When you join an affiliate marketing scheme, you either going to sell a product or a service. With products, you usually have a choice and range to sell. How you decide to do this is largely up to you. You could also sell a service. Web page designs as well as increasing sales and internet traffic are all examples of services offered by affiliate marketing programs.

How many times have you seen as ad on the internet promising huge earnings? Things like “Earn 1000$ a day” or Join our program now and become a millionaire. If your look closely at these ads they are not actually selling anything. Any company that is just selling the opportunity to make money is likely a scam. True, some affiliate marketing companies will have attention grabbing headlines like the ones mentioned above. However, if you go on to read the ad and information, there will likely be a detailed description of what they company sells. They will also have a disclaimer and terms and conditions listed.

These companies that offer, the opportunity to make money are likely pyramid schemes. The only people paying money in are the ones actually joining. There is no income being created, just money being passed from person to person. Not only are these scams and you’ll loose what you invested, they are also illegal and you can face prosecution.

Another thing to watch out for is no free participation. If you have to pay to join then you may have stumbled upon a scam or what is known as a multilevel marketing program. Multi-level marketing programs are completely legal and some people make good livings out of them. However, if you’re not successful you may end up purchasing a bunch of products that you cannot sell.

True affiliate programs are free. That is part of their attraction. There are no costs to you and they should also be risk free. Any Affiliate marketing programs that demands your money is not an affiliate program. You should ask yourself why they are misrepresenting themselves this way if they are legitimate.

Many of us dream of being our own bosses. We would love to be able to take control of our lives and careers. The attraction of answering only to you combined with setting your own working hours and committing what your choose bring loads of people into the affiliate marketing schemes. Affilaite marketing can be an excellent way for a highly motivated, creative person to make an excellent living. There are some wonderful programs out there just waiting to be joined. However, for every great program there is likely one that is fraudulent. Con artists operate in many areas and unfortunate affiliate marketing is not immune.

Before joining, check to see what the company is selling. If they are not selling goods or services then they are likely an illegal pyramid scheme. If they require your own money to get started then they are what are known as a multi level marketing program. Affiliate marketing can be a great opportunity but you need to do your homework.

Many of us want new jobs with new opportunities. We are either bored with what we are doing at the moment and desire new challenges, or dislike the place we are currently working and desperately want a change. Many of us would love to run our own businesses. The freedom and independence that this brings, answering only to you and working when you want is an incredibly desirable thing. However, the reality of this materializing is slim to none in most people’s cases. Most of us don’t have the capital required to start a small business. Others are frightened off by the risk factor involved. Your steady income will be gone as well as the fact that nearly 90 % of all new businesses fail within the first year.

Affiliate marketing is a way around the risk and start up costs. Affiliate marketing costs nothing to join and the risk is minimal. You paid according to what you produce and not according to how the company is performing. There are many wonderful affiliate programs for you to get involved with, however as with anything one needs to be cautious.

Unfortunately, today we live in an age of internet and business fraud. Countless people loose large sums of money on these home business scams. Unfortunately, the world of affiliate marketing is not immune to this. While it is impossible to list every precaution a person should take, there are some signs that people can look for. These don’t always mean that the company is fraudulent but they should be looked into carefully.

Many lull themselves into a false sense of security when it comes to affiliate marketing programs. They feel that, there is no cost to them money wise so they have nothing to loose. However, this isn’t true. You may get away with no money being lost but you could lose loads of your next most precious commodity, that being time. You’re going to have to work very hard to build up your affiliate marketing business so you will want to be legitimate.

You should definitely ask the company for testimonials. Don’t rely on the ones that they post on their website. Anyone could have written these. Ask for names and addresses of people that you can contact to find out how the program worked for them. You can also try searching on your favorite search engine. By looking under scams or the company name, you’ll have a good chance of digging up any dirt that is there.

