B2B Affiliate World

By Jimmy D. Brown of “Affiliatenaire”

…………………….

It’s important that you understand something about affiliate marketing from the very beginning:

Let’s face it, there are 50 gazillion other people out there doing the exact same thing you are doing – if you could remember what it is that you are doing.

So, that’s what I want to address. Here’s the mindset that I want you to remember: there are only so many customers out there. And each affiliate in the program is doing basically the same thing to try to reach them.

That’s why you are going to be different. Got it?

Before I jump into what I consider to be the “real secret” to earning commissions with affiliate programs, let me share with you a basic concept that is going to be important to what you are going to learn today.

Here is how the average affiliate approaches promoting their affiliate link…

A) Send out a mailing. Purchase ezine ads. Get a few pay-per-click keywords. Post a few links. Make a small profit. Get discouraged. Move on to the next affiliate program.

Or, if they are slightly more aggressive…

B) Send out a mailing. Purchase ezine ads. Get a few pay-per-click keywords. Post a few links. Write a few articles. Create an eBook. Do a joint venture. Swap ads. And they continue promoting that same affiliate program until they (along with a few other aggressive affiliates) have found every potential customer on the face of the earth. Make a decent profit. Where do I go now? Move on to the next affiliate program.

While I certainly agree that the “slightly more aggressive” affiliate is on the right trail with their approach, it still leaves a common problem that all affiliates have…

You make an affiliate sale. Great. You make another one. Great. You keep working and working and working to make another sale and another sale and another sale. Now, remember, there are a gazillion others out there trying to do the same thing. And, even if all of these other affiliates only make one or two sales each…

For example: If there are 10,000 affiliates promoting Product A and they all, on average, sell just 2 copies each, that’s 20,000 customers that are immediately unavailable for you to sell to.

Doesn’t matter how hard you promote and how much you do, you WILL NOT sell them a second copy of something they have already bought. Even if they love it. They won’t buy another copy.

So, here’s the “real secret.” While everyone is promoting the heck out of all of the same programs you are, you need to refine who it is that you are promoting.

Here’s why. Let’s say you promote an absolutely awesome product by Mr. Guru that sells for $29.97. And Mr. Guru gives you 50% commission. By the time all of the processing fees are out of the way, you earn about $14.00 for a new customer.

And you’re done with that customer — it’s time to move on and find the next guy.

HOWEVER, if you promote an affiliate program that pays MONTHLY, let’s say a membership site, then here’s what you would find happens…

The membership site is $27.00 PER MONTH. You earn $13.50 per MONTH for every referral you make for as LONG AS THEY REMAIN ACTIVE!

With the $29.97 product, you earn $14.00 for all of your efforts in finding a customer. One time commission. That’s it. Time to find another customer. With the MONTHLY service, you earn about the same commission for that same customer. Then, next month you earn that commission over again! Month after that, you’re still earning that same commission from that same customer. For each and every month that the customer continues to use the service you continue to bring in the commission without finding a new customer.

Do you see the potential here?

It makes much more sense to focus on promoting affiliate programs that bill monthly and pay commissions monthly. That way, you continue to earn profits from the same customer base!

If I am going to buy ads and purchase pay-per-click keywords and create eBooks and bust my behind to get those customers, I’d sure rather get paid every month (without doing a bit of extra work, mind you!) that to only earn a one-time commission.

So, what should you promote? Your eyes have been opened. You’ve seen the light. You realize that what you’ve just read does make sense. And you want to get paid monthly! So, what should you promote? While you definitely need to check things out yourself and make that determination on your own, let me give you a short list of TYPES of offers that you can promote that bill monthly and award monthly commission checks.

* PLR AND RESALE RIGHTS CLUBS

* MEMBERSHIP SITES

* WEB HOSTING

* AUTORESPONDERS AND LIST MANAGEMENT TOOLS

* COACHING CLUBS

* PAID NEWSLETTERS

* SERVICES (AD TRACKING, LEGAL DOCS, MANAGEMENT, ETC.)

The important thing is for you to identify at least one really good affiliate program that offers residual income possibilities for you.

Once you find the right program to promote, it’s a matter of getting as many different people to click on your link as possible. How would you like to have someone teach you ONE simple way to promote your affiliate links every week? Read on for details…

…………………….

