amchee's Blog

There are certain ways of doing anything. When it comes to affiliate marketing in particular, you can choose to do it half-heartedly or you can go all-out and do it right. Work your affiliate programs by slamming a ton of banners on a page and waiting for the money to roll in is both a waste of your time and a disservice to the affiliate program owner you're working for. You may as well not even do it.

Work your affiliate programs like they actually mean something to you and your business; with all your knowledge and effort, and you're going to be on the road to collecting a good deal of commissions. Just like anything, there are ways of doing things that are going to prove to your web site or blog visitors that you are an expert at what you're taking about. Use your expertise about the product you're promoting and speak to them as a friend. After all, PRE-Selling a product is nothing more than being able to articulate how wonderful something is to someone else, as one trusted friend to another. It's not a hard thing to learn, but is a skill you must master that is not being taught as widely as it needs to be. People want to be able to trust others. Cynicism runs rampant in the Internet marketing world. There are far too many scammers out there making us good guys look bad. You primary job is to be that one voice crying out in the wilderness that changes that cynicism to trust. It's about being real and not a salesman. People can smell a salesman a mile away and they stink.

Here are 5 ways to work your affiliate marketing programs as an expert:

1. PRE-Sell - Find your own voice. Don't write like everyone else. You do not want to come off as just another carbon-copy salesman. You need to convey to your visitors that you care about them (it helps if you do). You need to have a passion to truly help other people. That can be understood in how you write. Sincerity is a trait sorely lacking in Internet marketing. You need to learn the mandatory skill of writing to PRE-Sell. Your job is to PRE-Sell the product and it is the job of the stores' landing pages to close the sale. Tell your visitors of your experiences and share stories. People appreciate being spoken to as an old friend sitting around the dining room table with a cup of coffee. Which lead to....

2. Have Product Experience - Whenever possible, own the product or work with the service you're promoting. This allows you to speak as that expert with first-hand experience. Your passion for that fantastic product will shine through. You want your readers to get as excited as your are about the product. You're not going to want to promote something that isn't any good, no matter how high the commissions, right? Um....right?? This can only come by owner the product yourself. Plus, you'll wind up with something really cool! ;)

3. Follow Your Niche - If you're web site or blog that has to do with cellular phones, don't join and promote an affiliate program for riding lawnmowers. You are not going to get your most wanted response that way, which is the click. Keep your subject matter and your affiliate programs in line with one another.

4. Deep Link - Let's use the cell phone scenario and say that you've got a page or a blog entry about the Apple iPhone and you have an affiliate association with a large on-line cell phone store. When you're figuring out which of their affiliate text links, banners or other creative to use, make sure you are able to deep link to the page or pages about Apple iPhones. You want to put your potential customer where they want to be. Don't just link to the cell phone stores home page. That is like leading them out into the woods and then dumping them. Don't make them search for that Apple iPhone information, lead them directly to it via your deep-linking affiliate link. That way will convert much better for you.

5. Work with The Affiliate Program Owners - They want to sell their products as much as you do. Even more. Don't be afraid to contact them and voice your concerns, opinions and needs. Any affiliate program that is worth promoting will welcome your input. They will want to work with you. You'll be able to tell who is worth working with and who is not. Do they have a large selection of creative to use? Do they offer attractive commission payouts (I tend not to take anything that pays out 2% of a sale or less) and long-term cookies? Do they allow deep linking with a bunch of pages to choose from? Is their affiliate program control center attractive and easy to use? Do they keep you informed via email about upcoming promotions and ways to help you make better conversions? If all that is being done, you should be working with them as best you can. They are obviously putting their best foot forward for you and their customers. If not, drop them and move on. They should always be there to help you in any way they can.

There you have it. Those are a few of the ways to work an affiliate program for all it's worth. If you want the money (a no-brainer), learn all you can, work hard, work smart and don't give up. Your failure or success is entirely dependent on you. Here's to your success!

Tony Thomas owns http://www.romantic-oregon-coast.com and http://small-biz-blog.net).

I guess this is kind of a follow up to that last article I wrote, ‘You Have to Have a Salable Item to Make Money Online’, but the bottom line really is that you have to have to sell something to make money online.

