Top 3 Affiliate Marketing Benefits and the Horrors of Working For Someone Else

April 21, 2012 By 40 Comments

My boss won't listen to me psst... They never willIt’s an honest question but one that I usually answer for friends, family and people who just want to know more.

So let me recap my opinion on the 3 top benefits of affiliate marketing.

#1.  Making money from home:

I get to make money from home with affiliate marketing.  I can sit at my desk, stand, take my laptop outside in the sun and work on my business without even putting on clothes if I want to (sorry for the scary visual).

I never get up to go to a job (see the about Michael Brown segment to see how much fun I had there).

I never have to drive into a place that I loathe and don’t want to be at.

I never worry if I’ll show up on time or get fired for not showing up on time.

So I’d have to list making money from home as the #1 benefit to the affiliate marketing model.

#2.  Freedom as my own boss:

One of the things that used to drive me crazy when I worked a day job was giving great ideas I had to my bosses.  Sometimes they would use these ideas and use them as their own and glorify themselves in the credit.

Other times they’d ignore the ideas and not even give them a try.  Though they preached outside the box thinking, they never lived it.  Do you ever feel like that?

With affiliate marketing you can work at home and you get the freedom to try different things out.  If they don’t work, move on.  If they do work you are rewarded by making more money.  How many times have you been at your day job and been handed a raise because you came up with a cool idea?

So not only do you work for yourself but you also get to make your own choices.  How many awesome ideas are in your head?  You probably have a bunch of awesome ideas and my guess is you’d like to test them out.

Let me recap a personal story about the red tape at a day job.  I know I know you probably just want me to get to the point but just read this.

I used to fix drugstores up for the company I was working as a manager for and I’d go in, make them more profitable and then get shipped out to do it all over again.  The final store I was assigned to (before I quit) was a very upscale store and a very nice area filled with rich folks.

Well, some of the layout in the store was not geared toward the wealthy.  It was strewn with things they didn’t want like plastic furniture and things that just didn’t sell well.

One of the big arguments that always came up between me and the bosses was getting the right wine into the store.  In fact, we didn’t even carry a single bottle over $25.  Doesn’t make sense in a wealthy area right?

If someone wanted an expensive bottle you couldn’t just get them to buy 3 cheaper bottles to add up to the same dollar amount.  It doesn’t quite work that way.

It reminded me of this scene from Meet The Parents:

I would get 3-4 people per week asking for a $50.00 bottle of wine or even more premium and we simply never had it in stock.  My thought; if they want to buy it why don’t we have it in stock?  I know, logical.

So I made dozens of calls to try to get the plans changed to incorporate at least a few decent bottles of wine that the wealthy would buy.  Finally after about a year someone listened to me and let me order several expensive bottles to go with the current low to mid-range wines we had in stock.

I was all excited (yep, I have issues) that I was finally going to be able to give the people what they wanted.  So I called up the wine rep and told him and he was excited to. I placed an order for $2000 worth of wine and waited for the delivery.  This was just a modest test collection to see how well it would sell.

The day finally came when the wine shipment came in.  I cleaned off an end cap (those displays at the end of every freaking aisle with sale signs all over them in every retail store) to display my new prized possessions to the population who I knew would go nuts for this stuff.

Then Disaster Struck & Reality Set In….

The wine rep came in and we tried to scan the bottles of wine in.  No luck.  It was telling us that none of the bottles were authorized.  So I called my boss, then his boss and then his boss and all of them told me the same thing……“why did you order that?”

I proceeded to remind them that they had all authorized it and the city this was in, wanted it!  It didn’t do any good.  They didn’t care and I had to tell the wine rep he had to wheel all of this back out to the truck because my bosses apparently didn’t want me to get the shipments after all.  He of course left my store confused and probably wondering what was wrong with the company I worked for.

Two weeks later we had a meeting explaining how we all need to start thinking outside the box more…. (I’ll save this story for another day as it’s probably a lot to take in or even perhaps all-to-familiar?)

With affiliate marketing I never have this issue.  In fact, most merchants want to work with you and help you make more sales.

#3.  More time with family and friends

One thing I always lacked working for someone else was control when and where I wanted to do things.  This often meant almost no time for family and friends.  It also meant working overtime, working weekends, working holidays and many times I didn’t get a choice in the factor.  I simply had to do whatever my 8000 bosses wanted (it was really 4-5 direct bosses but it felt like 8000) but enough to drive me crazy.