Jimmy D. Brown is the author of “Affiliatenaire”, teaching you how to create big-time affiliate commission checks in only 1-3 hours each week. Discover how you can get cash in the bank without a website, experience or even an idea! Visit Affiliatenaire. I have personally purchased and used this program and it has made a big difference in how I spend my time to build my online business.

If you want to build your own membership site, why not check out Jimmy’s Membernaire program? This is an easy to follow, step by step, 52 week course that teaches you how to build and maintain your own membership site, at a pace that is as fast or slow as you need it to be.

…………………….

…………………….

If you look at the average site for any given affiliate, you’ll likely find a boring, tasteless smorgasbord of prefab content that was created more for search engines to read than it was for real people to read.

While that make aid in rankings, is it really going to do any good once someone sees the site listed and makes a visit?

Probably not.

What every affiliate needs to learn is simple:

It’s content that leads to sales, not a strategically designed website that search engines temporarily find meets their ranking criteria.

So, let’s talk about that.

There must be a reason why some content is very good and some content is very bad; why some information is so enthralling that you can’t stop reading while other information is the cure for a sleepless night; why some words cause you to frantically take notes and some words cause you to take a break.

There must be a reason.

There is.

And that reason is this:

To be sure, some writers are just naturally gifted. They swing words like Tiger Woods swings a 5-iron. They can spot a good paragraph like Warren Buffet spots good investments. They write like Tom Hanks acts. Even though they practice their art form, it comes easy to them.

Then, there are those that swing words like Jimmy D. Brown swings a 5-iron. Paragraphs are like Black Tuesday. Their writing is the equivalent of the acting in a kindergarten cantata … and they aren’t nearly as cute and lovable as those 5 year olds. Content creation is a struggle.

The good news is this: by focusing on two key components all writers can create the kind of content that generates interest and demand.

Whether you’re writing ezine articles or paid products or anything in between, there are two components that you need to develop in writing your content.

Before I explain how to weave both of these components into your content, let me first explain the reality of why these components are necessary in the first place.

People read for two basic reasons:

1. They want to be ENTERTAINED.     Many people read because they enjoy a good story. They settle into their favorite chair and John Grisham whisks them off to the courtroom for a legal adventure or Sue Grafton captivates their mind in a “whodunit” or Nicholas Sparks unlocks the emotions with a love story. Or, maybe they head to the bathroom with a copy of National Enquirer to read about a three-headed alien who’s been dating Lindsay Lohan, whatever, they read to be entertained.
2. They want to be EDUCATED.     There are other times when people read because they want to learn something. That drain beneath the kitchen sink is leaking again; a dormant website needs traffic; mom is coming to her house for Thanksgiving. Whether it’s a do-it-yourselfer looking to improve his home or an internet marketing looking to drive visitors to her site or a young wife looking to impress her mom with a mouth-watering turkey, people read to be educated.

So, those are the two basic reasons why people read.

There will now be a test. Close your books. Put away your notes. No talking or looking at anyone else’s paper.

What are the two reasons why people read? (No peeking!)

If you said “to be entertained” and “to be educated” then you get to continue. If you said anything else, it’s time for an XBox 360 break or a stiff cup of java or whatever it is you do to get your mind in gear.

People read to be entertained and/or educated. And when it comes to the art of sharing information as a part of your business, including BOTH parts are important.

Listen to me carefully. This is the “ultimate” mastery of your craft -

To teach readers something desirable to them in a way that they find enjoyable.

That’s the goal. Put a great big bull’s eye right there. And fire away.

So, let’s talk about some specific practices for each of these two components. How can you make your content entertaining? How can you make it educational?

