Affiliate Classroom Blog Archives

How Is AffSphere Doing?

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at 1:43 pm by Anik Singal

In one short word…GREAT!

We’ve been blown away by the response from AffSphere and are literally working around the clock to keep up with the demand. The report that we launch has been a major success - we’ve been getting tremendous feedback (much of which we’ll release very soon).

We officially launched on August 12th and are still officially in BETA so yes, we have a LONG way to go and it’s a learning process for all of us as well. However, we are very proud to say that our “alpha” period really well prepared us for this BETA period.

We’re quickly increasing our staffing to manage the demand and are seeing AffSphere grow on an HOURLY basis - new members, new great content and more and more indexing.

Shortly we’ll be releasing a “feedback” feature that will allow you to leave us feedback of how you feel we can improve AffSphere - we want to hear from you!

Yahoo.com Shows 57,600 Results!

I’ve actually seen it get as high as 88,000, but you know how search engines are! In just less than 2 weeks, the viral aspect of AffSphere is really proving itself!

Over 57,000 sites, blogs and forums have had nothing but raving reviews for AffSphere. Our authors are already reporting TRAFFIC and even commissions from the traffic and we’re literally JUST getting started!

If you want to discuss your experience on your blog or to your newsletter, remember, you can grab your promotional link right from inside of AffSphere.

If you don’t have your FREE account yet, click here to register right away…

Over 20 New Features Coming!

I recently just had an 8 hour+ meeting with our development team and we have over 20 new features that are in plan to launch over the next 3-5 months. You’ll start seeing some of them very soon!

Like I said before, we’re going to grow fast (but cautiously).

You might get a BETA invitation…

Make sure to start submitting right away because our most active authors are going to get a PRIVATE invite to be the FIRST to test and implement some of our new features that launch over the coming weeks…

AffSphere is NOT just going to be an article directory but much more than that in the coming weeks - we’re doing everything we can around the clock to help YOU get the most traffic we can.

Give us a few days and we’ll start releasing some more fun “contests” and features that can really help you expand your article marketing.

Happy writing!

If you don’t have your FREE account yet, click here to register right away…

Top 3 Reasons Affsphere Articles Are Getting Rejected…

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at 1:28 pm by Anik Singal

AffSphere Authors,

First of all thanks for such a great job on your submissions! We’re literally working around the clock to get them approved as fast as possible. It’s both a learning process for you and our team, but we’re improving the process on a daily basis!

We’re seeing a few things pop up over and over and thought we’d address it. Other than a few articles which are out right bad quality, most of the ones we are rejecting are for reasons that are very easily fixable!

Top 3 Reaons Articles Are Being Rejected:

1. No Resource Box

We really appreciate the content, but we want to make sure YOU get credit for it! Because of that we are waiting for a full resource box before we accept articles.

I’ve actually been surprised by how many have come in with no resource box. To help this, we’re making sure that the process is smoother when you submit articles right up-front.

2. Dead Links In The Resource Box Or Article

We do click and review every link in your article AND your resource box for quality on the landing page. If any of the links are leading to a “dead” page or a website that does not show up, we are forced to not accept the article.

Please make sure to confirm that your links are all working.

3. Formatting Issues

We are also seeing a few articles that are being added that have too many spaces or are just one big paragraph. This is not very user-friendly for the eventual readers, so we do ask that you pay attention to the format and the way the article displays as well.

We are currently having to reject about 15% of articles for various reasons so we are keeping a very high quality control to award those authors that are doing an excellent job (which is most of you)!

Keep your great content coming! If we can help, let us know.

The Week’s Top Affiliate Marketing News Stories (August 25, 2008)

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at 3:24 pm by Sarah Holland, AC Staff Writer

Google Will Offer Services for Bloggers at the Conventions - Google helped equip bloggers with an 8,000 square foot space last night at the Democratic National Convention, and will again next week at the Republication National Convention. By offering access to the internet and even a public kiosk where anyone can post videos on YouTube - new media gains a greater influence in politics.

Hey Marketers – Are You Ready for Web 3.0? - Is Web 3.0 on it’s way, are you ready? Find out what Web 3.0 means, and what it means for you.

Google To Remove Inactive Status on all Adwords Ads - If you’ve heard about the new changes to Google Adwords and aren’t quite sure what to make of them, head over to Kirsty’s post at Affiliate Stuff where she explains the changes in a nutshell.

How to Profit From Testimonials… Even With No Testimonials! - This long list of tips offers a ton of really great ways to give your product or site the positive image of testimonials without the work of collecting them. Read on to check out a few.

