Affiliate Marketing 103
Posted on August 27, 2008
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Erik here. This week we have been discussing the ins and outs of Affiliate Marketing.
There are three basic steps to becoming a successful Affiliate Marketer:
1. Find great stuff to promote.
2. Set up the technical stuff.
3. Drive traffic to your affiliate links.
This is the third post in the series: how to drive traffic to your affiliate links.
In this post I am going to skip talking about blogging, social networking, article marketing, and all the other things you already KNOW you should be doing…
(Seriously, these methods work… you really should be using them)
Instead I want to talk about an underground traffic method (that most people ignore) that has REALLY worked well for me.
Forum Marketing.
And this isn’t your grandma’s Forum Marketing, either!
Forget wasting time trying to post helpful answers and building up a reputation…
And forget adding your redirect links in your signature and waiting around for people to notice them and click on them.
This is a little trick introduced to me by a guy named Eric Farewell and it works like a charm.
Here is what I want you to do:
1. Use Google to find five forums related to the topic of the product you are promoting.
- Make sure they are active forums, with tons of posts and threads.
- Make sure there is a link that you can use to list all the current members.
- Make sure there are at least 20 forum members with over a thousand posts.
2. Create an account at the first forum on your list.
3. Post a thread in the “Introductions” area if there is one… and introduce yourself.
4. Post two or three helpful answers or posts about your topic. No more than that.
5. Use the “List Members” feature to find those top posters again… and select 1-3 people that have over a thousand posts BUT ARE NOT moderators or administrators.
Find people that have a ton of posts but NOTHING in their signature.
6. Send them each the following private message through the forum:
Hi (Name)
You seem to be quite active (and respected) on these forums… so I wanted to shoot you a PM and introduce myself, and also offer you a proposition:)
(Put something here about the topic of the forum, your interest in it, etc. etc.)
Would you be interested in placing one of my links in your signature? I would be willing to pay you to do so…
And of course, you are welcome to review the link to make sure you are comfortable with my ethics and the information I share.
Anyways, nice to meet you and please let me know.
Cheers!
(Your Name)
(Your Email Address)
7. Repeat these steps for all five of the forums on your list.
Most of them will respond. A few may be ticked off, but most of them will be really interested…
After all, this is space that they never considered could make them money before!
Work out deals with those that get back in touch with you.
I have a few of these in place right now that cost me $50 bucks per month, and a few that cost me $100…
Either way, it’s a very quick way to have your link appear at the bottom of 1,000 plus posts on a highly targeted forum with very little work.
Forget “being helpful and gaining trust and credibility” when you can just piggy-back off the trust and credibility that someone else has already built!
I will have another one of these “underground” traffic methods to share with you tomorrow.
I hope that you have found this series of posts useful…
Feel free to post comments!
To your success,
Erik
Affiliate Marketing 102
Posted on August 26, 2008
Filed Under Posts | 16 Comments
Erik here, and this week I have been showing you the ins and outs of Affiliate Marketing.
There are three basic steps to becoming a successful Affiliate Marketer:
1. Find great stuff to promote.
2. Set up the technical stuff.
3. Drive traffic to your affiliate links.
This is the second post in the series: how to setup the technical stuff.
So you have an affiliate link to something that you want to promote…
The only problem is that it’s long and ugly and it looks like an affiliate link. So you want to hide it, redirect it, mask it in some way so people don’t get spooked off from clicking on it.
Easy!
There are several ways to do what you are trying to do. The easiest (and most professional looking in my opinion) is:
1. Purchase a Domain Name at GoDaddy (www.godaddy.com) for about $12 bucks per year.
2. Inside GoDaddy, after you make your purchase, roll your mouse over the word “Domains” in the main navigation, then click “My Domains”
3. Select the Domain Name in question and then click “Forward” in the navigation.
4. Either option works here, paste in your affiliate link and save your changes
5. GoDaddy will forward all traffic to that Domain Name right to your affiliate link… And mask it too!
Your assignment? Take the product you have decided to promote…
Get a Domain Name, mask your affiliate link from yesterday, and post it as a comment so I can get a peek at it…
(Here is an example: I am an affiliate for BlockBuster, so I took my long, ugly BlockBuster affiliate link and turned it into www.makeitamovienight.com)
Anyways, the next step is to drive traffic to your affiliate links, which we will deal with tomorrow!
I hope this has been informative…
See yah tomorrow for Affiliate Marketing 103!
To your success,
Erik
Affiliate Marketing 101
Posted on August 25, 2008
Filed Under Posts | 17 Comments
Erik Stafford here, and this week I am going to be creating a series of posts that will show you the ins and outs of Affiliate Marketing.
Sound good?
Okay then… It’s Monday morning and class is in session!
Affiliate Marketing is basically finding and promoting existing products and services through a unique website link (your affiliate link) in exchange for a commission.
You can promote anything from physical products (electronic equipment, car parts, etc. etc.) to digital products (E-Books) or even memberships from large companies like BlockBuster.
It’s free to signup… and you can earn commissions from all of them!
There are three basic steps to becoming a successful Affiliate Marketer:
1. Find great stuff to promote.
2. Set up the technical stuff.
3. Drive traffic to your affiliate links.
This is the first post in the series: how to find great stuff to promote.
So where do we find great products to promote?
Well, it’s always a great idea to start with Google: whatever topic you might be interested in, go ahead and type it into Google with the words “Affiliate Program” added to the end.
So if “Crocheting” is your keyword, type “Crocheting Affiliate Program” into Google and see what comes up…
The next step is to check Clickbank: http://www.clickbank.com
Create an account (for free), then at the top of the page, click “marketplace” and search for “Crocheting”…
Look at that!