Content Component #1: Entertain
There are many, many ways to make your writing a form of entertainment. Briefly, let me point you towards 6 methods of engaging your reader and making the consumption of your content an enjoyable experience for her…

• Analogies     A great way to keep your content flowing is to use a few analogies. That is, you compare one item to another item. Sure, I could have said earlier “writing is easier for some than others”. But, with just a few extra words I instead said, “They swing words like Tiger Woods swings a 5-iron. They can spot a good paragraph like Warren Buffet spots good investments. They write like Tom Hanks acts. Even though they practice their art form, it comes easy to them.” Honestly, which is a better read?
• Humor     A little chuckle goes a long way when it comes to the enjoyment factor of reading. Most everyone likes to laugh. (My apologies to those of you who don’t enjoy laughing. You may skip this and go immediately to the section marked “Don’t Have A Sense Of Humor”). Earlier, I built upon the analogy of Tiger Woods by comedically adding, “They swing words like Jimmy D. Brown swings a 5-iron.” By affording them the opportunity, you naturally make the reading experience more enjoyable. Does this mean you should make every attempt to be Jay Leno? Of course not. It just means when you have a chance to say something in a funny way do it. Don’t use too much humor and stay away from offensive humor, but by all means insert light-hearted fun when applicable.
• Acronyms     Another idea is to organize your content by using an “acronym”. I’ve used many in the past: “How To Keep Affiliates A.C.T.I.V.E. In Your Program”, “How To S.E.T.U.P. A Web Site” and “How To I.M.P.R.O.V.E. Your Writing” are just a few. In these instances, the words “Active”, “Setup” and “Improve” were used to reveal the various parts of the content. Not only do people love them (I’ve always gotten great feedback), but it also allows you to have something original that is uniquely yours.
• Storytelling     In a recent paid report I wrote, I opened with a story about me selling Grit newspaper back in the early 1980′s and I tied it into the fact that this was an early form of the modern affiliate program model. A good story always engages the reader. Especially when it is relevant to the point being made. Keep them short (don’t launch into the great American novel – this isn’t Hemingway for crying out loud!) and lively and they’ll only enhance your writing.
• Editorials     Opinions are like noses … everyone has one. So, why not share yours? To be sure, you may want to steer clear of any controversies that might damage your reputation and business, but don’t be afraid to get personal when you write. Many times I’ve mentioned my faith in Jesus Christ in my content. I’ve jumped up on my soapbox and preached about using integrity in your business dealings. I’ve gave my thoughts on a variety of issues that were relevant to what I was writing. And, you know what, it always gets the reader more involved in the process of consuming information. Either they agree or disagree (sometimes strongly) with what I’m saying, but they continue reading because editorials are interesting. Share your thoughts.
• Revelations     A simple way to get someone reading deeper into your content is to make a statement of something you’ll be sharing later int he content. It’s so easy to do. If you read back to something I wrote earlier in this article, you’d find this statement: “Before I explain how to weave both of these components into your content, let me first explain the reality of why these components are necessary in the first place.” Do you see how that works? I set the table for what I’d be revealing shortly. I whet your appetite. Consciously or (more likely) subconsciously, you got the point that something desirable was coming later in the article. This isn’t a new concept. Think about every newscast you’ve ever watched: “Coming up later in the hour, we’ll show you how…” and “Up next we’ll share…” Building interest breeds enjoyment — especially when you deliver the goods later in the content.

So, those are just a few ways you can “entertain” your readers and make the consumption of your content an enjoyable experience.

But, what about the other component? How do you “educate” them? Let’s take a look.

Content Component #2: Educate
Certainly writers of all shapes and sizes know that the essence of “educating” a reader is to explain the subject matter in a way that can be clearly understood. That’s a given, right?

And certainly there are many ways to do this effectively. There isn’t a standardized formula that all content must adhere to in order to get it right. However, I do believe that there are three basic parts that should be included in virtually every piece of content written as far as those involved in selling information.

• Action Steps     If someone is intent on learning a process, they want to know the necessary steps involved in completing it. For example: If I want to learn how bake a cake, I don’t want a list of ingredients with the instructions “Mix these together”. I want a detailed, chronological list of what to do, step-by-step. Certainly, not all content is a “tutorial” (The very lesson you’re reading isn’t in step-by-step format) but, when applicable, always explain things in chronological, reasonable steps. Preferably, in 9 steps or less to avoid the appearance that the process is too difficult to be accomplished.
• Brainstorming     Two of your favorite words as a writer should be, “For example”. The missing element of most information products and associated content that I’ve read is the use of examples” and “ideas”. Most people present some information and then leave it to the reader to figure out how to apply that information for their own use. That’s usually not a good thing. Instead, it’s important to provide as many different examples, case studies, ideas, etc. as possible to give the reader a good idea of how to accomplish what you’re suggesting.