Do you ever feel like that?

Free time is important and yes in the beginning to get started with affiliate marketing you’ll have to give some of that up.  But, once you start making a passive residual income it frees up your time.  You can work on your business at 2 a.m. or 2 p.m.   You get to choose exactly what you do and when you do it.

This means I don’t work on Christmas, New Years Eve (or day), Easter, Thanksgiving or really anytime I just do not feel like it.

This is all possible because of these awesome benefits of affiliate marketing.

Are you currently involved in affiliate marketing?  Have a funny or interesting workplace horror story?  Share with us below.

*Awesome image created an copyrighted by andrewgenn @ fotolia.com

Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing Business Model Explained

April 16, 2012 By 7 Comments

affiliate marketing business model exampleWhat is the affiliate marketing business model?

It’s simple really.

Affiliate marketing means promoting someone else’s product or service and making a commission on anything anyone buys.  This is also most typically done by having a website.

I don’t want you to think of this in a door-to-door sense.  For instance this doesn’t involve going to someone’s home, knocking on the door and trying to get them to buy something.

What I am talking about actually makes more sense.

In affiliate marketing our objective is to drive targeted (free or paid) traffic to those websites.  Sales commissions for us occur when someone clicks on one of our links and purchases something.

Notice a distinct difference here?

We’re not bothering people.  We’re giving interested people exactly what they want instead. 

I don’t want to sound like a broken record here and I’ve mentioned the affiliate marketing business model in several of my posts, but let me recap it all again for you if you’re new here.

Here is how we make money with affiliate marketing.

#1.  Find a niche market to get involved in.  (Niche means smaller part of a large market).

#2.  Build a website based around that topic or type of product.

#3.  Promote products on our sites using affiliate links.  When someone buys something through these links we get paid.

#4.  Build backlinks and get other people to do it for us and rank in the search engines for various keywords based on our market.

#5.  Once that website starts making steady money we build it larger so it makes more money or build additional income streams by building more websites.

It’s really not complex and I believe everyone under the sun can do this.  You just have to work at it, try to actually do something and get a mentor by taking some paid online training.

I offer training at Niche Blitzkrieg that covers this exact business model.

There are some various misconceptions with affiliate marketing however.

A). Affiliate marketing is impossible if you’re on the outside and have never done anything like that before.  

If that were true I wouldn’t be typing this post to you today.  I started from scratch with no experience which may be the very place you’re at today.

B). You need to be a techie or some crazy degree.

This isn’t true at all.  I am horrible with techie stuff.  I have no clue what a lot of Internet jargon even is.  I have no clue how to program anything at all.

If you can type, point and click a mouse and can learn how to read simple number graphs you can make money online.  I think 99% of mankind falls into this category.

C). Click a few buttons and you’re rich.  This is the opposite end of the spectrum.  There are people who try to teach newbies that you click some buttons and get rich.  That type of stuff is pure BS. 

If that was true I wouldn’t even bother typing this kind of stuff out to help you.  I’d simply pay someone to just keep clicking buttons so I can stack my bank account.

The truth is, like everything, you’ll need to pursue getting better at it.  Sure you can make money in your first day, first week and a decent amount in your first month even.  But, the big bucks come to those who are willing to learn and make it happen.

Ignore the lies and gimmicks.

Finally, everything with making money online is all about making your first $1.  It becomes clear and much easier after that.  Then you simply rinse and repeat the system over and over again to turn that $1 into $100 and that $100 into $1000 and that $1000 into $100,000.  You get the point.

It all will take some work on your part but when you have a support group helping you and other people around you willing to do so it makes life even easier and that is one of the main reasons I started this blog and my business a few years ago.  To help and give back are more of what my mission is.

I remember what it was like to start out.  I also remember what it was like when nobody helped or really gave a damn.

One thing I enjoy is the fact that over the last few years I built a community of members that really genuinely care about each other.  I have yet to find that anywhere else online…..

On a final note let me tell you who making money online using the affiliate marketing business model is NOT for.

People who are looking for get rich schemes.  If this is you, change now or you’re in for a long hard winding road of disappointment in any online or OFFLINE venture that you get into.

People like Richard Branson, Oprah, Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg and even the less successful people in the world but are still living comfortably all have in common one thing.

