| eBooks (digital PDF download) |
 Complete Guide To Making Money While You Sleep (PDF) NEW! 60 Secrets Of Wealth (PDF) NEW! The Link Building Black Book (PDF) |
| Articles & Guides (100% Free!) |
|
21 Top Tips For Ways To Earn More Money 10 Master Keys To Internet Wealth 50 Fantastic Ways To Save Money TONS More.......>> |
| Other Cool Stuff (products I'm a proud affiliate for) |
|
Brad P's Secrets Of Inner Game (dating advice for men) 5 Foods That Fight Abdominal Fat (weight loss info) Get Your Ex Back! (relationship advice) |
| Small Print |
|
Disclaimer, Contact Info, Privacy Policy, Copyright |
Affiliates - make money!
YOU can easily start making money as an affiliate selling Alex Newman's products:
"Complete Guide To Making Money While You Sleep"
"Link Building Black Book"
"Secrets Of The Rich"
This affiliate scheme is run through the highly-regarded www.clickbank.com - and payouts are as follows:
Complete Guide To Making Money While You Sleep: 70% commission! (aff. earnings per sale = $16.42)
Secrets Of The Rich: 70% commission! (aff. earnings per sale = $5.72)
The Link Building Black Book: 70% commission! (aff. earnings per sale = $5.72)
Sounds good? Let's do it!
What follows is a FULL GUIDE to how to get going as an affiliate for the Alex Newman products: How to sign up with Clickbank, essential do's and don't's... and a full "Affiliate Toolkit" with a TON of tips, tactics and materials designed to help you achieve maximum affiliate success! There's a lot of good info here - so if you are determined to achieve success as an affiliate, please reasd thoroughly. If you are an affiliate working selling *any* products, you ought to find the following material extremely valuable...
* * * * *
This page is divided into the following sub-sections:
1) First Steps - Getting Set Up With Clickbank
2) Important Do's and Don't's For Affiliates
3) Affiliate Toolkit and Promo Materials
4) Strategies, Tips and Tactics
5) The "Super Affiliate" Mindset
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
1) First Steps - Getting Set Up With Clickbank
I have now created a new Clickbank marketing page which features full tutorials explaining how to get set up and running as an affiliate with Clickbank.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
2) Important "Do's and Don'ts" For Affiliates
Note - this section is essential. There are rules and legal restrictions on what affiliates can and cannot do - and you need to know these. It's not too difficult but please don't skip over this part.
1) If you are going to be an affiliate, you MUST NOT use spam in any way, shape or form. We have an absolute zero-tolerance policy for spam and it also has serious legal consequences. If you are going to use email marketing (also see below) for your promotional campaign, please only send messages to your own subscribers who have "opted in". Full details of CAN-SPAM Requirements for Commercial Emailers can be found here:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.shtm
2) FTC regulations state that affiliates engaged in "Word Of Mouth Marketing must "disclose" the nature of their status as affiliates - and not practice "stealth marketing" . In other words, if you are affiliate marketing, you must notify people to whom you are marketing, that you receive commission from sales. The original FTC article can be found here
Additionally, ads must not be misleading. Details of the regulations for "dot com disclosures" can be found here:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/dotcom/index.pdf
3) As of November 2009, new regulations were put in place not just for affiliates, but for all businesses, regarding Endorsements and Testimonials. The full regs can be found here. In a nutshell, this would appear to mean that any testimonial will be construed as misleading if it makes an "atypical" claim about the product. Advertisments and promotions of products must "clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect". My suggestion is, if in doubt to avoid the use of endorsements and testimonials so as to steer clear of this grey area. There are other ways to sell products - and if you are an affiliate, your main task is to get the targeted traffic to the sales page. You don't need to spend time making claims of your own about the product.
5) Many web sites have Terms of Service which do not allow the posting of content that is "commercial in nature" - in other words, advertising of a business or affiliate product! So if you are considering promoting my products through web sites other than your own, you'll need to check the Terms of Service of each individual web site you are considering using. Be sure to stick to Terms of Service, and not to upload content or links where they will not be wanted.