  For example (Hmmm, bet ya didn’t see that coming, huh?): I could have simply said, “You need to entertain your readers” and “You need to educate your readers” and left it at that. Instead, I’ve been giving examples and ideas for doing each of these things. More than just information, readers crave application. They want to see the content in action; they want to see how they can use it themselves.

• Tips     Everything you write should have tips included. Everything. Tips come in many shapes and sizes: keys, tactics, techniques, ways, methods, options. As many of these as you can include in your writing, the better. All it takes is for one good idea that you’ve shared to satisfy the reader. If you share 10 ways to do XYZ and number 7 clicks with the reader, they’ll love you. It doesn’t matter what else you write in the content, they are happy because they learned something useful. Tips are the information publisher’s best friend. A veteran might read your material and already know 99% of what you’ve written, but that one tip on page 47 just floored them and they are esctatic. Share as many different tips as you can. Your readers will thank you later. Well, the grateful ones will.

So, there you have it, the two key components of your content. Don’t forget the goal with these:

When you begin to build THAT kind of content into your websites and blogs, you’ll have a site that will do more than impress the search engines, it will impress those who arrive at your site and take a look around.

Never forget this truth: search engines don’t buy what you’re selling. People do.

…………………….

Jimmy D. Brown is the author of “Affiliatenaire”, teaching you how to create big-time affiliate commission checks in only 1-3 hours each week. I have personally used this product and it has made a significant difference in how I approach my affiliate business and the results I get. Discover how you can get cash in the bank without a website, experience or even an idea! Visit Affiliatenaire today!

…………………….

There must be a reason why some affiliates succeed and some fail, a reason why some affiliates profit moderately and some affiliates profit substantially.

There must be a reason.

There is.

And that reason is this: “super” affiliates start, sustain and strengthen relationships with subscribers.

It begins and ends with a list. Even a small one can be a powerful, profitable mechanism if you follow these 7 guidelines…

1. CAPTURE THE OPT-IN FIRST.

Instead of sending traffic directly to your affiliate link, send them to YOUR site where you offer some kind of list for them to join. (Hint: Mini-course works best) Once you have them on a list, they become an asset. If you send them directly to an affiliate page and they don’t buy, they’re gone forever. On your list, you can follow-up with them indefinitely.

Note: You can even redirect them to your affiliate link AFTER they join your list, effectively getting them where you wanted them to go in the first place.

2. DIFFERENTIATE THE OFFER.

Instead of sending out the same, tired, lame advertisement that every other affiliate in the world sends out, write your own. Trust me when I say that many people find it OFFENSIVE when they receive two dozens duplicate emails from two dozen list owners all promoting the exact same thing in the exact same way. And even if they don’t find it offensive, it’s not as effective if you simply rinse and repeat what everyone else is doing.

Hint: Here’s how you differentiate…

3. SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE.

Nothing – nothing – nothing speaks louder than RESULTS. If you want to lose a few pounds, who do you turn to? Someone who is still struggling with their own weight or someone you’ve seen drop 35 pounds? Exactly.

The way you make your mailings / ads different is you speak from your own personal experience. This product or service that you are promoting as an affiliate, how has it been useful to you personally? What results have you personally achieved? When you used it, what happened?

4. OFFER A COMPELLING INCENTIVE.

Another way to be different – and to dramatically increase your chances of getting a sale as an affiliate – is to offer some kind of compelling incentive if someone buys the offer through YOUR referral link. Whether it’s a special report or access to an audio recording, personalized consultation or advertising, a private training call or existing products and services, this can be a highly effective method of converting fence-setters into paying customers.

In order for it to work well, it must be UNIQUE (You’re the only one making the offer) and USEFUL (Something of great perceived value to the reader).

Note: Don’t have anything to offer? Don’t worry! There are many ways to easily obtain extra incentives:

• Conduct an interview
• Hire a ghostwriter to create articles / reports for you
• Buy reprint rights to other products
• Assemble a bunch of free articles and other resources into a private access site

5. LOOK FOR RESIDUAL OPPORTUNITIES.

Rather than exhaust your efforts on purchases that give you a one-time commission, why not make the most of your marketing by looking firstly for offers that pay out ONGOING monthly commissions for your referred sales?

