Affiliate Classroom Blog

Find CPA Success in the May Issue of Affiliate Classroom Magazine

Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 7:10 pm by Evelyn Grazini, AC Student and Staff Writer

The May issue of Affiliate Classroom Magazine is now available!  Here’s all the information you need on CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) offers, how to get accepted, how to be successful with them and more.

Here’s what’s inside:

CPA Manager and Affiliate Interview: Be a fly on the wall as Helen Montgomery, editor of Affiliate Classroom Magazine, interviews Stephanie Bernier, affiliate manager for Primary Ads, and Gauher Chaudhry, a very successful CPA affiliate and author of the home study course, The Pay Per Click Formula.  She’ll ask questions about CPA marketing; the relationship between the affiliate manager and the affiliate; and gain further insight into CPA marketing.

Dear Miss Management - Advice for CPA Managers: Everyone needs some good advice sometimes, and from what we read on blogs in our industry, it seems like the time is right to launch an advice column for affiliate managers.  Our first manager wants advice on working with affiliates who want to know what the best offers are, vs. the network manager who wants to push offers with the biggest override. Here’s what you SHOULD do!

What CPA Networks Want - Rachel Honoway explains why CPA Networks can be very selective about which affiliates are approved for their very lucrative offers, and how you can easily get past the gatekeeper by doing just one thing – the right way!

Download your copy today!
 

Permalink  2 Comments »  Filed under: Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Classroom Magazine

The Weeks Top Affiliate Marketing News Stories (May 14, 2008)

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 2:56 pm by Evelyn Grazini, AC Student and Staff Writer

Twitter Monetization: How to Make Money With Twitter - Did you know you could use the Tweet aspect of Twitter to get affiliate sales? Learn more about monitizing your Twitter habit for affiliate marketing, advertising, and more!

What Makes an Awesome Affiliate Network? - This one’s for affiliate marketers and affiliate managers alike. Affiliate marketers, here’s what to look for when choosing a network to work with. Affiliate Managers - make sure you have these things in place so you can attract top affiliates.

Five Effective Copywriting Tactics for Affiliate Marketing - Copywriting isn’t always something you have to spend big bucks on. Here are a few surprisingly simple tips you can use to create Endorsements, Reviews, and Articles, just to name a few..

SEO Techniques That Might Get Your Site Banned - Everyone wants to use SEO to get noticed. Just make sure you’re not crossing the line and using what could be considered black hat marketing tricks. These will get you kicked out of the SEO game pronto!

5 Things Keeping Your Affiliate Business From Succeeding - The title of this one says it all! Ihave to admit, I just realized that reason #4 could be costing me a lot of time and money in my affiliate marketing business. Which one could YOU get better at that will allow you to be more successful?

Permalink  4 Comments »  Filed under: News For Our AC Affiliates

Blogging Tip #2: My Secret to Automated Traffic from Long Tail Keywords

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 8:30 am by Anik Singal

Yesterday I explained the basic principles behind finding good long tail keywords - think like someone who is interested in READING about your topic, what they would search on, because you’re looking for phrases with 4 words.

Now today I’m going to show you how to research for these 4 word keyphrases.

First step, I just go to the Google AdWords keyword tool…

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

and type in something. I try to make it at least a couple of words, something like “ferrari f430.”

But you can also type in something general, then dig down and look for a longer phrase that looks interesting, then search on that. It might take a couple tries but you’ll soon find some good prospects.

When the results show up underneath I look for a keyword of 4 words or more where the bar is at least 15-25% filled up in the “average search” column. Something like ‘michael schumacher ferrari f430′ or ‘price of ferrari f430.’

Having something in the search bar for a PRIOR month is a plus too. But just because there is nothing for a prior month don’t let that stop you, often it’s because the keyword is about a hot new trend or topic or product.

Then I go to Google and type that keyphrase in the search box and then look at how many competing sites I have on the first page of results.

I’ve found that most of the time you’ll be under 5 million results which is where I like to stay. Often you’ll find a phrase with only 100,000 - 500,000 competing results, which is great!

Second step, I search that same term with “double quotes” around it, like this:

“price of ferrari f430″

And I try to make sure that THAT number comes back with less than 100,000 results. Again, you’ll be surprised how often that happens!

LASTLY…

I look at the ALL the top pages that are coming up for the the 4+ word search term.