The Real Reasons You’re Not a Super Affiliate Yet… - If you’re in need of a little pep talk pick-me-up, this honest and up front list of reasons why you haven’t become a super affiliate from Amit Mehta will kick you into gear!

Google is my Article Marketing Muse

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at 2:38 pm by Sarah Holland, AC Staff Writer

I admit that coming up with brand new exciting ways to write an article in a niche you’ve already written about dozens of times is hard - that’s why I don’t do it.

That doesn’t make any sense of course, so what on earth do I mean?

I just mean that in popular niches, and in less popular ones too, you are going to be hard pressed to find NEW unused ideas to write about. Everything has been said before.

And even if every single little idea hasn’t been used already, if you are waiting around for these new unique brilliant ideas to appear, you are just wasting a lot of time.

When it comes to acne, which I myself write about, there isn’t much that hasn’t been said. It’s like the cover of Cosmo Magazine and sex tips. Every month in the grocery checkout line the cover makes some bold ridiculous claim about NEW sex tips that you’ve NEVER HEARD BEFORE.

These tips are of course not new! They have just been mixed up, rewritten, and recreated into content that is only mildly recognizable as something that’s been said before.

This is exactly the same tactic that I use for article marketing in the acne niche, and you too can use it in your own niche. Here’s how you do it:

Look for things that have already been said. They don’t have to be groundbreaking ideas, and they don’t even have to be your own ideas.

Try doing a Google search for your topic, or a quick search in Ezine Articles. Pick out some articles you like but think could use some work when it comes to writing or explanation and spruce them up yourself.

You could also pick out a few articles that you think are awful, and write your own counter articles disagreeing with what has already been said.

You could even choose a few articles that you like and think are well written, but add a few important details that you think have been left out.

If you can make each of these tactics work a few times each, you’ve got yourself 10, maybe even 15 new articles! I use the term “new” loosely here of course :)

Click Throughs and Credibility

Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 11:38 am by Kathy Jackson

We rarely talk about building credibility as an affiliate. Heck, it’s not like we have life and death responsibilities.

The merchant is responsible for product fulfillment and customer service. All we have to do is send the merchant some click throughs. Get the cookie, and be done with it.

But when the American author Brian Koslow said, “The more you are willing to accept responsibility for your actions, the more credibility you will have,” he could have been speaking directly to us.

The really successful super affiliates — successful in terms of ethics as well as revenues — spend time building credibility in whatever niche they choose to play. They never stop thinking about credibility and nurturing it, because it has a direct influence on their bottom line — and they know it.

Seasoned affiliate marketers apply this formula to every business decision: Credibility = Income

People buy products and services from businesses and individuals that they know and trust. That has always been the case out in the “real” brick and mortar world of commerce. And it’s true of commerce in cyberspace as well.

How do affiliates build credibility? The same way any other business person does…

Pre-sell with honesty. If you were face-to-face with your visitors, would you feel comfortable speaking what you’ve written on your website? While we can’t buy every product we promote, we can tell the truth about it to the best of our ability. If that means taking time to do research, digging for customer praise and complaints, and comparing it to similar products — do it.

Choose quality. There are great products, good products, so-so products, and downright junk. This is especially important if you’re promoting digital products through ClickBank, RegNow, or PayDotCom. Would your conscience allow you to sell this product to a family member or friend? If not, find something better.

Provide real information, not just a sales pitch. Many of your visitors have their “hype detector” turned on, especially if they’re researching a product. They’re hungry for information, but they don’t want sales banter screaming at them. So provide them with articles, bullet points, graphics, and anything else that shows off the benefits of the product without yelling “buy this!”

Syndicate content to build your reputation. When you submit articles or press releases in your niche to directories and syndication services, you become a “presence” in your niche. As your knowledge gets republished on other sites, you’ll get more visitors who already trust what you have to say.
Make it easy for them to click through. While you don’t want to hit them over the head with a sales pitch, you DO want them to be able to click through to the merchant’s site without hunting for a link. Use obvious “buy now” buttons and other visual cues.

Be transparent. More and more affiliates find that their conversions benefit when they simply tell visitors where they’re going when they click a link. In a sense, the affiliate “borrows” a bit of credibility from the merchant. “Buy now from Amazon.com” links a trusted brand with your website while making your affiliate status perfectly transparent.

Building credibility takes effort and time. Is it really worth it? The answer is really another question: what does it take to regain credibility once you’ve lost it?

When super affiliates spend time and money on writing, site development, niche research, PPC, graphic design, SEO, building an opt-in list, and getting traffic… they simply refuse to waste it all on shoddy products, hype, and tricks. They know how easy it is for a visitor to hit the “back” button. No click through, no cookie, no commission.