There are many different residual income generating services such as membership sites (ranging from PT Cruisers to weight loss), stock photos and clipart, hosting, autoresponders, databases (from hiking trails to sermon outlines) online
magazines and a variety of other subscription based opportunities that reward you with monthly recurring commissions.

While you definitely want a mix of types of affiliate programs to promote, your priority should be in identifying and promoting those services and programs that will pay you month after month, instead of only one time.

6. BUILD A SALES ARMY.

One of the biggest untapped sources of income in any list is that of “turning subscribers into partners”. In other words, find those on your list who are interested in making money and provide them with training and materials to promote affiliate programs as well.

This has a two-fold advantage for YOU:

• First, if you find 2-tier affiliate programs, you can get your subscribers to join the program through your referral. Anytime they get a sale, you’ll earn a commission as well. You effectively get free commissions from their effort.
• Secondly, you can use their efforts to build your own assets. For example: If you provide them with a 10-page report to give away to promote their affiliate link, you can include a page in the report promoting YOUR list! You effectively get free subscribers from their effort.

7. MONETIZE FOR MULTIPLE STREAMS.

As your own list continues to grow, you certainly want to diversify in your offerings. (Not to the point of bombarding your list with offers every day of course!)

• Promote other affiliate programs.
• Create your own products. (Even short $10 reports will earn profit!)
• Establish joint ventures.
• Co-author products.
• Cross promote.
• Conduct surveys.

There are MANY ways to make money from your list and keep your list growing, growing, growing! Remember, it all comes down to: starting, sustaining and strengthening relationships with subscribers.

And that’s how you make a fortune as an affiliate promoting other people’s products.

…………………….

Jimmy D. Brown is the author of “Affiliatenaire”, teaching you how to create big-time affiliate commission checks in only 1-3 hours each week. Discover how you can get cash in the bank without a website, experience or even an idea! Visit Affiliatenaire today.

     Building an email list is an important component of your business strategy if you want to develop a customer base that will buy from you on an ongoing basis. But there are rules that govern what you can and cannot do with email. You ignore these rules at your peril.

     The rules are found in the CAN-SPAM Act which, interestingly enough, doesn’t apply only to email. CAN-SPAM applies to all commercial messages. “Commercial Messages” are “any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service.” This includes email that promotes content on commercial websites.

     To put it simply, all email must comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.

     If you fail to comply you can be fined on each separate email, with penalties as high as $16,000. Thus even a small mailout that is not in compliance can be very expensive.

     Here’s a summary of the law’s main requirements, taken from the the Federal Trade Commission’s website.

1. Don’t use false or misleading header information. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.
2. Don’t use deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.
3. Identify the message as an ad. The law gives you a lot of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.
4. Tell recipients where you’re located. Your message must include your valid physical postal address.
5. Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you. Your message must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting email from you in the future. Make sure your spam filter doesn’t block these opt-out requests.
6. Honor opt-out requests promptly. Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your message. You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days. You can’t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request.
7. Monitor what others are doing on your behalf. The law makes clear that even if you hire another company to handle your email marketing, you can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law. Both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sends the message may be held legally responsible.

     If you decide affiliate marketing will be your business and not your hobby, what’s next? The first step is to understand your company’s business model. Essentially, as an affiliate marketer, you are the owner of a marketing company. Your affiliate links are your products. Your job is to make the market aware of the products you have to offer. The more successful you are at this, the more you will sell, and the more money you will make.

     It can be very overwhelming, especially when you get started, because there are so many things you have to do. It’s important to set priorities, as some things must be done before others. Also recognize that, although you may make a lot of money in the long run, in the short term your income will probably be very small. That’s OK. Many of the very successful affiliate marketers will tell you they got their start with products that only brought in $50 – $100 per month.

     To help you stay focused, here are three basic strategies that should form the core of your affiliate marketing business:

Have your own website. In the past, the cost of purchasing a domain name and paying for hosting services was so high that it made sense to have a website that was part of the service package provided by your ISP. Now, however, the price to host a website is so minimal, and the cost of a domain name is so cheap, there is no reason not to have your own website. You should be able to find a service that costs less than $10 monthly to host a website, and a domain name can easily be purchased for a $10 annual fee.

