Article Marketing for Affiliate Sites
May 09, 2008
Creative Article Marketing has a post up about the best way to write your articles (for article marketing) to drive traffic back to your product-based site (which, if you're like me, means an affiliate site that focuses on tangible, physical products rather than infoproducts).
I've been doing a fair bit of article marketing for the past six months now, and this was the exact problem I mulled over initially - if I wanted to get backlinks to a site that promotes shoes, for example, what kind of article should I write?
It always seemed so much easier to me to write articles related to sites that either promoted infoproducts - which typically help solve a problem - or and Adsense-based site, which also typically helps solve a problem.
The approach outlined at Creative Article Marketing (which is the blog for SubmitYourArticle) is what I use now when writing most of my articles for article marketing purposes. It's a good write-up, and should help to inspire you if you've been trying to figure out how to write an article for physical product-based affiliate site.
Posted by BJ at 08:34 PM in Article Marketing | Link to This Article | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Jeremy Palmer's The Black Ink Project
May 08, 2008
Not that long ago, Jeremy Palmer took his best-selling ebook off the market and instead provided it as a free download. Now he's come out with The Black Ink Project where he's offering a series of 20 webinars on affiliate marketing:
the Black Ink Project is an affiliate success course designed to help new affiliates bridge the gap between my e-book and making a profit. Some find that the book and forum support is all they need to succeed, but others need a little more hands-on training to connect all the dots.
The webinars are being offered daily, from Monday to Friday, over the course of four weeks. Although the program started earlier this week, registrants can download any webinars they've missed.
What's truly incredible is that Jeremy's offering these webinars for FREE.
And yes, I know you've all been exposed to more than your fair share of "free" Internet marketing materials, and whether they're ebooks, videos, reports, templates, whatever whatever, most of them are pretty terrible - and there's usually a catch of some sort, too.
Well, in this case, all I can say is, go to The Black Ink Project and register! I signed up for the course a little late, so I haven't been able to catch any of the webinars live yet. I downloaded the first two today, and just finished listening to the first one, which is on finding your niche.
And I have to say, wow! I've been an affiliate marketer for three years now, and I ended up taking some great notes. Make sure you catch the Q&A session, too - there are some gems in there, and Jeremy's truly sharing his expert experience with us.
If you're at all skeptical ("what's the catch? There must be a catch somewhere"), I'd recommend you sign-up and give at least one of the webinars a listen. Jeremy's always been on my (rather short) list of trustworthy Internet marketers. When you've finished listening to this first webinar, he'll likely be on your list, too.
Posted by BJ at 11:35 PM in Affiliate Marketing | Link to This Article | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Affiliate Marketers Give Back
April 22, 2008
If you'll be in Seattle on September 12 to 14, 2008, you can join Team Affiliate Marketers Worldwide as they walk the Susan G. Komen 60-Mile Breast Cancer 3-day Walk event.
Click over to Affiliate Marketers Give Back for more information or to get a banner for your site. You can also give a donation directly at 60-Mile Walk.
Last year Team Affiliate Marketers Worldwide, with only 2 team members in the 2007 walk, raised $17,000 for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and National Philanthropic Trust - this year there are already ELEVEN team members who've signed on for the event.
Seattle's a beautiful city - wish I could join them!
Posted by BJ at 08:42 PM in Affiliate Marketing | Link to This Article | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Six Tips for Learning More about Web 2.0
April 20, 2008
One thing that I've been discovering about all the various Web 2.0 techniques is that marketers need to always be in learning mode.
For example, I've been online most of the morning, reading more about the intricacies of StumbleUpon. I've been a StumbleUpon user for a couple of years now, but it's only been recently that I realized that Stumble traffic is actually viable as a longer-term SEO strategy. (I'll blog more about this later - don't want this post to get sidetracked).
I have a funny feeling this is one of the things I love about publishing websites and affiliate marketing - it never gets stale and there's always something new on the horizon.
So it's really helpful if you like the idea of lifelong learning. Lifelong learning is one of the things that drive me - it makes life so much more interesting because there's just so much to discover every day. Mind you, this continuous learning curve just happens to be one of my stumbling blocks to implementation, because I can spend a vast amount of very enjoyable time learning new things, which most definitely keeps me away from the "doing" aspect.
Here are some things I've discovered about learning new Web 2.0 techniques:
1. Broad research is very important. Don't just read one person's opinions and go with it as the be all and end all. Read as much as you can about the particular Web 2.0 vehicle you're interested in.
2. Test it out for yourself. Play around with a particular Web 2.0 site and get into it. Click through the site, and get a feel for the users and the community.
