28 Apr 09 Top 5 “Must Have” Affiliate Marketing Attributes
The ability to be in control of our own lives is one of the main reasons making money online is so attractive. Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make good money for people new to the idea of using the internet to earn a living.
It’s easy to identify what makes affiliate marketing so attractive: no boss, working the hours you want, no inventory, and no need to create a product of your own. It’s also quite easy to get started, and the start up cost is minimal (especially when compared to more traditional business models).
Just like any other business, affiliate marketing does require a certain set of skills if you want to be successful doing it. What follows are the five personal traits you need to make the most of your efforts.
1. Self-motivation. The downside to not having a boss, if there is one, is that you don’t have anyone else telling what to do, how to do it, or when. The ability to motivate yourself is crucial to affiliate marketing. Without it, you can still succeed, but it will take longer, and be a lot harder.
2. Optimism. Having a positive outlook will get you through the low points. When things don’t go right, learn what you can from them, focus on the future rewards, then move on. There will be affiliate marketing campaigns that don’t go the way you expect, and being optimistic will help.
3. Desire to learn. You can learn enough to get started in affiliate marketing in less than an hour, but the more you learn and put into action, the better. Be willing to learn from those who are doing well, and be willing to learn from what you are doing too. People often say, “learn from your mistakes”, and you should, but be sure to learn from what you’re doing right, too.
4. Willingness to invest time, effort, and money. When you first get started you may not have as much time or money as you like. In this case you will have to compensate by increasing the investment of what you do have; for example, if you don’t have a lot of money, you can spend more time on your business. Remember, it can take time to see results, but what you put into your affiliate marketing business needs to be consistent.
5. Discipline. If the first trait needed is self-motivation, then the final one is discipline. You can still have a flexible schedule, but any time you do have scheduled for affiliate marketing should be used for that purpose. Sometimes it’s easier to do “fun” things, but those aren’t the things that always put money in your pocket. Have fun, but temper it with the discipline you need to succeed.
These five traits will take you far in affiliate marketing, in fact, they can take you all the way to the top. To be fair, not everyone has these personal attributes, but the good news is that they can be developed over time.
Affiliate marketing is a wonderful business; one that doesn’t require much of anything to get started. Sometimes that fools people into thinking they can be lazy, but as you can see, that’s not the case. On the other hand, all you personally need to do well are the five things listed above.
Tags: affiliate marketing, how to be successful internet marketer., Work from Home
26 Apr 09 Cold calls from advertising agencies
Since my poor experience recently (see posts about coolessential, I decided that it would be a good idea to make myself (and anyone else who might be interested) a check list of ways to avoid being scammed.
First of all – remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. That was what I forgot.
My second experience with an advertising agency calling me was much better than the first – it was a company who are authorised by google.co.uk to manage sponsored advertising links on the google search engine. When they called at first, they mentioned their own web site and then proved to me that they had the correct authorisation from google to carry out the work on my behalf. They provided phone numbers and email addresses – but, most of all, they sent paper contracts and had physical return addresses for that.
So, here’s a quick list of things to look out for when someone phones you:-
- Ask for contact details.
- Do not agree to anything straight away.
- Ask for proof that the company is authorised to carry out the work.
- Do not pay for the work on first contact.
- Ask for a proper invoice to be sent to you, even if you subsequently pay by credit card over the phone.
- If the company is in the UK, check that the invoice has a VAT number if they have added a VAT amount on to your bill.
- Check on the search engines – search for “the company name + problems” (obviously replace the company name with the real company name) That should reveal any disgruntled clients.
- Ask for references – ask for a phone number from two existing clients.
That way, you will be doing much more than I did – and, while it might not save your bacon (… er, hard earned cash) – it might save you from some of the grief I have experienced over the coolessential issue.
21 Apr 09 Do you get Twitter?
My head’s swimming from information overload – apparently the next hot thing is twitter; actually, it seems to me that it’s currently really hot because Oprah’s just joined the Twitter crowd.
I have been a twitter user for some time and built up a small band of followers – and I’m following some cool people too. I tweet occasionally – and also add my aweber mailing list to my twitter account so that when I update my mailing list or make a broadcast, then it’s on twitter too.
