself about what you are doing. Are you serious about earning money online or are you doing this as a hobby? Your level of hunger and ambition to succeed will be your motivator. The good news is that once you have built your mailing list, and found niche sites and advertising resources that work, your job to promote gets Sandi Hunter is the Director of Website Development at Worldprofit Inc., a company specializing in hosting, online tools, training, ad tracking, and marketing resources for small and home business. Established modestly in 1994 off a kitchen table, today Worldprofit is known as the Home Business Experts and the number one resource for all things related to home business. Republished with author’s permission by Jeevan Gosein <a href=”http://HomeBizManagers.com”>http://HomeBizManagers.com</a>. Check out Siphon Traffic Listbuilder -> http://beaumont75.5iphon.hop.clickbank.neteasier but NEVER goes away.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
It isn’t just that most people are lousy at sales… far more shocking is the fact that most SALES PEOPLE are lousy at sales.
If you’re one of them, this article is for YOU!
The plain fact of the matter is that the overwhelming majority of sales people rely on their charm, gift of gab, and ability to “wing it” to make sales… instead of being prepared to make sale after sale. STOP IT! Following these sensible steps means more money:
1) Closing sales is not a matter of motivation or pressure. Instead, it’s a question of having the right information readily at hand, so you can answer customer questions quickly, easily, thoroughly.
Thus, consider what you have readily available when you are talking to a customer.
2) Do you have (readily available, mind) a sheet of “you gets”, that is a list of PRECISELY what your customer gets when using your product/service?
Dollars to doughnuts, neither you nor any member of your business has sat down and written out the features of what you’re selling; then converted each and every feature into a benefit that the customer gets. Treat each and every benefit like scoops on an ice-cream cone; the higher you stack ‘em, the more enticing to the customer!
3) Do you have a sheet of offers?
Products do not sell themselves; a sales person bragging “Our product sells itself” is wrong, naive or both. What sells products is offers; the better the offer the faster the sale.
Thus, have you got a sheet of offers; “add-ons” you can use to motivate immediate customer action? This list should make it very clear just what the customer gets for fast action. AND when the customer must act, for ALL offers must be limited by time, quantity, etc.
4) Do you have a sheet of results testimonials?
People what to be assured and re-assured about what they will get when using your product. Here’s where “results” testimonials come in. These not only provide a happy customer’s experience in using your product (“I loved it”), but the specific results that customer achieved. The greater the specificity and the benefits, the better and more effective the testimonial.
Note: whenever possible ALL testimonials must include full customer and such relevant details as title, location, etc. In short, testimonials must be detailed and complete to be completely credible.
5) A page of objection responses and rebuttals
Face it, not every customer will leap for joy upon hearing of what you are selling. That’s why you must be prepared for the nay-sayers, the procrastinators, the cautious, and the merely foolish. For these folks, a list of every possible objection and your strongest response is required.
Commmon objections include:
“I must ask my spouse.”
“I’m on vacation for the next 2 weeks.”
“I have to check you out.”
“I don’t have the money.”
Now hear this: there isn’t an objection under the sun which cannot be effectively answered, only not by “winging it.” EVERY successful sales person knows that preparation here is mandatory; the rebuttals may seem spontaneous… but they must ALWAYS be rehearsed. Brainstorm all objections; then work on the responses. As new objections surface, add them to your list… and, again, perfect the perfect, objection- demolishing response.
Last Words
The key to sales success is NEVER a “wing and a prayer.” It is ALWAYS a matter of total, complete, deliberate effort. Such effort can turn a mediocre sales person into a stellar performer. That, of course, is precisely what your goal must be, and now you know how to achieve it!
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Attend Dr. Lant’s live webcast TODAY and receive 50,000 free guaranteed visitors to the website of your choice! Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author’s permission by Jeevan Gosein <a href=”http://HomeBizManagers.com”>http://HomeBizManagers.com</a>. Check out Fast Cash Commissions -> http://www.HomeBizManagers.com/?rd=rx5q5th4
Safelist advertising is a powerful, effective advertising resource for affiliate marketers. Here’s why and how to maximize your responses.