Have your own customer base. If you sell one product to one person one time, you will have a few dollars in your bank account. If you sell many products to one person many times, you will have many dollars in your bank account. You want to develop a customer base that comes to know you and to trust you so they will buy from you whenever you offer a new product. How do you establish this trusting relationship with customers? By developing an email list that lets you keep in touch and offer useful information to your customers.

Have your own marketing program Your affiliate vendors will provide you with the marketing materials you need to persuade people to buy the affiliate vendors’ products. But you want your customers to buy whatever you offer, not just what the affiliate vendors offer. For this to happen, you have to have a marketing campaign that encourages people to visit your website and sign up for your email list. There are many ways to do this. Examples include writing articles, posting in forums, and paying for online ads. As a “newbie” your best strategy is to pick one traffic-building method, work on it for awhile, and master it before moving on to something else.

     The “trick” isn’t to apply new tactics, it is to apply proven tactics to the online market. Let’s take three examples:

1. Using unique web pages to promote each separate product you are marketing. When you go to the dairy section in the grocery store do they have laundry detergent, canned tuna fish and dog food on the shelf next to the butter and eggs in the cooler? Of course not! Similar items are grouped together: brooms and detergent in the cleaning supplies, milk and butter in the dairy section, tuna and sardines in the canned fish section. People like to shop for one thing at a time and focus on the item they are shopping for.

   Don’t be tempted to lump everything together just to save some money on web hosting costs. In times past, monthly hosting costs were expensive, but not today. Services like HostGator are very inexpensive if you are only hosting one site. If you want to host multiple sites, HostGator and other hosting services offer reseller accounts. The purpose of such accounts is to enable you to offer hosting services for a fee, but you don’t have to use them for this purpose. Instead you can use your reseller account to set up multiple websites, all for one monthly fee.

   Product reviews are essential. You want your visitors to understand what the product does, and if you have used the product, it adds credibility to any sales claims you make. If you can get testimonials from users who have already tried the product, you will add even more credibility to your sales pitch. Of course, you want to be sure that these customers are more than willing to allow you to use their names and photos on the site of the specific product you are marketing.

   Write articles that emphasize how the product is used and put them up on your site as a separate page. Do not forget to include a call to action on these pages. People are not going to act on their own just because you write something that is interesting. You have to suggest an action to take and make it easy for the reader to take that action.

2. Offer free reports to your readers in return for their email address. If possible position them at the very top side of your page so it they simply cannot be missed. Look at the top left hand corner of this website. You can’t miss where the free stuff is–I have it in big caps so you can’t miss it. I’m constantly on the lookout for new free reports that I can put up to share and add to the page.

   Be sure you put up quality information. If you constantly put up free info that people can use, then readers will want to come back every time you put up something new because they have learned to trust that you only put up good information. Once you build this trust, it is easier to get visitors to give you their email address so you can notify them when new content is posted, and make them aware of other products or services they might like. If you just put up nonsense that is useless and is only there so you can grab someone’s email address, you will find that either people will never sign up or, if they do, you will only get bogus email addresses.

   Why do you want to obtain email addresses instead of just giving away the free stuff? Because your ultimate goal is to have the visitor buy a product so you can earn income, right? Well, research shows that, on average, the retail customer must be exposed to a product seven times before they actually take action and buy. This means you need to remind your customer more than once about your product and how it can solve their problem.

   The only way to do this is with an email list. When someone visits your website, only one of two things can happen: you close a sale or the prospect leaves the page and never returns. By sending emails on a regular basis, you remind your readers of the product they wanted but were not yet ready to buy. Sooner or later, the time will be right, and they will make the purchase.

   Your follow up emails should focus on important points like how your product can make life easier and more enjoyable. Include compelling subject lines in the email, but avoid using the word “free” because some there are still older spam filters that dump emails with those subject lines into the junk folder. You want to convince people that they will be missing something important and useful if they don’t sign up. You do that by building trust, and you do that by providing quality information and no-spam emails.

3. Get the kind of traffic that is targeted to your product. You want the person visiting your website to have an interest in what you are offering, don’t you? You want them to come to your site because they think you have the answers they are seeking. If they don’t have an interest in what you offer, why come to your site? And if they come to your site and don’t find what they seek, why would they return?