5) You are not permitted to distribute my products through other channels than through the Clickbank methods I have set up. The books do not come with repackaging / resale rights.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
3) Affiliate Toolkit and Promo Materials
AFFILIATE TOOL "A" - Text Links ("Hoplinks")
Once you have signed up with Clickbank, you can then create your unique Hoplink to use in your promotional campaigns! Here's how it's done:
http://xxxxxxxx.misteralex.hop.clickbank.net/
Copy and paste the above Hoplink - then simply replace the xxxxxxxx with your unique Clickbank "Affiliate ID". Make sure you don't leave any spaces, and don't add "www" to the URL.
Here's the html code you would use in order to implement the hoplink into a web page:
<a href="http://xxxxxxxx.misteralex.hop.clickbank.net/" target="_top">Click Here!</a>
Again, replace the xxxxxxxx with your unique Affiliate ID. And replace Click
Here! with the "anchor text" of your choice.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
AFFILIATE TOOL "B" - Banners
Here are some banners you can use on your web site, blog or other advertising campaigns! Copy and paste the HTML code below the banner you want to use.
IMPORTANT - don't forget to replace the xxxxxxxx in the codes below with your unique Affiliate ID!
550 x 278 ad
468 x 60 banner
250 x 250 block 1
250 x 250 block 2
125 x 125 "blog size"
125 x 125 "blog size"
728 x 90 "leaderboard" (image not to scale)
728 x 90 "leaderboard 2"
160 x 600 skyscraper
If you want any of these banners in any other size -
let me know and I'll make them up specially for you and post them on this page!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
AFFILIATE TOOL "C" - Text Ads
You could use these - either as-is or modified - for Pay-Per-Click Ads, classified Ads, email signature files
IMPORTANT - don't forget to replace the xxxxxxxx in the codes below with your unique Affiliate ID!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
AFFILIATE TOOL "D" - Keyword List for PPC
327 keyword phrases related to making money online and making money in your sleep: Either copy and paste these keywords directly or use them as a basis for your own customized pay-per-click keyword lists.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
AFFILIATE TOOL "E" - Articles
Articles for article marketing, email campaigns, press releases, review sites. Add your affiliate link, or the link to your promotional web site etc at the end of the article.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
4) Strategies, Tips and Tactics
TACTIC A) GETTING YOUR OWN DOMAIN
As an affiliate, you will encounter a few small hurdles and some "hoops to jump through" at the beginning of the process. It's just the "nature of the beast". Many "affiliate help pages" won't tell you about this stuff - they try to convince you that you're going to make thousands of dollars in the first week... then off you go, spending money and time promoting their product, on your dime. That's all some of them seem to care about.
So, on this page I not only provide materials you can use, but also give you ideas for how to use them - and also let you know what you are likely to experience.
To be a great affiliate, there's a learning curve. And it takes some persistence. The payoff is there - but you have to do things right; and that will require some study, and making the right kinds of moves.
It's worth creating some solid foundations for success. It's really worth setting things up properly if you want to do this for real and give yourself the chance to make some proper money.
The most fundamental of these foundations are: a) Your own domain name and web site b) an email list with proper autoresponder (such as Aweber.com) c) a proper contact database - with categories for friends, people who have purchased from you before, potential clients. d) Some study invested into methods of getting web traffic and internet marketing.
I've gone into much more detail on these matters in the Complete Guide To Making Money While You Sleep. You have read it, haven't you? :)
Anyway, on to the subject of your own domain....
One thing that it is very important to know is that many web sites, forums, etc will not allow you to post blatant affiliate links any more. This is typically because these sites have been "spammed" in the past - and may have been saturated and "devalued" by mountains of affiliate links which promoted "inferior products in an inferior way". So you usually can't just do an "internet drive-by" and blast your link everywhere.
However, there is of course a way to work around this....
The best workaround is typically to get your own domain. This is advisable for a number of reasons and has huge additional benefits: Once you have your own domain, you have -
a) A nice, tidy-looking link which can be much more memorable and enticing than an affiliate link.
b) Something that can help prevent "bypassing" of your affiliate commission, which occasionally happens.
c) The opportunity to do other things with the traffic that arrives at your site: - For example; get subscribers for your email list, advertise other products, send traffic to other sites, or deliver other valuable content and free gifts.
d) An opportunity to develop and display other interesting or valuable content which will attract visitors - and provide you with a possible means to earn more money while you sleep.
e) Having your own unique web site means you can link to it from places that do not approve of affiliate marketing. Then, you can create sales information and hoplinks on your own site as part of the site's overall content.
