Setting Goals
By David Cooper | January 5, 2009
I saw this quote in the latest edition of the BizMajic News www.BizMajic.com. Very powerful stuff. I wanted to share it with you here.
“Set a goal to achieve something that is so big, so exhilarating that it excites you and scares you at the same time. It must be a goal that is so appealing, so much in line with your spiritual core, that you can’t get it out of your mind. If you do not get chills when you set a goal, your not setting big enough goals.”
Bob Proctor
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Article Marketing for Affiliates
By David Cooper | January 5, 2009
Article marketing is a great tool for fueling affiliate sales. Article marketing, also known as bum marketing, is submitting articles you’ve written to large online catalogs of articles called article directories.
At the end of each article, you get a spot to advertise yourself and your own promotions (in this case, as an affiliate). This area is known as the resource box. Typically, you’ll have a few short lines to add some information about yourself and add some links.
As an article marketer, you can send traffic to your own website to capture the reader’s contact information, or straight to your affiliate offers. A few of the bigger article directories don’t allow you to send traffic straight to affiliate links, but most of the smaller ones currently do.
A benefit to sending traffic to your own website is the fact that you’re getting the PageRank of the article directories, instead of passing it to the affiliate site. Plus, if you send traffic to an affiliate offer, you may regret it later if the affiliate offer is withdrawn.
Imagine having hundreds of links pointing to an affiliate link, and having that affiliate program shut down or change their terms? You’d either have to suck up the loss, or try to find all of those hundreds of articles and edit them to promote a new offer!
Also, if you send traffic to your own site, you’re building your own business instead of just the business of the product owner. If you can get visitors to your site, you have the chance to get them to opt into your newsletter, and you also have the possibility that they’ll bookmark your site and come back later.
Sending traffic straight to sponsors is fine to do if you’re just starting out and you can’t yet afford your own hosting or domain names. Although hosting and domains are relatively inexpensive, some people simply can’t spare anything. If you’re one of those people, you can send traffic to affiliate links for awhile, and then reinvest the profits to get hosting and domain names.
Some people only submit their articles to the major directories, claiming the other directories aren’t worth submitting to. Ezine Articles is definitely the major player in the industry. But their standards can be quite high, and their rules are rather strict. They don’t allow linking directly to affiliate links. In fact, they only allow you to link to a top-level domain. You can’t even link to a blog you have hosted at Blogger.
Go Articles is another major player. But there are hundreds of smaller directories that have good PageRank that they can pass to your site. Even if you’re promoting direct affiliate links, it’s probably best to submit to as many directories as you can. The more exposure your articles get, the more chances you have to make a sale to your affiliate programs.
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Web 2.0: Interaction with Website Visitors
By David Cooper | January 4, 2009
You can’t just slap some content up on a web site and expect to get tons of traffic and sales. It takes a lot more than that in these Web 2.0 days! That’s why it’s so important for you to make sure you have some element of interaction with your visitors.
There are many different ways to go about this:
- Allow people to comment on your blog posts and to offer their own insight.
- Include a message board or forum where visitors can comment, carry on their own conversations, and ask questions of each other (and you).
- Allow people to vote and take polls so they can feel a sense of ownership about the content and choices on the site. This also gives you a great idea of what people actually like.
- Include live chat or support so that visitors can get help exactly when they need it.
- Add audio components to your site so people can connect with you on a personal level by hearing your voice and thoughts. This can help your message to come across more clearly.
- Include video elements to attract those visitors who would rather watch than read.
- Include “share this” buttons near your site’s content so that people can easily use social bookmarking tools to spread the word for you.
- Display “contact me” forms so people always know how to get in touch with you. This dramatically improves trust levels.
- Have a wiki installed on your site so visitors can add their own content. This will grow your site content in a very “hands off” fashion.
Those are just a few elements that you can add to your site to harness the power of interaction with your website visitors. We’ll go into more of them in depth in the days ahead.
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An Introduction to Web 2.0 - Part 3
By David Cooper | January 4, 2009
The fact of the matter is that Web 2.0 is all about the power of interaction. When users can add content it keeps them interested and coming back for more. Users might add information on forms, comments to content, their own pictures, their own articles, and more. There is no limit to the things Web 2.0 allows you to do as a web master and user!
It’s important to note that Web 2.0 is becoming a lot more than just a buzzword these days. The term has come to encompass the way people view something that is new. No matter how you define it, it’s time to harness its power for your own marketing endeavors.