The worked at whatever their passion was.  They never looked for something where you click a mouse and angels begin singing your name and throwing you money from the sky.  They realized that these things do not exist.

I hope you do too.

Thoughts?  Add them below.

P.S. I'll like add a cool diagram in a few days.

Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

The Best Affiliate Programs

April 4, 2012 By 20 Comments

Below is a video I shot that I think will really help you decide what the best affiliate program is for your visitors.  I've also included a time stamped by-the-minute practically verbatim transcript of the video.

 

 

Hi, Michael Brown here, and I have a special presentation today, and I want to talk to you about what the best affiliate programs are for your website.  And one of the things we often do—we look at it the wrong way.  Instead of saying, “What is the best affiliate program?”  We should be saying, “What is the best affiliate program for my subscribers or for my website visitors?” 

Because when we’re giving them what they want, we’re giving them exactly what they want, they’re going to be more likely to buy from us, and too often we look at it and say, “What’s going to make me the most money?” or “What is going to promote and convert the best.”

If you’re giving them what they want, it’s going to convert better than anything else, so you have to give them what they want.

So rather than think about what’s going to make you the most money, think about what they want and what you can do to ultimately help them.

So what I always do, I look at it this way.

[00:01:00] Every time I look at getting an affiliate program for any website, it could be a website I’m promoting multiple affiliate programs on, it could be—I could have different, various styles of advertisements on there.  But what I ultimately look at that helps me the most is I say, “What will help my readers the most?  What are they interested in?” 

 

Because if you’re not providing what they’re even interested in…..

 

You’re not going to make that much money with your website.  You’re just thinking about yourself and you’re really thinking about the wrong aspect.  You need to really think about what they are, what they have a desire for, what they’re interested in, and ultimately, what can solve a problem, a need, or provide an entertainment value for them?

So those are usually the three things I look at, and in that last one there, those are the three areas I always look at.  Is there a problem in that niche market?  Can I solve a need for them?

 [00:02:00] And if it’s more of an entertainment style like a gaming niche or something like that, does it provide the entertainment value they’re looking for?

 

Always think about yourself last.  Now, ultimately, yes, you have to make money with whatever you’re promoting, and that’s going to happen, though, if you focus on those things I just talked about.  You’ll make more money in the long run when you put yourself last and you put your visitor first because if you’re giving them what they want, again, it’s going to convert anyway, and you’re going to make the most money you can with your website.

Also, when you’re putting content up on your website, always think about good content.  The best content you can put out, because the better the content is that you put up for them, like if you’re answering questions they have, if you’re taking care of needs that they have, your promotions will convert better because they’re going to say, “Hey, I’m getting this good free stuff here.

[00:03:00] This product this person’s promoting must be pretty darn good.”

Now let’s look at some quick misconceptions about different affiliate programs.  The #1 misconception I see quite often is reoccurring programs make you the most money.  While reoccurring programs can make you a lot of money and they can grow over time to keep making you money, it’s not always best for your website.  It’s not always best.  Sometimes other things convert better.  So it’s not true that reoccurring programs will always make you the most money.

Sometimes it can be trial offers.  But then again, maybe a trial offer doesn’t convert at your website.  And if you don’t know what I mean by a trial offer, it could be anything that has a $1 trial period or a $4.95 trial period, and then the customer automatically gets rebilled….

[00:04:00] …or something along those lines, even if it’s just they get rebilled once, I do that with some of the programs that I have; I put a trial period of $1, and then the customer can get rebilled, or I put a trial period of $4.95 and the customer can be rebilled.

 

These work on some sites.  Other sites, they don’t.

 

Expensive products do not convert well.  Again, that’s not necessarily true because if you remember back to what I was just talking about moments ago, sometimes if you have to test the value of what your visitor is looking for.  If an expensive product is on your website that you’re promoting, but it’s exactly what your visitor’s looking for, that could probably convert well for you.  So it’s not always true that the expensive products don’t convert very well, or that you get a lower percentage.  Give your customer what they’re looking for or website visitor what they’re looking for, and you have a good chance to convert that.