• I want to make sure that the top ranking pages don’t all have crazy PRs of like 5 or 6 (most never do). If only the top few do, no problem, but if ALL on the first page do, that’s a bad keyword to shoot for.
• I look at the TITLES of all the top ranking pages. Most of the time I find that they are NOT directly my keyword! If so, that’s sweet, that means that JUST by having my keyword in the title, my chances of ranking on page #1 just shot through the roof !

So that’s truly how my blogs get automated traffic from search engines that builds EVERY single day…it’s an awesome method, that’s why we teach this and many more techniques like it in Blog Classroom - because it works!

I really urge you to try this just once and you’ll be HOOKED on this method of writing blog posts to get auto-pilot traffic from Google!

Permalink  5 Comments »  Filed under: Affiliate Marketing

Blogging Tip #1: Instant Google Love with Long Tail Keywords

Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 2:19 pm by Anik Singal

Since we launched Blog Classroom, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about long tail keywords - why they’re important, how to find them and so on. So today and tomorrow I’m going to share a couple techniques I use every day on my own blogs.

Here’s what I’m seeing with my own blogs - and note this is even true with my brand new Blog Classroom test site that I’m using on the webinars…

* If your blog is properly set up…
* If you are posting correctly…
* If you are using the appropriate free Web 2.0 tools…

Then search engines - especially Google - will start sending you traffic almost IMMEDIATELY!

Now how you get this instant “love” from Google isn’t really rocket science. But you’ve got to know the trick to optimizing your posts for long tail keywords.

Here’s what I do, and it works like a charm…

I look for keyword phrases that have 4 words in them. Then I pick an interesting keyphrase and write a short post about it.

What I’m seeing, almost on a daily basis, is that a properly set-up blog - with the SEO plugin AND the correct permalinks structure - can be on page #1 in Google for that term in 2-3 days. Not weeks, not months - DAYS. Nothing more you have to do except post it!

Like I mentioned, I’m seeing this strategy working whether the blog is a few years old or a week old. It all comes down to digging around for real keyword phrases that people actually SEARCH on.

That means if your blog is on “sports cars,” you can’t just search for keyphrases with the words “cars” or “automobiles,” because that’s not going to necessarily get you a position on the page where you’ll grab the eyeballs of READERS.

You’ve got to use your imagination a little bit. You may have to get really specific, like “Top 10 Greatest Ferraris” or “Greatest Ferraris Of All Time” (that has five words but I wouldn’t worry about “of” since it’s short and common). Or how about sports car models, like the Ferrari f430?

Tomorrow I’ll talk about how you actually research these phrases and the free tool I use to do it!

Permalink  3 Comments »  Filed under: Affiliate Marketing

Niche Marketing - Think “Reader Loyalty”

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 11:29 am by Anik Singal

Patric Chan has started this new thread of thinking for me with his “Niche Marketing 2.0” product release lately and I realized something…

One of my strong points the last 2 years in my own affiliate marketing business has been my focus on “reader loyalty.” By nature I have never been a HEAVY PPC hitter, sure I know it and do it, but my brain still wraps better around the concept of FREE natural traffic.

> Links
> Word of mouth
> PR
> Social media
> Content
> SEO

…I just seem to “get it” better with those types of traffic.

Well, by default, to build communities you have to be “content focused” and so THAT helped me better understand why my affiliate businesses do so well and grow so organically.

Start thinking even more into Web 2.0 and get creative. You’ll see JUST what I mean VERY soon with a new “dream project site” that I’m getting ready to launch.

I’m going to be using Web 2.0 but in a VERY creative (my own spin) kind of way.

For now, if you haven’t checked these sites out, do it (they’ll help you build communities)…

1. Twitter.com
2. Ning.com
3. Facebook.com
4. Aweber.com (Helps you communicate)
5. More coming soon …

Just take an hour and play around with the sites above, they are not complicated to use and when you “get it” - you’ll really “get it.”

Permalink  1 Comment »  Filed under: Affiliate Marketing

Niche Research Tip - Forget About Keywords For Just A Minute…

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 11:18 am by Anik Singal

Do me a favor, just for a minute, forget about “keyword this and keyword that” and think differently about your niche research. There are so many other quick ways to screen the “activity level” in a niche. Don’t get me wrong, keyword research is still critical when it gets to time to dive into a niche.