A Safelist is a mailing list where Members can email each other. These emails cannot be considered as spam because Member must opt-in to receive the mailings and also have confirmed their email address. A Safelist can be used to advertise a product or service, including business opportunities, affiliate programs, home business products, Clickbank products and so forth. Most Safelists work by allowing Members to earn credits but also offer paid advertising. Basic Membership in a Safelist is usually free.
Benefits of Safelist Advertising
1. Affordable: Cost is ZERO to join most safelists. You can either surf to earn credits for your own advertising, or you can pay a very small cost for a paid subscription. Paid subscriptions allow you to post more often and to more people. If you can afford it get a paid subscription, cost can be as little as $10 and up.
2. Targeted: You reach a targeted audience of other home business folks, affiliate marketers, entrepreneurs and information seekers.
3. Legitimate: Once scoffed at as a cheesy time-wasting practice, Safelists are a legitimate marketing practice and have gained credibility and popularity. Spam laws have limited the number of ways to market a product or service. Safelist Advertising allows marketers to reach consumers easily and legitimately with their permission.
4. Variety: There are various forms of advertising available within Safelist programs. Members have many options for advertising affordably and this can include Text Ads, HTML ads, solo ads, banners, login ads, landing pages, ad rotations etc.
5. Reach: Creating your own in-house mailing list is ideal but does take an enormous amount of time and can be self-limiting to who is on your own list. To reach larger, new audiences, affiliate marketers have discovered the power of being able to post to a large legitimate list of people. To get better results from your Safelist advertising, here is what you need to know.
Always, always, always promote a LANDING PAGE and NOT your website when using Safelist Advertising. Remember you want to make an eye-popping offer and get an instant result. Your website can’t and won’t do that in most cases.
A Landing Page that will generate results includes:
-Attention Grabbing headline
-Point form, punchy copy thick with the benefits to the reader
-A call to action, DO THIS! GET THIS!
-Lead form to gather contact details of the person.
-Option to subscribe to your newsletter, or receive further special offers
-More copy than graphics so your page loads quickly and command attention with words not distracting unnecessary graphics.
When posting your ads, don’t rely on just one Safelist. If your funds are limited select 3 – 5 to get started and post as often as you can. If you have a dud ad that doesn’t get response, change it up, run a revised or different ad.
Make sure you have some type of ad tracking software so when you post and ad you can see the click-rate and analyze the effective of your ads. Many Safelists offer this tool for their Members.
The key to effective Safelist Advertising is three fold.
1) Get a paid subscription from a number of reputable Safelists so you can promote to larger audiences and more often.
2) Promote a well-written copy-dense Landing Page with minimal graphics. Emphasis is on eye-grabbing headline, benefit-laden copy, and ultra-fast loading.
3) Pick only reputable Safelists.
Tell us what you think about Safelists? What are your favourites? Submit a comment below.
About the Author
Sandi Hunter is the Director of Website Development at Worldprofit Inc. Worldprofit provides a number of services for the small and home-based business community including hosting, design, webconferencing, traffic, advertising, SEO, safelists, traffic exchanges, training and resources. This year Worldprofit marks their 17th year in business. Republished with author’s permission by Jeevan Gosein <a href=”http://HomeBizManagers.com”>http://HomeBizManagers.com</a>. Check out Fast Cash Commissions -> http://www.HomeBizManagers.com/?rd=rx5q5th4
Did you check your Spam Folder? | spamfolder
By · CommentsWhile watching a recent episode of The Office, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. During a meeting, the character Andy says to his co-workers, “Ok, I have emailed you all the critical data so be sure to check your spam folder.”
Oh, if only I had a dime for every time, we said to someone in our office, or to a customer, “Did you check your spam folder?”
It’s so much of an accepted problem now, companies anticipate that the information a customer requests may be filtered to spam. So in response, websites, sales material, new customer information and often telephone staff are briefed to include information on how to whiltelist, or mark email as acceptable.