Today I decided to try an experiment with a new bit of software from Peter Drew – which supposedly increases your twitter follower count dramatically. I’ve done the download and installed the software – it’s working away in the background as I write this.
There’s a five day trial of the software before it becomes a recurring billing situation – so I’m hoping to see some benefits of this before the full membership features kick in.
I’ll make a full report here of how I get on. I have to say that there is a bit of me that is scared of losing what I have already achieved, so I might end up baling out before it gets going properly. We’ll see!
Anyway, in case you want to see the full offer from Pete – you can find it at Brute Force Social Media
I’m looking forward to seeing your comments too!
M
Tags: social media, twitter, twitter friends
20 Apr 09 Overstocked? How do you deal with the excess?
When I got home from our shop this evening, I switched on my pc and checked my email. So far so good!
Among my emails was a mail shot from Rick Segel entitled “What Could Your Best Vendor Do?”
Rick proceeded to outline a dilemma being faced by one of the members of The Retailers Advantage. The store owners had built up a good business with one particular supplier over the years. Then customers started to approach the store owners about the same product line being deeply discounted at a bargain outlets. It turned out that the prices for the goods were well below trade price. The store owner had not been offered any of the discounted merchandise prior to the manufacturer dumping their product.
I recently had a conversation with one of our own suppliers more or less on the same vein; they said that there was an overstock of some of their goods and were wondering how best to dispose of the overstock items. Having read Rick’s email tonight, I decided to forward the message to them because a supplier’s reputation is very fragile and, in these testing economic times, it is important to maintain a good relationship with your bread and butter income.
There is a survey at The Retailers Advantage – and I’m going to add my thoughts to the conversation there in just a minute or two. I’ll let you know how I voted after I’ve seen the survey questions.
M
Tags: Rick Segel, Shopping, The Retailers Advantage
16 Apr 09 A cached copy of an old advertisement for coolessential.com
Now that coolessential.com has got my attention, I have been trawling the search engines for further mention of this company. I have also been wondering about the telephone answering service that this company is running – and how they recruit their staff. A little digging around revealed this old advertisement showing how the company recruited their staff in the past (it’s difficult to specify the exact date of this entry – I certainly hope it isn’t current).
I’d love thear from some of coolessential.com employees …..
Tags: Cool Essential, coolessential shopping portal, working for coolessential.com
09 Apr 09 Bring back the bank manager
Retail banking in the UK for small businesses has never been the same since the Bank Manager disappeared from the High Street Bank.
For many years, when it came time to renew our bank overdraft facilities, our local bank manager (I use the term loosely, our bank is 65 miles from our place of business) would call in to see us along with our accountant to see for himself the way the business looked, discuss the figures, ask what our plans for the year were – and generally do a discreet “health check”. He never made a journey just to see us – we were quite happy to see him on his way to a meeting at head office – or returning home from other business trips.
The business banking section of our bank is now automated – with very little human intervention (or so I am led to believe). When I do have to speak to a business banking team member, I am told that charges happen automatically – and there is no feeling for the quality of our business or the honesty and reliability of us as people and customers of the banking service.
“Bring back bank managers, please,” is my request to the banking industry. Allow for some discretion in your banking rules – and we can all get back to running our businesses.
Tags: bank manager, bank overdraft, banking problems, British banks, business banking, problems with business account
09 Apr 09 Bank overdraft – our renewal case study
Over the past 20 years in business, we have been fortunate to have very few problems with our bank. Sure, the business has run a small overdraft (and continues to do so) but the value of our shop currently covers the overdraft by a considerable margin. Our credit rating is good – last time I checked with experian, they showed no issues with our account.
Our overdraft was due for renewal by the end of February. Our bank requested a copy of our accounts to arrive at least a full working week prior to that to enable them to check details and put the overdraft in place. We did this – we sent the letter by recorded delivery. As we had heard nothing, before the end of February I phoned and was assured that our overdraft was in place.
March continued uneventfully – although at one point my husband mentioned that we hadn’t been informed about the terms of the overdraft. As we were busy that day, I filed that comment in the back of my “I must remember to…..” brain cell, and we carried on.
Then I had a couple of issues I which I needed to discuss with the bank. I phoned their business banking service and discussed matters satisfactorily. I was about to ring off when the lady said “We haven’t received your signed copy of the overdraft offer. We need it asap.” So I replied that we hadn’t received their offer letter and would she please send another.
