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How To Check Your Online Influence

Friday, July 1st, 2011

Prior to the Internet, if consumers were dissatisfied with a company, its products or services, they would tell a few friends who might also tell a few others. Maybe the consumer would write a letter to the company or call the customer service department to complain. For the most part, however, that’s where it ended.

Now, that person can express his or her viewpoint via Facebook or Twitter and see the message spread quickly. Smart companies recognize that social media has given customers a greater capacity to influence buying decisions and are taking steps to ensure that positive relationships are built with key influencers.
Finding Influencers

The first step toward developing such relationships is finding who these influencers are and where they maintain a presence online. You can use comprehensive brand reputation monitoring tools — such as Alterian SM2, Trackur or Brandseye — for this purpose.

Even free tools such as Tweetbeep, which monitors conversations within Twitter based on keywords you input, or Twitter search can help identify potential influencers.

Once the list of influencers has been identified, merchants can determine their influence using the following tool.

How Klout Works

Input a Twitter username and Klout’s algorithm goes to work to return a relative assessment of online influence. According to Klout’s “About” page, the Klout score is the “measurement of a person’s overall online influence. Scores range from 1 to 100, with higher scores representing a wider and stronger sphere of influence.” Klout uses over 35 variables on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to measure three factors: “True Reach,” “Amplification Probability,” and “Network Score.”

True Reach is the size of a user’s audience on Twitter and Facebook.
Amplification Probability is the likelihood that messages will generate actions such as retweets, @messages, likes and comments.
Network Score indicates the influence of a user’s audience. Klout defines influence as the “ability to drive people to action,” whether that be a reply, retweet, comment or click.

Tags: affiliate, affiliate marketing, Klout, Online Influence
Posted in Free Advertising Techniques, Hot Offers, Industry News, Marketing Tips | No Comments »

Article Marketing Is Still Effective

Monday, May 30th, 2011

Writing articles and submitting them to directories with the idea of marketing your internet business site can be a very effective way to grow your online business.

Using the right keywords and phrases in original articles and submitting them to article directories has become one of the most profitable ways for internet marketing and advertising today.

Are you using this internet marketing and advertising strategy?

You may be missing the opportunity of extra profits on the internet marketing table by not utilizing this effective strategy.

This is one of the many reasons writing original quality content articles is now the latest marketing buzz online today.

The two basics that you can combine to really power a successful website. Content and Website Back Links.

You already know that right?

You’ve heard that Content Is King right?

Are you writing articles and submitting them using such services as SubmitYourArticle and Article Marketer?

Many internet marketing pro’s have been writing articles for many years. They already know the value of original quality content and using the right keywords will drive targeted traffic to their websites from the search engines and article directories.

So why don’t all internet marketing business owners write and submit articles for their internet marketing strategy today?

The simple answer is, that it takes time to write articles, submit them and get targeted traffic to your websites.

Another reason, is that writing articles can remind us of school research papers, essays and reports that can be a deep negative anchor in the subconscious mind for many of us.

Did you really enjoy writing when you were in school?

If your answer is yes, you have an advantage because about 95% of internet business owners don’t use this effective marketing strategy.

Imagine how much opportunity there is for you because of this simple fact.

Only about 5% of all marketers are taking advantage of this internet marketing strategy and internet advertising.

Many marketers are using this strategy to make money online on the front and backend writing and submitting articles.

Why do you think many marketing sites want fresh, quality, original keyword rich content articles?

The website owner can have an article with keywords that relate to their website content. This helps their websites page rank when indexed by the search engines.

Think about this for a moment. Imagine taking advantage of a work at home opportunity, marketing from both sides of the sales coin with 3 simple steps.

3 Easy Steps For Writing Original Content With Keywords

1.) You write quality original content, keyword/phrase rich articles, with links to your website in the resource box.

2.) You build a website or web page with targeted keyword/phrase rich original content for the targeted traffic that originates from your articles.

3.) You have your site or sites targeted from your keyword/phrase original content articles when visitors looking for more information arrive.

A Win-Win Situation For Everyone Involved.

The person looking for quality content and information.

The person writing the original content articles.

The person with the quality original content website.

Internet marketing business owners who incorporate keywords/phrases with writing articles, can make money online if done properly with this internet marketing strategy.