For the most part we love our email don’t we? We rely on it to communicate with customers, family members, co-workers and conduct business. Email is better than voice mail, you can send it when convenient for you, from anywhere in the world. But will the person you are sending it to actually get it?
Maybe.
If you don’t know that someone sent you something, how will you know that you didn’t get it?
Despite the best efforts and money invested by ISP’s and Mail Service providers, the spam still gets through. You can’t find that important email from your customer, and you swear you never got the flight confirmation for your next trip. You check your email, then check again. Still nothing, but the “enhancement” emails still get through. Amazing!
It seems the spammers have won the war on junk email. Yes, some serial spammers have been caught, but take one look in your junk or spam email box and it’s busting with all kinds of offers and tidbits, malware, phishing schemes, and more. The simple task of opening an email attachment can unleash hell on your computer, harvest it and turn it into a Bot. Almost makes you want to watch The Terminator movie again. What was that Sarah Connor said about Skynet and self-aware computers taking over the human race?
I guess a positive way to look at it is this. The spammers, and the baddies of the Internet are helping to create jobs. As they release viruses and malware through email that infect computers it increases sales of Virus Protection Software, and increases calls to the Geek Squad at your local computer shop. The spammers keep the Internet police occupied and are contributing to economic recovery.
Most of us know to check our spam folder when an expected emailed does not arrive. Sometimes Email providers like Google’s Gmail, make it a little difficult to check for misdirected email. For some reason, Gmail, (which otherwise is a great program) has hidden the Spam folder under the MORE tab. Rather than having a very obvious folder called Spam that users can see clearly then check, instead users have to click on MORE, than on the Spam sub-folder. Only then can users see what legitimate email has been filtered unnecessarily. Some ISP’s block the spam before it even gets to your email box. This cuts down on spam but also means you may not get email that you actually DO want to receive, but your provider has deemed it not worthy for delivery or has blacklisted a domain.
Yes, spam is a fact if life. Just like we hate junk faxes, and telemarketers, and flyers in our mail boxes, we now we find our email boxes crammed with junk.
For most of us in an office environment we have come to accept junk email, as annoying but a part of life. The delete button is always a click away. It’s just not worth getting upset about.
** What do you think? Is spam the problem it once was? Submit a comment below we’d like to know what you think.
About the Author
Sandi Hunter is the Director of Website Development at Worldprofit Inc. Worldprofit provides a number of services for the small and home-based business community including hosting, design, webconferencing, traffic, advertising, SEO, safelists, traffic exchanges, training and resources. This year Worldprofit marks their 17th year in business.
Republished with author’s permission by Jeevan Gosein <a href=”http://HomeBizManagers.com”>http://HomeBizManagers.com</a>. Check out Fast Cash Commissions -> http://www.HomeBizManagers.com/?rd=rx5q5th4
Building an online business can be tough, frustrating at times, and it can be easy to get discouraged. Know that you are not alone! Everyone who has ever had the courage to try something new, to take risk, or attempt something that is difficult has felt the same way you have at some point.
Here are some quotes from people who did not start out successful, they had to earn it like the rest of us. I hope they help get you motivated again. Print them off it like and post on your wall by your computer as you are working away turn to it in times of doubt. Hey! Make up one of your own quotes, and add it to the list with YOUR name. Maybe some day YOUR name will appear on the list with other greats of our time.
“The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground.” Author Unknown (Sandi says: This one is my absolute favourites!)
“When your dreams turn to dust, vacuum.” Author Unknown
“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” T.S. Eliot Poet
“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. In this life we get nothing save by effort.” Theodore Roosevelt
“Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.” Louis D. Brandeis, Honourable Supreme Court Justice
“Don’t feel entitled to anything you didn’t sweat and struggle for.” Marian Wright Edelman, Founder of the Children’s Defense Fund
“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.” A Buddhist Saying
“The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.” Robert G. Ingersoll, Poet
“We can do anything we want if we stick to it long enough.” Helen Keller
“The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.” Abraham Lincoln
“One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do.” Henry Ford
“Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.” Jacob A. Riis
“The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave. It’s the age-old strugglethe roar of the crowd on one side and the voice of your conscience on the other.” Douglas MacArthur, American General
“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” Japanese Proverb
“Plan for gradual improvement, not spectacular leaps. . .A slow and steady stream of water will, in time, erode the hardest rock.” David Campbell, Ph.D
“True courage is like a kite; a contrary wind raises it higher.” John Petit-Senn, French Poet
“The Difficult is that which can be done immediately; the Impossible that which takes a little longer.” George Santayana, American philosopher and poet
“We all find ourselves in situations that at times seem hopeless. And, we all have the choice to do nothing or take action.” Catherine Pulsifer
“Want to get what you want? Get up off your butt and do SOMETHING to get where you want to be! Smarter, thinner, richer, whatever. None of those things are on or near your couch.” Author Unknown.
