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Whats
the Buzz About?
I made $5,000 in one week
I quit my job and spend
more time with my kids
It sounds too good to be true, but if youre serious
about working from home and you dont have a lot of money to start than keep reading
What
IS an Affiliate?
Basically, an Affiliate is an individual that is willing
to market and promote another company in exchange for a commission.
An
affiliate is NOT an employee of the company. There are no guarantees of earnings
in most cases, and there are various methods of determining payments.
In
most cases, the company presents the affiliate with a link to its site that has
a special code. When this link is promoted and customers click on that link, the
company can trace any sales or leads back to the affiliate. Commissions can be
made either way depending on the nature of the business. Good affiliate programs
will offer a period of time in which, if the customer does not purchase the first
time, but comes back within that period (even through another link) the original
affiliate gets the credit.
How Do I Choose a Program?
Typing affiliate
program or affiliate program directory into a search engine will give you millions
of suggestions. Some directories can give you advice or recommendations. If you
are new to affiliate programs, it may be wise to stick with the free applications.
Dont worry, many, if not most, are free to join.
Select a program you are
interested in yourself. If feasible, try the product or service personally. It
always makes for a better sale if you can give personal testimony to the offer.
Try testing its popularity by checking the keywords at Overture, http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/.
By typing the words you think a person interested in your product or service would
use when searching, you can see how many people have actually searched for it.
How
Do I Promote It?
Easily!
1) List your company (being sure to use
your affiliate link) in free classifieds. Again, these are easily found in the
search engines. Try for 20 and keep adding on.
2) Determine who your market
isbusiness people? Mothers? Car enthusiasts? Or those interested in health and
fitness? Look for forums (public chat areas) or sites that cater to these individuals.
Forums are great for connecting with people and building rapport, but be very
cautious. Read some of the posts before making one of your own. In many cases
there are strict rules about advertising, and you should respect that. View it
as a social gathering and keep it light. This is where a personal recommendation
would go over much better.
3) Write an article about the topic. A brief
article 500-1000 words is perfect. Avoid advertising too blatantly. Some ezine
(Electionic Magazine) submission directories will not allow articles that are
too obvious. Creating a How To or 10 Ways to would be a good way to start. You
can then either incorporate your affiliate link in the article, or more likely,
at the end when you create your authors credits. Submit your article to ezine
directories (try for at least 50). For more information on writing ezines go to
http://affiliate-start.com/ezine1.htm.
4) Join a traffic exchange program
like TrafficSwarm. You can join for free and create a classified style add with
a link to your site. By clicking other peoples links you will collect points.
Your points will mean your ad is being shown to others in the program who will
view it. To see how it works go to http://www.trafficswarm.com/go.cgi?287887.
5)
Search for newsletters catering to your market (see #2). Search for business newsletter
etc. Subscribe to several and if you feel they are appropriate, contact them offering
either your article for their use, or to check out the process for advertising
in their newsletter. This method can reach thousands of people that have enough
interest to subscribe and read a newsletter about that topic.
A Word To
the Wise
Be very careful to avoid spamming. This means advertising to individuals
through their email when they have not given permission. This includes email blasting
and safelists. This can potentially include newsletters too, so verify their methods
of getting subscribers before advertising.
Enjoy Your Success
If
you follow these five steps, you should be certain to draw a handsome commission
from your chosen program. We wish you success! Cyprian
and Shannon Emmanuel run several online business and share valuable tips and recommendations
on starting a home business at www.Affiliate-Start.com. |