The money isn’t just going to fall into your lap, or fall off of a tree, no matter what the charlatans online keep telling you. It just isn’t going to happen.

But there is another, deeper element. How do you make the really big bucks online? Selling just one product? Nope? You see, once someone buys something from you, and they like it, and it meets their expectations, then they will buy more from you. Some people have bought as many as 8-10 of my products. Many times they buy one item to try me out and within a few weeks, they have bought everything I sell, and enrolled in my coaching program.

Would I make as much money if I had only one product? That is a no-brainer. Of course I would not.

So what makes you think you can do it with just one product?

I set mine up as a sales funnel. I start with a less- expensive product, then I upsell people to bigger and deeper products as they gain faith and trust in me.

To do that, create a product. Make that your entry-level product. Expose everyone on your list to that product. Then create another product. Then expose everyone who has bought your first product, to that product. And so on. Each product you create should be bigger, better, and more expensive than the previous product. Each product should overdeliver.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, ‘Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide‘

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.

Note: One of the biggest challenges real estate investors face is finding the money to fund those first few deals—even when they have some cash themselves. I sat down and talked with Russ Whitney, internationally known and respected leader in the real estate investment and financial training field, and here is his advice:

Jordan Taylor: I recently heard from a new investor who was buying a property at below-market value and had a 5 percent down payment, but the bank said because it was an investment, the down payment needed to be 20 percent. What would you suggest that she do?

Russ Whitney: She needs to shop around for a different lender. She probably went to a branch of a mega-bank that has very strict rules and the people in the branches do not have the authority to operate outside those rules. Another lender may look at the deal far more favorably.

What's very important to always keep in mind is that when you take out a loan, the lender is not doing you a favor. The lender is going to make money on the deal through the interest on the loan and various other fees, such as points and closing costs. You're the customer, and you should be treated that way.

JT: If the bank is going to make money on the deal, why do they turn down loans?

RW: Because they have to be sure they will make money on the deal. Banks make money on loans that are paid back on schedule, so they have rules and policies that are supposed to help assure that they make good loans. Unfortunately, sometimes strict rules don't allow a bank the flexibility to work with a creative real estate investor. But just because one bank turns you down doesn't mean you can't get the deal funded. That's why you need to look at other lending options.

JT: That's easy for you to say--your name is Russ Whitney and people are probably lining up to give you money. What's the best way for an ordinary person to do that?

RW: I recommend dealing with a good mortgage broker. Their job is to bring borrowers and lenders together, and they only get paid when the loan closes. They are a tremendous resource for real estate investors because they do all of the loan shopping for you, and the lender pays their commission. A sharp mortgage broker will help you structure the deal and then take it to the right lender.

JT: What do you mean by "the right lender"?

RW: Not all lenders are the same. They have different requirements, they like different types of deals. Traditional banks, for example, are very concerned with how much cash you're putting into the deal and your credit rating. A hard money lender focuses on the value of the property and the loan-to-value ratio. Also, different lenders offer a range of terms. Some want the loan paid back quickly, perhaps within a year, others will go for much longer terms. The broker is also going to consider the lender's fees and other policies, and make sure it's all consistent with your goals.

JT: How do you find a good mortgage broker?

RW: Start by checking the yellow pages of your local telephone directory. Many brokers will advertise in the real estate classified section of the daily paper or in the weekly shoppers and real estate publications. If you're active in your local real estate investors club--and you should be!--you'll probably meet brokers there, or you can network with other investors to find out who they use.

Sit down with the broker and explain your investment strategy and goals. Ask if he works with lenders who want to fund the kind of deals you want to do. The broker should be enthusiastic and positive about what you're doing--if you sense that he's being negative, find another broker.

JT: Any other advice?

RW: Don't give up. There is plenty of money out there to fund real estate deals. If you've put together a good package the way we teach, you can get it funded.

Jordan Taylor is the editor of Millionaire Mentor™ Newsletter, which is published by Whitney Education Group, Inc.™ To sign up for a free subscription, visit http://www.russwhitney.com

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