You can create affiliate links for any (or all!) of those products. When you find one you like just click “Create Hoplink” to generate your unique tracking link.
Here are a few other affiliate networks where you can find items you can commission on:
LinkShare: http://www.linkshare.com
Commission Junction: http://www.commissionjunction.com
As you can see, Affiliate Marketing is hands down the quickest, easiest, and most affordable way to get started making money online.
Your assignment? Find a product that you want to promote, either through searching Google, or on Clickbank or one of the other Affiliate centers…
And post a comment here with the name of the product you have choosen to promote and also your unique affiliate link so I can get a look at it.
The next step is to take care of some of the technical stuff, which we will deal with tomorrow.
I hope this has been informative…
See yah tomorrow for Affiliate Marketing 102!
To your success,
Erik
Anatomy of a Hurricane
Posted on August 19, 2008
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So yeah… we are in Fort Lauderdale, at the Crowne Plaza hotel and glad to be here.
I know it may sound glamarous, but it isn’t… we have my wife and I and the two kids, and Grandma (and all her medical equipment) and our cat Sabrina and my son’s crab “Crabbie” all jammed into a suite.
It’s looking like Cape Coral may just get a bunch of rain… but I am still glad we didn’t risk it and headed out anyways.
Crazy!
Erik
Anatomy of a Hurricane
Posted on August 19, 2008
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000
WTNT31 KNHC 190852
TCPAT1
BULLETIN
TROPICAL STORM FAY ADVISORY NUMBER 15
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL062008
500 AM EDT TUE AUG 19 2008
FAY MAKING LANDFALL AT CAPE ROMANO…
AT 500 AM EDT…0900Z…THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM FAY WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 25.9 NORTH…LONGITUDE 81.7 WEST…ON THE FLORIDA
COASTLINE AT CAPE ROMANO…OR ABOUT 55 MILES… 90 KM…SOUTH OF
FT. MYERS FLORIDA.
FAY IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHEAST NEAR 9 MPH…15 KM/HR…AND
THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TODAY…
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 60 MPH…95 KM/HR…WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. SLOW WEAKENING IS EXPECTED AS FAY MOVES INLAND.
$$
FORECASTER FRANKLIN
Anatomy of a Hurricane
Posted on August 18, 2008
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Anatomy of a Hurricane
Posted on August 18, 2008
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Anatomy of a Hurricane
Posted on August 18, 2008
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WTNT31 KNHC 181438
TCPAT1
BULLETIN
TROPICAL STORM FAY ADVISORY NUMBER 12
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL062008
1100 AM EDT MON AUG 18 2008
…CENTER OF FAY NOW OVER THE FLORIDA STRAITS…HURRICANE WARNING
FOR THE COAST OF SOUTHWESTERN FLORIDA…
AT 11 AM EDT…1500 UTC…A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE
SOUTHWESTERN COAST OF FLORIDA FROM FLAMINGO TO ANNA MARIA ISLAND.
A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED
WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. PREPARATIONS TO
PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION.
AT 1100 AM EDT…1500 UTC…THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM FAY WAS
LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 23.6 NORTH…LONGITUDE 81.5 WEST OR ABOUT 70
MILES…115 KM…SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF KEY WEST FLORIDA AND ABOUT 65
MILES…100 KM…EAST-NORTHEAST OF HAVANA CUBA.
FAY IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHWEST NEAR 13 MPH…20 KM/HR. A
TURN TOWARD THE NORTH WITH A SLOWER FORWARD SPEED IS EXPECTED LATER
TODAY AND TONIGHT…WITH A GENERALLY NORTHWARD MOTION EXPECTED ON
TUESDAY. ON THE FORECAST TRACK…THE CENTER OF FAY SHOULD BE NEAR
THE FLORIDA KEYS THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT…AND NEAR THE SOUTHWEST
COAST OF THE FLORIDA PENINSULA ON TUESDAY.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 60 MPH…95 KM/HR…WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. SOME STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS…
AND FAY IS FORECAST TO BECOME A HURRICANE AS IT NEARS THE
SOUTHWESTERN FLORIDA COAST ON TUESDAY.
AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE
CENTER AT 200 PM EDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 500
PM EDT.
Anatomy of a Hurricane
Posted on August 16, 2008
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Anatomy of a Hurricane
Posted on August 15, 2008
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TCPAT1
BULLETIN
TROPICAL STORM FAY ADVISORY NUMBER 1
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL062008
500 PM AST FRI AUG 15 2008
…TROPICAL STORM FAY FORMS…SIXTH ATLANTIC STORM OF THE SEASON…
REPORTS FROM NOAA AND AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT
INDICATE THAT THE LOW PRESSURE AREA OVER THE MONA PASSAGE BECAME A
TROPICAL STORM AS IT MOVED INTO THE EASTERN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.
AT 500 PM AST…2100 UTC…THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM FAY WAS
LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 18.5 NORTH…LONGITUDE 69.4 WEST OR ABOUT 35
MILES… 55 KM…EAST OF SANTO DOMINGO IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND
ABOUT 395 MILES…635 KM…EAST-SOUTHEAST OF GUANTANAMO CUBA.
FAY IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 14 MPH…22 KM/HR. A GENERAL
MOTION TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT DAY OR
SO. ON THE FORECAST TRACK…THE CENTER OF FAY WILL CROSS
HISPANIOLA TONIGHT AND SATURDAY…AND PASS NEAR OR OVER EASTERN
CUBA SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 40 MPH…65 KM/HR…WITH HIGHER
GUSTS…MAINLY OVER WATER TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF THE CENTER.
$$
FORECASTER BEVEN
