Affiliate Site As An Expert Resource

Writen by Karen Kari

Why would site visitors sift through generalities when they can get specifics that focus on people like them? You know they won't, so you started a web site for a niche market – on a subject near and dear to your heart, as focus and enthusiasm show. Say, do-it-yourself furniture caning.

Then what?

Go to conferences, read books and articles and do some interviews in order to find out just what a do yourself caner wants to know.

Put up your content with a twist specifically toward your niche. No need to skip the more general or related articles or information, such as the history of caning, or art museums that have exquisite caned chair examples, but provide them by using links to broader, more general sites, and complementary sites that target offshoots of your core subject Pull together the best instructional materials you can on every aspect of caning, organized the way you've found your visitors think and proceed. videos, charts, how-to articles on techniques of caning, minor repairs to a chair before caning, how and when to stain, oil or paint, common materials used for caning, etc.

Now, ask novice caners to go through your site, and see where they got lost. Terminology? Maybe you need a glossary. Instructions too difficult or assume things? Maybe you need more steps or drawings. Perhaps a help line in the future, sponsored by advertisers?

Do the same with experts – and see what they want to learn, or even better, share. Ask them to author articles or write a column on the site. Ask visitors about caning events in their local areas, and start compiling the great caning event calendar. Host a contest or competition. Write articles and send them to your local and national press, especially if you've found that there's an annual caned chair day. If there isn't one, start one, by putting reminders on your site, stationery, press releases. Have everything refer back to your site.

Now you are ready to add highly focused affiliates that your visitors are likely to buy from – from specialty paint stores, to artisan caning reed sellers (how else would anyone outside of their locale find them?), book and video sellers, handicraft schools. You have the market they've been looking for.

Karen Kari's articles and more information on the affiliate business can be found at:
http://www.affiliatebandit.com
http://www.advertisingcellar.com
http://www.billionfreeads.com

The Numerous And Exquisitely Profitable Benefits Of Affiliate Marketing

Writen by Jorge M Vega

To the average netpreneur, with no product of their own, without an opt-in list, and with little or no sales experience, Affiliate Marketing can easily represent the chance of a lifetime, a gift from Heaven, if you will. It's a viable way to circumvent all the usual requirements that go hand in hand with starting a home based business.

For one thing, you stand to save thousands by not needing to develop and test a product of your own; you just use someone else's already proven winner as your own. Also, you can skip worrying about designing your own website; here again, use what is supplied for you by the merchant, and run with it. This saves a lot of headaches, time, and, you guessed it -- money.

You'll also have the enviable last word on whether or not to continue promoting anyone's product based on its performance. If it doesn't sell, give it up. You're your own boss.

For all the reasons touched upon above, as well as for a few others not yet discussed for the sake of brevity, affiliate marketing has evolved into one of the most effective ways to start an online business. And, for anyone with a decent website, it's also one of the easiest ways to start seeing a profit online.

WHAT'S AFFILIATE MARKETING?

Affiliate Marketing is an agreement between a merchant (owner of the product), and a website owner (the promoter). The website owner, or the affiliate, allows the use of their site for the promotion of the merchant's products by linking to the merchant's website. In exchange, the merchant pays a commission to the affiliate on all sales generated by the affiliate.

Every time someone clicks on the link in the affiliate website and proceeds to make a purchase, the affiliate gets a commission. Obviously, a commission is earned by the affiliate only when a customer makes a purchase.

Affiliate marketing programs are described as a win-win situation, for both the merchant and the affiliate, because of the pay-for-performance scheme. And, as you'll see, both the merchant and the affiliate do enjoy specific benefits in this arrangement.

HOW THE MERCHANT BENEFITS

There are many benefits on the merchant's side. It gives the merchant a wider customer base to advertise their product or service to. Affiliate marketing gives the product or service the maximum exposure that it could possibly get, as compared to any other traditional advertising technique.

It goes without saying, the more affiliate sites a merchant has, the higher the traffic, and the higher the chances of converting visitors into sales.

Affiliate marketing is the equivalent of having an army of sales people who do all the promoting, and only get paid a commission if a customer purchases. If their efforts fail to make a sale, the merchant isn't out of pocket one thin dime. The burden of performance is, thus, squarely on the shoulders of the affiliate.

It's a "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately?" kind of scenario.

HOW THE AFFILIATE BENEFITS

As described, an affiliate marketing relationship is a win-win situation, so the affiliate also enjoys many benefits.

Foremost among these, is the easy chance to make a profit. The affiliate can earn by having an ad or link leading to the merchant's website, which prospective customers will hopefully click.

As soon as the customer clicks on the ad on the affiliate's site, they're redirected to the merchant's website, and if they make a purchase, the affiliate earns a commission. The more prospects being referred, the more profit potential for the affiliate.

Affiliate marketing is an excellent way to earn money from home. There are no product production costs. The product is already developed and proven by the merchant. All you have to do to is find as many prospects as you can who will visit the merchant's web site.

There are countless, capable affiliates who have mastered the art of convincing prospects to visit the websites they promote. This elite group of marketers earns big chunks of money from their grateful merchants.

In affiliate marketing, start up costs are minimal, if any at all. In addition, there is absolutely no sales experience required. Most affiliate programs offer excellent support when it comes to providing marketing material. The simplicity of affiliate marketing allows you to be an affiliate marketer with the least cost and the most support.

You can even build a successful affiliate marketing business right in the comfort of your own home, which is what most affiliates do. In affiliate marketing, your responsibility is simply to find prospects for the merchant; you do not have to worry about inventory, order processing, or product shipping. These, along with customer service, are the duties of the merchant.

Another benefit of an affiliate marketer is the freedom you enjoy. If the product you're advertising isn't making money, you can dump it and choose another. There are no long-term binding contracts tying you to products that are not profitable. As an affiliate marketer, you have the last word about what you promote.

This kind of freedom is something you'll never see in the offline world if you're in sales. For instance, if you're shoe salesman, and your company's buyer blew it this season and bought nothing but alligators, it's very unlikely that you'll turn your back on your career as a result, and start selling home owner's insurance, or kids' bicycles. Chances are, you'll have to stick it out, and hope for something better next year - or, for a different doggone buyer!

By far, the best benefit of being an affiliate marketer is an unparalleled opportunity to increase your income; and, you can make good money even if affiliate marketing is only a sideline business.

Indeed, as you've seen, affiliate marketing is one of the simplest and most effective business opportunities available online today, or anywhere else, for that matter.

COPYRIGHT: ©2006 by Jorge M. Vega - All rights reserved

Trying to turn a profit in affiliate marketing without the proper tools and resources is like panning for gold using a spaghetti strainer - you'll walk away empty handed. Learn how to get fr.ee traffic, fr.ee products, fr.ee customers, and become a megapreneur affiliate.

http://www.thebestdealanywhere.com/megapreneuraffiliate/ Discover how, by enlisting the help of a special brand of secret partner, your online sales can skyrocket with the tons of traffic they'll gladly bring you. Who's this secret partner? Find out here http://www.thebestdealanywhere.com/superaffiliate/

Affiliates Must Presell Dont Make The Mistake That Will Most Hurt Your Business

Writen by David Starner

The Internet is bursting with Web sites created by affiliates to steer visitors to merchants' sites. This is the simple elegance of affiliate marketing–create a Web site, sign up as an affiliate with companies that sell products you like, then sit back and watch the money pour in. At least that's the theory. But many affiliates make the one mistake that most hurts their business. They fail to pre-sell their customers.

Creating a Web site that is one big sales letter is not going to lead to huge sales. Why? Because visitors will resist your sales pitch no matter how enticing your Web site, and they will not likely click through to the merchant's site. Even if they do click through, they will be faced with another sales pitch, possibly with some of the same wording. By selling you are actually hurting your chance to make a profit.

If this doesn't make sense, keep in mind why people in the millions everyday go on the Internet–content. They want to learn something, or they are looking for help with a problem, or they have some other need.

People don't go online to be confronted by a sales pitch. That's why your affiliate site to be successful must create a sense of credibility by offering lots of interesting and informative content--articles, headlines, news, blogs, forums, free newsletters and email courses, and links to more content that might be of interest. These things will keep your visitors interested and they will then click through with pleasure to the merchant's site in a mood ready-to-buy.

This is the beauty of the pre-sell. It's this pre-selling that puts your visitor in a positive frame of mind, which leads to a sale. If you turn your visitor off in the beginning with an obvious sales pitch, it's almost impossible to overcome that, and you've lost a potential customer.

There are two important things to remember to effectively pre-sell your visitors:

Carefully craft your site to the theme of your merchants' products or services.

If you are signed up as affiliate with several dating sites, then your site should obviously be devoted to dating and getting people together, along with anything associated with relationships–flowers, candy, special holidays, jewelry, cards, or gifts. You name it. Be creative. Obviously a pitch for the greatest money-making opportunity won't fit.

