There will be a million and one affiliates out there who will tell you that the affiliate program they promote is going to be the best one for you.
But have you considered who is really making the money and who gains the most out of affiliate programs.
Let's take a step back and look at the AFFILIATE.
What exactly is the role of the affilate?
* The sole purpose of the affiliate is to PROMOTE the product and/or service
What are the benefits of being an affiliate?
* Get paid a minimal commission that is regulated by the owner of the product/service
In short, As an affiliate it is your responsibility to make someone else rich whilst doing all the hard work. You take on the expenses of advertising, you are the one who usually misses out on subscribers if you haven't first made them your client before they buy the product/service you are promoting.
And all this for what??? Maybe $20 per sale if you are really, really lucky.
You also need to remember that when you are an affiliate, YOU are not the only person promoting that very same product/service.
So what will make your offer any different to someone else who is promoting the exact same product, usually using the same sales technique, offering it at the same price.
To be in the top 5%, which is the amount of affiliates who make more than $100.00 per month, you need to first have a really good, clean, targeted subscribers list of more than 50,000 subscribers, know exactly how to gain targeted traffic, and have a huge advertising budget.
For the other 95%, the only way you are going to make alot of money from and affiliate program is to OWN YOUR OWN.
It really isn't as hard as you might think to set up.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
How To Choose a Dating Service
There are so many dating sites out there, hundreds if not thousands, how do you even begin to decide where to register and start your online dating experience?
You could just pick one at random, create a profile, and sit back and wait for the other members to beat a path to your email inbox. Who knows, you could get lucky and it might work out first time. But even a tiny bit of investigation beforehand could save a lot of time and frustration!
The trick is to be prepared. You probably wouldn't go off to buy a new car and start by trawling around dealerships at random, you would already have an idea as to what sort of car you want ? how big, how fast, how much money you had to spend, and so forth. Based on these criteria you would have a good idea of which car showrooms to visit to find the right sort of vehicle for your particular needs. So the first question to ask yourself, is what do you want out of a dating site? Sounds obvious ? a date! But what sort of date? Are you looking for a serious relationship possibly leading to marriage? Or are you after a casual partner and you'll see where it leads? Or perhaps you just want some uncomplicated fun. The good news is that among the myriad of services out there on the web, there is something to cater for every requirement. Some sites will suit all tastes, but there are many that specialise, and the more specific you are about what you want, the better your chances of finding it.
Before looking at the sites on offer, think about how you will write your personal profile. Jot down a paragraph or two about yourself, your interests, and your hopes for a partner. Then write a few words about what you are looking for in a potential dating match. Doing this offline will help you structure in your own mind what sort of date you are looking for, and then when you go and look at some dating sites, you'll easily be able to pick out those that offer the best chance of providing what you want. The added benefit of course is that when it comes to filling in your profile online, you will be prepared and wont be sat in front of your screen lost for words. Instead your profile will read in a very natural and honest way.
I would always recommend choosing at least two sites to register with and put your profile on, after all, they are almost all free to start with ? you only need decide if you want to pay when and if someone of interest turns up and you want to make contact.
Websites like The Dating WebReview can also save you time. The reviews will quickly give you an idea about the services each dating site offers, and whether they specialise.
Choosing an internet dating site isn't difficult. In the end it comes down to finding one that you enjoy using. After all, if it appeals to your taste, then you already have something in common with the other members.
About The Author:Sara Blackmoore is a relationship counselor and regular contributor to http://www.dating-webreview.com She lives in London, England with her husband and two children.
You could just pick one at random, create a profile, and sit back and wait for the other members to beat a path to your email inbox. Who knows, you could get lucky and it might work out first time. But even a tiny bit of investigation beforehand could save a lot of time and frustration!
The trick is to be prepared. You probably wouldn't go off to buy a new car and start by trawling around dealerships at random, you would already have an idea as to what sort of car you want ? how big, how fast, how much money you had to spend, and so forth. Based on these criteria you would have a good idea of which car showrooms to visit to find the right sort of vehicle for your particular needs. So the first question to ask yourself, is what do you want out of a dating site? Sounds obvious ? a date! But what sort of date? Are you looking for a serious relationship possibly leading to marriage? Or are you after a casual partner and you'll see where it leads? Or perhaps you just want some uncomplicated fun. The good news is that among the myriad of services out there on the web, there is something to cater for every requirement. Some sites will suit all tastes, but there are many that specialise, and the more specific you are about what you want, the better your chances of finding it.
Before looking at the sites on offer, think about how you will write your personal profile. Jot down a paragraph or two about yourself, your interests, and your hopes for a partner. Then write a few words about what you are looking for in a potential dating match. Doing this offline will help you structure in your own mind what sort of date you are looking for, and then when you go and look at some dating sites, you'll easily be able to pick out those that offer the best chance of providing what you want. The added benefit of course is that when it comes to filling in your profile online, you will be prepared and wont be sat in front of your screen lost for words. Instead your profile will read in a very natural and honest way.
I would always recommend choosing at least two sites to register with and put your profile on, after all, they are almost all free to start with ? you only need decide if you want to pay when and if someone of interest turns up and you want to make contact.
Websites like The Dating WebReview can also save you time. The reviews will quickly give you an idea about the services each dating site offers, and whether they specialise.
Choosing an internet dating site isn't difficult. In the end it comes down to finding one that you enjoy using. After all, if it appeals to your taste, then you already have something in common with the other members.
About The Author:Sara Blackmoore is a relationship counselor and regular contributor to http://www.dating-webreview.com She lives in London, England with her husband and two children.
Soccer Livebetting
Live betting is one of the main sources of income for the bookmaker why?
Well before the match starts there is always large publicity about the coming fixtures for Live matches.They are often 2 strong team facing each other and they are most likely to be telecast throughout the world.why? It is because a lot of people likes to bet on sports that they are able to view live especially those recreation punters who gets real kick watching their favourites team play and also big-time soccer punters who bet 30K-50K per match.There is the jalan bet or live betting bet and the half-time bet which make it more interesting and more variety for punters to bet.These live matches are matches where the bookmakers makes lots of money through the vigourish and not forgetting fixed match.