Credibility and click throughs go hand in hand. Make credibility a priority in your affiliate business, and see if it doesn’t make a difference in both your revenues and your own mindset.

Review of Patric Chan’s Inside Underground Marketing Lab Workshop

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 12:15 am by Evelyn Grazini, AC Student and Staff Writer

Affiliate marketing is an ever changing world. What worked just six months ago may not work today.

If you want to stay ahead of the game, you won’t want to miss this audio workshop crammed with brand new, little-known techniques…

It’s called “The Inside Underground Marketing Lab Workshop Audio Course.” This advanced workshop — no beginner material here — is by Patric Chan. It’s designed to help you take your Internet business to the next level of both wealth and automation, and in as little as 7 days.

With more than 9 hours and 45 minutes of content – including 7 new techniques — the course is finally available starting today, August 20.

If you’re experiencing any of the following, Patric shows you how to get more from all of them — and fast!

Having trouble getting AdWords clicks cheaper, even for long-tail keywords? With all the keyword research tools out there, it’s almost impossible to get clicks for less than .25 cents, even for obscure keywords.

But Patric shares his method for still getting clicks dirt cheap. After you learn these tricks, I suspect you could get paid $5,000 a month easily as an AdWords marketing consultant J!

Don’t have unlimited time to fill your site with content? Most marketers have much better things to do.

But Patric shows you a brand new method for leveraging other people’s content. It’s not PLR, and best of all, it’s free. He also shows you how to make money from your own ebook in as little as a week.

Would you like a simple method for earning up for 30% from your existing customers — and by adding value, not fluff? Patric’s method is not just adding a bunch of empty bonuses. It’s about working smarter, not harder — and adding REAL VALUE easily.

Want to write copy that almost compels your visitors to buy? Patric shares some “mind control” methods that allow you to get inside the customer’s mind — so they can’t help but buy.

We also found huge value in this section: How to build your affiliate business around STRATEGIES, not tactics.

From observing our AC students, we know a “strategic business model” can make the difference between earning a few hundred a month vs. many thousands a month. Patric shows you how to grow your income in a non-linear fashion — so that you can work the same number of hours but get “paid” much more!

Finally, Patric’s unique perspective on “the 5 main angles of niche market domination” is something every affiliate marketer needs to pay close attention to.

Patric’s ideas may be new, but they’ve been tested and proven by him. It’s no wonder small, select groups of marketers pay Patric $3,997 to learn his new techniques in person.

But with this audio course, you won’t have to attend one of Patric’s private workshops. It’s just a fraction of the cost. In fact, it’s even better than a live workshop, since you get full written transcripts of all the audios, in addition to valuable bonus materials.

In our opinion, this is one of the best courses you’ll find for going beyond “beginner status” and getting ahead of the wave of new techniques.

It also reminds us all about what we love so much about affiliate marketing. This course focuses on growing your affiliate marketing efforts into a comfortable, full-time income — without working long hours. This is what affiliate marketing is supposed to be about — freedom to work as you wish, and make as much as you wish, whenever you wish.

We highly recommend this course. It’s one of the best we’ve seen all year, and it’s available starting today. Click here to be among the first to benefit from Patric’s new techniques!

The Week’s Top Affiliate Marketing News Stories (August 18, 2008)

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 3:59 pm by Sarah Holland, AC Staff Writer

Affiliate Summit East 2008 Day One, Day Two, and Day Three - If you missed something important at Affiliate Summit East in Boston this year or didn’t attend, catch the Shawn Collins recap of each day here.

Why No One Links to Your Best Posts (And What to Do About It) - Just because you’re writing great content doesn’t mean people are reading it! Don’t let your hard work go to waste, check out these great ways to turn more heads your way.

How to Create a Successful Web Site For Nothing (or Almost Nothing) - These 7 detailed steps from buying a web address to tracking your traffic are a fantastic guideline for building your own website and making it successful. All it takes is 8 hours and $10!

AffSphere: The Article Directory for Affiliate Marketers - AffSphere - Affiliate Classroom’s great new article directory created with the affiliate marketer in mind. You can build a downline and earn commissions all while increasing traffic to your site. Check out what else Rosalind Gardner has to say about AffSphere.

AffSum PMA Session - Blue Man Group at ASE08 Video - Linda Buquet discusses some of the most talked about events of Affiliate Summit East 2008, and for those of you who missed the Blue Man Group performance don’t worry - you can check out a video of it here!

3 Key Components to Writing an Article that Gets Traffic

Monday, August 18th, 2008 at 5:25 pm by Sarah Holland, AC Staff Writer

When it comes to article marketing, there is a lot more to take into consideration than simply creating the article content. Even after you’ve finished conjuring up great content, your job isn’t done — yet!