Put yourself in your visitor's shoes.

Analyze your site with brutal honesty and try to understand how a stranger would feel navigating through. Is the site complicated and hard to figure out? Do all the links work? Does it have a central, specific theme? Does the site deliver valuable, appropriate content? Do you get a trusting feeling? Will it make the visitor more open to buy? If so, then you can safely recommend merchants to your visitor. People will usually only buy from someone they trust. And that should be you.

Pre-selling works because it's a two step process. The first step is up to you by providing a content-rich, interesting site where visitors will feel comfortable. As you gain their trust, they will pass on to step two by clicking through to the merchant's site. By now they are interested enough to buy, so they will not be turned off by the sales copy.

Let the merchant do the selling. Your role is to educate and help your visitors by providing answers to their questions or solutions for their problems through quality content.

Dave Starner is a former teacher and coach. Visit the Net's #1 Infoproduct Site to instantly download great ebooks, and sign up for free bonuses and money making information. Article reprints welcomed as long as all texts and hyperlinks remain unchanged.

Affiliate Marketing Time Management Is Essential To Your Success

Writen by Dave Cooper

You may not realize it, but you have more in common with the Super Affiliates than you might think!

1,560 minutes a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year!

Yep, that's right. I'm talking about time. As affiliate marketers we all have the same amount of time to use. It's what you do with your time that will help set you apart from the average affiliate marketer.

By nature, affiliate marketers are kind of a jack of all trades. You have to do a little bit of everything on a daily basis. Update your website, write reviews and tutorials, send out your newsletter, manage link exchanges, research new products and niches. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about all you have to do.

In affiliate marketing, good time management is crucial. Here are 5 tips to help you squeeze more production out of the time you have to run your affiliate marketing business. Remember guys and gals, Time is Money!

1. Get Organized - The longer you are involved in affiliate marketing the more activities you will have to manage on a daily basis. As an affiliate you will more than likely be involved with several different merchants and affiliate programs. You are going to need to have access to lots of information, such as, email addresses, partner information, ad campaign information, website information, and link exchange programs. It is easy to see how you can get quickly overwhelmed if you don't have some sort of system to organize your information. You will want to set up a system that will you to store your information in notebooks, folders, spreadsheets, or anything that will allow you to quickly and easily access and retrieve information that is vital to your affiliate affiliate marketing business.

2. Set Realistic Goals and Deadlines – If you only have an hour or two a day to work on your affiliate marketing business, it is important for you attack your affiliate marketing tasks with a sense of urgency. Do you have trouble creating a sense of urgency when you sit down to work? The answer is simple, set some short term goals and establish deadlines to achieve those goals. Focus your energies on one task at a time. Make your goals realistic and achievable. You will be amazed at how much you can accomplish in a couple of hours of day with the right mind set and creating a sense of urgency.

3. Don't spread yourself to thin, You Can't Do it All – Try as you might, you cannot be everything to everyone. There is a huge temptation to sign-up and try to promote too many affiliate programs at once. Concentrate your efforts on one or two quality affiliate programs and products. Learn how to duplicate success. Take your successes from your first program and apply it to the next one. Do it right the first time, then do it over and over again with each new program. I guarantee you that the affiliate that tries to promote twenty or thirty programs in a casual manner is wasting many more hours of his time than the affiliate who is focusing his energies on promoting one program to the best of his or her ability.

4. Never Stop Learning – Make it a point to learn something new everyday. Affiliate Marketing is a constantly changing landscape. You have to be able to adjust and adapt to change very quickly. Do everything you can to stay on the cutting edge. Stay up to date on the latest affiliate marketing news, tips, and strategies. Visit some affiliate forums and read the posts and the comments. Don't be afraid to ask questions and when you feel comfortable in that environment post your opinion. Find some high quality informational products and buy them, print them out, make yourself a cup of coffee and set aside some quiet time to read and further your affiliate marketing education.

5. Outsource Your Work – This one is simple, get other people to do the work for you! Outsourcing is an excellent way to save yourself a ton of time. Sounds good huh? The drawback is you are going to have to dig into your wallet or purse to pay someone to do the work for you. Remember though, time is money. You can find someone to do just about anything for you on the internet. Whether you need a website designed, an ebook cover created, copywriting help, or keyword rich content written. There are several good freelance services online that are always willing to do the job for you … at a price.

Always remember as you go through the tasks and goals you set for yourself for that particular day, that there will always be instances where you cannot totally achieve everything. Stay focused and complete bite size chunks. Every minute you can apply to your affiliate marketing efforts is precious. Learning to become more efficient with your use of time will be a great asset to you now and in the future. It won't happen overnight, but eventually, you will become a much better manager of your time and with that the additional caveat of being a much more successful affiliate marketer.

David Cooper is the editor of the Affiliate Marketing Articles Newsletter. David specializes in helping affiliate marketers practice effective time management by offering real world tips and strategies. Subscribe to his FREE newsletter at: http://www.affiliatemarketingarticles.com

Understanding The Three Basic Types Of Affiliate Programs

Writen by John Kovacs

With all the companies on the internet that offer affiliate programs, you want to be able to differentiate between the types of programs that are being offered.

The three main affiliate programs you can choose from are, pay-per-sale, pay-per-lead and pay-per-click.

Pay-Per-Sale programs are definitely the most popular. By putting a link on your website and promoting their product, these companies will pay you a commission (usually 10% to 25%) on every sale you make on their product. Some of the companies will even pay out bonuses to their top producers.

There are many companies that pay you consistently from repeat sales from a customer who continues to buy products.

Some of these companies offer a two-tier program, whereas you receive a small percentage of commissions from anyone who signs up as an affiliate through you. With this type of program is where you will begin to build a consistent stream of revenue.

To significantly increase your levels of success, choose an affiliate program that is in relationship to your website. If you choose a program that is also a good match with your viewer's interest, than you can see great results and do very well with this program.

Pay-Per-Lead with this type of program the company pays you a fixed commission amount for all qualified leads that you send them. Generally the leads would be signing up for; a newsletter, credit cards, new email subscribers, new applications to loans or requesting more information are a few examples.

Even though it is not as popular as pay-per-sale, some look at pay-per-lead programs as easier to promote because you are not requesting your visitor to make a purchase.

When considering this program, check out the company that you are going to be referring. You want to refer companies that offer a good product or service. Remember, if you refer someone to a bad experience, they will most likely not have any trust or interest in what you have to offer in the future.

Pay-Per-Click With this program you agree to put a link or banner on your website. The company pays you for each click through to their website. The payouts can be anywhere from $.01 to $.025 per visitor that you send to their website.

When considering this affiliate program, look for reputable companies that give you access to a statistics page to your account. This page should show you the total number of clicks that have come from your website, your earnings, new affiliates and contact information. This will be your only means to measure your earnings and how many clicks you have provided with this type of program.

A good word of advice is before signing up with any company, be sure to check out their program thoroughly and review their terms and conditions.

John Kovacs is the CEO and founder of "A Home Business Opportunity". His website mainly focuses on supplying free marketing tips, resources and support for home startup businesses and Internet marketing. To get a step-by-step guide in building an online business, visit http://www.ahomebusinessopportunity.net

How To Find The Right Affiliate Programs

Writen by Kevin Hansen

Finding the right affiliate programs to make money with is fairly simple. The first step is picking the niche topic or niche topics you want to have websites about. The best topics to start with are the topics you are interest in or passionate about.

After you decide the topics you can begin to look for affiliate programs that offer products that are related to your topics. Applying for most affiliate programs is easy and only requires you to give them your information and they'll allow you to join their affiliate program. However, some affiliate programs have an approval process and won't approve you to join their program without certain requirements like having a completed website, a certain amount of traffic or a certain method of advertising their product. For the affiliate programs that have tight criteria re-apply for them at a later date when your website is getting a large amount of traffic and your website is completely built.

While you search for affiliate programs you should also learn about what types of keywords people that search for the topic you have chosen use to search for to get to information about the topic. There are quite a few websites available that have keyword information. Some websites you need to pay for to use their service. If you want to minimize your costs you can do some research on your own. Keywords are determined by what a person is interested in regarding a topic and what words they use to search for topic.

Another topic to research while you are looking for affiliate programs is the how people advertise affiliate programs. Banner ads are a common way that people advertise affiliate programs, but many people say that banner ads have become ineffective means of advertising. The statistics of banner ads show they usually have low click through rates for affiliate programs. A popular way people are using right now to advertise affiliate programs are through text links. Text links can appear any where in an article and do best in a context that pre-sells the link and make a person want to click on it when they read it.

Text links also serve another purpose and that is to drive traffic to a website. Links that use keywords are considered 'anchor links' for a search engine and will give a higher ranking through a search engine.