Read Parts 1 and 2 below
An Introduction to Web 2.0 - Part 1
An Introduction to Web 2.0 - Part 2
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An Introduction to Web 2.0 - Part Two
By David Cooper | January 3, 2009
Here is a small sampling of different Web 2.0 elements you might put to good use:
Viral Marketing - If you’ve ever written an ebook to give away or sold resale rights to something you have written you were probably hoping for a viral aspect. Affiliates, customers, and others can pass around your content getting your name out there and making you sales.
Social Marketing - Are you a member of Facebook or MySpace? Those are both great examples of Web 2.0 social marketing and interaction. You can get to know others who share the same interests and get your websites and products known in the right circles.
Blogs - The number of blogs there are on the Internet is astonishing. There are personal blogs, marketing blogs, and blogs on nearly any niche you can think of. As you post each day your visitors can come and leave comments. This adds great interactivity.
Wikis - If you’ve been online for a while, the chances are good that you’ve come across Wikipedia at some point. While that’s certainly the biggest Wiki out there, there are new ones popping up every day. This is a genius way to get user generated content in true Web 2.0 style.
Tagging - “Tags” are an easy way to find the things you want to find. You can tag your own content and visitors can tag it as well. This works on sites, blogs, and social bookmarking sites. It’s a convenience factor that can really work wonders for you and your visitors.
Social Bookmarking - You’ve probably heard of the terms “Digg” and “Stumble.” These have to do with social bookmarking. It’s a convenient way for you to share and view content. When your own sites and articles get bookmarked it gives them those ever-precious backlinks that can zoom your site up in the search engine rankings.
RSS and Syndication - An RSS feed is an easy way for people to stay on top of things every time you post new content. If you have something like a blog all your content will be syndicated, which increases your blog’s exposure and the number of people who consistently read your content.
Multimedia Sharing Sites - The written word isn’t the only thing that’s hot in the Web 2.0 world. Multimedia sharing sites like Revver and YouTube are also a great way to utilize the power of interactivity. In fact, multimedia, like video, is becoming more popular than ever before as people are leaning to the convenience of watching or listening rather than reading.
We will wrap up “An Introduction to Web 2.0″ with Part Three tomorrow. Look for it!
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An Introduction to Web 2.0 - Part One
By David Cooper | January 3, 2009
Web 2.0 is a term we often see on the Internet. The trouble is that very few people have a good grasp on what it means. There is no standardized definition for the term, it has been shaped and molded over the past couple of years to mean different things depending on who’s talking about it.
It’s important to know that Web 2.0 sites are more than just words on a page. They pull people into the content, often invoking intelligent user based discussion content. For our purposes, we will classify a Web 2.0 site as having some element of interactivity.
One thing is clear; if you are a site owner there are many ways that using elements of Web 2.0 can boost your traffic and sales. People love to be a part of something and to interact with one another. This adds “stickiness” to your websites that users crave.
In part two I will give you a small sampling of different Web 2.0 elements you might put to good use.
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The Ebay Code
By David Cooper | January 2, 2009
Check out this amazing story about a lady who makes $302,179 a year on eBay.
Plus an interview with her and a PayPal account to prove the entire story.
All has been recorded on a video for you to see.
This video is a MUST!
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Discover Squidoo Profits
By David Cooper | January 1, 2009
It’s hard to be on the outside when the inner circle of success is buzzing about the next great tool or strategy they’re using. Right now, they’re all riding the wave of Squidoo – and if you’re not onboard, you’re going to be missing out on a powerful branding opportunity and intense profit technique.
Maybe you’ve even heard of Squidoo and possibly dabbled in it by trying to throw up a lens of your own, but it sits stagnant without any traffic – and certainly without any click-throughs to your domain.
There have been a few Squidoo products on the market for awhile now (at least the past year), and they were good at teaching the fundamentals of how Squidoo works. But I justdiscovered a course that offers a soup-to-nuts tutorial geared with traffic and profits in mind.
Discover Squidoo Profits was developed so that every decision you make about your lens – from the name you choose for your profile to the methods you use to attract visitors – will helpyou get in the money with Squidoo.
The course is spread out over 12 weeks, with each one giving an in-depth breakdown about various elements of Squidoo – with a specific homework assignment to help you take action and get the ball rolling without hesitation or frustration.