Read the testimonials carefully. If you find a few bad reviews, this shouldn’t put you off. Sometimes people just are not cut out for certain programs. If there is more good than bad then things are likely okay. You can also use these testimonials for advice on what to do and what not to do.

If you have problems finding information then this should be a warning. Good affiliate programs will have been around for a while and will have a track record. Resist the temptation to join up while the offer is still hot. If it is a good program it will still be there in 6 months time. If the product or service is worth having, there will still be plenty of profit to make out of it.

The lure of running our own businesses attracts many. However, the reality of what is involved stops most of us before we get started. Affiliate marketing is a way to work for you without the financial risk. There are many great affiliate marketing programs in existence today. However, there are also many companies that are fraudulent. When deciding who to go with, check for testimonials. Use the internet to dig up the dirt. Check the company’s track record. No track record at all can be as bad as a negative record. Beware of new companies. If they are worth it they will still be there in a few months time.

“get paid to write about your favourite subjects”

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chapter 9

Generating Traffic: Viral Marketing

Viral Marketing is one of the best ways to get more traffic to almost any site.
Because of the many forms of viral marketing, the possibilities of how much traffic you receive are endless.

So, what is Viral Marketing?

I don’t want to spend too much time on definitions, but, in short, viral marketing is creating a marketing message that will be spread to others also by other people and not just by yourself.

Compare it to a cold virus – if you have a cold you don’t need to visit everybody in your town to expose them all to it. You just have to visit a few people. They in turn will pass it on to others, who will pass it on, and so forth.

While your marketing message shouldn’t be as undesirable as a cold, it should be made in such a way that it is passed on easily and effortlessly.

Let’s go over a few basic viral marketing techniques that you can put to use over the next few days.

After this the course is over you can expect to get a more in-depth advanced viral marketing course that will help you to apply even more techniques.

Viral Technique #1 – Resale Rights

The very first thing that you can do to start implementing viral marketing into your business is to create a resale rights package.

This is basically a simple product (an e-book or audio recording) that you sell for a low price ($10 to $30) along with master resale rights. That means that others can take your product and sell it at whatever price they want and keep 100% profits.

Of course in your product you should first mention your name and your website URL.
That way the more people that buy your product and then pass it along, the more exposure your website can get.

Try to have the least amount of restrictions on the resale rights. For example, give others the right to resell at any price, or even to include it as a bonus with their current e-books or memberships.
That way you will get maximum exposure.

Viral Technique #2 – Viral E-Books

Another great way to get more exposure is to create a free PDF report or e-book on a specific topic in your market.
In this e-book you should promote other products and services as well.
Then you can use a simple program (for example Viral PDF) to allow others to replace your affiliate links with theirs and then pass it on.

Your name and website URL should be at the top of the PDF file and will remain intact while the affiliate links are replaced. This gives other people a reason to pass on the e-book while gaining you more and more exposure.

Viral Technique #3 – JV Giveaways

This is similar to the resale rights technique, but is implemented a little differently.
You will still want to create a product just like the one in technique #1 (in fact, you can use the same one!).

However, instead of selling it with master resell rights you will find other successful marketers in your market that are already selling somewhat similar products.
You can then offer your product as a bonus to their subscribers.

This is a win-win situation – you will gain more exposure and they will gain more value for their subscribers.

In the ideal situation you will even set up a simple squeeze page where their subscribers have to go in order
to get their bonuses. However, make sure that you do what the marketer wants most so that they feel they are getting the better end of the deal.

Video Time – Viral Marketing

The Three Viral Techniques
Click here to watch the video

How To Create A Quality Product FAST
Click here to watch the video

Today’s Homework

Your homework today is to decide on one of the above viral marketing techniques and then implement it within the next week.
You can continue the lessons before you are done, but make sure you focus on finishing your goal!

Valentin Hornicar and Matthew Glanfield

“get paid to write about your favourite subjects”

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chapter 9

Generating Traffic: Leveraging Other People’s Lists

You are probably familiar with the superstore Walmart. It is a giant of a store that sells pretty much anything at competitive prices.