To get your own domain will only cost you around $10-15 per year if you sign up with www.godaddy.com. Think of it this way - just one product sale will pay for a year's domain subscription.
Choose a URL which is a) short b) relevant c) memorable d) difficult to mis-spell or mis-type. People are much more likely to type in an interesting sounding, short URL than an entire, complex affiliate link.
Just to give you a few possible examples, I went to godaddy.com and investigated domain names related to money-while-you-sleep.biz to see if I could find something you might use. The following names were unregistered at the time of writing this page:
MONEY-WHILE-SLEEPING.COM
MONEYWHILESLEEPING.BIZ
CASH-WHILE-YOU-SLEEP.BIZ
CASHWHILEUSLUMBER.COM
INCOMEALLTHETIME.BIZ
247PROFIT.BIZ
CASHWHILEUSLEEP.BIZ
SLEEPANDGETRICH.BIZ
DOLLARSROUNDTHECLOCK.COM
EARNINGS-247.COM
EARNINGS247.BIZ
EARNIT247.COM
The next step will be to get your site hosted - and I highly recommend www.hostgator.com. (not an affiliate link). I have been using them to host my web sites for a while and have found their service to be truly excellent in every way. The cost is a few dollars every month but again, if you are serious, it's worth building the foundations.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
TACTIC B) THE "PRODUCT COMPARISON" PAGE
This is a really neat tactic for affiliates with their own domain. It has several advantages and can also be used to sell multiple products. The good thing about such pages is that once they are set up, it's really easy to keep them there and divert traffic to them when you want to. If you have a way to send them steady traffic, they really can make you money while you sleep! Observing how the most successful affiliates for my products have achieved their sales, often it is from pages of this nature.
The basics of this technique are to create a simple web page that links prominently to a list of products. So for example if you were an affiliate for Clickbank products about making money, you could list a large number of these.
Many people talk about having "review" pages but these are not always effective and I think many affiliates are making a really big mistake here. This is really good news for you on two counts - one because you will be at an advantage, and two because you can save a boatload of time and effort! Remember, you are not getting paid while people are reading your product reviews. You get paid when they buy the product and the owner of the product typically does the selling on their product page! So, you want them to click the affiliate link on your page as quickly as possible. You want your product list page to have minimal distractions - no other content, just a simple, attractive layout. Don't bore or confuse visitors with long explanations or claims about the products - you don't need to.
Here are some classic examples of such pages. Note the similarity of the overall concept. WOW 1 to 60 Allen Says' dirty little moneymaker Dating Secret Agent http://www.product-review-website.com/
Another great thing about this technique is that because you are housing the affiliate links on your own site, no-one can complain about the commercial nature of your content. However, it's known that using services such as Adwords and Yahoo PPC to get traffic, a page which features "thin" affiliate content such as this can get a lower quality score. There's a simple workaround - have each outgoing link from your page not go directly to the affiliate, but including the "no follow" tag, and going to a "redirect" page on your own site. These pages should contain the meta robots noindex nofollow tag, and should redirect instantly to the affiliate link. This way, your main product comparison page should appear clean and good.
Be sure to include one or two links out from your page which are "followed" and go to trusted, related resources. Pick a high pagerank page on the same subject as yours and link out to it from the footer of the page - also link out to another "non-affiliate" page on your own site.
Domain forwarding and masking - is it a good idea?
Once you have your own domain, you basically have two options. You can either
a) set up some form of "review page" or "real" web site that "pre-sells" the customer (this is the type of site I recommend - more on this later) before inviting them to click on your hoplink. Or -
b) if you plan on using "direct linking" (i.e. sending traffic straight from advertising through to the money-while-you-sleep.biz sales page), you can use the domain "forwarded and masked".