This further letter didn’t arrive. However, a form I had requested for another transaction did arrive safely. Hmmm. We then started being charged £25 per cheque transaction because of an unauthorised overdraft. My husband became extremely upset and I phoned again, explaining that their offer letter still had not been received.
The third time of asking, the overdraft offer arrived. I signed it – and enclosed a letter in reply, stating that we were extremely dissatisfied with the service – all other correspondence from the bank arrives correctly at our business address and there are now two copies of an overdraft offer letter floating around our area – I certainly have not received them. I requested that the over-charges be refunded as I did not feel I was responsible for this mess. If the bank did send out the letters which have not been received by me – then the Post Office has some issues of non-delivery.
I phoned the bank again yesterday and was told in no uncertain terms that they were upset at the tone of my letter to them. They said the overdraft had been reinstated and, without further discussion of the issue, proceeded to charge £150 for the new overdraft. That makes £300 plus at least £125 in overdue transaction charges.
I am a member of the Federation of Small Businesses – I have never used their business services, but this is one I shall be pursuing with them. I feel it’s an outrageous way to treat a client.
Tags: bank overdraft, banking problems, British banks, Business overdraft, problems with business account, renew overdraft
08 Jun 08 U.S. President Teaches You Marketing!
Dear Friend:
Crazy as it sounds, the next U.S. President, whether it’s McCain or Obama, is gonna help you sell more of your stuff.
“Oh, yeah. Right Marlon. Let’s see you ’splain this one to me…”
No seriously. Read this email for the complete scoop. It ain’t gonna cost you a cent, pound or peso. So wadda you got to lose?
Well, it’s election time again in the U.S. You guys and gals in UK, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Canada and so forth are probably even hearing about it.
The candidates are making their final whistle stops. It’s a good time to talk the marketing of a President.
There’s a lot YOU can learn from this year’s election that can show you the path to selling more of your stuff.
Isn’t it kind of strange that the most prestigious job in the U.S. comes down to one thing –
M-A-R-K-E-T-I-N-G!
See, marketing is about selecting MARKETS for a product or service and designing an APPEAL to that MARKET that will get a response.
That’s what marketing is. The study of and appeal to markets. I bet a lot of people teaching marketing don’t even understand that.
Yeah, you have the traditional marketing mix of product, price, promotion and distribution (or place).
But at heart, it’s just about markets. Who is in the market for MY product (or service).
Think of it like this: The President IS a product that is sold to markets. Who are those markets?
Gays, lesbians, religious groups, right wing, left wing, investors, educators, labor unions, moms ‘n dads,
corporations, small businesses, and so forth.
You will hear each of the candidates specifically pick out certain of those groups and make an appeal or promise to them.
The appeal or promise is essentially a HEADLINE. It’s the articulation of a promise or a benefit.
A candidate is in the JOB of picking out groups or markets and making a PROMISE to them of a BENEFIT.
If you WATCH TV, you’ll see them speaking to different groups, making appearances at schools, labor union rallies, army groups, educators and so forth.
All in an effort to GET PUBLICITY for a marketing message delivered to a specific group or audience.
They don’t give a speech ’cause they wanna get their message to the local PTA. They do it because they’ll get national media coverage and gratus media coverage.
So instead of paying for radio ads or TV spots, they get advertising without forking over any green stuff.
You’ll notice they use all the media: TV, radio, billboards, publicity, direct mail, telephones, and more
I’m not thinking of right now.
Heck, they even have the equivalent of a commissioned affiliate program — you help ME get elected, and you’ll get pork barrell legislation back in return, or you’ll get a cushy cabinet position…or somethin’ along those lines.
What can YOU learn from this?
What GROUPS are you aiming specific promises or messages at for your product or service?
Even the President lives and dies by marketing. And if he or she needs to know it, don’t you think YOU better know it too?
Best wishes,
Marlon Sanders
P.S. If’n you want a crash course in marketing (both
online and offline), you can get it here:
http://getyourprofits.com/z/264/CD27304/
(By the way, if you problems on your PayPal limit, we have
an alternative payment method. Just live chat us
at amazingformula.com/support)
You may not make it to running for President. But I bet
you can get a better job, start a more successful
business, promote your group or organization with more
success — or help your kids be more successful in life.