“Put YOUR QUOTE HERE! ” – Add your name to it. Why not!? Let your inspirational quote come from within. I bet this one will be THE most motivating. Create it. Post it.
About the Author
Sandi Hunter is the Director of Website Development at Worldprofit Inc. Worldprofit provides a number of services for the small and home-based business community including hosting, design, webconferencing, traffic, advertising, SEO, training and resources. This year Worldprofit marks their 17th year in business. Republished with author’s permission by Jeevan Gosein <a href=”http://HomeBizManagers.com”>http://HomeBizManagers.com</a>. Check out Fast Cash Commissions -> http://beaumont75.fastcashme.hop.clickbank.net
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author’s program note. If you live in a college town like I do (Cambridge, Massachusetts) you’re going to hear the undergrads talk about the “awesome” this, the even more “awesome” that. Usually I don’t pay much attention to this because the word is habitually misapplied and misused. I mean just how “awesome” can the umpteenth pizzeria be, right?
But today I have got an idea for you, an idea that’s, well, “awesome”, particularly if you’re of an inventive turn of mind and need 1000 smackers to help you with your improve-the-world idea. Just a free thousand bucks, with no strings attached.
Too good to be true? That’s the awesome part! It’s that “once in a blue moon”, “it is what they say it is,” “I’ll be darned” idea.
For such an idea, soon to be revealed to you, I’ve selected the song that’ll start any day off right, even if your voice needs re-inventing. It’s “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin;’ ” from the 1947 Broadway musical “Oklahoma!” by Rogers and Hammerstein. You can easily find it in any search engine. Let ‘er rip… especially when you’re completing the simple form that could net you a free grand.
2008 Harvard grad Tim Hwang’s awesome idea.
Tim Hwang, like most of us, hates paperwork, bureaucracy, and wasting time with stupid and “what’s the point?” tasks. But unlike the rest of us, Hwang actually did something about his annoying pet peeve and irritation. The beneficiaries are those special people who have had that proverbial “aha!” moment, that exciting instant in time that signifies the fact you’ve just given birth to what the world always needs… another bright idea. We just can’t get enough of them.
In the real world, your brand-new, bright-shiney idea would quickly become the easiest part of an endless list of things to do, especially if you want — money! (As every single inventor in human history has.)
It becomes a backbreaking task, doing this, doing that, hurry up and wait for funding sources that seem to be friendly and accessible in their brochures, then morph into inhabitants of an “undisclosed location” when you want to hit them up for something. That common situation is awful…
Hwang’s “aha!” moment.
Cambridge is a city where everyone and his brother is Always Imagining Something, Doing Something and, in due course, Achieving Something and (nice this) Giving Back Something. It’s a very exciting, motivating environment where establishments of every kind could well have “Creative People Need Apply” signs on the door. It’s most addictive. Tim Hwang is one of these people and even at his young age is already in the Give Back category. Here’s what he dreamed up… and how that object of your affection — you! — can benefit.
First Hwang came to be aware of one of the truest facts on earth, viz. that to get money from people they require you to fill out a whole filing cabinet’s worth of forms. It’s time-consuming, often daunting, and always as dull as dishwater. But Hwang built a better mousetrap, so to speak, giving away money — real Yankee greenbacks — with a form so simple you won’t have apoplexy or worse completing it and — drum roll — no (universally hated) reporting requirements at all. Nirvana!