I don't really recommend the whole "masked and forwarded" thing. Several sites disapprove of it and if you post links on those sites which are effectively "disguised" affiliate links, you will get banned if caught. An example I just found is the Warrior Forum. Quoting their forum rules - they say:
"If you want to promote an affiliate program do it on your own domain. Your own web site. Not a "pre-made" web site. Your own web site, a real one. Then put THAT web site in your signature file."
More info on "direct linking" - Google has a rule where they will only show one ad pointing to a certain domain. In other words, if there are other affiliates creating Google Adwords Pay-Per-Click ads for the Complete Guide, only one of these ads will show at any given time.
If you do end up deciding to do direct linking from Google Adwords and want to make sure your ads are seen, a possible way around this rule might be to use your own dedicated domain, "forwarded and masked". When you purchase the domain, find the option for "domain forwarding" and forward the domain to your Hoplink. Then, it is essential to "enable masking". If you do not do this, Google will close you down due to the fact that there is a mismatch between the URL you display and the destination URL. Here is Google's policy on this.
Another option you may wish to investigate is tinyurl.com
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
TACTIC C) CLASSIFIED ADS
Here is a list of free classifieds you may be able to post on. You can custom-make your ads from the sales materials in this page - and include either your affiliate link or link to your own site, blog etc. **Note - the fact that I am mentioning these services does not automatically mean that you are permitted to post affiliate advertisements on them. Please check and follow the Terms of Service carefully as individual sites' rules will inevitably vary.
http://www.usfreeads.com
http://www.craigslist.org
http://classifieds.yahoo.com
http://www.thefreeadforum.com
http://www.salespider.com/classifieds_main.php
http://www.inetgiant.com/
http://www.backpage.com/classifieds/index
http://www.classifiedsforfree.com
http://www.classifiedads.com/affiliate_programs-1097.html
http://www.stumblehere.com/
http://www.directmatches.com/classifiedcategorylist.asp
http://www.freeadlists.com/
http://www.beatyourprice.com/
http://www.webcosmo.com/
http://www.freeonlineads.net/
http://www.adlandpro.com
http://www.theadnet.com
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
TACTIC D) EMAIL MARKETING
There's a couple of tactics to consider here. The first is super-simple, the second somewhat more complex.
Tactic 1 is to include a "signature file" in regular day-to-day emails that you send; which includes your either affiliate link, or the link to your affiliate web site if you have one.
I like to create a short signature file starting with an "underline" made of dashes or stars; and then one or two snappy sentences, followed by the link. You can experiment with the "ad text" I have given above in "Affiliate Tool C". However, there's nothing to stop you expanding on this a little, and a really good affiliate marketer will be able to be creative and catch people's attention in innovative ways.
Creating a signature file is simple and can be done from almost all email softwares / online email services. For example, in Apple's Mail software for OSX, go into Mail > Preferences > Signatures and then make the settings you want.
You could use tinyurl.com to turn your affiliate link into a shorter one.
Tactic 2 involves considerably more setting up, a little financial outlay and typically works in conjunction with your own web site, and other marketing campaigns.
However, it's one of THE major methods used by the "super-affiliates" who make insane amounts of cash. This is for real. Here's the strategy in a nutshell:
a) Set up your own web site, on a "proper" domain (e.g. www.YourDomainName.com - not a sub-page at some other site) and with proper hosting. This technique is described in full above, in the "Getting Your Own Domain" section of this page.
b) Go to Aweber.com and open an account. This will have a monthly fee. Aweber will require a little study to learn to use it properly - good study materials are available on their web site.
c) Create an Aweber email list and and "Opt-In" form and "get the html code" for the Opt-IN form that enables people to sign up for your email list.
d) Create a "Squeeze Page" (full details on how to do this are available in the Complete guide) and add your "Opt-In html code" to the squeeze page, and to the other pages on your site. Essentially, a squeeze page is a short, simple web page offering some free information or something else of value (which you will typically need to create and deliver through the Aweber autoresponder), in return for an email address. A squeeze page should also link to a Privacy Policy - and you should be aware of, and comply with, Can-Spam laws.
e) Drive "targeted traffic" to the Squeeze page - using various marketing and traffic generating methods such as Pay-Per-Click. Targeted traffic is essentially traffic that consists of web users who fit your demographic - who are "likely to buy".
