Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
There are millions of websites. This is both an opportunity and a challenge. If you’re a website owner, you want to stand out from the crowd. When you achieve website prominence the competition no longer matters. Here’s how to stand out from the crowd:
#1 Easy navigation
It sounds so simple, yet many websites are a navigational disaster. When a visitor cannot find what they need quickly and easily, they leave. Ideally your website will be designed to facilitate a visitor’s experience. Not only should they be able to quickly and easily find what they’re looking for, you also want to guide them to achieve your goals.
For example, if you’re an affiliate marketer you want to guide your prospects to the second and third tier pages where your affiliate links and ads are placed.
#2 Keyword research
Keyword research supports easy navigation. Your visitors and prospects find your site with keywords. That means those same keywords need to be present on your site and easy to find. They not only need to be part of the content, they should also be part of the navigation. Research your keywords to support your customers and prospects. Include them in the navigation flow.
Additionally, keyword research helps you provide the most valuable and beneficial content possible. When you know what your customers and prospects are looking for, you can provide it. Providing top quality content will set you apart from the majority of your competition.
#3 Analytics
Analytics provide valuable inside information. They help you track where your customers go on your website. They also tell you:
* How long people stay on a single web page
* How long they stay on your site
* How they found your website
* What keywords they use to find your website
* How many visitors return to your website
This information is invaluable. Create a practice where you analyze your website analytics regularly. Create content and navigation systems that support your findings. And take the initiative to test and track your results. For example, if you add a new feature on your website like a survey, test and track where on your site it receives the most attention.
Standing out from the crowd isn’t difficult. However, it does require a solid plan. Know your audience. Research your keywords. Create a navigation structure that supports your customers and your business goals. And pay attention to the data. Your website analytics are the key to helping you achieve website prominence.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
To become a successful affiliate marketer it is imperative that you have a content strategy and implementation plan. Content is what makes your blog or website attract visitors. It works in two ways. First, the keywords within the content help the search engines know where to find your article. Secondly, once the reader finds your blog or article via the search engines the content engages the reader.
Without dynamic content your blog or website is no better than a paper brochure which no one sees unless someone puts it in their hands. There is no doubt that brochures are useful, but if no one sees it, then it’s worthless. This is what makes blogs and websites so exciting. Due to search engines, people can actually find you and your information as long as you regularly add quality, relevant, original, keyword-rich content to your blog and website. The problem is, without a plan, you can get overwhelmed.
Create a plan for your content. Consider what products you want to promote, as well as what type of information you want to provide to your readers. With each product you promote you can create several pieces of content. First, inform your readers about a problem they have. Then educate them about the solution to their problem. Next, give them a way learn more about the product or a way to purchase the product.
Ideas for content:
A discussion about a problem
A product review that solves the problem
A product overview that solves the problem
Case studies that show how the product solves the problem
The content can be in the form of print, audio, video or a combination of all three. Organize your publication calendar so that you update your blog and website with this content on a regular basis. Shoot for updating your website or blog three to five times a week with your original content.
Next, work on putting your content on other sites, blogs, and article marketing websites. You can do this via a blog tour, offering to blog on other people’s blogs in exchange for your byline. Another way is to send out press releases to online press release sites, and to put general articles on article marketing websites such as Ezine Articles. This strategy will provide relevant backlinks to your website and hopefully lead people to sign up for your email list, where you can market your affiliate products to them.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
If you’re new to affiliate marketing you might be wondering if it’s really possible for a normal person like yourself to succeed. If you’re willing to do the work necessary to succeed, you absolutely can succeed at affiliate marketing. There are some good points to think about when getting involved in affiliate marketing such as:
Know the rules and laws — Keep yourself informed about the laws in your country, state or province so that you can always make sure you are following the law. This is a relatively new form of business in terms of laws being made therefore it’s important to keep up to date with the news of the day regarding the laws being created.
Is the niche profitable? — Just because you have a passion for something doesn’t make it automatically a good niche. Do your due diligence and study the niche that you want to become involved in so that you can determine if it is profitable or not. Learn about how to research a niche for profitability before moving forward.
Know your niche — Study your niche, which is the market segment you will market products to. Know what they like, know their ages, their sex, how many children they have. Know what they like to do during their free time. If you know your niche inside and out you will also know what types of products to market to them because you’ll know what problems they have and what solutions they need.