Recently, most new Walmarts that spring up are built in an area that has little or no other stores.
Since they are a huge multi-billion dollar corporation they can afford to be a pioneer in new locations.

But what is interesting is that shortly after the new Walmart is built, dozens of other smaller stores appear around that same location.

You might think “Why would these smaller stores try to compete with Walmart when clearly most people love its convenience and low prices?”

Here is� the answer: LEVERAGE !

Why is “Leverage” a Key to Your Business Growth ?

�

If you are like most people you have probably found it quite difficult to start getting a lot of traffic to your new website. This is a normal problem that most marketers face every day.

Another common problem that marketers have is looking at others in their industry as competition.

It is very rare that you really have any competition.

Do I hear you saying “What ?!?!” Yes. Most of i not real competition. You need to look at them as potential partners.

Looking back at the Walmart example, why did those other smaller stores appear around Walmart?
Was it to try to compete with that giant of a store?
Of course not! The owners of those stores realize that Walmart will draw a lot of customers (i.e. traffic) to that specific location (i.e. website).
They can benefit from that traffic even if they don’t get all of it.

You can use this same philosophy when trying to build your first email list. Instead of setting up shop in the middle of nowhere so that no competition can touch you, consider using others’s resources in order to build your own business.

Ezine Advertising Is A Great Way To Leverage Other People’s Efforts

Think about it for a moment – let’s say that you are in the market of helping others to quit smoking and you have no list, but you want to build one.

After doing a bit of Google searching you find another website with the same purpose that gets a ton of visitors every day and also has been building a list for quite some time.

This is the moment to make a choice:

1. Get discouraged that somebody else is already doing what you want to do and give up.

OR

2. Contact the owner and see if you could advertise in their ezine for a price.

You could also try partnering with them, but let’s stick with advertising in their ezine.
If they don’t already have advertising you will need to negotiate some sort of price.
However, most larger ezines that accept advertising already have prices worked out.

This benefits you greatly as you are able to target the EXACT market that you want to work with.
They have already shown that they are interested, so they are the perfect match for your website.

Four Steps To Effective Ezine Advertising

1. Find ezines that you are able to advertise in.

You can run Google searches and look for potential prospects, or even better you can use this resource: www.directoryofezines.com.
It isn’t free, but it contains thousands of ezines that accept advertising, so most of the work is already done for you.

2. Create a “special squeeze page” for your ezine advertising.

If possible you should create a special squeeze page for each ezine that you advertise to.
They could all be identical except for a simple headline that says: Welcome Friends of [Enter Ezine Owner's Name].

This helps to improve your conversion rates and thus build your list faster.

3. Set up a “Top Sponsor Ad” for each of the ezines.

There are generally two types of ads that you want to use: Solo Ads and Top Sponsor Ads.
Solo Ads are where you get an entire email dedicated to your advertisement.
Top Sponsor Ads are shorter ads that appear at the beginning of the ezine.

You will want to start with Top Sponsor Ads as they are cheaper and will help you to gauge the effectiveness of the advertisement.

4. If the Top Sponsor Ad has good results, set up a “Solo Ad.”

Chances are that if the Top Sponsor ad worked well then a Solo Ad will work even better and will be well worth the money you spend.

Video Time – Ezine Advertising

Online Communities – How To Get Traffic By Frequenting Forums
Click here to watch the video

Today’s Homework

Your homework today is to find at least five ezines that you can advertise in and start an ad for at least one of them.
Do not continue the lessons until you have done so.

Valentin Hornicar and Matthew Glanfield

“get paid to write about your favourite subjects”

*********

chapter 8

Generating Traffic: How Can Get Traffic From Online Communities

Is time to focus on one other method to generate traffic to your websites. This method is free but very effective if you invest a bit of time.