Hwang credits the MacArthur Foundation for inspiring him. MacArthur awards the so-called “genius grants” which give folks a truly awesome $500,000 to use however they want without being forced to complete a single page of application or meet a single reporting requirement. I could use one of those myself! Hwang took this established mode of helping idea people… and gave it an awesome turn.
The Awesome Foundation.
Hwang’s idea was new, innovative, and (biggest deal of all) so flexible it could help any idea reckoned as “awesome” by either the trustees of the newly established “Awesome Foundation” or the people who came up with the ideas and applied for the money. Hwang’s “foundation” is not a classic grants-making foundation at all. Instead it is a singular way for idea people to apply — and easily get — a thousand dollars to use towards any idea they dream up and submit to the trustees.
These trustees are a key to the foundation’s success, first because they each kick in $100 a month, from which the awards are made; second because they are responsible for determining which “awesome” idea gets the money. This involves judgement as fine as King Solomon’s. Here’s an example of a recent conundrum presented to the trustees of the original chapter, now known as the Boston chapter. 130 folks applied in August, 2011… 128 of these, while awesome , were not awesome enough. And so it came down to just 2 people.
The first wanted to buy a couple of goats to rent out as urban lawn mowers. The second was a sculptor who wanted to change careers and asked the Foundation to fund a portable welder so he could go round and fix his deteriorating city. And so, after further careful consideration, the trustees selected the disenchanted sculptor and his awesome idea for reinventing himself and his city.
It grows as it goes.
The motto for the state of New Mexico is also appropriate for the Awesome Foundation and its labor of love. This simple idea of people helping people and providing some financial encouragement, too, is truly an idea whose time has come. As a result Tim Hwang has got himself a tiger by the tail. There are already 23 chapters around the world; Australia is the farthest away from Cambridge… Detroit is the newest. They both need a hand from whoever is willing to help.
Largesse from the Knight Foundation.
At the Awesome Foundation’s website (awesomefoundation.org) enthusiastic members post evidence of their work’s success. It reads like what it is, a bulletin board of all the available evidence that the Foundation is moving ahead smartly. It is an amateur production in need of sharper design and copy, but the overall effect is positive; of real people who could have ignored the problems they deal with choosing instead to do something useful, even if that was limited.
This positive, hands-on, people-helping idea came to the attention of the bigger fish at the Knight Foundation whose decision makers liked what they saw, and gave $244,000, so joining the Awesome cause. This grant, the biggest yet to Awesome, will fund an initiative to provide microgrants to citizen journalism projects in Detroit. It’s Knight’s way of endorsing Awecome and helping Detroit, a basket case among America’s wide array of urban plights.
And I’ll tell you something. I think that’s just plain Awesome, don’t you think?
To apply for one of Awesome’s $1000 no-strings grants, go to awesomefoundation.org
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Jeffrey Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author’s permission by Jeevan Gosein <a href=”http://HomeBizManagers.com”>http://HomeBizManagers.com</a>. Check out Commission Commando -> http://www.HomeBizManagers.com/?rd=pr0mjO3P
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Every day thousands of people worldwide wake up and, hey presto!, have a great idea: I’m going to set up a business for myself online. Tons of people have done that and oodles of money is being made.
Now hear this: you are now and truly entering the twilight zone… and I want to help you get through it with maximum success and minimum frustration.
Who am I? Well, I am an old Internet hand who, since 1994, has made his primary work place the Internet and has reaped over the years a very ample reward. Now it is time for me to share with you some of the lessons of these years of learning, growth, and profits.
I know what you’re thinking: “Yikes, another old geezer from ancient times trying to help me by offering useless advice that never in a million years could possibly apply to me and my situation.” Is that how you feel when those more experienced than you are (and more successful) offer up their nuggets of wisdom? If so, reconsider and feast your eyes on this:
Item: Most home-based Internet businesses fail unless they have certain crucial criteria in place. Without these factors, you will fail, too.
Item: Your online business is most vulnerable if you have never previously been involved in business and have limited Internet experience. The failure rate here is staggering.