You don’t have to suffer along the learning curve like so many other marketers have done (maybe even yourself). Discover Squidoo Profits shows you three ways to make money on Squidoo and then takes you through the steps to make it happen – like choosing your niche, constructing a lens, and getting it noticed by search engines and human visitors alike.
Discover Squidoo Profits even teaches the latest traffic tactics like microblogging and competitive espionage to help you dominate in your niche.
You have two choices – take the long and often misguided road of do-it-yourself, or let someone show you the shortest path to success today!
Read my review here…
Get it here…
http://www.discoversquidooprofits.com
Topics: Affiliate Marketing, Internet marketing | No Comments »
Affiliate Marketing - An Easy Way to Success
By David Cooper | January 1, 2009
Affiliate marketing is when you sign up to promote other people’s products (or services) for a share of the sale in the form of commissions. As an affiliate marketer, you usually don’t need any special training or start-up funding.
Your tasks as an affiliate marketer will be to drum up traffic to the product owner’s pitch page, allowing them to convert the prospect into a buyer. The more targeted you are with your traffic promotions, the higher your conversion rate will be.
There are many things you can promote as an affiliate. On Amazon, for instance, you can promote anything tangible (and a few digital download to boot). If you want to be in the paintball niche, you can include links using your Amazon associate (affiliate) ID to sell specific paintball guns, paintballs, and attire.
You can go to sites like ClickBank or PayDotCom and get a unique affiliate ID to promote an endless supply of information products. They house everything from acne to organic gardening.
You can even become an affiliate promoting actions. There are many Internet marketers who focus their business on getting a steady stream of traffic to take an action, such as filling out a survey online.
With affiliate marketing, you don’t have to worry about developing ideas and creating products. You don’t have to deal with customer service follow-ups or continually process more products for the marketplace.
Your job is often made easier by product owners who care so much about their own success, that they provide a toolbox to help you with yours! The toolbox usually includes readymade emails, web reviews, and banner ads you can use with your own link embedded in them for instant plug-n-play success.
Most Internet marketers will eventually blur the lines of product owner and affiliate marketer. Product owners continually use their list of buyers to promote affiliate items, and affiliates often build such a good reputation in a niche that they’re urged to come out with a product of their own.
How much can an affiliate marketer earn? There are no limits. You can market multiple niches and work as much or as little as you want to generate targeted traffic through your links. Super affiliates earn six figures or more, but even a beginner affiliate can earn enough to pay the bills each month – with some change to spare!
Learn More about Affiliate Marketing - An Easy Way to Success
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Affiliate Marketing Article Angles
By David Cooper | December 29, 2008
There are many types of articles you can write for affiliate marketing purposes. Whether you’re writing articles for use on your own site, or for submitting to article directories, you have to decide what type of articles you want to write.
Each type of article has its own applications, and each one has its own set of methods that go along with it. Many affiliate marketers choose to do product reviews. These articles are good for sales, but they’re not usually geared to attract traffic.
Article directories don’t typically like to include product reviews, because many readers don’t enjoy reading them. Search engine traffic may also be difficult to get, because most people don’t search for product names when they have a problem and need a solution.
Unless you’re reviewing very popular items, the traffic to these types of articles may be hard to get. You can try to use your articles to establish your reputation as an authority in the niche.
When you establish yourself as an authority, you’ll have a better chance of making affiliate sales. People like to buy products that are recommended by authority figures because they feel authority figures already know what they’re talking about.
If you manage to become well-known in your niche, you should have no trouble getting people to buy products you recommend. If your intention is to develop your reputation as an authority within your niche, you should be very careful that all of the information you offer – even as an affiliate - is accurate.
If you make mistakes and give out false information or promote products that do this, then you’re going to hurt your reputation. It may take awhile to build your reputation in the niche. Also, since your information has to be extremely accurate and detailed, it will probably take you longer to write the articles.
Another angle you could take is to provide straight-up content for the links to your landing page. You won’t worry about developing a reputation as an authority, so your information doesn’t have to be quite as accurate.
Unless you’re providing very critical information, such as medical information or financial advice, you can let the quality of your articles suffer slightly. They should still be as accurate as possible, and they should be worth reading, but you don’t have to be as strict about providing totally accurate information.
The key to success with this type of article is volume. You write hundreds and hundreds of mid-to-high range quality articles and get them in front of as many eyes as possible.
They have one purpose – to get as many affiliate sales or visits to your website as possible. You’re not trying to establish yourself as an authority - you just want quick sales. This is a great method if you’re looking to generate cash more quickly.
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