3. Become a part of the community. This is a biggie. Participation in a Web 2.0 community is extremely beneficial. It's also time-consuming, too, so the trick is to decide on a small number of Web 2.0 sites you want to focus on ... and then dive in.
4. You don't have to buy the ebook(s). I've discovered that while ebooks about various Web 2.0 methods are great for saving time, much of what various ebooks outline is out there, available on various sites (mostly blogs) for free. Since I personally am always very interested in saving time, I'll generally buy the ebooks that look interesting, but often I do find that when I'm researching a technique, I'll find information that I bought is already online, just in the form of various tips scattered across different blogs.
5. You need to have fun with it. Whatever techniques you choose, the ones that you decide to put your personal focus on (vs. more automated or outsourced Web 2.0 techniques) should be fun for you. Otherwise, it just gets way too tedious.
6. The learning never ends. Always be on the lookout for new techniques. Seriously, there are new tools and sites coming out every day. Be open to new developments, because many of them can be extremely useful.
Posted by BJ at 01:30 PM in Internet Marketing , Web 2.0 | Link to This Article | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Look Carefully Before You Buy
April 18, 2008
It's getting rather hazardous these days for the consumer of Internet Marketing products. It looks like a lot of Internet marketers are taking the concept of "forced continuity" but running with the idea in misleading, and sometimes even blatantly fraudulent ways.
In the health field, one Internet marketer was recently arrested for his activities. And this About.com article provides a very good outline on the ebook portion of this marketer's business - you'll see how the forced continuity aspect of it was tucked away, and reading the comments, you'll see how a lot of consumers were scammed by it.
Dr. Mani has also posted about a forced continuity clause that was hidden in a bonus to a $9.95 ebook (Joel Comm's Adsense Secrets) he purchased. He had enjoyed the ebook, and recommended it to his list, only to find out later that his purchase of the ebook resulted in his subscription to a $29.95 per month newsletter. As he pointed out:
When I make a buying decision on a $9.95 product, that is ALL I am making. NOT a buying decision on a $29.95 per month re-billing subscription!
He's also upset, too, because he had recommended this product to his list. I can understand this, now that I'm dipping my toes into email lists myself. I treasure my list members, and I know they stay on my list because of the value of the information I give to them. To find out that I had inadvertently sent list members to a product that I recommended, that turned out to have a sneaky bit of forced continuity to it would be very upsetting indeed.
So if you've bought Adsense Secrets in the past, you should check to see if you're being billed monthly for this subscription. As for me, I will be reading the fineprint much more carefully from now on when I purchase anything. One of the reasons I like using Paypal to make my digital purchases these days is because it's impossible to be tricked into a forced continuity program. My consent is required for any subscription that's paid by Paypal.
As Dr. Mani noted, it's far better to offer your continuing subscriptions or membership products as an upsell. He also pointed to this post at Tony Blake's forum outlining some best practices Internet marketers should consider when contemplating usage of a forced continuity product.
One thing's for sure. Using this kind of hidden or misleading forced continuity clause in a product immediately destroys a marketer's credibility and reputation, at least in my books. It also gives Internet marketing a seriously bad name. It's sad, because marketing skills can be employed ethically and legally in so many ways to build a solid business.
Thanks to Jenn Dize and Carl Pruitt for their posts at E1KD about these two examples of forced continuity gone bad.
Posted by BJ at 10:50 AM in Internet Marketing | Link to This Article | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The Best PLR Membership Site
April 11, 2008
I've joined more than my fair share of PLR membership sites (and have a huge folder full of "content" to prove it) - and there's never been a PLR club that I've ever even thought about recommending.
Until a little while ago, that is. I recently joined the Monthly Content PLR membership site, and I can safely say that it's the BEST PLR membership site I've ever joined. I judge PLR according to quality, not quantity - Monthly Content actually provides both.
What's most impressive, though, is the quality. When I downloaded my first batch of PLR ebooks and articles, I couldn't believe the quality of the writing. It was as good as custom ebooks and articles I've outsourced to professional freelancers.
I've written up a review of Monthly Content. You can read it here: Monthly Content PLR Membership Site Review If you've been looking around for a quality PLR membership site that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, Monthly Content is definitely worth a look.
Update: The current month's PLR offerings are not as strong when it comes to the articles. Most of the PLR articles are well-written, but it looks like some of the ones targeting long-tailed, more technical keywords are not written as well as some of the other PLR products provided. This month's PLR ebooks look well-written, though. Overall, it's definitely still a good PLR site.
Posted by BJ at 04:39 PM in Content | Link to This Article | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