An Overview Of Keyword/Phrase Research And Writing Articles.

There are 3 keys to internet marketing success writing articles and using keywords and phrases.

1.) Keyword Research. Find popular subjects and keywords/phrases, using a keyword selector and suggestion tool by Overture and 7Search.

2.) Writing Articles. Write original content with keywords from your research.

3.) Quality Content Site. Build a quality content site incorporated with the target subject and keywords/phrases of your articles and website.

Writing and submitting original articles and using keywords for your internet marketing strategy can be a very effective way to build profits over the long term.

For building long term success, there’s very little you can do that will give you near the same results online today for long term business growth. Writing and submitting articles provides an effective way to drive targeted traffic to your sites for many years to come.

Tags: advertising, article Marketing, Internet Marketing, marketing buzz
Posted in Industry News, Marketing Tips | No Comments »

Still Confused About Affiliate Marketing – Maybe Training Would Help?

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

There are a few affiliates who have been successful by learning as they go, but for the others who do not have any knowledge about advertising online or consumer research, affiliate marketing training is quite necessary for them.

The top reason to join an affiliate marketing training program is that it would keep one from getting so frustrated that he quits. Similarly, many new marketers waste a lot of time on promotional strategies which never actually work. So it is always better to start a business profitably by getting advice from professionals.

Secondly, the skills needed in affiliate marketing are extremely varied and one might not realize which ones are crucial for his business to reach success. Affiliate marketing training does not only teach one how to market his new products, but also teaches him about how to research consumers and use target keywords.

One might not even know which product to choose for promotion until he gets himself entitled in a special program to learn about the business. And by the time the program ends, one would have the knowledge he needs to determine why he should choose a particular product or why not. This information is so importance that without it, a business could struggle for months.

Other than that, one might not be sure of the fact that exactly which strategy would work to effectively promote a new product or he might also be unsure of which way to send information to his target market, thus to learn about all these, he should definitely enlist in a good affiliate marketing training program.

Joining a good affiliate marketing training program would not only help a person with information that can get his business off to a much better start, but also teach him a few valuable secrets that only a professional knows.

Tags: affiliate marketing, affiliate training
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Affiliate Revenue From A Blog?

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

Every affiliate promotion that you post on your blog should be done so tastefully while still being mindful of the important stuff. Every blogger needs to know at least a few things if they are going to make it work. These are those things.

Understand the Needs of Your Blog Readers: If you want to correctly serve your readers and earn money from affiliate sales, you need to actually understand your readers and what kind of needs they have. To do this, you need to study how the trends change, analyze the responses your readers have to your affiliate offers as well as figure out exactly what they want and need. If you feel like your blog content and the affiliate products you want to promote within it don’t exactly jive with each other you need to figure out a way to fix this so that you can better serve the needs of your readers.

Transparency is Your Goal: Trying to trick a reader into buying something shady or of low quality is a big mistake. You need to be transparent (honest) with your readers to improve their trust in you. Readers are going to trust you for who you are and trust your recommendations so make sure you know exactly what you’re promoting. It can only help you use the relevant disclaimers when you include an affiliate link in your blog. Your blog is all about creating a trusting bond with your readers, and the affiliate products you promote should help you enhance this relationship, rather than break it.

Promote Bonuses: Even though there are all sorts of different techniques used by Internet Marketers for affiliate marketing not all of them are wildly successful. One good way of increasing the chance of boosting your affiliate sales through your blog is to add value to the product you’re promoting by giving away a bonus. The conversion rate will significantly be much higher when you use a strong bonus that enhances the value of the affiliate product. You do not have to do a ton of work on the bonus, it just needs to compliment your original offer while also offering your reader much more for his money. The bonus you offer shouldn’t be added for no reason; it’s purpose is to add value and help set your offer apart and be more appealing to your readers.

There is much more to learn, but you can take what you have just read and implement it straight away in your affiliate marketing business.

Tags: affiliate marketing, Affiliate Membership, blog
Posted in Free Advertising Techniques, Industry News, Marketing Tips | No Comments »

5 factors that will increase your online sales

Thursday, April 28th, 2011

At a time when traditional advertising is in a steady decline, entrepreneurs are looking for reliable ways to drive targeted traffic and generate leads through their website. You needn’t look far for information on internet marketing.