But, there are even faster ways to quickly get a 40,000 foot overview of a niche.

I recommend using “communities” to research ideas and also testing to see how the users of a niche value content.

With the new push of “Niche Marketing 2.0” you really want to focus on reader loyalty - not just “one off” sales. Given that, the resource for the day that I recommend you use…

http://www.EzineArticles.com

Why? Because you can instantly see how “active” the content activity is inside a niche. You can also see how many views the top articles are getting.

Go into Ezine Articles and start clicking around in the appropriate categories. Look for the following…

–> How many articles
–> How quickly those articles are getting viewed
–> What are the top authors writing about…

There are even more “stats” I look for, I’ll share more in the future

Permalink  6 Comments »  Filed under: Affiliate Marketing

Niche Marketing 2.0 Reviewed

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 4:10 pm by Evelyn Grazini, AC Student and Staff Writer

As an affiliate marketer myself, I get a little annoyed when a new product or software comes out that claims: “you don’t need your own product to make money online.”  Of course you don’t - that’s what affiliate marketing is all about – selling other people’s products. 

SO at first, I was a little slow to get into Patric Chan’s new Niche Marketing 2.0 package.  But then I realized that Niche Marketing 2.0 really IS different - it focuses on your SITE and NOT on the product. 

So what does it mean to focus on a site?  In the Niche Marketing 2.0 system, it means you don’t learn how to do a big roll-out where you make a bunch of money up front, then the sales taper off, then it all  eventually dies. 

With the Niche Marketing 2.0 system, you develop a site that grows over time.  It continues to make money.  And the amount of money you make continues to grow as the months and years go on.

The three main components of the Niche Marketing 2.0 system include:

• The Niche 2.0 Dynamic Marketing Site - This is like a full-blown CMS system, except that it’s been kicked up quite a few notches!
• Niche 2.0 Site Solution Software – This allows you to manage your site online, so you can work from wherever you are, in true super affiliate marketing style.
• 6 Tele-classes - These train you how to become a “Master” of the six elements of niche marketing. (If you don’t know what the six important elements of Niche Marketing are, Patrick explains it all in his video.

The core of the Niche Marketing 2.0 system is the web site builder.  At first this seemed to be similar to the free Joomla CMS software that I currently use.  But then I discovered there was much more to this system.  It goes way beyond my current simple CMS! And I don’t have to do the technical stuff anymore.

For me, the most interesting components were the Content Contribution and Syndicate options.  I currently do a ton of article marketing in my affiliate marketing business - and now that marketing just became much easier. 

The Content Contribution area of your Niche Marketing 2.0 site actually allows visitors to post real articles on your site (not just post comments, like blogs do).

Next, the Syndicate feature allows others to copy a snippet of code from your site and display it on theirs instantly.  Other webmasters will LOVE this!  No more copy-paste full text from eZine articles, etc.  Plus it all just magically links back to your site.

There’s also an easy “one-click” function that will allow others to share your information with their friends.

Here’s a sample of a Niche 2.0 site (it’s in the middle of the page).

All of those features are included in Component #1 - and there are 7 MORE components included in the package, making this an outstanding value.  The most important thing to remember is all the Components are integrated into a system that’s designed to help you make money as soon as you get your site up.

I can tell you that this is a very powerful system.  I can also see why Patric is only allowing 200 clients to obtain the software.  If everyone had it, there would be just too much TOUGH competition in some of the most popular niche markets.  I recommend that you check out the Niche Marketing 2.0 system now!

Permalink  5 Comments »  Filed under: Affiliate Marketing

The Weeks Top Affiliate Marketing News Stories (May 6, 2008)

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 3:50 pm by Evelyn Grazini, AC Student and Staff Writer

Three Killer Content Strategies for Building Affiliate Marketing Assets - “Take a look at three affiliate marketing strategies that build assets and sustainable businesses. The first focuses on list building, the next on link building, and the last on both.”

7 Habits Of Incredibly Effective Bloggers - Everyone thinks blogging is so easy! Well, “Blogging is simple but it isn’t easy.” There are rules to follow and things to learn if you’re going to actually make money with your blog. So pay attention to these “seven habits of highly effective bloggers.”

44 Ways To Drive Traffic To Your Blog - Yes, this post actually lists 44 different strategies you can use to immediately get traffic to your blog. How many are you using?