Observations
How to you identify whether the match is fixed?
1.) During the match observe the 1st 10 mins if any team scores, the match it is mostly fixed.They will score at the most unimaginable timing like within 30 seconds or 3 mins are common signs.
2.) Pay attention to the speed of both team players.The team that will lose will tends to run slower than the other team.Another point to note is the team that is fixed to win they will fight with all their might to get to the ball and the one that is fixed to lose {note this also refers to team that gives ball but unable to cover the AH given} will miss even inches infront of the goal post.Sometimes the team that is fixed to lose will even score for the next team that is the own goal or they are extremely disorganised at the defence showing no effort in blocking the strikers attack.
3.)Not all footballers are great actors pay close attention to their body language, they will display great agonies while missing clear cut shots but their eyes are secretly laughing away some even had difficulty in controlling their facial expression ,occasionally they subconsciously look into the camera before diverting their eyes swiftly away.
4.)Coach odds decision to remove key players from the team substituting with a less superior player.consider this why would a coach remove that particular key striker that has just scored the crucial goal and try to defend the 1 goal lead well within the early 50 or 60 mins.
5.) biased refeering decision.legimate goals claimed as off-side, or clear penalty given as no foul are common signs.giving unessary penalty to team that don't deserve it.
What to do when you know its fixed?
1.) Don't bet big when its livematches.Try to observe 1st before you bet then bet during the 2nd half as thats where the bookies tricks reveals itself.
2.) you need to master the art of odds decoding before you are capable of betting big.
3.) Don't fully trust what you see in the 1st half as what is obvious is often a trap.
4.) Do not doubt the odds, the odds posted are often set in a way to trap the average punters ,so try to mold your thinking like a bookie and you will see much clearer.
Best regardsWinder LiaoWinder sportshttp://www.windersports.net/winderexpertsoccerpicks.htm winder expert picks - Asian handicap specialist to european soccer fixtures.
Well before the match starts there is always large publicity about the coming fixtures for Live matches.They are often 2 strong team facing each other and they are most likely to be telecast throughout the world.why? It is because a lot of people likes to bet on sports that they are able to view live especially those recreation punters who gets real kick watching their favourites team play and also big-time soccer punters who bet 30K-50K per match.There is the jalan bet or live betting bet and the half-time bet which make it more interesting and more variety for punters to bet.These live matches are matches where the bookmakers makes lots of money through the vigourish and not forgetting fixed match.
Observations
How to you identify whether the match is fixed?
1.) During the match observe the 1st 10 mins if any team scores, the match it is mostly fixed.They will score at the most unimaginable timing like within 30 seconds or 3 mins are common signs.
2.) Pay attention to the speed of both team players.The team that will lose will tends to run slower than the other team.Another point to note is the team that is fixed to win they will fight with all their might to get to the ball and the one that is fixed to lose {note this also refers to team that gives ball but unable to cover the AH given} will miss even inches infront of the goal post.Sometimes the team that is fixed to lose will even score for the next team that is the own goal or they are extremely disorganised at the defence showing no effort in blocking the strikers attack.
3.)Not all footballers are great actors pay close attention to their body language, they will display great agonies while missing clear cut shots but their eyes are secretly laughing away some even had difficulty in controlling their facial expression ,occasionally they subconsciously look into the camera before diverting their eyes swiftly away.
4.)Coach odds decision to remove key players from the team substituting with a less superior player.consider this why would a coach remove that particular key striker that has just scored the crucial goal and try to defend the 1 goal lead well within the early 50 or 60 mins.
5.) biased refeering decision.legimate goals claimed as off-side, or clear penalty given as no foul are common signs.giving unessary penalty to team that don't deserve it.
What to do when you know its fixed?
1.) Don't bet big when its livematches.Try to observe 1st before you bet then bet during the 2nd half as thats where the bookies tricks reveals itself.
2.) you need to master the art of odds decoding before you are capable of betting big.
3.) Don't fully trust what you see in the 1st half as what is obvious is often a trap.
4.) Do not doubt the odds, the odds posted are often set in a way to trap the average punters ,so try to mold your thinking like a bookie and you will see much clearer.
Best regardsWinder LiaoWinder sportshttp://www.windersports.net/winderexpertsoccerpicks.htm winder expert picks - Asian handicap specialist to european soccer fixtures.
Should You Get A Blog?
A blog is a type of website. It allows the website owner to easily write messages that get posted to the site automatically, often in a journal or diary-like style. A particularly appealing thing about blogs is that your readers can comment back to your posts fairly easily, and a continuous stream of fresh conversations result. (This is a good thing.)
Here are three reasons to consider getting a blog:
1.To Replace Your Ezine
If you currently publish an ezine, you may wish to consider replacing it with a regularly published blog. This means using your blog to publish journal entries, and then when it comes time to communicate with your subscriber list, you excerpt some items from your blog, and send those out as your ezine.
This saves you from creating special articles only for your ezine. In many cases it becomes easier for you to write in blog format (short and sweet) so you save time. Readers enjoy the practical, "reporter-like" nature of blogs instead of ezines, and gradually come to feel that they are in conversation with you on a daily basis. You become part of their everyday circle of friends and associates, which leads to you becoming their natural resource on the topic of your expertise.
2. To Create a Quick and Dirty Learning Environment or e-Campus
For those of you who offer TeleClasses or other programs that want to have a web page of learning resources, links, class notes and audio, etc., a blog can be a great way to bring together an e-Campus.
If you offer a workshop, coaching/consulting, or even a software solution, and you want to instantly add value to your clients, create a "client/student resource page" using a blog. This becomes an environment that the students can play in, study more, and soak up your materials. Your clients continue to benefit from your expertise even though you're not physically there; they do it at their pace, and at little cost to you.
Once again, because blogging makes it easy for you to continually update your website without mucking around with FrontPage or DreamWeaver, you will save time and energy publishing to the Internet.
3.) Just For Fun, And To Be Cool
Let's face it, a large part of the reason you're wondering about blogs is because it sounds cool, right? And new stuff is fun. So why not try it just because? Sometimes it's enough to try something because it stretches you, keeps you limber and awake to possibilities. There's nothing wrong with playing, UNLESS you fool yourself into thinking your business is improving, or you're somehow paying the mortgage while you play.