 

And you’ll never make enough money…

 

[00:05:00] …promoting inexpensive affiliate products.  That’s not really true.  I’ve had several small affiliate products I’ve promoted in the past that could be between 5 & 10 dollars that I was making on each of them, and that would add up to over $1000 for that particular product each month.  So it’s not always true that the inexpensive products don’t convert well if your list is looking for inexpensive products, or if your website visitors are looking for inexpensive products, then give them what they want.  So if you’re in a market where maybe your visitors don’t have a lot of money, sometimes you’ll never convert those expensive products, and you have to promote the inexpensive affiliate products to make money with that style of website.

But ultimately, out of those four factors, test.  Test different products to see what converts the best.  And once you find the one

[00:06:00] that converts the best use it.  It’s a very, very simple concept. 

 

But most people refuse to test different products on their website…..

 

……and so they ultimately never know what will convert the best.  They just accept the conversion rates they’re getting.  So test the affiliate programs.  Test different ones, test different things as long as it makes sense for your customer, and as long as you’re asking how it will help them, first, and if your product that you’re putting on there can help them, you have a good chance to convert it.  But just test the different styles, and you’ll have a better chance for success.

I want to thank you for watching this.  Again, I’m Michael Brown.  I really look forward to seeing you soon, and have a fantastic day.

What do you think?  What are your experiences?  Let me know!

Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing, General, Website Building Tagged With: ,

Step By Step Affiliate Marketing Is The Key

March 23, 2012 By 1 Comment

step by step affiliate marketing walkthroughYou’re here because you want to learn about affiliate marketing.  It’s because of affiliate marketing I was able to leave my stressful job in 2008.  I now enjoy working in the comfort of my own home. 

I’ll be honest I LOVE my lifestyle and I LOVE affiliate marketing.

What is affiliate marketing exactly?

Affiliate marketing is essentially promoting someone else’s products and/or services and earning a commission.  As an affiliate you basically act as a 3rd party in promoting these items.

What items can be affiliate products?

 

 

ANY!  In fact, many of the biggest retailers have affiliate programs including but not limited to Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Staples and Bow flex, just to name a few.  There are thousands of online merchants with affiliate programs in fact.  Plus, new niche markets pop up every single year.

Where do you find these merchants?

You find these online merchants in Free Affiliate Networks.  These networks look for people like us who are interested in promoting products we can earn commissions off of.

The amount of commissions you can earn can vary greatly from merchant to merchant.  Some merchants pay you anywhere from 10-20%, while others can pay 50% or more.

How do you get paid by these merchants?

The networks collect the money and pay you.  They will pay you either directly into your bank account, into a Paypal account or send you a check.  You can also do this in nearly every single country.

Here’s the step by step explanation.

In order to get started in making money online this way you need to do the following.

Research – You’ll need to find a niche market that you can get into and earn money in.  I set up a series of free training videos at my site for free affiliate marketing training if you’ve never tried this, start there.

Build a website – Relax, it’s easy.  It’s not like it was many years ago where you had to actually know how to ode everything.  Now everything is done with a WYSIWYG editor, which stands for What You See Is What You Get.

This allows you to build a website using free templates, without having any prior experience.  I also give some pointers about building a website based on a topic or a product here.

It’s important to write good content on your website so that it will attract sales and attention from visitors.

Add affiliate products or pay per click programs – Once you start building your website you can start adding affiliate products to our webpages.  Anytime someone buys one of these through you, you earn money.  Pay per click programs like Google AdSense will actually pay you per click when a visitor clicks your ad.

Drive traffic – Now you’ll want to start sharing your website with the entire Internet.  You can do this in many ways including with online article directories, social sites like Facebook and Twitter, in various forums, answer sites, and more.

You will start rising in the search engines, like Google, for your relevant keywords that people search for and ultimately start making sales through your website as visitors start coming in.

This is of course a much abbreviated step by step affiliate marketing walkthrough.  It’s impossible to do it justice inside of a simple blog post but if you’re interested in getting started I offer two ways to do this.

The free way by joining here….

Or

The paid route with hands on help every single step of the way.  If you want all the help you need to make money online with affiliate marketing get started here.

The above is also a very do this, do that type of step-by-step system for learning how to use affiliate marketing to make money.

Have you tried affiliate marketing yet?

Do you have any experience with making money this way yet?

Are you nervous to try it?  Have doubts?  Concerns?  Or have any other thoughts?

Leave them below!

Filed Under: Affiliate Marketing, Internet marketing Tagged With: , ,
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