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Tags: Affilaite Program, Best Affiliate Marketing Course, Corey Rudl, Derek Gehl, Internet Marketing Center
25 Feb 08 A New Way To Make Money With eBay
When you hear “eBay” and “money” in the same sentence you’re probably think of becoming an eBay seller.
You place product listings in the eBay marketplace, buyers bid, you pay your eBay seller fees and what you have left is your profit margin.
There is, however, another way to build a business which still revolves around eBay but which doesn’t involve you selling a single thing in the eBay marketplace.
This “other way” opportunity is based on the eBay affiliate program and a great tool which makes entry into this opportunity not only possible but also super easy. This tool is called “Build A Niche Store“.
Now if you don’t know – an affiliate program enables you as an individual internet entrepreneur to promote the products of a company in exchange for a commission on all sales that you refer.
You are basically operating as an internet middleman and connecting internet browsers to particular products and companies through you own network of websites and marketing methods.
If we return to the eBay affiliate program, eBay actually invites you to promote all of the product listings in the eBay marketplace and in exchange for your efforts will pay you up to 75% of the revenue they make from each sale you refer plus up to $35 for each new active eBay member you refer.
You can have a read about the eBay.com affiliate program here
What this means is that you can earn up to three quarters of eBay’s revenue simply for connecting people to the products listed in the eBay marketplace.
Not only do you get to partner with the best branded marketplace in the world, you also get access to and control over ALL of the products listed in this marketplace. The eBay product inventory becomes YOUR product inventory and yet you do NOT have to stock items, deal with customers, organize shipping or process refunds.
You are no longer limited to selling only those products which you can buy and sell for a profit margin. You can choose ANY niche market and promote those eBay products relevant to your chosen niche outside of the eBay marketplace, funnelling targeted traffic through to eBay and into your own affiliate commissions.
Golf clubs, sewing kits, laptops, dog collars, diamond rings, Florida real estate…
If you know eBay you know how BIG it is – there are NO limits.
At this point you might be thinking – well this sounds interesting but in reality is there any money in it? Well, here’s the shocker – eBay’s top affiliates make over 1 million dollars a month. That’s right – 8 figures a year without stocking, selling or shipping a single thing!
Now eBay does provide some basic free tools to help you succeed as an eBay affiliate and build an affiliate business BUT it has been the development of a tool outside of eBay that has really opened this up as a legitimate business opportunity.
The tool, as I mentioned earlier, is called “Build A Niche Store” and what it enables you to do is build eBay affiliate websites targeted to any eBay niche you want. These act as the medium through which you funnel targeted visitors to eBay.
Here are a couple of examples, one targeting Race Cars and the other Golf
Equipment:
Paintball eBay Affiliate Website
Golf eBay Affiliate Website
As you can see, these are professional looking websites that contain all of those eBay products related to their target niche inside a searchable store format, each of which automatically contains your eBay affiliate id.
These stores then automatically update as new products are listed for sale and old listing expire from the eBay marketplace and the software has built in development features which enable you to create new store pages, add content to these pages, create content pages, modify your template etc etc.
Basically, in the space of about 10 minutes (once you are familiar with how the software works) you can create a fully functional eBay affiliate website targeted to the niche market of your choice.
Your store content is all search engine friendly which will provide the foundation for attracting targeted traffic from the search engines and you can then use the development features to attract more targeted visitors which will in turn mean more eBay affiliate commissions.
It really is a brilliant concept and I’ve been hearing great things about the guys behind the project and the member forum which you get lifetime access to when you purchase the product.
Build A Niche Store comes with a step by step user manual which will walk even the most technically inexperienced through setting up their eBay affiliate website, 9 professional template layouts which can be customized (from inside your admin panel) to match your target niche, lifetime member forum access, comprehensive product support and possibly most importantly – an UNLIMITED domain license which means you can build as many of these niche websites as you want for the small one time fee.
Think about how many niches eBay caters to!
How big could your eBay affiliate business be?!
This product gets my full recommendation. I have made more money from this one affiliate program than any other – and with less effort – check it out today…
Click Here To Read More About Build A Niche Store
Tags: eBay, eBay affiliate program, home based business, make money, make money on eBay, make money with eBay, Work from Home