Rest easy, there's no pressure to get a blog. Not getting one won't negatively impact your bottom line. So although the technology can be entrancing, stay focused... what are you selling to who? How is it going? That said, do stay curious about new technology. Part of your chosen profession as an online biz owner means modeling for others by staying abreast of new things.
With that in mind, see some fun blogs at the blog search engine: http://www.blogsearchengine.com/
Andrea J. Lee coaches entrepreneurs and online business owners. As Thomas J.Leonard's General Manager, she helped build and manage the largest network and trainer of personal and business coaches in the world. Now the CEO of Andrea J. Lee Group of Companies, she writes, speaks and consults on Marketing, Internet and Business systems. For more helpful tips, visit www.39lessons.com
Here are three reasons to consider getting a blog:
1.To Replace Your Ezine
If you currently publish an ezine, you may wish to consider replacing it with a regularly published blog. This means using your blog to publish journal entries, and then when it comes time to communicate with your subscriber list, you excerpt some items from your blog, and send those out as your ezine.
This saves you from creating special articles only for your ezine. In many cases it becomes easier for you to write in blog format (short and sweet) so you save time. Readers enjoy the practical, "reporter-like" nature of blogs instead of ezines, and gradually come to feel that they are in conversation with you on a daily basis. You become part of their everyday circle of friends and associates, which leads to you becoming their natural resource on the topic of your expertise.
2. To Create a Quick and Dirty Learning Environment or e-Campus
For those of you who offer TeleClasses or other programs that want to have a web page of learning resources, links, class notes and audio, etc., a blog can be a great way to bring together an e-Campus.
If you offer a workshop, coaching/consulting, or even a software solution, and you want to instantly add value to your clients, create a "client/student resource page" using a blog. This becomes an environment that the students can play in, study more, and soak up your materials. Your clients continue to benefit from your expertise even though you're not physically there; they do it at their pace, and at little cost to you.
Once again, because blogging makes it easy for you to continually update your website without mucking around with FrontPage or DreamWeaver, you will save time and energy publishing to the Internet.
3.) Just For Fun, And To Be Cool
Let's face it, a large part of the reason you're wondering about blogs is because it sounds cool, right? And new stuff is fun. So why not try it just because? Sometimes it's enough to try something because it stretches you, keeps you limber and awake to possibilities. There's nothing wrong with playing, UNLESS you fool yourself into thinking your business is improving, or you're somehow paying the mortgage while you play.
Rest easy, there's no pressure to get a blog. Not getting one won't negatively impact your bottom line. So although the technology can be entrancing, stay focused... what are you selling to who? How is it going? That said, do stay curious about new technology. Part of your chosen profession as an online biz owner means modeling for others by staying abreast of new things.
With that in mind, see some fun blogs at the blog search engine: http://www.blogsearchengine.com/
Andrea J. Lee coaches entrepreneurs and online business owners. As Thomas J.Leonard's General Manager, she helped build and manage the largest network and trainer of personal and business coaches in the world. Now the CEO of Andrea J. Lee Group of Companies, she writes, speaks and consults on Marketing, Internet and Business systems. For more helpful tips, visit www.39lessons.com
Affiliate Marketing What Is It And Why Use It?
Affiliate Marketing is having Affiliates do your Marketing for you. What I mean by Affiliate is someone who tells people about your product/service and you pay them for a desired response, such as a purchase.
Affiliate Marketing is one of the best ways to get the word out about your product/service.
The best way to pay Affiliates is pay per sale. This means that you only have to pay your Affiliates when they actually make a sale. This reduces your advertising costs dramatically. your Affiliates take on all the risks so you don't have to worry about wasting your money on advertising which may not produce any results.
Using Affiliate is a very cheap way to advertise, however it is very effective. The software required to start up your own Affiliate program can cost only about $50 per month.
Then after that just wait for people to start promoting your product/service for you.
Please remember that 5% of your Affiliates will do 95% of the selling. What I mean by this is that most of your Affiliates will just sit there and do nothing. This can be countered if you teach them what to do, exactly how to do it and providing everything for them so they have to do as little work as possible.
To find out about teaching your Affiliates please see the "How To Super Charge Your Affiliates" article
You don't have to use this form of advertising just to sell your product or service. You can also use it to grow your opt-in mailing list. This is discussed in another article.
How Much Should You Pay Your Affiliates
How much you pay your Affiliates really depends on how much your product/service costs, its profit margin, how much you're willing to give up and what action you want to take place.
Lets say that your product is priced at $100. Lets also assume that it cost you $10 to make it. This leaves you with $90 profit.
How much of this do you want to give away to the person that made this sale possible?
Personally, I believe that you should give a rather high percentage of the profits back to the affiliate (Depending on how many sales they regularly generate), because without them, you wouldn't have made that particular sale at all, so reward them for it.
A fairly decent reward is about 50% of the revenue generated. Your product is priced at $100 so a $50 commission is quite generous. It really depends on your other costs (such as a mortgage) you have, which would help decide on a fair commission to both you and the Affiliate.
Another factor which plays a part is how much additional advertising you do, such as pay per click. For example, if you rely solely on your Affiliates to Market for you, then you may want to reduce the commission you pay to them to help you survive. However, you may want to pay them more, to encourage them to send more sales you way. It really is a judgment call.
On the other hand, if you advertise in other ways effectively, then you can afford to pay higher commissions, because you're not putting all your eggs in one basket.
In the end it's all down to how greedy or generous you are. The best advice I can give you is to pay the affiliate what you think he/she deserves. Hopefully that way everyone is happy and earning their fair share.
That is the key to a successful affiliate program.
By Stephen Warren, the creator of http://www.marketershandbook.com, the completely FREE guide to marketing online, with useful articles and links.
Affiliate Marketing is one of the best ways to get the word out about your product/service.
The best way to pay Affiliates is pay per sale. This means that you only have to pay your Affiliates when they actually make a sale. This reduces your advertising costs dramatically. your Affiliates take on all the risks so you don't have to worry about wasting your money on advertising which may not produce any results.