Are you really getting the full story? And if the mainstream media provides any clues, the answer is no.

Marketing online has transformed quite a bit with the advent of mobile marketing, local search, and social media marketing. Most local business owners have to spin a lot of plates in order to stay afloat today’s economy. It’s time we separate facts from fiction, and myths from truths.

Developing an online presence is no longer an option for small business owners wanting to boost sales.

- 73% of online activity is related to local content.

- 97% of internet users in the U.S. gather shopping information online, and of those consumers.

- 51% explicitly characterize their behavior as ‘Shop Online, Purchase in Person’.

For every one dollar U.S. consumers spend online, another five or six are going to offline purchases that are influenced by online research.
Business owners marketing online should consider these five areas before finalizing their internet marketing strategy. Every website needs to address these key areas to boost conversion.

They are:
1. Customer Focused – are your keywords geared toward the way ideal prospects are thinking when searching online?
2. Competitive – does the copy on your site include keywords that help your site get found in the search engines?
3. Clear – does each page present a path following a user friendly website-flow to quickly and clearly answer the prospect’s questions?
4. Conversion Optimized – are your messages written to prompt clicks leading to sign-ups and sales?
5. Consistent – are the pages of your site connected with a smooth flow and logical messaging?

If you optimize the content of your website around those five areas, you’re guaranteed to boost your number of subscribers, customers, and profits. For the business owners using social media marketing, or those wanting to be found via mobile marketing, the five factors mentioned above remain constant.

Tags: affiliate marketing, online marketing
Posted in Free Advertising Techniques, Marketing Tips | No Comments »

No Niche Sites Work Best For Affiliate Marketing

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

Recently I came across a site that I really liked and thought it would be a good case study to discuss. The site is HowLifeWorks, which is not my site, but I’ve built sites in a similar manner to this myself, which make me great commissions daily.

This style of site goes against what most affiliate marketing training would tell you to do, which is to find a specific niche and become an expert in that area and get your slice of the larger niche by targeting the micro niche.

This approach does work, and I also have quite a lot of sites that make me money with this approach, so I’m not saying either is better, but each style does have their advantages.

The style that the How Life Works site is employing, is a very general site, with no specific focus on any one niche or product, but rather has content on many niches. The domain allows them to pretty much discuss anything they want on the site, as the topic has something to do with life then it fits!!

You’ll notice that on that site they have many categories, such as business, finance, beauty, relationships, shopping, technology etc…and they run a lot of CPA offers on these pages.

With the CPA offers they can just swap them around at any time they like as long as the keyword phrase is not a product specific one.

The advantage of building a site that is not targeting any one specific niche is that you get a choice of topics you can write about and adding content to your site is endless. This is a great, because if some of the pages you build and do your SEO on don’t work out for you, then all is not lost, as you can just find more keywords and add more content and carry on.

If you build niche specific sites, you can run the risk of choosing a dud of a niche and struggling to be able to repair the site if it’s not working and be forced to start again with a new site. The problem with starting again with new sites all the time, is that they can take some time to gain trust with Google, whereas adding content to an older site with history in Google doesn’t have this problem as much.

Just to be clear though I do build niche specific sites also, as they do still work well, I’m sharing some ideas for other approaches in this post.

When I build sites I employ many different styles, depending on the potential I can see in a niche, and also with more affiliate marketing experience, I tend to be able to know if a niche will work or not, although not all sites work out as well as I had hoped, but that’s just business.

Posted in Free Advertising Techniques, Hot Offers, Marketing Tips | No Comments »

7 Reasons To Invest In Internet Marketing Training

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

There are thousands of people online who participate in affiliate and internet marketing. A small percentage of these are really successful. What do they do that is different? How do they get the successful results that all marketers are yearning for?

Among other things, they have a solid education in Internet Marketing. They have studied in the area and have a great wealth of experience. Internet marketing education will get you over the line in regards to leads, conversions and sales.

1. Internet marketing education gives you a firm basis in marketing. By studying internet marketing, you will learn the basics of marketing – the principles that individuals spend many years studying at university for. By learning the basics of marketing in your internet marketing education, you are ensuring you have an excellent base to start from.