   How do you get people to come to your site? You need to make them aware you exist. One of the best ways to do this is with article marketing. I didn’t originate the phrase, but it is true: “Content is King.” Websites are constantly looking for new content. Perhaps you think you can’t offer anything new. While it might be true that just about every topic has been written about, it doesn’t mean you can’t offer something new. No one has your experience, so write about a topic from your perspective. Take some time to read what’s already been written. My experience is that most articles on a topic sound the same, like they have just been copied and pasted; there is always some aspect of a topic that isn’t covered. You can also write one article about two related topics, subjects that are often only the subject of one article.

   Your goal is to have your articles posted on multiple websites. There are two ways to do this. You can submit your articles to article directories, which are websites where companies and professional writers submit articles based on a specific niche. The content is free for people to copy and put on their website, as long as they state that you are the author, and they include your resource box, which contains links to your website. The advantage is that people who have a specific interest in what you offer are publicizing your site to others.

   Click here to see the extensive list of article directories I have compiled. You might be surprised at just how many article directories there are–I know I was. Take a good look at the article directories list and you will see that some of the sites are specialized; they focus on health, energy or environmental issues, for example.

   The second alternative is to use an article submission service, which, for a fee, will submit your article to various websites. The advantage of this is that it saves you time; you submit your article once, the service submits it to multiple sites for you. Not only does this save you the time it takes to submit your article, it also saves you the time to search for the various websites where you can actually post your article. I personally use and recommend SubmitYourArticle.com, which also provided excellent results for me. They do a good job posting, and they also offer an excellent article spinning tool.

   An article spinning tool is essential to article marketing. While you benefit from having your article in multiple websites, you do not benefit from having the exact same article on multiple websites. You want your articles to convey the same information, but to have it worded in a slightly different way. This way it seems as though you have more articles on the web for people to read. The details are beyond the scope of this article, but here’s an example. If you submit the same article to five sites, Google will consider all five articles to be one article. If you submit the same article to five sites, but on each site the article has different wording and a different title, Google will consider all five articles as five different articles. You do not have to belong to an article submission service to use an article spinner. There are many free article spinners on the net that you can find by searching Google.

   If you can write a minimum of 2 articles per week, of 300-600 words in length, and maintain that pace, you can attract as many as 100 targeted readers to your site in a day. Volume is important: typically, only 1 person out of the 100 that visit your site are likely to buy your product or get your services. That’s an average of 1% conversion rate. If you attract 100 people a day, that’s 3,000 visitors per month and 30 sales per month. You can see that, at that rate, you don’t have to offer an expensive product: if you sell 30 copies of a $15 ebook, you end up with $450. That’s a good number. If you don’t think so, consider that for many people, $450 is enough to cover a monthly utility bill or to pay for the groceries for at least half the month.

     Think of affiliate marketing as being the online equivalent of franchising. If you opened a franchise operation, but didn’t have the store open at regular hours, or you did sloppy work, or you treated your customers poorly, do you think you would stay in business long? No indeed! It is more likely that the franchisor would terminate the franchise agreement.

     Likewise, once you sign up to be an affiliate, you are expected to perform to some degree. If your sales activity is too low, some affiliate marketers will drop you as an affiliate, and why not? They have spent a lot of time and effort developing their product and they want people who will sell it. If you aren’t willing to make the effort, why should they keep you as an affiliate?

     So let’s take a look at what you can do to maximize sales. Before we do, answer this question: Once someone has come to your website and gotten the information they were seeking, there are only two things they can do next. What are they?

     If you said take action or leave, you would be correct. Obviously, you prefer that they take action rather than leave. But if they are going to leave, then you need to give them some incentive to come back, or at least to allow you to stay in contact.

     Keep in mind that selling online is similar to marketing offline in that there are three groups of customers:

1. Those that will never buy from you—ever—no matter how well you market your site and product.
2. Those that will always buy from you on the first visit, regardless of what you do to your site and product.
3. Those that will buy from you eventually, but never on the first visit to your site.

     There isn’t much you can do about the first two groups, and the fact is that most of your sales will come from the last group, so what can you do to maximize your sales from these people?