Sometimes it can be hard to find a lot of affiliate programs for certain topics. If there are different websites that sell products for the topic you have chosen, but they don't advertise that they offer an affiliate program you can contact them to see if they do have one or would be interested in setting one up. Many businesses don't realize that they have nothing to lose setting up an affiliate program and everything to gain. When you are searching for affiliate programs you would be wise to learn about how affiliate programs are created and offer this to webmasters who don't have an affiliate program started.

Content for your topic is the next step in creating your website. Having some knowledge about HTML coding can be very helpful, but often time it is not necessary, because there are so many programs available that make building a website easily.

When you create your website content it is important to keep three things in mind: Know the information people want about your chosen topic, know the keywords people search for and know the affiliate programs that are available to you. The content you write should be able to catch a person's interest and direct them to an affiliate program website for the desired results. Learning how to pre-sell a product appropriately will give you the best results.

Another affiliate program type worth mentioning is contextual based advertising programs. Google ad sense and Kanoodle are two of the programs that offer this type of advertising. The simplest explanation of these programs is they analyze the content on a web page and display ads that are related to what you have written. If you have a topic that really interests you, but can not find any affiliate programs out there that will apply to your topic these are a good affiliate program to join and use on your website. These affiliate programs are good to use even if you have many affiliate programs already, because they can produce descent revenue by themselves.

The more affiliate programs you join the more chances for making money you will have. The more topics you have available for people to gain information from the more ways you can earn money from affiliate programs. Keeping up-to-date on the newest ways people use to advertise their affiliate programs and continuously improving your marketing knowledge will give you an advantage and lead you to a lucrative affiliate program business.

Kevin has been a successful online business owner since 2003. Need Help Deciding Try a FREE HOME CAREER at http://www.ezymoneyathome.com He is also owner of http://www.sheetmusicweb.com, and http://www.travelinsurancedot.com.

If you need help with a homebased business contact Kevin at ezymoneyathome@yahoo.ca

16 Things To Check Before Joining Someone Elses Quotpay Per Salequot Affiliate Program

Writen by Rojo Sunsen

1. Does the affiliate program offer you a free way to join without buying the product or service?

2. Contact other affiliates already in the program to see if they have had any problems.

3. Is the product or service related to your target audience?

4. Can they notify you by e-mail when a sale is made?

5. Do they offer backend products so you can get repeat sales from the same person?

6. How often will you receive a commission check?

7. Do you get credited for a sale if people come back in month and then make a purchase.

8. Can you get around-the-clock help online or offline?

9. Do you get a large percentage of each sale as commission?

10. Do they provide you with proven sales material? (links, banners, classified ads, sales letters etc)

11. Will they give you the leeway to create promotional ads.

12. Do they offer you access to an online sales stats page?

13. Do they use a reputable system to track your sales?

14. Does the affiliate program pay commission for sales of people who sign up under you?

15. Can they offer customers a lot of different ordering options, so in return you won't lose sales.

16. Will they keep in contact with you on a regular basis by e-mail?

About the author:

Rojo Sunsen is a specialized bounty hunter who prefers to work quietly/confidentially for the benefit of her clients.

Affiliate Marketing Programs The Importance Of Developing A Relationship

Writen by Dave Cooper

When it comes to a successful marketing plan, there is no greater tool for converting potential prospects into long term clients than developing a relationship with each of your prospects. You may be able to offer potential business prospects the best quality products and service, but unless they see you as something other than an impersonal web page or catalog, there is little else to keep them loyal when another clever advertising campaign comes along.

Does this mean you have to become best friends with every new prospect you meet? of course not. If you tried, you'd not only come off as insincere, you'd never have time to get any real business done. The point here is to try to convey to your prospects that you see them as real people, and not just merely another cha-ching in your cash register. Everyone likes to feel that they matter, and this is what you will try to establish by developing a relationship with each of your prospects.

Here are some helpful tips for developing a relationship with each of your prospects based positive approaches, both online and off.

Present Yourself At Your Personal Best Both In Person And On The Web

No matter how rough of a work week you've had, when it's time to meet with a prospective client, don't skimp on the hygiene. Be sure you are perfectly groomed, and that your clothes are business-like, clean and pressed. Likewise for your vehicle. Be sure it is clean and looks well cared for. Remember, first impressions are the most important of all. You need to impress a potential client that the company you are representing is completely on the ball. Even though you will most likely be working out of your home, you never know who might stop by or who you might run into. Look successful!

Does your website look professional? You don't need green and hot pink flashing lettering to get a prospect's attention. Your website should instill a friendly one-on-one tone. Make sure your website is clean, easy to navigate for even the newest web browsers and really spells out what you're selling. Invite a dialogue with prospects and answer them in a friendly, positive tone as promptly as possible. Inspiring confidence is the first step to developing a relationship with each of your prospects.

Establish Common Ground

Resist the urge to jump right into the hard sale, it's a turn off and will hamper developing a relationship with each of your prospects. When you first meet a potential new client, don't be afraid to make some small talk to draw them out a little.

This doesn't mean that you should go into the week's weather report detail by detail. Again, you would come off as insincere. But if you happen to notice a family photo on your prospect's desk or mantel, don't be afraid to ask some polite questions about how the children are, and share a little relative info on your own children if you have them. Don't fabricate facts, honesty is always the best policy. Ask a few lightweight questions about anything your prospect brings up that actually interest you. This way you won't have to strain to have an actual conversation that is about more than just what you'd like to sell him.

Selling on the web is little harder, you don't have a physical presence. Most of your correspondence will be through e-mails and the occasional phone call. Words mean things, make yours count. Once again, be friendly in your responses, make them remember you. Answer any questions or concerns they might have about joining your affiliate program and then throw in something a little more personal. It can be that you were watching one foot of snow fall while you answered this e-mail, you just got back from a vacation or you're about to take one to XYZ place (if the prospect has been there, they'll let you know- people love to share travel stories), or just drop in a tidbit of your day and tell them you've had one of those "Calgon take me away kind of days!". Everyone can relate to a stressful day.

The key to developing an actual relationship with each of your prospects is to find some common ground that will help establish an immediate rapport between the two of you.

Soft Selling and Listening

As mentioned before, a hard sell will turn off many potential prospects. Far better to begin your sales pitch by inquiring about your prospect's needs. Give him a chance to tell you his own thoughts about what questions he has about your affiliate marketing program. People like to feel that someone is willing to listen to them. Businesses don't listen, people do.

This technique will actually help you to pinpoint the items you should be presenting first, and is indispensable to developing a relationship with each of your prospects. Your potential customer will become more relaxed with you when he realizes you are not ready to pounce from the word go.

Follow Up After The Sale

If you're fortunate enough to have made a good first impression and made the initial sale, your follow up is crucial. If you don't want to leave your new client feeling like a bride left at the alter, then within one week, send him a personal note of thanks for the opportunity to do business with him, and reiterate that you are always available to answer his questions or concerns. Then be available if he does happen to call or e-mail. If you're not in the office, then return his message immediately. This lets your new client know you still care about him after he has joined your affiliate marketing network.

Developing a relationship with each of your prospects is impossible without this kind of personal care after the sale. You are trying to establish yourself in your client's eyes as not merely a sales person with a great affiliate marketing program, but a real person, and a darn nice one to boot.

Side Benefits For You

There are other benefits to developing a relationship with each of your prospects. Sometimes something goes wrong and it's out of your hands to bring a quick resolution to your client's problem. Perhaps there is an unavoidable delay in shipping, or a computer glitch is making everything run late. If you've established a friendly trust between the two of you, your client is far more likely to stand by you during the difficulty if you've been there for him all along.

You'll also find that it's actually far more pleasant doing business with someone you've come to know a little. Developing a relationship with each of your prospects will do that for you, and you'll come to love your job that much more.

In a world full of impersonal online business transactions, there really is no substitute for developing a relationship with each of your prospects if you want to win and maintain their customer loyalty with your affiliate marketing program.

David Cooper is the editor of the Affiliate Marketing Articles Newsletter. David specializes in helping people with their affiliate marketing programs by teaching them the importance of developing a relationship with each of their prospects. Subscribe to his FREE newsletter at: http://www.affiliatemarketingarticles.com

Dealing With Public Service Ads On Your Website

Writen by Craig Rowe

Many of us start out with websites that we want to generate some income with, so we think that Google is the one and only solution to our desire or even our need to earn some extra money. And, it's fair to say that a lot of money can be made with the use of Google ads on one's website, but only if they work correctly. Money is made on these ads when relevant ads are posted on our website so that visitors can click on them and we can be compensated for every click! Unfortunately, a good deal of the time one will visit their website only to find that public service ads have been placed on their website by Google, and these ads don't pay at all when your visitors click on them.