2. Internet marketing education keeps you at the forefront of techniques. By the very definition, Internet marketing, you are using the Internet as your medium for your advertisement. As the Internet evolves, internet marketing education allows you to stay up to dates with the latest techniques being used on the web.

3. Internet marketing education gives you more than just marketing education. It teaches you about copywriting, selling, offline and online marketing. You get a well rounded picture of the whole retail process, and how you fit into it.

4. Internet marketing education allows you to make great network contacts with people who are like-minded, enthusiastic and willing to learn more. These people are idea business contacts and people that will remain in your business acquaintance circle long after the education course is finished.

5. Internet marketing education puts you in touch with the latest products on the market. By learning from the source, you are the first to see new products come through. The less people selling a product the better!

6. Internet marketing education opens your mind. You are learning about a new technique and business opportunity. by learning how to Internet market you are also opening yourself up to new and exciting possibilities. You have the opportunity and ability to create several streams of income!

7. Internet marketing education is affordable. It is not indentured with a university style structure. You can learn in your own time, at your own pace. Not only that, you can earn, while you learn!

Making the choice to educate yourself while starting your journey in Internet marketing is the smart choice. The more you know, and the more up to date you are, the better your ability to create an ongoing income from Internet marketing. Make the right choice and choose internet marketing education today.

Tags: affiliate marketing, Internet Marketing, super affiliate
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Are All Affiliates The Same?

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

What do advertisers want to see from their affiliate programmes?

Generally speaking, they ask two things: firstly, that the largest possible proportion of their affiliate base is active in driving sales revenue; secondly, that there be a constant feed of good quality new affiliates coming onto the programme to actively promote them.

The affiliate divide

Traditionally though, a divide is noticeable on most affiliate programmes between the top performing affiliates, those that drive over 90% of the programme’s sales, and a sizeable long-tail of affiliates joined to the programme but which either bring in very few sales (and only infrequently), or which are sometimes entirely inactive.

In some respects, this picture is completely natural. Many factors go into making a good affiliate and some will always be better than others. But why do we see this pattern emerge so quickly after a programme launches and remain the case sometimes for years after?

Even if the emergence of a two-tier affiliate programme is a natural evolution, how does the way programmes are usually managed entrench the divide between, on one hand, large, established, affiliates which receive all the advertiser’s attention, and a long tail of small revenue drivers or entirely inactive affiliates on the other?

More widely, what can it tell us about the state of the affiliate industry, and how it has developed over time?

Is there is a deficit of good quality new affiliates?

Given the growth of the web and the way affiliates, the number of competitors saturating even the smallest niches, this seems unlikely.

Rather, could it be that the focus is concentrated on the existing big players, perhaps something which networks could do more to challenge, which serves to ingrain the divide between the top performers and the long-tail.

One of the effects of this divide is to encourage some advertisers to either abandon the long tail and focus on the top players (sometimes through an in-house programme rather than via a network), or to remove the long tail from the programme entirely to give the appearance that the proportion of active affiliates has increased.

There are of course internal reasons why an advertiser might take these approaches. The temptation to sacrifice the long tail, rather than attempt to engage and mobilise them, might put the affiliate manager in a better position to make the case for the channel as a whole.

It will no longer be enough for the network to help maintain existing relationships with large affiliates but to provide insight into the value of the long-tail, from where advertisers will expect future growth on their programmes to come.

Posted in Hot Offers, Industry News, Marketing Tips | No Comments »

Email Marketing Is Alive

Friday, April 1st, 2011

Make no mistake about it – email marketing is alive and well. It’s thriving, in fact, and email newsletters continue to be one of the most effective tools available to Web marketers and online businesses in every category.

A recent Pew Research study found that more than half (56 percent) of Internet users subscribe to an email newsletter of some kind, and marketers, merchants, brands and bloggers are increasingly using the platform to get their messages across to consumers.

The challenges, of course, include creating content that recipients will want to consume on a regular basis, and building a list of subscribers that fosters the growth of your business and revenues.

In no particular order, here are 10 services that can help a small business or affiliate website leap tall buildings in a single bound – and all that other good stuff.