There is much free info online giving more details on how to do this stuff. You should be able to find it with a few web searches. It's also worth looking at some examples of existing "squeeze pages". You can see mine at this link. Seek out other, highly successful ones for good examples.
This may all seem like a lot of effort and hassle - but it can be seriously worthwhile. The thing about an email list, is that you can promote future products and other things to them, at minimal cost - at any later date.
Imagine a situation where you have built up a giant email list of thousands of subscribers. It is pretty much possible to "make money at the touch of a button" by marketing to your list - and this is how the "big boys" do their mega-launches. A big, powerful email list also gives you tremendous Joint Venture opportunities. It's the way of the super-affiliates. A big, targeted list is "solid gold" that you can return to again and again.
One very important thing to be aware of is that it's important to give "good value" to your list. Don't just sell to them the whole time. That's a sure-fire way to alienate people and make them unsubscribe. The "way" of the successful internet marketer is typically to give away a lot of free high quality content - and if you really want to make it big in the affiliate world, it is entirely do-able... but it involves a lot of giving, a lot of study, a lot of focus on helping other people and development of relationships of trust.
Taking things a little further - the most successful affiliates are often those who already have highly trafficked web sites and blogs within relevant niches. Building a truly large, powerful, effective internet presence typically takes a lot of time, learning and experience - and the big internet marketers usually work flat out for a year or two before they start seeing big bucks. They also may have multiple web sites across several niches. This is a subject beyond the scope of this page - but I can summarize it in one sentence: The more effectively you can help people, and the more effort you are prepared to put in getting the ball rolling, the more powerful a web presence you will be able to develop. I've set forth a lot more info on this - over 100 pages jam-packed with useful information - in the internet section of the Complete Guide.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
TACTIC D) FORUMS
Below is a list of forums that you can join that are related to internet marketing - and have large numbers of members who are interested in information and opportunities related to making money.
Check the rules of the forum and, *if permissible*, set up your profile to include either your affiliate link in your signature, or a link to your review site / other materials.
The best way to achieve success with a forum is to make valuable and helpful contributions and make friends. It's important not to "spam" the forum with your signature or link: only make comments or posts that will have value to others. It's worth bearing in mind also that in many marketing-type forums, a large number of the folks there have been around the block a few times and will instantly be able to spot thinly-disguised product pitches. Concentrate first on becoming a valuable member of the community - and people will start to get curious about you and investigate what you are offering.
The best kinds of posts are often those where you are sharing expertise or giving helpful information. However, it's also worth asking questions in order to learn. Others are there to demonstrate their expertise too and you will get responses when you give them an opportunity to shine.
These forums are also incredible places to learn. If you want to get your head around internet marketing, just go to the Warrior Forum and spend a couple of solid weeks reading and studying. Seriously, it is a gold mine of knowledge and expertise. Use search engines and wikipedia to look up terms you encounter that you don't understand. If you invest some time in this way, you will develop your knoweldge and skills rapidly. The Warrior Forum is amazing. And the sheer level of skill and talent that you will have access to is simply fantastic.
http://www.1sitemanager.com/forum/
http://www.ablakeforum.com/
http://www.warriorforum.com/forum/
http://tribes.tribe.net/category/business
http://www.sowpub.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2
http://www.network54.com/Forum/184615/
http://www.network54.com/Forum/11488/
http://internet-marketing-forum.com/forum/
http://homebusiness-websites.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi
http://www.associateprograms.com/discus/index.php
http://www.clickbanksuccessforum.com/forum/
http://www.ihelpyou.com/forums/
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
TACTIC E) AFFILIATE MARKETING IN THE "REAL" WORLD
When most people think of being an affiliate, they think only in terms of pay-per-click advertising, email lists and other "internet" methods of promoting a product.
They are leaving a potentially huge amount of money on the table! There are countless opportunities for marketing internet products in the real world. Here are a few examples and ideas.
The first step is typically to make up some form of flyer, business card, poster or even just a small slip of paper with your hoplink or URL on it - that you can give to people when you are in conversation with them.
If you are going to make up your own printed materials, it is advisable (as mentioned above) to get your own URL - either to redirect to your affiliate link - or to send people to your pre-sales page, relevant blog, web site or "email list squeeze page".