Using Affiliate is a very cheap way to advertise, however it is very effective. The software required to start up your own Affiliate program can cost only about $50 per month.
Then after that just wait for people to start promoting your product/service for you.
Please remember that 5% of your Affiliates will do 95% of the selling. What I mean by this is that most of your Affiliates will just sit there and do nothing. This can be countered if you teach them what to do, exactly how to do it and providing everything for them so they have to do as little work as possible.
To find out about teaching your Affiliates please see the "How To Super Charge Your Affiliates" article
You don't have to use this form of advertising just to sell your product or service. You can also use it to grow your opt-in mailing list. This is discussed in another article.
How Much Should You Pay Your Affiliates
How much you pay your Affiliates really depends on how much your product/service costs, its profit margin, how much you're willing to give up and what action you want to take place.
Lets say that your product is priced at $100. Lets also assume that it cost you $10 to make it. This leaves you with $90 profit.
How much of this do you want to give away to the person that made this sale possible?
Personally, I believe that you should give a rather high percentage of the profits back to the affiliate (Depending on how many sales they regularly generate), because without them, you wouldn't have made that particular sale at all, so reward them for it.
A fairly decent reward is about 50% of the revenue generated. Your product is priced at $100 so a $50 commission is quite generous. It really depends on your other costs (such as a mortgage) you have, which would help decide on a fair commission to both you and the Affiliate.
Another factor which plays a part is how much additional advertising you do, such as pay per click. For example, if you rely solely on your Affiliates to Market for you, then you may want to reduce the commission you pay to them to help you survive. However, you may want to pay them more, to encourage them to send more sales you way. It really is a judgment call.
On the other hand, if you advertise in other ways effectively, then you can afford to pay higher commissions, because you're not putting all your eggs in one basket.
In the end it's all down to how greedy or generous you are. The best advice I can give you is to pay the affiliate what you think he/she deserves. Hopefully that way everyone is happy and earning their fair share.
That is the key to a successful affiliate program.
By Stephen Warren, the creator of http://www.marketershandbook.com, the completely FREE guide to marketing online, with useful articles and links.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Understanding Internet Banner Advertising
Banner advertising is an effective way of getting your advertising message seen on the Internet. Banner ads should not be your only online form of advertising, but they are an essential part of your online advertising mix.
This article assumes that the reader knows what a banner ad looks like, but do you know how they work, and how you can derive benefit from them? Let's define a few terms before answering these questions.
1. "Page views" or "page impressions." These terms are interchangeable and they refer to the number of times that a page within a website has been displayed on a website.
2. "Banner view." Like a page view, a banner view is the number of times that a banner has been displayed on website.
3. "Click through." A click through is the number of times a website visitor has "clicked" on a particular banner ad and was transferred to the website of the banner advertiser.
4. "CTR." CTR is the acronym for "click through rate," which is the ratio of the number of banner view versus the number of times visitors have "clicked through" to your website. CTR is expressed as a percentage, so a click through rate of 1% means that for every 1,000 banner views, 10 visitors have clicked through to your site.
5. "CPM." CPM is an acronym for "cost per M," where "M" is the ancient Roman numeral for 1,000. Translation: CPM is the price your business will pay to have its banner advertisement displayed 1,000 times on a website, e.g, the cost of 1,000 banner views. So, for example, if the CPM to advertise on a site is $80.00 your business will pay $80.00 for every 1,000 banner views.
6. "ROS." ROS is the acronym for "run of site," which simply means that a banner ad is displayed on every page in a website, as opposed to being displayed only in a particular category of a website or only when a particular keyword is entered into a search engine.
Everyone who is in charge of a advertising or marketing department (that's you if you're the sole shareholder of the company) knows that advertising is, in large part, a numbers game. The more frequently your message is seen or heard, the more likely the consumer is to purchase your service or product. Take Mattress Mac with Gallery Furniture , for example. If you live in the Houston area, or if your radio can pick up the signal of almost any Houston area radio station, you cannot go a single day without hearing or seeing an advertisement for Gallery Furniture. Peppering your senses with constant reminders that "Gallery Furniture Saves You Money!" has enabled Mr. McIngvale to build his single location furniture store into an empire. (Of course, advertising alone won't do it; you still must have a quality product or service). I have no scientific data to support this assertion, but I'll make it anyway: I'm willing to bet that Gallery Furniture is known to more people in the greater Houston area than any other single business. How did that come to be? Mattress Mac understands the advertising numbers game and plays it better than anybody else.
Banner ads are a numbers game. The industry standard click through rate for online advertising in general is around .5%. Not 5%, but .5%. Doesn't sound very encouraging for your banner ad campaign, eh? Well, there are ways to significantly increase the CTR of any given banner. The best way is by targeting a particular banner ad to a narrow audience, an audience that is looking specific for a product or service just like yours. Highly-targeted can boost your CTR to as much as 2%-3% or higher and significantly increase the traffic to your website.
Another valuable purpose of the banner ad is branding. Intertwined with the messages Gallery Furniture delivers about particular sales events or types of furniture is the company's consistent and recognizable logo, color scheme, and tag lines. Your banner advertisements can, and should, perform the same function; they should be designed using your company's logo and colors, at a minimum. Sometimes incorporating the tag line is the way to go, but other times you may want to advertise a particular special offer, product, etc. The important thing is that you take advantage of the numbers game by continually displaying your name, logo, and colors. The more visitors that see you, the more they will come to associate your name with your type of product or service, and the more likely they will be in the future to buy from you.
This article assumes that the reader knows what a banner ad looks like, but do you know how they work, and how you can derive benefit from them? Let's define a few terms before answering these questions.
1. "Page views" or "page impressions." These terms are interchangeable and they refer to the number of times that a page within a website has been displayed on a website.
2. "Banner view." Like a page view, a banner view is the number of times that a banner has been displayed on website.
3. "Click through." A click through is the number of times a website visitor has "clicked" on a particular banner ad and was transferred to the website of the banner advertiser.
4. "CTR." CTR is the acronym for "click through rate," which is the ratio of the number of banner view versus the number of times visitors have "clicked through" to your website. CTR is expressed as a percentage, so a click through rate of 1% means that for every 1,000 banner views, 10 visitors have clicked through to your site.