You can report the fact that you have had a lot of public service ads on your website to Google, but generally there is not much that Google can do about it. The public service ads are placed on your website when relevant or targeted ads are unavailable, or when Google is simply unable to obtain information from the page to display relevant ads. This can be frustrating when for one reason or another ads that pay are not posted on your website continually. The reason that this is so frustrating is that you have only aligned yourself with Google AdSense to make some cash on your website, even if you are not profiting from it in any other manner.

Luckily, if you are tired of seeing public service ads on your website you CAN do something about it. You don't have to sit by and wait for Google to decide that you are worthy of those ads that pay! You can visit a website such as www.defaultads.com which will show you how to monetize public service ads and even alternate the ads shown when Google AdSense, or Chitika, and other content advertising networks cannot accommodate your needs with targeted ads on your webpage. This awesome website can help you out when you load all of your affiliate or other ads into DefaultAds when it quickly generates a link to include in your Google AdSense alternate ad URL.

This system will allow you to make money when you typically wouldn't be making any at all! The best thing about this system is that it is totally risk free. You don't have to worry about the content that will be shown as DefaultAds will only show their ads one out of every 100 impressions and they will be the same size, quality, and will even target the same category that you would target with the Google ads!

http://www.DefaultAds.com offers a free, easy way to monetize Google and Chitika public service ads by replacing them with your own affiliate or other advertising network ads.

Adsense How To Make Money With Ads By Google

Writen by William Charlwood

The chances are that you've seen "Ads by Google" on a variety of websites and perhaps wondered what they were all about. The fact is that you can probably get "Ads by Google" on your own site and if you do, you can look forward to getting paid by Google.

The system is called Google AdSense and it does two things really neatly.

First of all it allows virtually any website owner to make some money without having to do too much - all you do is paste some code that Google gives you into your web pages. This code creates the ads that you see and when someone clicks on one of these ads they go to the advertiser's site. The advertiser is then charged for the click by Google and Google shares the money with you. You don't have to worry about billing a load of different companies or anything else: this is all done for you as part of the AdSense service.

That much is fairly straightforward and good news.

But the really clever thing about AdSense is that the ads you see on your site are relevant to your content - automatically. So if you have a web page about mobile phones you'll see ads about mobile phones on it. If you have a web page about holidays in Tasmania, you'll see ads for holidays in Tasmania on it. Google's technology scans your web page and decides what it is about and then searches its database of well over 175,000 advertisers to find the ads that are most suitable for your page.

By making the ads relevant to your site, Google does you two favors: the ads can enhance the overall experience a visitor to your site gets which means they are likely to return, and because the ads are relevant to your visitor, they are likely to get clicked on.

And when they get clicked on, you make money.

To make most money with Google AdSense you need to develop web pages that are about high value topics. In other words, build content on your site that is likely to attract ads that pay highly when clicked because not all ads are worth the same.

In fact some ads pay many dollars a click whereas others only pay a few cents.

The art of maximizing your AdSense income is to understand how to attract high paying ads onto your pages and then drive a lot of traffic to those pages. Once you've done that you can look forward to getting paid by Google on a regular basis which makes Google AdSense one of the most attractive affiliate programs on the internet today.

William Charlwood
Author: The Definitive Guide to Google AdSense

For more information including a free 5-day course on maximizing your AdSense income visit ProsperitySense.com

Top Rated Poker Affiliate Program

Writen by Anthony LeMaire

It is a well known fact that a top rated poker affiliate program can help you to make extra revenue by simply placing a banner on your website while also improving your placement within the internet.

A top rated poker affiliate program provides an excellent opportunity for you to earn money because they offer the most generous affiliate payouts in the industry with some of the best conversion and customer retentions rates and thousand players online at high-peaks. By joining a top rated poker affiliate program you can earn up to 25% affiliate commission and usually no fees or bonuses are deducted from your earnings.

Besides, a top rated poker affiliate program online not only provides you with the highest commission in the industry paid in monthly basis, but also with a top rated poker affiliate program you get your own account manager who will work with you to maximize your earning potential, as well as all of the banners, text links and other advertising material you need custom designed for your promotion.

We recommend you to look for a leading brand that is well recognized and a top rated poker affiliate program certified by a prestigious Affiliate Marketing directory. If you have a website, to become a partner of a top rated poker affiliate program on the net is easy and fast. First you just have to fill out a simple registration form; then recruit players with their advertising material such as banners, text links and referral cards that are available for you to promote them, and finally track your sign ups, conversions and revenues with their Affiliate Tracking console.

So, what are you waiting for? Click to join a top rated poker affiliate program online and they will give you all the help you need. It's really easy and fast. There is for sure something at a top rated poker affiliate program that will suit you and your site, so check out on the web for the best information on the services and how to become an affiliate poker partner.

Professional SEO. He helps a number of online gambling sites like:

Poker Affiliate Program
Sportsbook Online
Pamela Anderson Poker

Make The Online Poker Industry Work For You

Writen by Blake Stevenson

If you have a little initiative and a desire to earn a little extra income from a readily available source, then you may wish to consider a role as an online marketing affiliate. There is no easier or more effective way to earn a revenue from the online boom, without having to invest vast sums of money in the process. It is a simple marketing formula that works as well for the huge online industries as it does for the average Internet user.

The affiliate program works by rewarding website owners with revenues and big businesses with valuable customers. The premise is simple; the affiliate program site offers the potential affiliate all the marketing tools, including banners and text links for free, in exchange for a small portion of their site space. In return the affiliate has the potential to earn a commission based revenue from some of the largest online industries.

The affiliate-marketing program is a unique advertising opportunity, which has allowed many industries and individual businesses to flourish. Few have gained like that of the online poker industry. The potential of online poker may have seemed a little limited before its inception, however now it is one of the leading contenders in an online gaming revolution. Now generating millions of dollars in revenue, the industry has largely grown out of a successful network of affiliate marketers. By introducing as many affiliates as is possible, the poker sites are able to access a huge range of people from the global market that is the Internet.

On their part the affiliates are rewarded by the success of the sites that they represent by earning a portion of the money generated by the players that they introduce. This commission-based revenue offers the affiliates a chance to earn up to 35% of all the money generated by a player, throughout the duration of the life on the site. Therefore the parallel industries work by encouraging further growth in each other. The affiliates must first attract and then forward on customers to earn their revenue. When they achieve this goal they are rewarded with a generous proportion of the money generated by the players. In turn the poker site gets the added bonus of extra players and the subsequent word of mouth advertising and income that they produce. So without ever having to risk a single penny, poker sites can reach a vast audience and expand their market share, and an affiliate can earn an unrestricted amount of money just by hosting a few advertising features.

Discover how to become a super Party Poker affiliate and generate a massive income with poker affiliate programs at http://www.epokeraffiliate.com/

Setting Up Your Own Affiliate Program Part Two

Writen by Christopher Ruane

This article is the second of my two part series on setting up your own affiliate program. Once you are starting an affiliate program, you must manage and keep track of it.

The key is to promote your products and services to people who NEED them. Affiliate business is no different. You may create your own affiliate program or you may promote other popular affiliate programs that are related to your product or service.

The best way to manage and track is by creating your own affiliate program website. This is where you can list all your affiliate programs.

Keeping a track of all affiliate programs in a single network is easy. You would generally be given one username and password as well as a single interface that controls all the programs.

However, if you have many of your own affiliate programs or you promote several stand-alone affiliate programs from your website, the task of staying organized becomes a bit more complex.

There are software programs available on the Internet that organize and keep track of all data associated with affiliate programs. A typical database would include some of the following fields:

* Program Name
* URL
* Email Address
* ID
* Password
* 1st Tier Sale
* 2nd Tier Sale
* Total commission for month

Some of the advanced software programs also provide analysis and comparison tools. If you take the time to input data about clicks, sales, and page views, impressions, emails sent etc. from your various campaigns and enter all of it into the program, it will show you:

* Click to Sale Ratios
* Impression to Sale Ratios
* Amount Earned Per Impression
* Amount Earned Per Click

Keep a close watch on your activities

Ensure that your website is up and running. The danger in not knowing that your site is down comes when you are running a pay per click advertising campaign. The click costs add up whether your site is functional or not.

Check your statistics daily. This will give you a better idea of your income trends and also highlight any area of concern such as sudden decrease in revenue.

Be prompt in answering any queries from affiliate partners or customers, especially when these are about your products or services.

One of the main aspects of any affiliate program is residual income. You've got to make the most of every customer. The best way to do this is by promoting affiliate programs that offer residual commission as well as one time sales.Membership sites are a good way to collect residualcommissions.

Track your links - guesswork is no use

Track all your affiliate links. The best way to accomplish this is by setting up tracking software for your affiliate links. There are a number of scripts that will do the job.

Most tracking programs typically allow you to setup tracking links for any product you promote, telling you how many hits each product has received, and where the hits are coming from.

It is not enough to have a few banners and classified ads if you provide an affiliate program.You must provide as much help as possible .You should have tested and proven endorsements, testimonials, sig files, ezine ads, and other unique tools and techniques.You should also make yourself available to answer any questions they may have.