Online Communities Are Your Online Gold-Mines…

One thing that the Internet has provided is an outlet for people of all professions to express their feelings on any subject.

Many online communities have formed because of the ease of communication on the Internet.
These have taken many forms, such as bulletin boards (otherwise known as forums), MySpace type websites, Newsgroups, and more.
Some of these communities receive thousands of visitors every day, some even more than that.

There are certain ways that you can tap into this immense amount of traffic in such a way that greatly benefits your business.

However, before I continue I want to make one thing clear:

You Need To Become a PART of These Communities, Not Just a “Marketer In Their Midst”

Don’t think for one moment that you will have any success by spamming message boards and blogs with your advertising. Not only will this get you next to no traffic, it will give you a bad reputation.

Your goal instead should be to become part of these communities and contribute greatly to them.
In return you will be greatly rewarded with new traffic, new subscribers, and new customers.

Let’s focus on one type of online community – forums.

A forum basically acts as a type of message board where members can come to post their feelings and opinions as well as seeking out the help of others.

Ok, these are going to seem simple, but skipping just one of them will make all of your efforts futile.

1. Find a forum that gets high traffic and is visited by your target market.

You can do a simple Google search for “[Insert Your Market] forum” to find the major forums.
How do you know if they get a lot of traffic? Simply look at the number of members and how many posts are on the forum.

Also, make sure that it is not against forum rules to advertise in your signature.

2. Join the forum and contribute greatly to it.

Join the forum that you have found and start posting. Answer questions, ask questions, give your opinion, and generally post good quality information.

DO NOT ADVERTISE YOUR WEBSITES! Doing this can get (and often will) get you banned from the forum.

3. Include your website(s) in your signature.

Create a signature that includes your website(s).
Make sure they aren’t overbearing, and at the same time make sure they deliver your message to the other posters.

4. Find another forum and do it again!

You should probably spend on average 10-20 minutes a day on the forum that you have already found, which leaves a lot of time for other forums as well.

Is recommended to find at least two or three other forums as well and repeating the above method.
Once you are more established and are getting steady traffic you can leave this method as it is time-consuming (although it is free).

Also, please have in mind this very important issue: most of online comunities (forums) have a strict private policy and also some clear terms of use. Be sure you read and understand thiose prior to start using your signature .. Some forums an initial activity prior to allow you to start using links in signature ..

Online Communities – How To Get Traffic By Frequenting Forums
Click here to watch the video

�

Today’s Homework

Your homework today is to create your first account on a related to your biz niche.
Do not continue the lessons until you have done so.

�

Valentin Hornicar and Matthew Glanfield

“get paid to write about your favourite subjects”

*********

chapter 7

Generating Traffic – Pay Per Click Methodology

This is the number one question regarding Affiliate Marketing:

“What are the best ways to get high-quality traffic to my website at the lowest cost?”

Traffic is vital to any Internet business. No matter how high your squeeze page conversion rate is, and no matter how good your product is, you won’t be able to build a list or make any sales without traffic.

However, be careful not to get too carried away with traffic generation. Once you start to get traffic to your site you need to focus on improving your visitor-experience rather than getting more traffic.

After a while you will have perfected your website as much as possible, and that is when you can focus more on
generating even more traffic.

This should NOT be the focus until after at least the first few months.

You are about to learn EXACTLY what to do generate traffic

Here it won’t be any theories of what should work or a technique that you can read in some e-book.
Everything contained in the next few lessons are from practical experiences so that you won’t waste your time.

The Pay-Per-Click Methodology

The first source of traffic is my least favorite, but is usually the best when you are just starting. It is
Pay-Per-Click (PPC). The name says it all – you pay for every click-through to your website.

The biggest providers of this service are Google and Yahoo:

Google Adwords

Yahoo Search Marketing

This lesson is going to focus on Google, as it is the biggest PPC search engine and it is an easy and quick way to get traffic to your site.
The only downside is the cost, which can be quite high if you aren’t careful.