5. "CPM." CPM is an acronym for "cost per M," where "M" is the ancient Roman numeral for 1,000. Translation: CPM is the price your business will pay to have its banner advertisement displayed 1,000 times on a website, e.g, the cost of 1,000 banner views. So, for example, if the CPM to advertise on a site is $80.00 your business will pay $80.00 for every 1,000 banner views.
6. "ROS." ROS is the acronym for "run of site," which simply means that a banner ad is displayed on every page in a website, as opposed to being displayed only in a particular category of a website or only when a particular keyword is entered into a search engine.
Everyone who is in charge of a advertising or marketing department (that's you if you're the sole shareholder of the company) knows that advertising is, in large part, a numbers game. The more frequently your message is seen or heard, the more likely the consumer is to purchase your service or product. Take Mattress Mac with Gallery Furniture , for example. If you live in the Houston area, or if your radio can pick up the signal of almost any Houston area radio station, you cannot go a single day without hearing or seeing an advertisement for Gallery Furniture. Peppering your senses with constant reminders that "Gallery Furniture Saves You Money!" has enabled Mr. McIngvale to build his single location furniture store into an empire. (Of course, advertising alone won't do it; you still must have a quality product or service). I have no scientific data to support this assertion, but I'll make it anyway: I'm willing to bet that Gallery Furniture is known to more people in the greater Houston area than any other single business. How did that come to be? Mattress Mac understands the advertising numbers game and plays it better than anybody else.
Banner ads are a numbers game. The industry standard click through rate for online advertising in general is around .5%. Not 5%, but .5%. Doesn't sound very encouraging for your banner ad campaign, eh? Well, there are ways to significantly increase the CTR of any given banner. The best way is by targeting a particular banner ad to a narrow audience, an audience that is looking specific for a product or service just like yours. Highly-targeted can boost your CTR to as much as 2%-3% or higher and significantly increase the traffic to your website.
Another valuable purpose of the banner ad is branding. Intertwined with the messages Gallery Furniture delivers about particular sales events or types of furniture is the company's consistent and recognizable logo, color scheme, and tag lines. Your banner advertisements can, and should, perform the same function; they should be designed using your company's logo and colors, at a minimum. Sometimes incorporating the tag line is the way to go, but other times you may want to advertise a particular special offer, product, etc. The important thing is that you take advantage of the numbers game by continually displaying your name, logo, and colors. The more visitors that see you, the more they will come to associate your name with your type of product or service, and the more likely they will be in the future to buy from you.
You Have to Spend Money to Earn Money
surprises me that many people fail to grasp this concept as they first set out to start their own businesses. Thanks to the power of the Internet, anyone who has a computer and an Internet connection can now START their own online businesses with little investment. However, generally speaking, it is a given that you have to invest money into your business to if you seriously want it to grow.
Affiliate marketing is a great way for ordinary people to start making money on the Internet. After finding an affiliate program that offers products you are interested in promoting, you can start an online business with just a website. So your total investment up to this point may simply be registering for a domain name and paying for a web hosting account.
But then what? You have to start marketing the products and getting people to your website! A lot of people are turned off when they discover that this is a demanding process that requires a substantial amount of hard work, time, AND money!
Let me give you a specific example. As all experienced Internet marketers know, "the money is in the list." Simply put, you want to build a mailing list of people who may be interested in what you have to offer.
One of the most effective ways to grow your mailing list is to use a pay-per-lead service where you PAY a company to bring targeted subscribers to you. The company will run an advertising campaign for you and deliver motivated, opt-in subscribers to your list. The cost can vary greatly depending on the information you require. The e-mail lead packages I have been using recently range from $.10 to $.35 per lead.
The best lead provider I have used is TrafficOasis. It provides targeted leads that are fresh, NON-SHARED, responsive, and affordable. If you who like to know more, check out its website: http://www.trafficoasis.com/index.php?118787
Other areas where you MAY want to invest money in include: logo design, web design, web promotion, and useful tools such as a graphics editor and a powerful autoresponder. However, there are plenty of free resources on the Internet and I encourage you to seek them out.
The saying, "You have to spend money to earn money," generally holds true for ANY business! An Internet-based business is no exception,whether your are promoting your own products or someone else's.
It is also important that you re-invest a portion of your profits into your business! That way, not only will your business continue to grow, but its GROWTH RATE will also increase! This in turn brings in MORE profits, which allows you to invest MORE into your business... Do you see a pattern!?
The key is to invest money into your business wisely while staying within your budget. If you believe in your business, you are bound to be successful!
To Your Success! Byron Wong
Visit http://www.internet-home-business.org for the BEST money-making opportunities and internet home business programs! Subscribe to our free newsletter NOW by sending an e-mail to ezine@internet-home-business.org and receive a free gift!
Affiliate marketing is a great way for ordinary people to start making money on the Internet. After finding an affiliate program that offers products you are interested in promoting, you can start an online business with just a website. So your total investment up to this point may simply be registering for a domain name and paying for a web hosting account.
But then what? You have to start marketing the products and getting people to your website! A lot of people are turned off when they discover that this is a demanding process that requires a substantial amount of hard work, time, AND money!
Let me give you a specific example. As all experienced Internet marketers know, "the money is in the list." Simply put, you want to build a mailing list of people who may be interested in what you have to offer.
One of the most effective ways to grow your mailing list is to use a pay-per-lead service where you PAY a company to bring targeted subscribers to you. The company will run an advertising campaign for you and deliver motivated, opt-in subscribers to your list. The cost can vary greatly depending on the information you require. The e-mail lead packages I have been using recently range from $.10 to $.35 per lead.
The best lead provider I have used is TrafficOasis. It provides targeted leads that are fresh, NON-SHARED, responsive, and affordable. If you who like to know more, check out its website: http://www.trafficoasis.com/index.php?118787
Other areas where you MAY want to invest money in include: logo design, web design, web promotion, and useful tools such as a graphics editor and a powerful autoresponder. However, there are plenty of free resources on the Internet and I encourage you to seek them out.
The saying, "You have to spend money to earn money," generally holds true for ANY business! An Internet-based business is no exception,whether your are promoting your own products or someone else's.