You should determine what methods work best for your affiliate program or one you might promote in a particular medium. For instance, which ezine ads work best and in what ezine; which banner ads produce the greatest clickthroughs and from which sites or banner exchanges; and where on your website is the most effective spot to include a testimonial.

This can only come about through active promotion and looking at results both good and non productive.Assumptions can be tested and the results guide you.Just hoping for the best is a recipe for disaster.

If you can sort out your payment procedures from the start, you will save yourself an administrative headache and more to the point,keep your affiliates happy! Or use a third party like clickbank to pay out and manage instead. Its less flexible than your own set up to begin with but everyone gets paid without you lifting a finger. You just pay out in fees.

This concludes my overview on starting your own affiliate program.If there is any one thing I would recommend, it is to track everything you can so you can refine your strategy further and increase your earnings.

Discover a simple four-step way to get bigger affiliate commissions... I'll tell you exactly what those four steps are, and how you can apply this formula right away.
Chris Ruane
http://www.seriousedge.com

Loyalty Credibility And Conversion In Affiliate Business

Writen by Karen Kari

Conversions – they're a crucial factor in affiliate sales. While it's good to have wonderful, informative content and an environment where your site visitors share ideas and information, you're most likely in this for the economic benefit. And that means you need not only to interest visitors in the site's affiliate merchants, but do all in your power to see that the sale is completed.

Here are a few ways to help the conversion rate of sales – the percentage of qualified buyers who began the sales process who ultimately complete the sale:

Before signing up a merchant, be sure that the merchants is offering products that are appropriate for and desired by your visitors, and that the actual products are of high quality. Prepare product reviews and comparisons for your site that help the visitor learn about the product category as well as individual products and their attributes.

Get site visitors to contribute product reviews as well as reviews of their sales experience. Post them and use them to identify patterns and trends, both good and bad, with your affiliate merchants. Don't be shy in contacting merchants whose sales practices have been called into question by your visitors. If they are serious about their business, they'll want to make positive changes – they have many other customers who will be likely to have the same reaction.

Make sure the links to products are on pages with highly relevant articles, reviews and information.

Ask questions and test their shipping with special requests Go through the merchant's checkout process yourself and see if it's onerous or straightforward. If you'd drop off before seeing the words "sale confirmed", it's likely they will too.

Karen Kari's articles and more information on the affiliate business can be found at:

http://www.affiliatebandit.com
http://www.advertisingcellar.com
http://www.billionfreeads.com

Beating Adwords For Affiliate Marketers

Writen by Travis Sago

Are you using Google Adwords in your affiliate marketing efforts? Are you beating Adwords or is Adwords beating you?

Here is the most common and most gargantuan mistake I see affiliates making with Adwords.

They don't target desperate buyers! A desperate buyer is a buyer that is looking for a solution to not a small problem, but a big one...or...a problem that has to be dealt with every day or a frequent basis.

Here's an example:

If you are promoting ebooks and courses that teach people how to train their dogs, you're conversion rates are going to be horrible for keyword phrases such as:

dog training
train dog
puppy training
etc,etc

Why?

You have to ask yourself--How many people are losing sleep over "training their dog"? Probably not a whole lot. Plus, most of those folks are more than likely looking for "dog trainers" in their area.

So, what is an affiliate marketer to do?

Okay, what problems may keep dog owners awake at night? How about:

dog barking
dog chewing
dog behavior problems
dog potty training (and related keywords)
dog biting

And hundreds of other variations of those type of keyword phrases are the type of phrases that are begging for a solution! These are problems that are constantly on the mind of a dog owner with a misbehaving pup.

All you need to do, is match the problem with the solution and you will really see your conversion rates soar.

Another huge and welcome benefit is you will find your competition for these type of keyword phrases are much lower. So you will have more sales at less cost. Now that is an affiliate marketers dream!

Travis Sago is a full time affiliate marketer earning more than most doctors make. If you would like more tips and secrets to beating Adwords Check out http://www.usfreeads.com/443738-cls.html

Beating Adwords.

Four Questions Before You Look For Affiliate Programs

Writen by Matt DeAngelis

I've been receiving emails from people asking for my advice on which affiliate programs are the best, who pays the most and most often, and many other basic questions. I'd like to answer those questions on this forum, but I can only type so fast.

I went out this weekend looking for content that I could publish here temporarily while I got down to writing. I had a hard time finding unbiased content. Most of the so-called reviews out there are infomercials, and that's not what I was looking for with this blog. So you're going to have to bear with me. I've been looking and learning and reading and talking, and I've got a lot to say. I just need the time to write it down, and I will, starting tomorrow. No, really I will.

In the meantime, you need to ask yourself this — are you ready for an affiliate program, or Internet Advertising in general? I put together four questions you should ask before you embark on your affiliate program or any Internet advertising.

Before I get to the four questions you should ask before you enbark on your affiliate program, I am going to review two concepts that I use often here on Affiliateblog. The first is what I call the macro view of your Internet presence:

Incoming visitors -> Internet Presence < - Sales or Actions

You are really running two campaigns with your Internet presence -- the first campaign is concerned with getting visitors to the site, and the campaign is ongoing. The second campaign is to get those visitors to do something. That something may be just to spend more time at your site, or it may be to sign up for something or buy something.

The other represents the process of Internet advertising:

Impression -> Click -> Action

Most affiliate programs pay publishers in the last part of the process, the Action. I'll be using both of these concepts in my questions. So here we go…

1. Do you know enough about your visitors?

There are literally thousands of affiliate programs out there. While some affiliate marketing hubs are experimenting with context-sensitive serving of affiliate banners and banner rotation on affiliate sites, YOU will be the one to decide what kind of products and services you want to offer your visitors. This seems like a minor detail, but it is a major factor in your success.

If you haven't already, take a look at the stats for your web site over the past month or so. Where do your visitors come from? Have you paid for Google, Yahoo or other search engine traffic? What are the keywords that people used to get to you? More complex and specific search terms tend to result in more immediate conversions, while broader search terms may result in sales later. If people get to your site using what you believe to be broad search terms, you need to be sure that the cookie life (the amount of time that passes between someone from your site visiting the affiliate merchant's site and the sale) is long.

Do you have textlinks or other advertising on other sites? Do you know the demographics of the visitors from those sites? Have you spoken to the webmaster, owner or manager of the sites on which you advertise and asked him or her about their visitors? Do you know the websites? Have you visited the sites that advertise on the same sites as you? When you investigate all of these things a profile of the visitors to your site should begin to emerge.

Which search engine brings you the most traffic? If it's Google, the user is slightly more apt to be male, and in the middle (of MSN, Yahoo and Google) as far as propensity toward buying something (42% more likely than the average user). There's a terrific article on marketingvox.com if you want to see more details. You can also find some interesting demographic info on the major search engines from AQABA.

You should pay particular attention to the domains of your visitors. If you have a lot of AOL traffic for example, you should consider that the profile of the average AOL user is 35 or older (77%) and married (62%).

If you have trouble with textual representation vs. graphical representation (as I do), there is a terrific product called VisitorVille that takes your web logs and animates them. The text is represented as pictures (buildings, people, buses for the search engines, etc).

After all this you should be able to sit down and come up with the profile of a typical visitor. This profile should hopefully include estimates of age, country of origin, education and income.

Try to think like your visitors. Try to anticipate their interests and the products and services they might want to purchase. Affiliate programs raise the bar from PPC — your payment comes at the end of the Internet marketing process (the Action) rather than at the beginning (Impression or Click) like Google Adsense or Doubleclick. You need to apply more brainpower to the process, and you'll make more money if you do it right.

2. Is your site perfect?

You're asking someone to buy something from your site. If the pages have sloppy html code, broken links or instability from a bad Cascading Stylesheet, it makes you look cheesy. We've all been uncomfortable buying something off a cheesy website. You don't want to be that website.

Let's start with the html code. Are you sure there are no errors in it? Have you used an html checker like the one at W3C? I find mistakes in my code all the time. Unless you check your code on several browsers in several resolutions you might not catch an error. The validator will. If you use Cascading Stylesheets you should also visit the CSS Checker.

Speaking of validators, you should check your links often. W3.org also has a link validator.

The site should also be optimized for search engines, be easy to understand and navigate, and should have a sitemap for people (and spiders) to find their way around. You should have had ten of your closest friends take a look at the site and give you their feedback, and you should always listen to unsolicited comments from users with an open mind and place value on them. If someone takes the time from their busy day to send you an email about your site, they feel strongly about it and you should take a close look at what they're talking about.

Understand that if your Incoming Visitors campaign is not working right, you're wasting your time with your Sales or Action program.

