RosalindGardner.com

Learn Blogging & Affiliate Marketing with Rosalind Gardner

Affiliate Marketing

See all posts tagged with 'affiliate marketing'.

10 Ways to Sell More this Christmas Season

By

Is your site ready for Christmas shoppers?

An Accenture survey forecasts that folks will be shopping for Christmas earlier this year, with 69 percent planning to complete the bulk of their holiday shopping by Dec. 7th. Too, consumers are more deal-oriented than ever before, with 25% of them expecting at least 50 percent discounts before they buy.

According to a Gallup survey, the Christmas spending forecast is down slightly this year, with consumers planning to spend $740 on gifts compared to $801 as per surveys taken at the same time last year.

With more merchants competing for fewer dollars, the deals are going to be phenomenal. In fact, merchants have already started to lower their prices to get a leg up on the competition.

Sears launched a campaign on October 31st, called “Black Friday Now” with deep discounts happening every Saturday from now until Christmas.

Saturdays???

‘Black Friday', which falls on the day after American Thanksgiving (November 27th) is the first day of the Christmas season and is usually the busiest shopping day of the year… offline.

‘Cyber Monday' is the Monday after Thanksgiving. The term was first used by Shop.org, whose research showed that 77% of online retailers reported a significant increase in sales on that day.

So what does that tell us?

That we'd better plan to get our affiliate sites and PPC campaigns ready for the Christmas shopping rush earlier than ever. I've noticed that folks are talking about Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals on consumer sites already. In fact,

So, although the big Christmas shopping days are still almost a month away, you need to get your site and PPC campaigns ramped up now.

  1. Start checking the networks now for Black Friday deals. Here are 2 examples … Black Friday at Overstock.com and Big Savings, No Blarney: Book a Black Friday Round-Trip Flight to Ireland from $278 on Aer Lingus! (Expires 12/31/09)
  2. Make sure that you are receiving merchant emails. Many merchants have their 2009 holiday shopping catalogs online and are already pumping out Black Friday and Cyber Monday ‘deal' notices to their affiliates. Unless you are in the habit of checking each network's interface daily, turn on email notifications or you may miss some really great deals that you could be passing on to your customers.
  3. Contact your affiliate manager directly. If you have a working relationship with your affiliate manager, phone him or her and get the low-down on the best seasonal deals and best-converting offers.
  4. Decorate for Christmas. Pretty up your site with holiday graphics and pictures of happy shoppers. Just acknowledging the season with a ‘Happy Holidays' header or a “Your One-Stop Christmas Shop” graphic will show your spirit and get your customers in the mood to shop.
  5. Put up a ‘Black Friday Deals' page… or pages. Draw visitors deeper into your site with the promise of special savings opportunities.
  6. Do the legwork. Compare and contrast the deals that your merchants are offering. Sifting through a myriad of sites and offers is time-consuming. Save your potential customers time and effort by explaining the difference between offers on the same product. For example, show how that company that charges slightly more for a product but offers ‘free shipping' will save them money in the long run.
  7. Create urgency. Let your visitors know that these deals will not last by including offer expiry dates in your copy. Put up an “x number of Days ‘Til Christmas' countdown ticker on your site. You can find the “Till Christmas” code at Javascript Made Easy
  8. Set up your PPC campaigns well in advance. Drive targeted traffic to your Black Friday deals pages with pay per click advertising.
  9. Touch base regularly. Now's the time to put your autoresponder to best use by increasing the frequency of contact with your subscribers. Let them know that you're doing the legwork to find them the very best deals of the season. Let them know what's new and hot in your niche and tell them to stay on the lookout for more notices from you with sizzling deals.
  10. Seal the deal with great copy. Go beyond price points and convince your visitors that the products you're promoting make great gifts with tantalizing copy. For example, when describing spa or jewelery gifts for women, use words and phrases such as, ie. pamper her, soothing, relaxing, unique, innovative, hand-picked, romantic, heart-touching, romantic and indulgent. Be sure to stress the benefits to the gift-giver as well, eg. “she'll thank you again and again for…“.

Keep these suggestions in mind as you prepare your site for the 2009 holiday season – and you'll thank me for your increased conversions this year! 🙂

Comments, questions or suggestions? Please leave a comment below!