It is also important that you re-invest a portion of your profits into your business! That way, not only will your business continue to grow, but its GROWTH RATE will also increase! This in turn brings in MORE profits, which allows you to invest MORE into your business... Do you see a pattern!?
The key is to invest money into your business wisely while staying within your budget. If you believe in your business, you are bound to be successful!
To Your Success! Byron Wong
Visit http://www.internet-home-business.org for the BEST money-making opportunities and internet home business programs! Subscribe to our free newsletter NOW by sending an e-mail to ezine@internet-home-business.org and receive a free gift!
10 Sizzling Tips For Affiliates
10 Sizzling Tips For Affiliates
1. Create an infopacked mini site. Build your mini site for a specific niche audience and then choose affiliate programs specifically for that niche audience.
2. Test and track your ads and promotions for your affiliate programs.
Tracking and testing your ads will show you exactly which ads, promotions and affiliate programs pay off the most for you and are excellent choices for you to continue to promote.
3. Publish an ezine.
Your ezine will give you a powerful way to promote your affiliate programs to your subscribers.
Choose affiliate programs that relate to the content of your ezine and that make it worth your while to promote them.
4. Promote your affiliate programs by recommending their products.
You could recommend your affiliate programs to your ezine subscribers in your publisher's note or you could create a recommended resources section where you promote your affiliate programs in every issue.
You could also recommend your affiliate programs to your visitors by creating a recommended affiliate programs section where you list your favorite affiliate programs along with descriptions of their products or services.
In addition, you could create a best affiliate programs section that helps you build up your second tier by listing the affiliate programs that have paid off the most for you.
5. Write product reviews where you detail the benefits you like about your affiliate program's product.
Make your product reviews honest and hype f~ree and post them on your site along with your other articles.
6. Write your own ads for your affiliate program.
A good way to create your ads is to look at the ad copy on the site of the business you want to promote and also ads they provide for their affiliates to use, and use their unique selling proposition or USP to write your ads.
Their unique selling proposition is a unique benefit that they promote in their ad copy that their competitors don't stress or offer to their visitors.
It could be that their product saves lots of time, is easy to understand, that their product is a complete answer to a problem, or it could involve their price.
Some businesses develop more than one USP so you'll be able to choose the one that you think works best in getting more targeted visitors to their site.
7. Try out the support of the companies you want to promote by asking questions.
This will help you to find out how long it takes them to respond to emails (if they respond to emails) and how professional they are.
8. Create freebies that promote your affiliate programs.
You could offer your visitors a f~ree email course, an ebook filled with your tips or articles or an ebook that provides your visitors with places to promote their businesses.
When creating freebies for an affiliate program that is 2 tier, increase your profits by letting your affiliates in your second tier use your freebies as a promotional item.
9. Create a directory.
Your directory could be an article, ezine, ebook or affiliate program directory.
List your own resources within your directory to increase your commissions. For example, you could add your own affiliate programs to your affiliate programs directory or your ebooks to your ebook directory.
Add a what's new section to your directory to garner more repeat traffic from your visitors.
You could also provide a tutorial on the subject of your directory, or add things to your directory that your visitors can use on a regular basis to get more repeat traffic.
10. Run ezine ads for your affiliate programs.
You could purchase sponsor, feature, classified or solo ads for your affiliate program.
Choose ezines with subscribers targeted to be interested in the products of the business you want to promote.
Run your ads for multiple issues in a row when possible to maximize the profit you get from your ads.
You can also run f~ree ads in ezines as many ezines offerf~ree advertising on a weekly, monthly or per issue basis to get more new subscriptions.
Running f~ree ads can help you find out which ads work best,and which ezines are most responsive before you purchaseezine advertising.
Article by writer, Ken Hill. Get more marketing tips byjoining Ken's Top Notch Marketing Ezine at: http://www.netpromarketer.com/
How I Started My Own Work At Home Internet Business With Very Little Investment!
Have you always wanted to work at home? Have your own business? Didn't think it was possible? No more commuting in traffic (plus gasoline prices right now are ridiculous). No more "business attire" (work in your jammies) and no more Corporate America breathing down your neck. I didn't think it was possible. I had always been a pessimist. Didn't think I could do it. Didn't have the knowledge or skills required.
I had worked in the travel/customer service industry for 25 years. I was laid off over two years ago after 9/11. I submitted my resume to countless job postings with no response. Obviously after awhile I was feeling unwanted, useless, and depressed. No job prospects, no money, no direction. I not only needed an income, I needed a purpose, a reason to get up in the morning other than the cats and bird needed to be fed.
What was I going to do?
The light bulb finally came on in my head and I realized that I had some resources right at home. A computer and internet access. I normally surfed the net to shop (shopping mind you, couldn't afford to buy) and playing computer games to pass the time.
I happened upon an opportunity to take surveys online. Sounded easy enough and for a $35.00 investment to access a database of survey sites I could start making some money. I registered with every survey site listed in that database. A tedious task! In two months time a made $102.50 and a $10.00 gift card. I wasn't going to pay the bills with that kind of money. Back to the same dilemma!
What was I going to do?
I started searching the web for information about working from home. To my amazement there are countless opportunities. Now the question was not if I could have my own business but what kind of business did I want? I'm not a salesman! I didn't want to have to worry about inventory, packaging, shipping, merchant accounts, etc. I had very little money to invest, so my out-of-pocket expenses would have to be low, really low.
What was I going to do?
I found a website which offered me the chance to start my own business with incredibly little cost. The following is what was provided:
1. A domain name registered for $30.00.2. Hosting of my website at a low monthly fee of $24.95. 3. My website was created free of charge which included a free auto responder.4. I had to join five affiliate programs (signup was free) which their links would be placed on my website. These were some of the top affiliate programs (paying good commissions with multiple income streams). I found many favorable recommendations for them at several different websites.5. They immediately got me started on how to build a mailing list fast and how to generate traffic to my website.6. I was provided a home business tips newsletter that goes out to my email list on a daily basis. I don't have to do a thing, it's automatic.7. Plus, I am provided with more tools, tips, ideas and marketing strategies (from well known "Internet Marketing Gurus") than I thought possible. All free of charge.