Small flyers are a great promotional tool. You can keep some on your person, to give away in conversation. You can attach them to public noticeboards, take them to events, give them to street teams who will distribute them for a fee... the list is endless. A form of flyer I like is a letter or half-letter sized poster with small "ribbon-strips" cut into the bottom of it, with a URL that people can tear off.
A super strategy is to offer a high-quality product entirely free on your affiliate web site - and then in your flyers, just focus on the free offer. Then you can do the selling on the web site, when you have established rapport and have their focused attention.
There is a company that offers 250 free business cards - www.vistaprint.com - as well as all kinds of other marketing materials.
Please be eco-friendly and use recycled paper with a high post-consumer-waste content! Another interesting eco-idea - I once came across someone who made flyers from "offcuts" from a printing company. Previously, the printing company discarded the paper that was cut off in the process of making their postcards and flyers. This individual printed simple flyers on the offcuts - the size was of course random but he got a huge number of flyers for an incredible price. This idea might be worth investigating.
Word of mouth: In conversations with people, tell them that you are an affiliate for the Complete Guide To Making Money While You Sleep and that you make a commission on sales. This "disclosure" that you are an affiliate is actually an FTC regulation for word-of-mouth marketing. Describe the product and the benefits it can offer, explain that people can also become affiliates and make money. You might also mention the free guides available on this web site.
Another idea - seek out radio, TV or "web video" interviews. You could promote yourself for interview as an affiliate - give a talk on what it means to be an affiliate, describe your experiences, ways to make money, share knowledge etc. This could work especially well if you are already making a living as an affiliate: People will be fascinated by a "success story" of someone who was able to walk away from their job and have a more exciting or unusual life: If you are doing well as an affiliate, you really have some leverage - as the others will really want to know your secrets!
You could advertise - such as classified ads in newspapers and magazines. Some papers and magazines have "free ads" sections.
There are all kinds of other materials you can make up for promotional purposes. If you have a catchy URL that ignites people's curiosity, it may be worthwhile to have it printed on other things - and the list is endless: buttons, fridge magnets, pens, stickers, basecall caps, magnets, calendars... again, this stuff is much more effective if, rather than just dropping a link, it describes some kind of free product available at the web site. There are over a billion web sites out there now - and people need a good reason to type in your URL when they get home...
Affiliate success most often doesn't happen overnight. You might get lucky - but true success requires some understanding of marketing and a little persistence. True success is replicable.
A final note - carry your promotional materials on your person at all times!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
TESTING AND TRACKING and PAY-PER-CLICK
One of the most critical strategies for "super-affiliates" is to test and track. This essentially means measuring the performance of campaigns, and doing "experiments" to try to improve the "ROI" (return on investment). Testing and tracking can mean the difference between the success and the failure of a promotional campaign.
A simple form of test is what's known as the "split test". Here, traffic is sent to two (or more) variants of a web page, or products are advertised using two or more variations of ads, headlines, copy, images or any other variable. A really simple way to do this would be to create two versions of a "landing page" for a Clickbank product. You can add a tracking code (Clickbank explains how to do this on their site) and then simply send traffic to both variations of the page. You can then see which page generated the sale by looking at your Clickbank detailed sales reports. You can split the traffic either by using a product like Google Website Optimizer, or simply by sending traffic to both pages and seeing which one creates the best conversion rate (highest ratio of sales to overall number of visitors).
One or two sales of a product is not a conclusive figure by which to measure campaign performance. And so, one of the greatest challenges of this method is that you will need to be able to generate enough traffic to see meaningful results. But then again, you will need to be able to generate this much traffic if you are going to make significant money as an affiliate anyway! Many affiliates say that they expect to spend some money at the outset before they start to make money - however, if a product shows promise, they will continue to improve the campaign performance by testing, until it goes into the black. Unless you are really skilled or really lucky, few campaigns which involve buying traffic are profitable right out of the gate.
A critical area of testing is that of keywords in Pay-Per-Click. The best way to do this is to set up Prosper202 - but be warned, it's a little technical to get your head around.