Item: You are at severe risk if you are trying to run a one-person online business and have no one else to advise and counsel you. This is very likely the situation in which you find yourself right this minute. You will soon discover why one is the loneliest — and least successful — number.
Now, have I got your attention?
The minute you decided you wanted to make money online, you became a failure waiting to happen. That’s why you must pay close attention to the recommendations that follow. Not only are they the result of many successful years online, they are heartfelt, because online helpful friends are few and far between… and should be listened to with the utmost respect, even if you don’t like what they’re telling you.
Home truth number 1: Life online for most would-be Internet entrepreneurs is nasty, brutish and short. It looks like this: decide to have an online business, get a website, then…. absolutely nothing. No traffic! No customers! No money! You will know this description applies to you very, very soon if you are being at all honest with yourself.
How long have you been trying to make money online?
How much have you made?
How much have you spent to launch this e-enterprise?
How much time have you wasted?
What makes you think tomorrow will be better than yesterday?
These are tough questions… and most online business wannabees never do demand answers from themselves… or at least not before it’s too little too late.
Home truth number 2: You don’t know enough about developing your crucial prospect list.
People who make money online know that the list is the business and the business is the list. Do you know this and are you focusing your expertise, time and money in developing that all important list? Or are you focusing on such inessential factors as the colors used on your website, your domain name, how many business cards you should order, etc? All such questions collectively do not have the importance and significance of this single query: what did you do today, yesterday, the day before yesterday and the day before that to build the list, the list that is the business and from whence all your profits will derive, now and forever?
Home truth number 3: You have no marketing experience or success.
Who succeeds online? People who know what marketing is, have important marketing experience, and know what marketing they must know and do daily. Sadly, the wannabees have absolutely none of these things and their lack is both obvious and fatal. You cannot succeed in business online (or off for that matter) with only rudimentary marketing skills, hoping that that will be enough. It won’t be. A thorough practical knowledge of reality-based marketing is essential. You proceed at your peril without it.
Home truth number 4: Success online means having the ability to write cogent advertising and other copy.
How are your customer-centered writing skills? The truth, please, and nothing but the truth.
Successful Internet entrepreneurs are to a person good customer-centered writers. Or if they’re not they have solved that problem by hiring someone who is. Thus, your question is this: can I write the necessary copy that gets prospects to stop in their tracks, pay attention, peruse the offer and product details, and act? Merely “thinking” you can write such copy is just not good enough. Would you go sailing in a leaky boat? Then don’t deceive yourself here either. Excellent copywriting skills are a must.
Home truth number 5: You’re not selling nearly enough products.
Want success online? Sell lots of products. Want even more success? Sell lots more. Success online directly correlates to how many products you sell and your skill in presenting them.
How many products are you selling today?
How many yesterday? The day before?
If you are not adding new products daily, you are handicapping your ability to make money online.
Every successful online entrepreneur is engaged in a strenuous search and discover mission aimed at finding more products.
Are you? If not, your Internet obsequies are near at hand.
Home truth number 6: You are not skilled in essential traffic generation techniques.
In real estate, it’s location, location, location.
Online, it’s traffic, traffic, traffic.
The sad truth is you traffic generation skills and experience are minimal, certainly inadequate to generate the necessary traffic that ensures success.
Hopefully you’ll admit this is true. Then, assuming you are willing to knuckle down and master traffic essentials, the better to create and grow your list, you at least have a prayer.
However, if you do not have the necessary traffic generation skills… and remain unwilling to say so and do something about it, you’re DOA… 100% certain to fail.
Home truth number 7… but I must cease and desist as my space for today is now at an end. There is, of course, much more I can tell you… and undoubtedly will. For now, promise me this: that you will attend closely to these deeply honest observations. And when you implement them successfully, you’ll let me know. I’d like to know how you’re getting on, with my help.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Jeffrey Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author’s permission by Jeevan Gosein <a href=”http://HomeBizManagers.com”>http://HomeBizManagers.com</a>. Check out Commission Commando -> http://www.HomeBizManagers.com/?rd=pr0mjO3P