• Make it easy for the consumer by having a unique web page for each product. You want your customer to make a choice, right? Well, the easiest way to do that is by giving them only one choice to make. If you have too many options, the user will get frustrated and, instead of picking one item, he will leave your site without picking any item.
• Do not hide anything. When you see a testimonial by “Mary M.” or “Technology Company CEO”, do you really believe it is a true testimonial? Of course not! Most people would question the credibility of such testimonials. So if you are going to include testimonials, include the real name of the person who advocates your product. Better still, include a picture of the person if it is available. To see an example, go to Action Plan Marketing and scroll to the bottom of the page. There you will see testimonials from real people with their names and pictures included.
• Using bullet points, make it clear how your customer will benefit from buying your product. Your focus should not be on what your product does as much as what your product does for you customer.
• Promote your site and product through article marketing. The key here is not to write sales pitches. Instead, write your article as an information piece that explains the problem your product solves, what causes the problem, and possible solutions. If you write your article well, the reader will be interested enough to want to learn more. You help them do that by including a link back to your site. Note that most article sites do not allow you to include an affiliate link, so you will have to direct your reader to a page on your site that requires an action (clicking on the affiliate link) to get the product. Two good sites to use are:
  1. PublishMyself.net, a free membership site, and
  2. SubmitYourArticle.com. There is a small monthly fee for this site, but they will actually submit your article to other websites and article feeds.

• Offer free reports to your readers. It’s like going to the ice cream store or the deli and asking for a sample before you buy. If you like what you taste, you will want more, won’t you? Offer a free report that is really useful to your target market, and have them give you their email address to get it. Once you have the address, you can use it to send emails letting your prospects know that another free report is available. The key thing is to stay in constant contact so the customer does not forget you. Keep in mind also that, statistically, you have to contact a prospect 5-7 times before they will buy or consider buying from you.

  NOTE: Use a confirmed opt-in email service to ensure that people want to receive email from you. I use AWeber.com. It is a popular service with excellent support.

     Here, then, are some items you want to consider as you choose which affiliate programs to offer your subscribers:

• What is the hit per sale ratio? This is the average number of hits to a banner or text link it takes to generate a sale based on all affiliate statistics. This factor is extremely important because this will tell you how much traffic you must generate before you can earn a commission from the sale.
• How are referrals from an affiliate’s site tracked and for how long do they remain in the system? You need to be confident on the program enough to track those people you refer from your site. This is the only way that you can credit for a sale. The period of time that those people stay in the system is also important. This is because some visitors do not buy initially but may want to return later to make the purchase. Know if you will still get credit for the sale if it is done some months from a certain day.
• What are the kinds of affiliate stats available? Your choice of affiliate program should be capable of offering detailed stats. They should be available online anytime you decide to check them out. Constantly checking your individual stats is important to know how many impressions, hits and sales are already generated from your site. Impressions are the number of times the banner or text link was viewed by a visitor of your site. A hit is the one clicking on the banner or text links.
• Does the affiliate program also pay for the hits and impressions besides the commissions on sales? It is important that impressions and hits are also paid, as this will add to the earnings you get from the sales commission. This is especially important if the program you are in offers low sales to be able to hit ratio.
• Who is the online retailer? Find out whom you are doing business with to know if it is really a solid company. Know the products they are selling and the average amount they are achieving. The more you know about the retailer offering you the affiliate program, the easier it will be for you to know if that program is really for you and your site.
• Is the affiliate a one tier or two tier program? A single tier program pays you only for the business you yourself have generated. A two tier program pays you for the business, plus it also pays you a commission on the on the sales generated by any affiliate you sponsor in your program. Some two-tier programs are even paying small fees on each new affiliate you sponsor. More like a recruitment fee.
• What is the amount of commission paid? 5% – 20% is the commission paid by most programs. .01% – .05% is the amount paid for each hit. If you find a program that also pays for impressions, the amount paid is not much at all. As you can see from the figures, you will now understand why the average sales amount and hit to sale ratio is important.

     These are just some of the questions that needed answering first before you enter into an affiliate program. You should be familiar with the many important aspects that your chosen program should have before incorporating them into your website. Try to ask your affiliate program choices these questions. These can help you select the right program for you site from among the many available.