A really simple way to see which are the "money keywords" is to use the Adwords Keyword Tool. Type in a phrase like "make money", then look at the variations and see which are the most "expensive" keywords. They are generally most expensive because there is high competition. People do not spend that much on advertising unless there is money to be made from those searches. The trick is to then take those top keywords and buy them from a much cheaper PPC solution!
I have found lately that PPC has become more of a challenge. Restrictions are tighter and many PPC systems do not allow affiliates to "direct link" to sales pages. Clicks are expensive, and the amount of traffic sent is often not all that great.
Here are some PPC systems to explore:
Adwords (very expensive clicks, also complex quality score system.)
Yahoo Search Marketing
MIVA
http://searchmarketingexpo.com/west/2010/exhibitors
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
5) "The Super-Affiliate Mindset"
PROBABLY THE BEST AFFILIATE STRATEGY THERE IS...
What I have called "The Super-Affiliate Mindset" is actually quite simple. However, it's a quantum change away from the way a number of people think....
It is all about "shifting your focus."
In a nutshell, the best, finest, and ironically the "Least Struggle" way to get customers, leads, traffic... all that stuff... is in stead of focusing on what YOU want, focus on what your customers will want.
And then give it to them.
Ultimately, it's not about you. It's about them. Concentrate on giving them what they truly want, and you will then be able to get what you want.
Others have called this "creating solutions not products."
For a classic example, most "sales pages" are solely focused on "ramming the product down their throats". It's not the most effective tactic. It makes people annoyed, suspicious, and makes them feel like they can't trust you. A lot of sales pages contain subtle or even not-so-subtle dishonesty and "trick tactics" in their marketing. The trouble is, 1) when people get wind of this stuff, they will lose faith in you. 2) You are constantly battling to get people's attention - basically by trying to be the one who shouts the loudest. Imagine you are in a room full of people shouting at you. Wouldn't you want to get out of there fast?
And so it is with marketing. The first step, the best step, is to think of what is the very biggest thing you can actually do for people, the best way you can help them. This can be something you created yourself. Make is something that actually takes effort, time, is really useful, unique and will really make people happy. The effects of this kind of marketing are entirely the opposite of the other kind. First, you generate enthusiasm. People begin to like you, they begin to recommend you to their friends.
In my case, in addition to putting as much effort as I could into creating the best product I could make, I created a bunch of additional free guides to give away, and am working on all kinds of things such as excel spreadsheets of useful research data, and results from all kinds of pay-per-click experiments. In my free materials, all I do is give stuff away. I don't do the selling there. I concentrate on creating something that's actually useful.... and then, I'll simply drop a link, saying for more, go to my web site or check out my book or whatever. You have to give something to get something.
So with your affiliate marketing, start thinking about you can help people. How you can provide real solutions for them. The more you focus on this, the more success will come your way. To start with, it feels weird doing things this way round - as if you are doing the opposite of what you are supposed to be doing. You feel as though you're giving away the farm. But honestly, it's the way business works. In order to create sales, you must first create rapport - and this means building a reputation for skills / knowledge and trustworthiness / reliability. You don't get a job because an employer wants to help you. You get the job because you have demonstrated that you can help the employer more than anyone else. So it's simple. The number one rule of business. Figure out what you can do for other people to make them happier, enrich their lives, provide the greatest real benefits to them - and then turn that up to 11.
So, what can you give away? Can you do some research, or provide some valuable information based on your unique experiences and story? Of course you can! Your life contains just as much valuable experience, knowledge and learning as anyone else's. And there are things that you have a unique expertise and angle on. It's time to crystallize all that oyu have learned into something that is useful to others and will enrich their lives. You can do it.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Join the "Alex Newman Making Money While You Sleep" email list and get more free information!
As an email list member you'll get special free guides and information which is exclusive to the email list. You'll be able to unsubscribe any time you want - and don't worry, I hate spam as much as you do and so I'll never pass on your email address to anyone else! To view the privacy policy, our email list policies and other "small print" related to this web site, please click here.
* * * * *
Small Print - Privacy Policy, Disclaimer, Contact Info etc. *
Home * Complete Guide To Making Money While You Sleep
* * * * *
© Alex Newman, February 2010