MailChimp

One of the most popular solutions for small businesses making the transition from traditional blogging to full-scale email marketing, MailChimp offers an impressive array of up-to-date but easy-to-implement features, including the latest in social and mobile marketing. Pricing ranges from the free solution that includes up to 2,000 subscribers per month to a $240 package that covers up to 50,000 subscribers.

Campaigner

Also recognized for its ease of use, Campaigner is an excellent startup service that offers multiple features to help users create, send and track their email newsletters. Campaigner’s suite of tools includes its own image-editing tool that allows customers to manipulate images without having to use additional software. Pricing starts at $10 per month with a 30-day free trial and goes to $55 per month for up to 10,000 email addresses.

Campaign Monitor

A pair of Australian Web designers launched the software behind Campaign Monitor in 2004, and today the company provides email services for hundreds of thousands of Web marketers and businesses worldwide. Still based near Sydney, the service has stuck to its roots and caters especially well to the design community, but it is absolutely a full-service email marketing provider with a full feature list and attractive pricing for small businesses. Packages start at $15 per month for up to 500 subscribers and go up to $500 per month for up to 50,000 subscribers.

Constant Contact

Easy editing tools, numerous social features and the latest mobile functionalities help define Constant Contact’s email marketing services, as well as nearly 500 newsletter templates to choose from to which marketers can add their own colors and logos. Pricing starts at $15 per month, which includes a 60-day free trial and up to 500 subscriber addresses, and goes to $150 per month and higher for 25,000-plus subscribers.

Posterous

Not an email service provider per se, Posterous is a hugely popular microblogging site that has recently added features which allow users to transfer their blog content into email newsletters. We consider the service and the new feature definitely worth mentioning for affiliate blogging and small businesses starting email newsletters, and Posterous has intimated that email services will continue to be a focus going forward.

Emma

Offers helpful and thorough customer support Offers comprehensive reports analyzing subscriber actions. Offers unlimited picture hosting.Offers Google Analytics integration. Allows you to create an A/B test campaign.Over 100 Templates offered are incredibly flexible. Pricing starts at $30 per month, which includes a 30-day free trial and up to 1000 subscriber addresses, and goes to $70 per month and higher for 5,000-plus subscribers.

Aweber

Their Customer Service support quality was their ultimate strength, as they received a perfect score in that category with a knowledgeable and friendly support staff offering every kind of support. However, with no image hosting space, AWeber’s Email Creation could be improved. AWeber had high scores in every other category with easy Contact Management, high Email Deliverability and comprehensive reports.Pricing starts at $19 per month, which includes a 30-day free trial and up to 500 subscriber addresses, and goes to $49 per month and higher for 5,000-plus subscribers.

GetResponse

They scored well on Email Deliverability and on Email Creation for offering more than 300 templates. Through a paid account, users are able to import contacts to their address book through Excel spreadsheets saved as CSV files but not in the free trial. They also scored high on Analyzing Reports for Google Analytics integration and on Customer Support for offering live chat support. Pricing starts at $25 per month, which includes a 30-day free trial and up to 2500 subscriber addresses, and goes to $65 per month and higher for 10,000-plus subscribers.

Tags: affiliate marketing, email marketing
Posted in Free Advertising Techniques, Industry News, Marketing Tips | No Comments »

How Does E-Fairness Law Affect Your Affiliate Income?

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

The E-Fairness Law signed into law on March 10^th 2011 in Illinois by Gov. Pat Quinn. This law requires that online merchants pay local sales tax on all purchases made from the state of Illinois.

What this means to affiliate marketers is that they will have to pay sales tax on sales they generate from the state of Illinois. This would eat up the commission of most affiliates since you pay based on the retail price of the product.

The other option is that retailers would have to charge customers sale tax in Illinois.

Amazon & Overstock discontinued service to all affiliates in Illinois. They feel the new tax will lower the sales in that state anddrive sales up in other states without the tax. People may consider going to local stores to purchase. Overstock president went as far as saying the new law is unconstitutional.

In my opinion I do not feel it will have that dramatic of an effect on the sales in the state. Many people are use to paying sales tax on the products they purchase. Online retailers can choose to charge and pay the tax to Illinois or just stop selling to Illinois residence.

Tags: E-Fairness Law, Illinois
Posted in Free Advertising Techniques, Industry News, Marketing Tips | No Comments »