3. Do you know what kind of ads you're going to use, and where the ads are going to go?

People have been ignoring banners for ten years. That's why they shake and make sounds (someday I'll tell you about the screaming match I had with a creative director the day we put out the first talking banner ad) to try to get your attention. Where you put it on the page is going to make a huge difference. Briefly — banners need to go somewhere the eye naturally rests (next to the masthead, near the navigation, at the bottom of the page).

Placement of any ads is a huge part of getting them noticed or clicked.

A lot of people (including me) believe that text ads should be placed at natural breaks and be close to the same in text size and color as the text. You need to surf around and look at where people place their ads, and you need to figure out where you think they would work on your site.

If you plan to create pages for some of the products you endorse (a great idea), you need to figure out how prominently you want to place the advertising. Most people won't buy something if they believe you're shilling for a particular company. They will buy from someone they believe honestly endorses the product or service. You need to figure out how to keep the distinction.

4. What's your hunch on the right kind of offers for your site?

I ask this question a lot. Now that you have a better idea of the demographics of your visitors, try to decide on which action you think they would be more apt to take — pay-per-lead, pay-per-sale or even pay-per-click (hard to come by) on your site.

If you have a general interest website that gives away free stuff it's probably going to be difficult to sell people products from that website. It might be smarter to try to get them to sign up for a free products newsletter from one of the affiliate programs, or you may want to look for offers that target the age group of your site rather than offers that target a specific interest. You might be looking for smaller-ticket sales or only leads. Leads get the user to the end of the advertising process chain, but require less of a commitment.

Try to come up with the four, five, six or fifty ways to slice this all up, by type of action, by type of sale or lead, or any other way you can come up with. Then you can go out and find the different offers that might appeal to your visitors. When it comes time to place the ads, try to put different ads in similar spaces on the same pages, and see how they do.

Get your questions answered and you're ready to take the plunge into affiliate marketing.

Matt DeAngelis runs Affiliate Blog. Matt is the former CTO of Modem Media, a pioneer in the Internet ad space. Matt devised the technology behind ad campaigns and online presence for a good portion of the Fortune 100, including GE, AT&T and Compaq.

Writing Effective Affiliate Emails

Writen by Karen Kari

Once you've built an email list of subscribers, one that has agreed to receive newsletters and other focused communications from you, it's time to write an informative letter to them, proposing a product or service that will meet unmet needs you have learned they have, or would be likely to have.

How do you start?

Headlines should show a benefit to them – that as an expert, you'll provide a solution to problems you know your niche group is facing, that you'll teach them something or save them time or frustration. For instance, "Success tips and tricks for installing XYZ software" rather than "Get XYZ running and making you $$$$$ fast!".

Address the email to a person, using their first name. You're acknowledging that they're part of your group, and it's a warmer more familiar beginning.

Tell them right up front what the email is about – recommending a specific product or service that you feel they'll enjoy, that they'll need or want, based upon what you know of your site visitors. Directness counts. If they aren't interested, they'll still understand why you sent the email and be glad you didn't waste their time.

Tell them if you've used the product or service, or if you created it, why you did so. Tell them how it solved a problem. If you wouldn't sell it to your sister, don't try selling it to them. You want longevity and that means selling quality and not overstating benefits.

Use short sentences, and partial sentences. Keep it conversational, and when you're done, wrap it up and say no more.

Try differing styles of emails, perhaps one with a formalized product review. See what works for your specialized audience, and keep perfecting it.

Karen Kari's articles and more information on the affiliate business can be found at:
http://www.affiliatebandit.com
http://www.advertisingcellar.com
http://www.billionfreeads.com

Affiliate Marketing How To Smash The Glass Ceiling

Writen by Ron Passfield

Most affiliate marketers unconsciously create an invisible "glass ceiling" that curtails the growth of their own affiliate business. They do this by failing to create a substantial, positive profile on the Internet.

Are you reluctant to "stand out from the crowd"? Do you feel more comfortable being invisible on the Internet?

Most people experience a natural reticence to be "out there", to "stand up and be counted". How often are the front rows of a course or meeting left vacant because most people would rather be invisible up the back!

The same is true on the Internet, particularly with affiliate marketers. The noun "affiliate" means "connected as a part or an associate of…", and the verb "affiliate" means "to connect to" or "join oneself to". It does not, however, mean "lose oneself in…"

When you join an affiliate program, there is a tendency to lose your own personality in the "personality" of the program and its owner. Yet the really successful affiliate marketers are those who are able to place their own unique identity on what they do. They stand out by being themselves, showing who they are and what they have to offer.

Think about your last visit to an affiliate program forum. The people who most likely left an impression on you were those who showed a strong sense of humour, an uncanny insight or a way of viewing the world positively and energetically. These people leave their mark and their impression. Their forum postings are like "footprints in the sand" – they are not afraid to be different, to let their personalities shine through.

If you are going to develop a distinctive profile, you need to understand your own strengths and capacities. Your distinctiveness as an affiliate marketer derives from your unique life history and skill set. You need to find an affiliate program that will build on these strengths and enable you to realize your potential.

The real challenge for you as an affiliate marketer is to find an affiliate offering that draws on your unique knowledge, skills and competencies. You need an affiliate program that enables YOU to "shine"!

What "image" or "Internet profile" are you trying to create? Are you able to be yourself through your affiliate program? Or are you being an extension of someone else?

You need to find an affiliate offering that aligns with your desired profile and your unique competencies. This is the way to create an affiliate business, not just affiliate cheques.

To achieve this, you have to develop yourself. You will need to progressively develop self-awareness, the capacity to overcome fear of visibility and a willingness to continuously review what you are doing. A real synergy will emerge as you learn to integrate your affiliate offering, your profile and your competencies.

You will find that you will break through the glass ceiling as you make a real statement about who you are, what you value and what you have to offer. You will make a real difference because you can "add value" to your affiliate offering in a unique way. This is the only sustainable source of competitive advantage in affiliate marketing.

This article is written by Ron Passfield, PhD, affiliate marketing coach, who is developing his affiliate business through the step-by-step coaching provided by the Affiliate Classroom: http://www.affiliate-marketing-coach.blogspot.com/

Enrol today in the FREE affiliate marketing course offered by the Affiliate Classroom: http://www.affiliate-marketing-coach.blogspot.com/

Copyright 2005 - Ron Passfield. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Affiliate Marketing At A Glance Helpful Hints

Writen by J. E. Burke

Regarded as one of the choice Internet marketing systems offered to small businesses, affiliate marketing has caught the attention of accomplished entrepreneurs across the globe. With virtually no risk involved in the affiliate marketing game, payment is made only after results are provided. That is one of the several reasons that this form of trade has such a high level of popularity. And with a considerable number of programs currently available online, it is critical to make yours shine brightly above all other professional affiliate marketing systems.

Those with affiliate marketing expertise can easily secure an income of five figures per month. However, less than 5 percent of all individuals involved in these affiliate programs reach this milestone. A huge blunder that many affiliate potentials make is trying to merchandise too many products instead of concentrating on one particular market. In lieu of dispersing your endeavors, focus on your passion, advertise it, and sell it to the best of your abilities.

It is your responsibility to research the product or services that you are offering to the public. With the information you gather, you can produce a resource that builds your credibility with future customers and fellow affiliates. When you have the confidence of your peers, you are building trust in the world of affiliate marketing.

Once you have decided the affiliate market you are interested in, it is time to actively recruit partners. It is in your best interest to find individuals that have already developed traffic and would profit from your offer. You should provide your partners with promotional material, and make their affiliate marketing job as fun and easy as possible. Always keep in contact with your partners, and be sure to deliver updates or changes on products and services. It is also advisable to send tips on how to be successful in the marketing environment.

Promotion is a major component in any form of marketing. Several top affiliates use pay-per-click search engines. However, use these search engines with caution. If you don't know what you are doing you may lose money. It is best if you discover how to obtain natural search results or employ a search engine marketing firm.

Becoming a marketing guru is definitely not something that will happen overnight. Affiliate marketing takes research, motivation, and most of all, patience. But, as with all things, in the end it is all worth it.

To keep yourself motivated and to receive more helpful information about the nuts and bolts of starting and maintaining a profitable online business subscribe to one or more online e-zines and read every line of every issue. There are also many e-books and e-courses full of step-by-step, how-to instructions to help you get started in this profitable business.

Until The Next Time,

Dr. J. Elisha Burke

Copyright 2005 Burke Publications All Rights Reserved

Dr. J. Elisha Burke, an educator and entrepreneur, has been involved in various business enterprises via his business, Burke Publications for 11 years. Dr. Burke is an educator, writer and motivational speaker on a variety of topics. He is also known for his expertise on nonprofit organizations and grant proposal writing. Dr. Burke can be contacted at http://burkepublications.com at http://news.burkepublications.com or jeb@burkepublications.com

Top 10 Affiliate Marketing Techniques Are Mostly Free

Writen by Christopher Kyalo

Many of the top 10 affiliate marketing methods that are the most effective are free. This should really encourage people who have just recently started out in affiliate marketing as it is proof that to climb to the very top 10 in affiliate marketing one does not require a huge investment. Rather a clear plan, some little creativity and lots of hard work can really work magic for any would be affiliate marketing top 10 star.