Cheers,

Ros

If I Had to Start Over as an Affiliate Marketer…

By

I've often been asked the question “What would you do (differently) if you were starting your affiliate marketing business over from scratch today?”

In thinking about the answer, I realize that there isn't much I'd change about my approach to doing business on the Internet, i.e. I would still seek out high-quality products to promote as an affiliate, write honest product reviews and build a subscriber list to enhance relationships with my site visitors.

Those age-old business strategies have proven over and over again to build trust and credibility with potential customers — which in turn increases conversion rates, sales and your bottom line.

As such, I would also continue to build sites around a specific topic filled with valuable content and an array of product options from which my visitors can choose, rather than a mini-site focused on a single product.

There also isn't much I'd change about my approach to picking a niche.

I'd still choose to work with topics in which I'm truly interested that have large groups of people with obvious problems (large target markets) that can be solved by products available online through affiliate programs.

However, I'd likely avoid really broad or generic topic choices.

Instead of  dating, I'd opt instead for a smaller niche within that market that serves a geographic region or caters to a specific group or ethnicity such as Russian women (mail order brides), black singles or disabled singles.

Although the reason for that is in small part due to increased competition and pay per click advertising prices, the main factor is that there are now so many more forums and social media sites catering to more narrowly focused topics – from which you can get free traffic.

Using social media marketing is one way my strategy would change markedly…

For instance, if my topic was German Shepherds, I'd find out where German Shepherd lovers hang out online and start building relationships with those people by leaving helpful tips and comments on related forums, blogs, groups and social networks. Each comment would be linked back to my site. To find those people I would add terms like “forums, groups, meetup, club” to my Google search for “German Shepherd”.

I would use Facebook and Twitter accounts to deliver my messages (blog posts, articles, product reviews)  to a wider audience, using services such as TwitterFeed.

Based on my avid interest, I would likely have a supply of photographs to upload to a Flickr account specifically dedicated to the topic.

Each photo would be tagged with the term “German Shepherd” and relevant descriptors such as “puppy” or “training” and photo descriptions would also be linked to specific information on my site. Both tagging and linked descriptions are good methods to generate free traffic.

The other big difference between now and back when I started affiliate marketing in 1997 is website creation technology.

Site building is now SO much easier.

All my sites are currently WordPress blogs and that's what I'd choose to start any new site — the main reason for which is again the ability to generate free search engine traffic in a way that just wasn't possible prior to blog technology.

With all the free traffic that can be generated through blogging and social media marketing, I would be much less likely to try and ‘jump-start' the traffic flow with pay per click advertising. I would still use PPC to market the site, but would wait for initial traffic to access conversions and make modifications prior to investing in paid advertising.

Too, rather than hunt and pick through free themes, I'd buy a WordPress theme to give the blog a professional look from the outset. Using a professional theme saves time. More importantly, those affiliate managers who might be reviewing your site prior to approving your affiliate application are going to have a much better first impression of your site. Of course, I'd also use stock photography outlets to improve the look of the site even more.

Lastly, I would be more amenable to buying a PLR (private label rights) article pack to build my core articles and outsourcing substantial rewrites of those articles. That way I'd have more time to concentrate on writing reviews for those products that are intended best to serve my customers' needs.

In summary therefore, the biggest changes I would make if I was starting my affiliate business today would be to outsource design and writing tasks in order to spend more time on social media marketing in the pursuit of free traffic and enhanced relationships with potential customers.

Want to learn more about how to become an affiliate marketer? Join my multi-media affiliate training program, Affiliate Blogger PRO. You'll get written and video tutorials, site reviews and connect with me (Ros) and other members on our Community Forums when you have questions.

10 Reasons to Avoid the Product Launch Bandwagon

By

Product Launch BandwagonIf you promote tools and services to online entrepreneurs as an affiliate, you understand the term ‘product launch bandwagon'.

It's the process by which your inbox is suddenly filled with promos — all for the same product. Scan those messages, and you see that most of them are verbatim ‘cut and pastes' from the merchant's affiliate toolbox.

In the last couple of weeks alone, there have been launches / relaunches for:

  • Brad Callen's Keyword Elite
  • Affiliate Classroom 2.0
  • Joel Comm's Elevate Blueprint
  • Rob Benwell's Blogging to the Bank
  • Yanik Silver's Public Domain Goldmine
  • Kevin Wilkes's Nitro Webcasts
  • …and many, many more.