However, if you keep track of your conversion rates you can make sure that you are spending less than you are making.

For example, if you sell an e-book for $50 and are paying $0.50 per click to get visitors there, you need to make at least one sale for every 100 visitors just to break even (100 x $0.50 = $50). If you are making more than one sale per 100 visitors then your are making a profit.

At first it will be hard to tell if you are making a profit as you might not have anything to sell. If you are just running the Ask email campaign then you might be wondering how much you should spend to get started.

A healthy amount to pay per subscriber is anywhere below $2 to $3.
So if you are paying $0.50 per click then you should aim for a 15% conversion rate (15% will give you 1 subscriber for every 6 visitors, or in other words, for every $3 that you spend).

Obviously if you pay less per click you will pay even less per visitor, but concentrate more on raising your conversion rates rather than lowering your cost-per-click (CPC), as this should be your long-term goal.

Click here to watch the video

Typically, use Google Adwords to get first 100 signups, and then switch over to other methods (that will be described in future chapters).

However, if you start promoting or selling products and you notice that you are making a profit with Google Adwords, then there is no reason to stop using them at all.

………………………………………….

Your homework: watch the video and create your first Google Ad Campaign.
Do not continue the lessons until you have done so.

Valentin Hornicar and Matthew Glanfield

Financial planning is a thing you want to have set. Why ? Because is
the most important process to determinate your financial goals, purposes, life’s priorities, risk profile, current lifestyle, then mixing all into a set of detailed, balanced and realistic plans to safely meet your goals.

As a small exercise, to warm up before the today “affiliate marketing formula” chapter 6, give your answers to the survey bellow.
Be not worried, is FREE.
You may also read what others have answered.

///////////////////////////

chapter 6

Now that you have your squeeze page set, you are going to set up your first autoresponder message.

Most people will make the mistake of sending out an email like this as the first contact after a sign-up:

Hello [NAME]

Thank you for signing up for my newsletter.
I will be sending you more information on [your subject] over the next few weeks.
Talk to you soon!

John Doe

What’s wrong with this email?

It’s simple – it does not take any advantage of the very first contact with the subscriber.

If you are just starting out in a market, then you need to first do some research into what your visitors are looking for.
For this research there is no tool. Google is useless also.
There’s only one way to do this research – through your very first subscribers.

How about asking your readers what they want and then selling it to them? That is what you are going to do in your very first email to them.

Here is a better example of what you should do:

Hello [NAME]

John Doe here.
I wanted to thank you for requesting more information on [your subject]. It is a very important subject indeed.
Right now I need your help. Could you do me a quick 30 second favor?

I need you to reply to this email and answer this very simple question:

“What is your single most important question regarding [your subject]?”

Just hit “reply” and send your answer back to me. It will help me to deliver information and products to you that you will find most useful.

Thanks in advance!

John Doe

If you are just starting out then you should reply to each email personally and thank them for their question. Let them know that you will be addressing that issue in your future editions.

If you already have a somewhat larger list and won’t have the time to answer each email individually, make sure you add a “P.S. Due to the large number of emails that I receive I won’t be able to reply to your question personally. However, rest assured that I read each and every one of them.”

Yet, do not disconsider the power of intercommunication with your subscriber. Answer to emails as much as is possible. Another good idea may be to build up a survey and ask your subscribers to visit and answer to that.
What is really important is to build for yourself the image of accesibility and interest into provide quality material about subjects your subscrivers are intersted.

Whether you are starting in a new market or you are already established, this is a great way to learn what your readers want and to build a stronger relationship.

Now you may get stuck on some of the technical details, so I wanted to include a video with this lesson:

Setting up your first email, How To Create Your First Autoresponder With Aweber
Click here to watch the videos

Today’s Homework

Your homework today is to set up your first email in your autoresponder sequence.
Do not continue the lessons until you have done so.

Talk to you soon…
Matthew Glanfield and Valentin Hornicar