They've done the research and testing to know what works and what doesn't. Just have to follow their lead. These people give you step by step instructions. Go to any internet marketing website and see how much information is given freely. I think you will be as amazed as I was and still am.
Now don't get me wrong, there are some costs involved. But I'm talking a couple of hundred dollars not thousands! I have been overwhelmed with information, ideas, tools and resources!
No one is going to do it all for you. You will have to spend time learning and working to promote your business. Point is YOU too have the opportunity to become your own boss!
Take action now, don't wait, and grab a piece of the internet boom for yourself. As I said before I was always the pessimist, but now I see a half full cup instead of a half empty one.
Debra Hamer is the owner of the http://profitfromhomebiz.com website where you can find lots of tips, tools and resources for starting your own work at home business.
Visit her PlugInProfitSite at http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/main-4256 to have your own website setup and ready to go within 24 hours, complete with everything you need to start making a profit.
I had worked in the travel/customer service industry for 25 years. I was laid off over two years ago after 9/11. I submitted my resume to countless job postings with no response. Obviously after awhile I was feeling unwanted, useless, and depressed. No job prospects, no money, no direction. I not only needed an income, I needed a purpose, a reason to get up in the morning other than the cats and bird needed to be fed.
What was I going to do?
The light bulb finally came on in my head and I realized that I had some resources right at home. A computer and internet access. I normally surfed the net to shop (shopping mind you, couldn't afford to buy) and playing computer games to pass the time.
I happened upon an opportunity to take surveys online. Sounded easy enough and for a $35.00 investment to access a database of survey sites I could start making some money. I registered with every survey site listed in that database. A tedious task! In two months time a made $102.50 and a $10.00 gift card. I wasn't going to pay the bills with that kind of money. Back to the same dilemma!
What was I going to do?
I started searching the web for information about working from home. To my amazement there are countless opportunities. Now the question was not if I could have my own business but what kind of business did I want? I'm not a salesman! I didn't want to have to worry about inventory, packaging, shipping, merchant accounts, etc. I had very little money to invest, so my out-of-pocket expenses would have to be low, really low.
What was I going to do?
I found a website which offered me the chance to start my own business with incredibly little cost. The following is what was provided:
1. A domain name registered for $30.00.2. Hosting of my website at a low monthly fee of $24.95. 3. My website was created free of charge which included a free auto responder.4. I had to join five affiliate programs (signup was free) which their links would be placed on my website. These were some of the top affiliate programs (paying good commissions with multiple income streams). I found many favorable recommendations for them at several different websites.5. They immediately got me started on how to build a mailing list fast and how to generate traffic to my website.6. I was provided a home business tips newsletter that goes out to my email list on a daily basis. I don't have to do a thing, it's automatic.7. Plus, I am provided with more tools, tips, ideas and marketing strategies (from well known "Internet Marketing Gurus") than I thought possible. All free of charge.
They've done the research and testing to know what works and what doesn't. Just have to follow their lead. These people give you step by step instructions. Go to any internet marketing website and see how much information is given freely. I think you will be as amazed as I was and still am.
Now don't get me wrong, there are some costs involved. But I'm talking a couple of hundred dollars not thousands! I have been overwhelmed with information, ideas, tools and resources!
No one is going to do it all for you. You will have to spend time learning and working to promote your business. Point is YOU too have the opportunity to become your own boss!
Take action now, don't wait, and grab a piece of the internet boom for yourself. As I said before I was always the pessimist, but now I see a half full cup instead of a half empty one.
Debra Hamer is the owner of the http://profitfromhomebiz.com website where you can find lots of tips, tools and resources for starting your own work at home business.
Visit her PlugInProfitSite at http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/main-4256 to have your own website setup and ready to go within 24 hours, complete with everything you need to start making a profit.
How to Booost Your Affiliate Commissions
Affiliate marketing is one tough business. Everyone online today is looking to make or save money in any way they can. In the good old days when internet marketing was in its infancy, most of the people who clicked on your affiliate links used to purchase without a second thought... but, now as times are getting tougher, and visitors getting more cynical, you'll be amazed at the number who won't! Just one flaw in a system and you will find dozens of unscrupulous people waiting to exploit it. Same goes for affiliate commission tracker systems. People who know how to manipulate the system will replace your affiliate ID with theirs and "hijack" your commissions. Most affiliate links are some form or the other of http://www.thesite.com/?YOURID Where your affiliate id is passed as a parameter. A thief has to simply change the "YOURID" part to "HISID" to put your money in his pocket. In other cases, there are visitors to your site who simply can't stand the thought of you "making money off them" so they bypass you by simply chopping off the end of your affiliate link that contains your ID. Instead of buying from http://www.thesite.com/?YOURID -- the bypasser will simply "chop off" the affiliate ID at the end and simply buy from the plain URL http://www.thesite.com/ --without your affiliate ID attached! Bam! you just got cheated out of your rightful commission. Studies have shown that this phenomenon causes about 30% lost sales. By following some of these simple tips you will be able to, if not all, at least confuse most hijackers and, in many cases, often disarm them completely. You might notice i said most and not all. This is because if the hijacker is well versed at html and javascipt he will be able to eventually get to your affiliate link. However, most hijackers are just opportunists who will only act if they see an easy buck and its this segment that we can beat The simplest way to hide your affiliate links is using a javascript redirect page. This is where you hide your affiliate link in a page on your site using a simple javascript that redirects people to your affiliate link. This way your "naked" affiliate link is not exposed in your actual email messages and ezine ads, but, once people get redirected to the true affiliate link.
One possible drawback of this method is that some affiliate programs, like clickbank for example, expose the affiliate link along with your ID in the browser address bar.
So if the viewer is eagle-eyed he will notice that hes been redirected through and affiliate link.A safer method to hide your affiliate links is using a zero-frame or "invisible" frame that masks the affiliate link by making it appear you are sending people to a page on your website. In reality, you are actually sending them to your affiliate link. This technique is also used by many domain redirection service sites. Unfortunately is the user views the source of the page. He know whats that youve loaded an affiliate link. The solution is to use javascript encryption to scramble up the page code. Even though there isn't a 100% perfect solution to this problem, if you want to get paid more often through your affiliate links, make sure it's not obvious you're referring people to an affiliate link. If they can't see that its a affiliate link, lower the possibility of you getting stiffed of your commission. If you are looking for a tool that lets you do all this plus earn affiliate commissions even from those folk who dont click your affiliate link then do check out
One possible drawback of this method is that some affiliate programs, like clickbank for example, expose the affiliate link along with your ID in the browser address bar.