I didn't send a promo about even one of them.

NOT because I think those (and other) products aren't of value to Internet marketers… I do. I've been endorsing those guys' products for years because I believe they're of value to my readers.

In this case, I was taking a long holiday.

Regardless, you wouldn't have received notices about one product launch, let alone all of them from me.

Here are some of the reasons you won't find me on the product launch bandwagon:

  1. I miss product launch notices (probably lost amidst the detritus of product launch emails) or the notice came too late to work the promotion into my publishing schedule.
  2. I too recently endorsed a similar product.
  3. The offer is time-limited — and I prefer to promote merchants who support their products over the long-haul.
  4. I'm aware that the merchant is already working on Product 2 (or 65), so I suspect the support for the current product may be lacking.
  5. It's a Clickbank product and promoting per schedule means my cookies will likely be overwritten.
  6. Commission are too low.
  7. The launch is too obviously a lead grab and the merchant is paying commissions only on sales, not for leads generated.
  8. I think the promo requirements are unreasonable, i.e. send 4 emails in the next week.
  9. And in some cases, I don't believe in the product.

The 10th and main reason to avoid the product launch bandwagon…

It kills your credibility.

Your audience will rightly question your objectivity when you proclaim that each of the 4 products you promote this week is the ‘MOST AMAZING' you've ever seen and that they absolutely MUST BUY it through your affiliate link immediately or miss out on 2,398,543,238 in bonuses.

Alienate your audience, kill your revenue…

UNLESS you regularly replenish your subscriber list with fresh new leads on the cheap.

That's easier said than done. PPC in the Internet marketing niche is expensive and article marketing to generate hundreds of new leads per day takes LOTS of work.

So, how do the ‘Big Dog Affiliates' – those who always win JV contest prizes – seem to be able to promote every product under the sun?

The answer is simple — “Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours“.

Those Big Dog Affiliates aren't ‘just' affiliates – they are merchants with their own product lines.

Here's how it works.

  • Big Dog Affiliate promotes Merchants A, B, C and D's products.
  • When Big Dog Affiliate (now Big Dog Merchant) launches a new product, Merchants A, B, C and D all promote Big Dog's product as affiliates.
  • Because the inital incentive usually requires an email address to access a free offer, Big Dog Merchant is generating vast numbers of new leads, regardless of whether or not those subscribers become his or her customers.
  • Next, Big Dog Affiliate promotes Merchant A's latest product to his own subscribers and those acquired from Merchant B, C and D's lists.
  • And round and round it goes.

Profitable business model only IF you have a product line.

However, if you are an affiliate marketer (without a product of your own to sell), think carefully before promoting that next product launch.

Remembering that your greatest business asset is your list, the key is this…

Respect your subscribers as intelligent human beings and they'll respect and support you likewise.

Which Products should you Promote?

Want to increase your affiliate commissions without alienating your audience and  compromising your list?

Then you need to learn how to evaluate individual merchant's products as well as affiliate programs. The Super Affiliate Handbook lists 20 questions you need to consider before joining promoting products from an ‘in-house' or independent affiliate program, i.e. outside the affiliate networks.

Get it today!

When It’s GOOD to be a Thin Affiliate

By

Now you must be thinking that I've truly lost my mind – professing that it's good to be a thin affiliate after nearly a decade of repeatedly extolling the virtues of providing value-added information as the best way to reap huge monetary gains as an affiliate publisher.

Ziplining - Ros flies (1)OK, I don't really mean the type of ‘thin affiliate' that Google defines as being those who “do nothing but act as a commission-earning middleman” and in my humble opinion contribute only junk to the webosphere and make affiliate marketing a dirty word in some circles.

No, I'm talking about the challenge faced by all affiliates who sit for long periods at their desks while searching for great offers, writing blog posts and just going about their daily business.

Excess cargo.

The need for a bigger chair.

In a word — FAT.

Over the past decade I've watched as some of my affiliate marketing colleagues… well, let's just say ‘blossom', while others publicly blog about their efforts to regain their former svelt selves… kudos to the latter.

Like them, I have had to struggle against weight gain in this occupation and now weigh only 3 pounds more than I did when I started this venture a dozen years ago.

Not perfect, but not bad.

Granted, I'm not exactly ‘buff' but my weight is appropriate for my height, and more importantly, it's a ‘healthy' weight.