Less is more — Don’t allow “shiny object syndrome” to affect you and ruin your business. Promote one or two products at a time and don’t go crazy buying domain after domain. Get one domain up and profitable before moving on to another one. The rule less is more applies so well to the business of affiliate marketing because if you look at who is successful they usually have one or two products they actively promote strenuously and the niche is very well defined
Would you buy it? — If you’re trying to promote a product that you won’t buy, why do you think anyone else will want to buy it. It’s really important to get a review copy, or at buy products and try them out before you promote them to others. Skipping this step can make your job really hard because your cluelessness will come through when you’re trying to promote a product you’ve never used and would never use.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
You’ve heard of this business idea, Affiliate Marketing, and you want to try it, but you’re not sure it’s for you. You’ve heard you can make thousands of dollars a month, even earn your yearly J.O.B. salary in only a month! But you know it’s not that easy, so give this some serious consideration before you start.
Overnight success is not realistic and is in fact, a myth. It can take weeks, months and even years to perfect your affiliate marketing process to create the type of sales you desire. In order to be a successful affiliate marketer you will need to learn a lot about Internet marketing, Internet technology, and business in general. It takes time to become an overnight success! You’ll work hard to become successful but it will be worth it.
You need a profitable niche to be successful. Profitable does not mean it has to be a large niche. There are plenty examples of small niches that are under served and making someone a great deal of money. You will need to do research on possible niches that you can promote products for, and then stick to it and don’t get side tracked.
Be willing to stick to your efforts consistently and for the long haul. It’s also important not to reinvent the wheel. Find someone who is successful that shares your ethics, and model your actions after them. Doing this will help you reach success faster than trying to go it alone, not knowing up from down. It can take years to figure out what works, but there are experts who have already invented not only the wheel, but the entire car, all you need to do use their map and drive.
Educate yourself on the various methods of marketing other people’s products before you get started. Seriously research the different methods of marketing online, and once you start commit to stick to it for the long haul. In all honesty, if you’re only going to give it a try for a few months, you will fail. If you are willing to do what it takes for the next year, you’ll have a chance at success in affiliate marketing.
So, if you can be realistic, create a plan and stick to it over the long haul you can be very successful at affiliate marketing. It is a viable business to be involved in for most people who are interested in having a work from home business. You will not earn income over night, but with dedication, and knowing how to follow the road map that experts can provide, you will be successful.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
If you want to be an affiliate marketer, promoting other people’s products for commission, then promoting products is essentially your job. Coming up with fun ways to promote each product can be a challenge but not if you enjoy your job. Affiliate Marketing is fun, there is barely any investment, and you can do it right from home. Here are just a few profitable promotion ideas for your affiliate products.
BOGO — The good old “buy one get one” offer works at Wal-Mart and it also works in Affiliate Marketing. You don’t have to give the same item twice, rather you can add on a product. For example, let’s say you’re promoting someone’s membership site platform. You can give those who buy via your affiliate link an added incentive such as free installation, free coaching or a free “how to” eBook or report. The buyer simply sends you their receipt, you match it up with your affiliate account, and then you give the buyer the incentive.
Quantity Discounts — In cases where you receive a substantial percentage of sales of expendable products you can offer quantity discounts. It works much the same as the BOGO idea in that the buyer will simply send you their receipt, you match it with your affiliate account, and then you send them back the discounted price. You can even give them a choice of cash, or a coupon (worth double the cash) toward other products that you offer of your own.
Money Back Guarantee — Offering an unconditional money back guarantee on products you promote may not be necessary in theory since the person who owns the product likely offers a money back guarantee, but it’s always good to point out that they can get their money back and be aware of the process to get their money back.
Charity Donations — This is a great way to not only promote a product but to give back to your community. Giving five to ten percent of profit or sales can boost your sales exponentially if you market the fact that you’re doing it. Choosing a non controversial charity can be helpful too as if you choose something too political in nature you might repel buyers instead of encourage buying.
Introductory Offers — Even though you’re promoting someone else’s products some programs allow you to give a special coupon code to those who buy from your referral link so that your buyers can get an extra percents off or as with membership sites or clubs, a lower intro offer compared to the regular price.
Contests — Having contests can make being an affiliate marketer more fun than it should be. Contests can create a lot of buzz and you can make a lot of sales. Imagine if every person who buys via your link is entered into a drawing to win an iPod or other item. Naturally, doing something like this will depend on the profit you’re making from the sales, but it can go far in encouraging more sales than you realize.
Members Only Specials — If you promote affiliate products that allow you to make them part of your membership site or club, offering some discounts only to members can entice buyers because buyers love the idea that they are excusive. Offering a lot to your members will increase membership sign ups, and also can increase affiliate sales since your members are getting exclusive discounts.
Webinars — If you have a great high end affiliate product to promote having a webinar is a great way to promote the product. Often, the owners of the product will agree to come to the webinar if you host it. You can allow people to come to the webinar free, or you can even charge a dollar to hold spots if space is limited.
Success stories — Providing access to success stories regarding the product that you are promoting will go far in creating a willingness to buy the product among your potential clients. If you do not have any success stories yet, consider buying and giving away the product free in exchange for honest reviews and case studies.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
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