When I’m all finished writing, there are three things that I always do to make sure that my article will be as effective as possible.

First - the title. I don’t like to title my articles before they are written because I end up trying to make the article fit the title even if I’ve come up with something better to say. I personally like to outline what I want to say, write the article, and then skim it to determine what my best points are.

Then the tricky part is making that one idea into a short catchy headline. Headlines are VERY important, because if your headline isn’t interesting, nobody will click on your article, read your resource box, or buy a product.

Second – the resource box. You might say that your resource box should be about you, the author of the article, but I’d say you were wrong! It’s doubtful that giving readers a brief bio about you will make you famous or help you sell products. But if you use that space to do a little advertising for your site, it WILL get you closer to more sales.

Find out how many times the article directory that you are submitting to will allow you to use links, and use them all! I try to use one text link in addition to writing out the entire URL.

Third – article format. Nobody is going to READ your article except for you. That’s right - well, not many people will anyway. Don’t fret however, because what a LOT of people are going to do is SKIM your article (if you’ve got a good headline of course)!

Readers are generally just looking for the most important information or assessing the article’s relevance to them. It’s your job to make the most important information easy to find.

So format your article for people who SKIM. The first sentence of a paragraph is the best place to put your most important information. Bulleted information and lists are also a great choice to make your articles easier for readers to digest.

Those three components — the title, the resource box, and the format — may all sound obvious and almost too simple to worry about. But don’t be fooled. I’ve learned that these components really require your attention if your articles are going to get plenty of traffic.

Natural Search Strategy - August, 2008 AC Magazine

Monday, August 18th, 2008 at 1:35 pm by Evelyn Grazini, AC Student and Staff Writer

Natural Search Strategy

The August issue of the Affiliate Classroom Magazine is now available!  Learn all about getting placement in the top search results using Natural Search Strategies.

David Long will show you “How To Get Your Money’s Worth From Natural Search.”  When you know the ins and outs of how to show up on Google’s top search results page you’ll save money on pay-per-click, as well as save tons of time when you get it right the first time!  

Then Kathy Jackson leads you through the process of  “Developing A Natural Marketing Strategy.”  Natural search techniques cost a lot less than paid search (PPC) advertising, and that’s important to everyone!  Even super affiliates want to get the most coverage for their money. After reading Kathy’s advice, you’ll know where to spend, and where not to put those advertising dollars.

Mark Thompson has an excellent article on “Key Words: Short Cuts To Natural Search Traffic.“  You won’t waste your time targeting general phrases when you know what types of keywords you should focus on to increase profits.  Using this technique, you’ll be able to attract buyers – not just clickers!  

Then, listen as Miss Management gives advice to Affiliate Managers on blogging.  Is blogging just a big waste of time?  Make your own decision after you check out these impressive stats. 

Take a few minutes to learn from these excellent articles – you’ll save yourself a lot of time and frustration if you do.  It’s all FREE, so download your copy today!

 

Article Marketing - Not So Hard After All!

Saturday, August 16th, 2008 at 2:40 pm by Sarah Holland, AC Staff Writer

I recently began working with our resident affiliate marketing mastermind Anik to learn the basics of article marketing in the acne niche. He’s a firm believer that everyone on our team should try their hand at being an affiliate – and it was my turn to learn.

You’d think since I studied English in college the thought of writing 5-10 articles wouldn’t make me feel so panicky, but it did.

Fortunately I discovered that getting past that point where you’re staring at a blank word document with no idea what to say is the biggest obstacle. After you’ve figured out what to say it’s really not so hard.

So how do you figure out what to say? At first the situation felt a little reminiscent of being locked in my dorm room the night before a paper was due, but then I realized that I was just freaking myself out needlessly. I had to write about acne, and I know about acne!

You’ve got to start with what you know. I made a list of all of the home remedies I’d heard of and tried, all of the products I’ve used that did or didn’t work, and before I knew it I had outlined enough information for 6 articles! I did have to research some of the tips and topics that I had heard of to flesh out some of my ideas, but I no longer felt like I had no idea what I was doing.

Even if you’re working on a niche that you think you don’t know anything about, you probably know more already than you realize. For example, I don’t know anything about online dating and dating services, but I have been on enough dates to come up with a few articles on what to do and not do on a date.

I don’t know much about debt consolidation either, but I’m pretty sure there are many strategies to get out of it, so with a little research you can quickly come up with an article on the top 3 strategies to manage debt.

Once the articles are written and submitted, you just have to sit back and wait for the traffic…but that’s a lesson for another day.

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