Here are 5 tips that help me stay a relatively ‘thin affiliate' in the best sense of the term.

  1. Don't wear slouch pants (sweats) while you work. Put on jeans or other pants with a waist band. If they start to feel tight, you know it's time to lose a few pounds.
  2. Avoid eating at your desk. Practice ‘concious eating' by taking regular meal breaks during the day.
  3. Never drink alchohol at your desk. One becomes two or three and the next thing you know, you've ingested 450 useless calories and can't think straight to work.
  4. Get your body moving everyday. Whether it's a walk around the block, a half-hour run or a 2-hour hike, get your heart rate up. Plan your work around your exercise schedule, not the other way 'round.
  5. Last of all, regularly remind yourself about the things you love to do — that you won't be able to do if you gain a lot of weight. For me, that's hiking, walking, kayaking, and even ziplining (see pic).

So, what motivates you to be a ‘thin affiliate'?

Want to become a thin affiliate? 🙂

2009 Affiliate Marketing Research Study

By

I just ran through the AffiliateBenchmarks affiliate marketing survey, and it's a very well-constructed survey to determine current affiliate practices.

Affiliates who complete the survey will receive a free copy.

Here's the press release:

New York, NY (PRWEB) July 8, 2009 — AffiliateBenchmarks, a research division of outsourced affiliate management agency NETexponent, has released an affiliate marketing survey to be completed by affiliates and website publishers by July 31st 2009. The survey results will gather best practices for several aspects of affiliate marketing, including how best to communicate with affiliates, what advertisers can do to optimize affiliate relationships, what tools and information affiliates crave, and what challenges they face. Results will be analyzed and used to identify marketing trends and projected changes. Affiliates who complete the survey will receive a free copy of the results and others will have the option to buy a copy once released.

We were very proud of last years effort and the industry's response but knew we had room for improvement This year survey is not only bigger and better but it also has the support of major affiliate networks like Commission Junction, Google Affiliate Network, LinkShare, PepperJam, Shareasale, and Media Trust. Thanks to the support of these major networks we have been able to optimize our study and significantly increase the number of respondents.
AffiliateBenchmarks produced their first study in 2008 and the research report was met with an extremely positive response from the online marketing community. The positive response from last years research report and continued need for industry benchmarks prompted AffiliateBenchmarks to produce the 2009 survey. This year the AffiliateBenchmarks survey has been significantly expanded and improved based on the knowledge and feedback from the industry leaders. The 2009 survey includes a wide range of questions about topics such as affiliates' experiences with different types of ad performance, site visitor demographics, technology and communication preferences, motivations for joining an affiliate program, experiences with emerging technology, and more.

“We were very proud of last years effort and the industry's response but knew we had room for improvement,” said Peter Figueredo, CEO & Co-Founder of NETexponent. “This year survey is not only bigger and better but it also has the support of major affiliate networks like Commission Junction, Google Affiliate Network, LinkShare, PepperJam, Shareasale, and Media Trust. Thanks to the support of these major networks we have been able to optimize our study and significantly increase the number of respondents.”

If you are an affiliate/publisher and are interested in benchmarking your success by completing this survey, we will send you a copy of the results. Your time and input is greatly appreciated. Be sure to complete the survey before July 31, 2009. Affiliate Benchmarks respects the privacy of affiliates and only aggregate information will be shared.

AffiliateBenchmarks is the affiliate research division of NETexponent. AffiliateBenchmarks designs and executes affiliate marketing research with the purpose of increasing industry education and providing useful data and statistics to the affiliate community. We focus on the benefit of the affiliate marketing industry as a whole, and strive to provide reliable information that is interesting and useful to a wide range of people involved with affiliate marketing. Follow us on Twitter @AffBenchmarks.

NETexponent is an online performance based marketing agency located in New York that specializes in outsourced affiliate and search marketing management, growth, and optimization. Founded in January of 2001, the metrics-driven firm leverages nearly a decade of management experience in structuring win-win, performance based deals with its clients. The agency focuses on efficiently acquiring the most valuable customers for each advertiser they work with, while always delivering the highest level of client service. NETexponent is committed to being the industry's leading performance online marketing agency, continually evolving to address changing market conditions and client needs. Follow us on Twitter @NETexponent.

Take the survey.

Categories