Making Sure Your Content Looks Good to Google - You could edit your content all day and still not get the attention of the search engines - unless you know what to include (and not to include).

12 Ways Affiliate Managers Can Use RSS for Affiliate Communication - Affiliate Marketers use RSS feeds to capture subscribers. But sometimes, the value of the RSS feed is overlooked by Affiliate MANAGERS. Here are quite a few different ways for Affiliate Managers to use their RSS Feed more advantagously.

Permalink  Post your comments »  Filed under: News For Our AC Affiliates

Affiliate Elite - Just 4.95 for a Limited Time

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 12:59 pm by Evelyn Grazini, AC Student and Staff Writer

Right now, you can use Affiliate Elite to find profitable keywords, and spy on the competition for just $4.95! 

Affiliate Elite is a tool for affiliate marketers that offers more than one way to evaluate the performance of keywords.  With it, keywords can either be evaluated by merchant, or by other affiliates.  This allows you to identify opportunities by looking at what works for your competitors and what doesn’t - even down to the ad copy. 

If you have your own products to promote, you can easily find affiliates who promote similar or competitive products, which is a goldmine to a product owner!

The Affiliate Elite tool is really very easy to use. You just click the dropdown selections on what you would like to do, fill in a few blanks, and the information is returned to you in an exportable format. It is one of those rare products that helps both PPC efforts and personal product sales.

Here are just a few highlights of Affiliate Elite:

“Find Profitable Affiliate Products to Promote:” What we liked about the Clickbank feature is that it uploades ALL of the Clickbank products so you can quickly scan through them.  Better yet, you can sort by any field you want - Category, Rank, Earnings, Gravity, etc.  It even shows if the product has a recurring factor!  Now you can easily find products in any niche; chose those with the biggest payouts; and continue to increase your monthly income. 

There’s also a special sort function on the right of the screen that makes it even easier to find products based on keywords, web sites, or whatever.  The ability to search by keyword and then sort by any field you want will GREATLY reduce the time you currently spend finding profitable products to market.

Another helpful feature is the ability to click on any of the results and have the sales page pop up in a window below the result list. How cool is that!

Then there is what’s called the spy feature.  Using this feature you can see what keywords your competition is bidding on – and how much they’re paying. We checked our site’s keywords first – just to see how accurate the software was, and then checked our competitors’ sites.  It was a nice surprise to find out that if we increased our bid by just a FEW CENTS, we can jump right over our major competitors!  

Can you see how that could increase your profit potential? You should definitely be able to get more sales – for less!

The “Analyze Adwords Competition” area is where you can see what your competitors’ ads look like.  This is surprisingly useful when writing new ads, or fine-tuning copy to get better results.

If you own a product, you will not be disappointed by the “Find Super Affiliates” feature.  You can add merchant information from three large networks and find out who is marketing their products.  Then you can contact them and ask them to market YOUR product.  Maybe you can even steal them away and have your product marketed exclusively!

Time is money, and Affiliate Elite is a very small investment to make to get back a LOT of your precious time. Test it out today for just $4.95.

Permalink  2 Comments »  Filed under: Affiliate Marketing, Reviews

The Weeks Top Affiliate Marketing News Stories (April 30, 2008)

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 at 2:11 pm by Evelyn Grazini, AC Student and Staff Writer

Dominating the Search Engines with Social Media Networks - Answers the questions: (1) What’s the advantage of using sites like Blogger, Hubpages, Squidoo and Wordpress.com? (2) Which one do I start with, and (3) is one better than another?

Four Surefire Ways to Write Magnetic Web Content - When you learn how to “write strong, tight, right, and easy, you’ll draft magnetic content that your readers can’t avoid reading.” Here’s how to make them stay on your site longer!

Optimizing Your Images - “According to comScore, Google Images have seen a significant 40% increase in traffic from the previous year.” Find out how to optimize your images for the best chance of getting found through SEO searches.

Viral Marketing : the Real Deal, or Just a Pipedream? - “Viral marketing is a technique that falls into that low risk high reward scenario, but the problem is it can also have a painfully high failure rate.” Here are some ways to minimize failure, and get it right the first time.

Permalink  Post your comments »  Filed under: Affiliate Marketing, News For Our AC Affiliates