One of the most effective top 10 affiliate marketing methods is articles marketing which is mostly free especially for people who have some basic writing skills. Articles posted at leading article directories and sites as well as one's own site are much more effective than having thousands of mini sites with links pointed to a main web sites.

To start with the better articles and mostly your top 10 affiliate marketing articles can easily turn viral and end up being re-posted in dozens and even hundreds of other sites. The end result is that what started off as a single article posted in one or two leading article directories can end up in thousands of other sites across the World Wide Web.

No other top 10 affiliate marketing method is capable of generating and directing such targeted traffic to your affiliate marketing site.

Learn more about the best home business opportunity from a blogger who rakes in thousands of dollars... and growing from their home business.

Are Product Resell Rights A Viable Money Maker

Writen by Art Luff

If your inbox is anything like mine, you've probably recieved your fair share of Product Resale Rights offers. Often times you'll be offered anywhere from one to a hundred or more products, ranging in price from $17. to $500. Trying to figure out What You're Allowed To Do with them can be a confusing process.

If your package comes with Basic Resale Rights, It will give you the right to resell it and that's usually it. Most of the time it comes with it's own sales page, which all you need to do is add your payment link and upload it to your web host. It is also the least expensive. Your probability of profit is increased since it virtually cost you nothing to get started. Basic rights range in price from $17. to $97. and are very easy to profit from. However, this option is not generally viral since you don't have the right to claim it as your own or give it away. It must be sold and can't be included in another package or sold in Auction Sites. These restrictions are defined in the Read Me File contained in the zip file in your download.

If your package comes with Master resell rights. It will also come with its own sales page. Your options are increased with this package. You will have the right to resell it, bundle it with other products, sell it at auction sites or give it away. It will usually cost more than the Basic Rights since you have the right to do more than the Basic Rights. You will also get everything you need to get your site up and running. On occasion it will come with marketing tools such as banner graphics, solo ads, classified ads, etc.

If your package comes with private label rights. One particular type of private label rights gives you the right to claim it as your own. It is generally ready made and the only changes you can make is to put your name on it.

Another type of private label rights is not a finished ready to sell product. All you get with this one is the raw source code. Usually in an MS Word document. This will require someone a bit more advanced in their ability to design and set up either a web page or insert the information in ebook format. This type basically gives you the right to do just about anything you want with it. You can change it, claim it, add to it or omit parts of it. Selling the Master resale rights an resell rights may also be an option. See what the terms and conditions say.

As with any product or service you decide to sell on the internet. You're going to need to look at some things.

*Is this product or similar product being searched for?

*If so, How Many?

*If the product is being searched for a kazillion times. Chances are you'll encounter some pretty stiff competition and is probably not a wise choice.

*Have you seen similar products on the web?

Resell Rights are a great alternative to creating your own products. You're going to have some basic skills such as, the ability to edit the html in your pages. Use an FTP program to upload the pages to the web. A web host and domain name to upload them to. If you posess these basic skills you're ready to make money with your newly acquired Resell Rights package.

Devise your marketing plan to include pay per click ads, ezine ads, writing articles, joint ventures, and publishing your own newsletter.

It won't be long before you've got customers coming out of the woodwork. If success is what you're after, Get to Work. There are no free lunches on or off the web. Despite what your bombarded with. There are no Get Rich without doing any work programs. If you find one, Please send it to me.

Art Luff is Not a Marketing Genius or Guru. He's Just an Ordinary Guy Trying To Make a Go Of It In this World. Jump on Over to http://best-resale-deal-ever.com/ and Subscribe to his Informative Affilate Marketing Newsletter. His approach to Marketing affiliate programs will awaken your imagination and keep you coming back for more!

Residual Affiliate Programs 4 Reasons To Promote For Long Term Income

Writen by Dean Shainin

By means of affiliate marketing, you won't need to worry about the products you have to sell.

All you need to have is a website with adequate contents that are related to the products of a certain online company offering affiliate programs. In many cases you don't even need a website.

By becoming a member of the program, or by becoming an affiliate, you can start earning a certain amount of money right away.

1. The majority of affiliate programs would pay you, as an affiliate, a one-time commission for every sale or lead you brought to the merchant's website. Commissions for this kind of affiliate programs are usually large, ranging from 20% to a high of about 75%. Other affiliate programs would pay you a set fee for every click through or traffic you send to the merchant's site. Programs like this often pay a smaller fee for every click through. The excellent thing about this type of program, however, is that the visitor won't have to purchase anything in order for the affiliate to get compensated.

2. A different type of affiliate program is the residual income affiliate program. Residual affiliate programs usually pay a small percentage of sales commission for every sale directed by the affiliate to the merchant's site. This commission often comes only in the range of 15% to 30% sales commission. Because of this, many people disregard residual affiliate program and would rather opt for the high paying one-time commission affiliate program. Are these people making a mistake, or are they making the right decision?

3. Residual affiliate programs would indeed pay at a lower rate, but merchants offering such programs would generally pay you regular and ongoing commissions for a single affiliate initiated sale. That means, for the same effort you made in promoting a particular affiliate program, you get paid only once in a one-time commission program, and a set and continuing commission for a residual program.

4. Thought you have directed traffic to the merchant and it converted into a sale, you'll get paid once by the first merchant for the sale you have initiated. But with a residual program, you'll get paid monthly for as long as the customer you have referred to the merchant continues to benefit of the web hosting service. That means that for the same endeavor of getting one buyer to avail of the merchant's service, you get paid monthly in residual affiliate programs while you only get paid once in a one-time commission type of affiliate programs.

So, are residual affiliate programs worth promoting? Yes, because you virtually get more money from these types of affiliate programs in the long run. With the benefits that residual affiliate marketing can provide, it would really be foolish to disregard such programs.

Dean Shainin owns the merchant account website for online home based business resources located at: Online Home Based Small Business Resource

7 Ways To Increase Your Affiliate Commissions

Writen by Chris Coffman

Suppose you could launch an online business in the next ten minutes? Suppose that this business did not require your own website, dealing with customers, refunds, product development or maintenance? This is the ideal world of affiliate marketing.

Made popular on the internet by Amazon.com, marketers can now earn a referral fee for directing visitors to countless merchants' website. According to Forrester Research, affiliate program earnings will represent $53 BILLION of all e-commerce sales by 2005. How could you earn a sizeable piece of this pie? Here are some powerful tips that would get you rolling in those big commission checks and laughing all the way to the bank.

1. Know what programs and products to promote.

Of course you will want to promote those programs that will bring you the greatest profits in the shortest time. There are several factors that play into selecting such a program. Choose programs that have a generous commission structure, products that fit in with your target audience and a solid track record of paying their affiliates on time. If you cannot recoup your investment, then prune such programs and keep looking for better ones. There are tens of thousands of affiliate programs online so you can afford to be picky. This is a case where you will want to choose just the cream of the crop and so reduce the risk of losing your advertising dollars.

2. Write free reports or short ebooks to distribute from your website.

Most likely you will be competing with other affiliate marketers who are promoting the same program. If you write a short report on a related topic to the product that you are promoting, then you can distinguish yourself from all other affiliates. In this report you can provide valuable information for free with a "recommendation" of the product. This is often referred to as a 'soft sell'.

The report or ebook allows you to develop credibility with your audience and your readers are more likely to follow your recommendation. There is less resistance to this type of selling because the prospect doesn't feel 'sold', just informed. The next step is to make this ebook 'viral' by allowing those who bought the product through your link to 'brand' the ebook for their own promotional use.

3. Collect the email addresses of those who download your free ebook.

Research has shown that over 60% of the sales of any product are made after the fifth exposure to the sales message. In other words, most people do not make a purchase on the first solicitation. You may need to send your marketing message over six times before a sale is made. This is the reason why you should collect the contact information of those who download your report. You can then follow up on these contacts to gently remind them to make the purchase.

4. Never send prospect directly to a vendor's website without collecting their contact info first.

Affiliate marketing is ideal but not perfect. You must keep in mind that you are providing free advertisement for the product owners. The merchants only pay you when you make the sale. If you send prospect directly to their website then these prospect are lost to you forever. If you collect these names instead, then you can always send other marketing messages to them and earn an ongoing commission instead of making a one-time sale.

5. Publish an online newsletter or Ezine.

It is always easier to recommend a product to a friend than to sell to a stranger. This is the philosophy behind publishing your own newsletter. A newsletter allows you to build a subscriber list and develop a relationship of trust with this list. Your subscribers will then trust you to recommend products that will benefit them.