So if the viewer is eagle-eyed he will notice that hes been redirected through and affiliate link.A safer method to hide your affiliate links is using a zero-frame or "invisible" frame that masks the affiliate link by making it appear you are sending people to a page on your website. In reality, you are actually sending them to your affiliate link. This technique is also used by many domain redirection service sites. Unfortunately is the user views the source of the page. He know whats that youve loaded an affiliate link. The solution is to use javascript encryption to scramble up the page code. Even though there isn't a 100% perfect solution to this problem, if you want to get paid more often through your affiliate links, make sure it's not obvious you're referring people to an affiliate link. If they can't see that its a affiliate link, lower the possibility of you getting stiffed of your commission. If you are looking for a tool that lets you do all this plus earn affiliate commissions even from those folk who dont click your affiliate link then do check out
Working With Affiliate Programs
Everywhere you look you see affiliate program offers forevery product or service that you can think of. Some havefully automated systems that sell high volumes of hardproducts all over the world. In case you don't know, "hard"products are those that you can touch...unlike an ebook ordownloadable web template. Many affiliate programs haveseveral thousand affiliates and one or two of the biggercompanies have over one million affiliates.
What are the advantages of joining an affiliate program?
They provide a ready-made business. This is a very big plusfor those people who want to earn some kind of living offthe Internet but lack the knowledge or inclination to set upa business by themselves.
Commissions and rewards are generally good, and the moreestablished programs offer a real chance of advancement tohigher and better-paid levels.
Other affiliates are usually on hand to offer practicalsupport.
What are the limitations?
You are restricted in your promotional activities due to thefact that you do not actually own the affiliate site theygive you. You won't be able to put such things as banners,images, links, meta tags, etc. onto your page.The URL of your affiliate page is often either too long orcontains such awkward things as question marks, which manySearch Engines will not index.
Any promotional ads or articles have probably already beenused by thousands of other people and consequently may havelost its impact, making it more difficult to achieve salesor referrals.
If the program you have joined has not yet establisheditself (or in some cases even if it has), then you mayencounter problems with payments owed to you not beinghonored. You also run the risk of low quality products orsub-standard statistics that do not accurately record howmany referrals or sales you have made.
You may be required to purchase a minimum quantity of theproduct on a regular basis before you start to qualify forcommissions or even before you can become an affiliate.You may not get the technical or affiliate support you mightexpect from the company. This may be due to inadequatestaffing, or the company's negligence.
Other people in your downline do nothing to promote theprogram.
At least four of the above limitations can be overcome witha little time and effort. You could, for example, come upwith fresher ads to promote the program (provided this isallowed).
If the company supplies the email addresses of people inyour downline, then you could offer to help the less activemembers. Very often these people are passive not becausethey are lazy or apathetic but merely because they don'tknow HOW to promote effectively! your guidance could meanthe difference between no sales or referrals and healthydownlines and residual incomes.
As regards promoting your actual page, here are a couple oflittle tricks that should overcome a number ofrestrictions:
Cloak your Affiliate URL to stop hijackers Affiliate MaskerWhile this will not help you to get listed on the majorSearch Engines, it will make your web page easier forprospects to remember and type into their browser's addressbar.
Go to your affiliate page. Place your mouse pointer anywhereon the page and right click once. In the drop-down boxchoose "View Source". This will display the HTML for thepage. Save this to your hard drive as a HTML document usingthe "Save As" function. Upload the page to your web site.If you don't have a web site then get some free web spacefrom one of these:
What are the advantages of joining an affiliate program?
They provide a ready-made business. This is a very big plusfor those people who want to earn some kind of living offthe Internet but lack the knowledge or inclination to set upa business by themselves.
Commissions and rewards are generally good, and the moreestablished programs offer a real chance of advancement tohigher and better-paid levels.
Other affiliates are usually on hand to offer practicalsupport.
What are the limitations?
You are restricted in your promotional activities due to thefact that you do not actually own the affiliate site theygive you. You won't be able to put such things as banners,images, links, meta tags, etc. onto your page.The URL of your affiliate page is often either too long orcontains such awkward things as question marks, which manySearch Engines will not index.
Any promotional ads or articles have probably already beenused by thousands of other people and consequently may havelost its impact, making it more difficult to achieve salesor referrals.
If the program you have joined has not yet establisheditself (or in some cases even if it has), then you mayencounter problems with payments owed to you not beinghonored. You also run the risk of low quality products orsub-standard statistics that do not accurately record howmany referrals or sales you have made.
You may be required to purchase a minimum quantity of theproduct on a regular basis before you start to qualify forcommissions or even before you can become an affiliate.You may not get the technical or affiliate support you mightexpect from the company. This may be due to inadequatestaffing, or the company's negligence.
Other people in your downline do nothing to promote theprogram.
At least four of the above limitations can be overcome witha little time and effort. You could, for example, come upwith fresher ads to promote the program (provided this isallowed).
If the company supplies the email addresses of people inyour downline, then you could offer to help the less activemembers. Very often these people are passive not becausethey are lazy or apathetic but merely because they don'tknow HOW to promote effectively! your guidance could meanthe difference between no sales or referrals and healthydownlines and residual incomes.
As regards promoting your actual page, here are a couple oflittle tricks that should overcome a number ofrestrictions:
Cloak your Affiliate URL to stop hijackers Affiliate MaskerWhile this will not help you to get listed on the majorSearch Engines, it will make your web page easier forprospects to remember and type into their browser's addressbar.
Go to your affiliate page. Place your mouse pointer anywhereon the page and right click once. In the drop-down boxchoose "View Source". This will display the HTML for thepage. Save this to your hard drive as a HTML document usingthe "Save As" function. Upload the page to your web site.If you don't have a web site then get some free web spacefrom one of these:
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