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Archive for December, 2009

 

Christmas wasn’t too bad this year, though a few days before I had another mini-meltdown but then things didn’t seem so bad.  In fact November was harder than December to get through.  Even though I know that I will have good days and bad days, when I have good days sometimes I feel a bit guilty for being in a good mood.

 

I joined the Self Improvement4 giveaway.  Giveaways have been hit and miss for me but I will get better the more I do things.  Here’s the link if you want to check it out.

http://bit.ly/8m9wmN

 

Are You Making These Top Three Affiliate Marketing Mistakes?

If you’re new to affiliate marketing, there are a few things that you need to know about marketing your affiliate products – because if you get these wrong, chances are, you’re never going to make more than a few sales.

Affiliate Marketing Mistake #1: Choosing the Wrong Product

This is a biggie, and probably one of the biggest mistakes that new affiliate marketers make.  How do you choose the best affiliate products?

There are several ways.  You could choose products based on their popularity (check out clickbank to see what I mean.)  Or you could choose products based around your current business.  (For example, if you run a business such as a beauty parlor, you could find a number of affiliate products…what about a book on hairstyles for weddings, or proms or braids?  Or you could sell a beauty book, or a book on skin care.  There are also physical products that you could sell.  The point is to look for affiliate products that complement what you’re already selling.

You could also choose affiliate products based on how much commission you’ll make – but think carefully before choosing this as your top method of deciding what products you want to sell.  Finding quality products should always be your top concern – because if the products you’re selling are garbage, the end result is that while you might make sales, you’re also going to get lots of refund requests – which means you’ll end up in the hole.

Affiliate Marketing Mistake #2: Marketing the Product the Wrong Way

We’ve all seen the ads that say “Make a Million Dollars with No Product and No Website” – those ads are usually about affiliate marketing.

But think about it for a minute.  If you could REALLY do that – wouldn’t everybody be doing it?  That old saying that “if something sounds too good to be true then it probably is” holds true when it comes to affiliate marketing.

The best way to market any affiliate product is to sell it where the customers are.  Which means that you need to know who your prospective customers are.  You need to find out as much information about them as possible – what they want, what their greatest fears are, what solution they’re looking for.  Then you need to know where they shop – if your affiliate marketing product is for consumers, then you’ll want to know where your prospect shops, what magazines they read or what Internet pages they visit.  Where do they hang out?  If you’re selling to business owners, then you’ll have to find out where they do business at.  And again, market your affiliate products there.

Affiliate Marketing Mistake #3: Not Writing the Right Kind of Sales Copy

Although it’s not absolutely necessary to hire a professional copywriter (especially if you’re just starting out and money is tight), it is necessary that you learn the basics about copywriting and write sales copy that will appeal to your market.

One of the first things you need to do is to “Continue the conversation that your prospect is already having inside their head.  That means that you need to know what kind of questions your prospect has about your affiliate product – and make sure that you’re answering them.  Think about what kinds of objections your prospect might have, and find a way of answering them, too.

Add social proof. (This means you want to show that other people have bought the product and love it.)  When you’re selling affiliate products, the really good marketers will provide you with testimonies that you can use, along with sales copy, email copy, etc.  (This is great because it’s often been written by a professional copywriter who understands the market.)

However, even if you’re given a sales page or email blasts to send out to your list, you don’t want to use it word for word.  Make a few changes it – give it your own original touch.  Make it fresh and original so that your prospect doesn’t see the exact same ad somewhere else – you’ll lose credibility if that happens.

If you’re offering a bonus for someone to buy your affiliate product, make sure that the bonus goes along with the product. Don’t give away recipes if you’re selling a book about hair care.  Make sure your bonus relates to the product and is useful to your prospect.  (For example, you could write your own Ebook that tells how to get the most out of the affiliate product.  That’s something that no one else will be able to sell, because it’s yours.

Whatever you do, when it comes to affiliate marketing, it’s easy to avoid making the three biggest marketing mistakes just by doing a little thinking and strategic planning before you get started.  And the truth is, you can make a very good living just from selling affiliate products, as long as you do it the right way.  Good luck!

 

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Thieves are a problem out in the brick and mortar world is for business owners and thieves are a concern for cyberspace business owners. Out in the brick and mortar world, thieves will take money and merchandise and it isn’t any different online. The real world merchants use locks and alarms to deter thieves. Internet business owners need to use anti-theft software to protect their commissions. Here are some things you can do to protect yourself and your commissions:

1. Use Meta Refresh: A meta refresh is a simple bit of HTML code which automatically redirects your visitor to another page (your affiliate URL). It provides a neat way of presenting affiliate links in newsletters. It probably helps reduce commission bypassing and commission hijacking. A big advantage of using meta refreshes is that if merchants change their affiliate links, you can change links on dozens of pages quickly and easily by altering only one file.

One problem is that some search engines don’t like meta refreshes because they’re frequently used for unsavory purposes. So if you use this technique, use it with caution.

2. Use a URL redirection service. You can use free services or buy a unique domain name for each affiliate program you join. URL redirection makes affiliate links less obvious, so this will reduce some commission thefts.

3. Use a web-based ad tracking service. The ad tracking link initially hides the affiliate link, reducing thefts.

4. Use an ad tracking script. Good ad tracking scripts hide the affiliate link as well as being useful for tracking. It has the advantage that it doesn’t promote someone else’s domain.

5. Use JavaScript redirect. Because this initially hides the affiliate link, it should reduce commission thefts.

Be aware that thievery is a problem for online businesses and take the necessary steps to protect your commissions.

 

I just got this link from a friend after he asked me how I was doing and told him that things have been a bit rough lately.  It is a great video and very inspiring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ZuKF3dxCY

 

Well life just doesn’t want to give me a break or any breathing room.  I’m glad November is over and hopefully December will be a little better.

 

Besides my birthday being in November, the 9th would have been our 10th anniversary and then there is Thanksgiving.  So the last 2 weeks of November I spent depressed, stressed and crying.  I was able to get a half of Turkey breast for Thanksgiving, don’t need much since it is just me and my son now.  Of course he had to work and holidays are no exception.

 

I’m not sure if this is good to mention or not but I will anyway.  Over the holiday my servers got turned off because in the first few months after Barry died I got a little behind on the payments and forgot to send extra to cover what I was behind.

 

This not only affected me and my websites but my customers and their customers as well.  And fortunately for me, some customers of mine and some friends of Barry helped me get enough together to send to get the servers turned back on, it did take a few days though but I know I couldn’t have done it without their help and show of support so thank you so much.