This strategy requires a delicate balance of providing useful information along with a 'sales pitch'. In other words, if you send out frequent advertisement to your list and little valuable information you are likely to lose credibility with your audience. But if you write informative editorials you will build a sense of reciprocity in your readers that will lead them to 'support' you by purchasing your affiliate products.

6. Ask merchants for a higher than normal commission.

If you are very successful with a particular promotion you should approach the merchant and negotiate a higher percentage commission for your sales. If the merchant is smart he or she will likely grant your request rather than lose you. Keep in mind again that you are a zero-risk investment to the merchant, so don't be shy in your requests. Just be reasonable.

7. Learn to write strong Pay Per Click (PPC) ads. One of the most effective means of advertising online is through PPC search engines. As an affiliate, you can make a sizeable income by just managing PPC campaigns on services such as Google Adwords and Overture. Monitor your campaigns to see which ads are pulling their weight and trim those that are not.

You can use the ClickBank™ Market Place, for example, and just choose a hot-selling product and start promoting. Once you are earning a decent return on your investment then you are in profit! Just this strategy alone can make all the difference to your commission checks.

Affiliate marketing is an entrepreneur's dream come true. Minimum investment, zero inventory, no employees, no product development—just BIG checks!

Author Bio: Subscribe to Net Marketing Weekly today and receive free enrollment to the entire 27 lesson Internet Marketing Success Course!

http://www.netmarketingweekly.com

Sports Betting Affiliate Commissions Earning Passive Income Online

Writen by Blake Stevenson

When big industries and the common man collide, there is usually only one financial winner. However in the online world of opportunity, there are chances to turn this tide and to even start making money off of the backs of the large industry. Affiliate programs offer Internet users the chance to earn money by hosting advertising for specific companies or industries. However the online sports betting industry have come up with another marketing strategy, which is as unique as it is lucrative. Rather than simply giving away a few dollars for a new customer or a small percentage of a sale, like so many of the other programs, sports betting provides a percentage of each players lifetime revenue generated. So an affiliate can earn money just by attracting one or more players, through links on their sites. It sounds simple, because it is.

There are no strings, no hidden charges and no customers to worry about. The affiliate program is a fully automated and highly successful way for big online sites, including the giants of the sports betting world, to spread their brand and encourage new custom. Because of the success of affiliate marketing, sports betting sites and affiliate programs do not charge or discriminate between people who are and are not able to host an advertising package. The more people that join, the greater their potential sphere of influence can grow, with more influence the betting sites can hopefully encourage more customers. For their part, affiliates are given the carrot of a lucrative percentage of each player that they can persuade to join an external site. The more customers, the more money an affiliate can earn. There are no caps, no limits, just those that an affiliate imposes on themselves.

But for those cynical people, who just can't believe that there must be a catch, there is not. Affiliates are masters of their own destiny, whilst hard work and a little investment can go a long way, they are by no means essential. Others may note that whilst bookmakers may win a high percentage of times, they can't win every time, therefore making it a slightly rocky industry of ups and downs. It is true that bookmakers can lose as well as win, which will no doubt affect the amount of revenue an affiliate makes. However most programs protect the affiliates from this potential downfall, simply by implementing a stop that does not allow an affiliate to earn a negative balance. With payments coming over a period of a fortnight or a month, this gives sports betting affiliate programs the chance to accurately judge the overall success of an affiliates customers. The worst thing that can happen to an affiliate is to receive no money, therefore if an affiliate doesn't make any money the onus is on them to attract more players to increase their revenue sources, which in turn favours the sports betting site. There is no guaranteed pathway to affiliate success, but joining the sports betting program can certainly increase ones chances of earning a substantial wage.

Discover the secrets of top poker affiliates and discover how to find the best poker affiliate program at http://www.epokeraffiliate.com/

Dear Affiliate Manager Women Are From Venus

Writen by Nicole Dean

Question: My target market is women, and I'm having a hard time getting them to promote my products. They just seem unmotivated. I don't get it. Does my affiliate program stink or am I recruiting bad affiliates?

Dear Affiliate Manager:

This just goes back to basic psychology. Women and men value different things.

Car salesmen are taught this in their training. When a husband and wife walk into a car showroom, the car salesman will face the husband when he talks about things like … horsepower and engine stuff. Then, he'll turn to the wife and talk about safety and color options. Is this condescending? Yes. But, it's also effective. My eyes glaze over when it comes to horsepower, but I want to know what I'm going to look like in my car! Sunroof? Radio? Now we're talking.

So, what does this have to do with your affiliate program? Simple. Although I can't speak for all women, obviously, I can tell you the things I value in an affiliate program.

Quality. I value my newsletter subscribers and am building a relationship with them. (According to recent studies, women go online to find relationships and support.) If your product or service is junk, then you could offer me 99% commission with a 99% conversion rate and I'm still not going to sell it to my visitors.

Affordability. I can't promote a product that I, myself, would not buy. If you're overpriced for what you offer, I can not promote your products to my subscribers.

Dollars and Cents. Of course money is a factor. It's just not the #1 factor, as you may be surprised to know. 20% commission vs. 40% -- I'm not as concerned about that as I am the other items in this list.

Tools: Yes, tools. This is really big, and so few affiliate managers "get it". I think I've finally pinpointed why this is such a big thing (at least for me). This scenario happens way too often: I find a product I am really excited about and I eagerly sign up for their affiliate program. I log in so I can start telling everyone I know about this great product or service. I can't wait to see what they have in the "links" section. Will there be articles, or a rebrandable e-book maybe? Or even an informative video? It's like Christmas morning… what will I find? And, then the affiliate section opens and there's one measly link and a button.

My initial gut reaction is "They're not even trying!" And now, I don't feel valued or motivated in the least bit. You just succeeded in turning your biggest fan into someone who stuck a lousy button on her page and knows it's not going to sell at all.

I know what you're thinking. It's the affiliate's job to sell. Yes, you're right. As an affiliate, I know that writing reviews and recommendations is the best way to sell a product. No doubt about it. All I'm saying is that you've got to give us at least an indicator that you're interested in building a working 'relationship'.

Is it hokey to want a relationship with an Affiliate Manager? Yes. It is. But, I can tell you that any affiliate program where I get some attention and appreciation is going to get a lot more loyalty from me than an Affiliate Manager who sits on the couch drinking beer and watching football while I'm running around working my butt off... (Hmmm.... did I say that?)

So, yes, women are from Venus. You can decide to embrace it and reap the rewards, or ignore it and wonder why your affiliates aren't motivated. It's your choice. As an affiliate, I'm challenging you to embrace this information and run with it.

Nicole Dean is on a mission to find a few good affiliate programs. She's found a handful of programs that don't stink. Check them out at http://www.freeaffiliatearticles.com/free-affiliate-programs.htm and be sure to grab some Free Affiliate Articles while you're there.

Poker Affiliates Choose The Right Online Poker Room Programs To Promote

Writen by Blake Stevenson

Potential affiliates in the market of online poker can even afford the luxury of being picky about who they choose to represent. Almost every site offers people the chance to become an affiliate of theirs, simply because the ultimate rewards of this cheap but effective form of advertising can be so great. As a result of this not only have the online bonuses for new customers increased, so have the fringe benefits for sites who bring them to the poker room. As with all Internet businesses the market of online poker is highly competitive, as such it is the duty of websites and their owners to make sure they are being represented by the best deal and in turn not misrepresenting their visitors.

Depending on the overall goal of your website, you may choose to incorporate a lot of advertisements or just a select few. For websites looking to maximise their profits whilst not really offering much in the way of useful information, adverts probably provide the primary content. Therefore they may wish to include dozens of adverts from a number of sites, in order to boost the chances of successfully drawing in customers. But in order to truly maximise profits these sites may tend to favour more profitable offers and popular sites. Big sites, with more kudos may be more recognisable to even the most inexperienced of online gamers. Whilst sites who offer huge incentives to affiliates can also get extra brownie points, by offering a higher percentage of players profits.

Smaller sites may wish to limit adverts and affiliated sites because they are not solely dedicated to the opportunities and gains of affiliate programs. If you have a serious site, by which I mean one that was created without making money through affiliates in mind, the idea of clogging up precious space with advertisements may not be quite so tempting. Flashing adverts often detract from the site as a whole, so if you are trying to portray a message or give information advertising is not always the best thing. As an accompaniment or background item it can be a non-intrusive potential money-maker.

There are good deals to be had, which will guarantee more money or a higher lifetime percentage. Shop around the various sites and evaluate the offers, there are hundreds to pick from so why jump in hastily and choose the first one you see? Of course the differences are pretty negligible if you cannot attract anyone to your site. But if you get the marketing and affiliates right, then it is best to do the footwork before hand and not regret it afterwards. Remember that as an affiliate is your job to make money for yourself and the site, so why sell yourself short?

Discover the secrets of top poker affiliates and discover how to find the best poker affiliate program at http://www.epokeraffiliate.com.