Tutorial
7 Reasons Why You Need An Affiliate Program

If you’ve created and launched a product or you have an online store, you probably need traffic.
Even if you do all the heavy lifting yourself by using a combination of SEO, email marketing and paid ads, you’ll still be scratching the surface when it comes to marketing your products/services.
You NEED An Affiliate Program!

This Alone Should Be Enough!
Imagine having your very own team of salespeople raving about your products all over the internet… Sounds great, doesn’t it?
This obvious benefit alone should be enough to convince you to set up an affiliate program for your products/store. You’d be leaving money on the table if you didn’t… and setting up an affiliate program is really not as difficult as you think.
These days, it’s easy to set up an affiliate program with software such as iDevAffiliate. Just install the plugin or use their cloud hosting and you’ll be good to go within a few minutes.
How It Works

The process is mostly automated. An interested affiliate will sign up to your affiliate program either by invitation or they may find you online. You can then decide if you wish to manually approve them (recommended) or if they’re automatically approved by the system.
They’ll get an affiliate link which they can use in their promotions, and this link will cookie their potential customers.
With the software mentioned above, affiliate management and tracking are a breeze. Thanks to their intuitive interfaces which keep things simple.
Here are 6 More Benefits Of Having An Affiliate Program
More Targeted Traffic

Besides boosting your sales, an affiliate program will also get you more targeted traffic. Your affiliates may have niche sites and their own audience who will be looking for just the type of products/services you’re offering.
They’ll gladly buy your products if your sales copy is good – and if your site looks reputable.
Using affiliates is definitely an effective way to get sales quickly. That said, many marketing articles will tell you that using affiliates is the cheapest way to get sales, since you won’t be spending on advertising, etc.
However, we believe that it’s the most expensive way to get sales, depending on the commission rates you’re offering.
Digital products on ClickBank offer as high as 50%-75% commission rates per sale. Stores like Walmart offer anywhere from 10%-15% commission, and Amazon offers even lower rates.
However, affiliates can bring in a deluge of sales that you’d not have gotten on your own. So, it’s worth paying more just to get more sales, even if it means settling for less profit per sale.
Overall, you WILL make more, if you get your numbers right. Just know that it’s NOT the cheapest way to get sales.
Increased Brand Awareness

Having affiliates praising your products from the digital rooftops of their web properties is the online version of marketing via ‘word-of-mouth’
Getting others to sing praises about your brand will be far more effective than blowing your own horn with hyped up sales copy.
SEO Benefits

Have you ever noticed that Amazon products rank for many search terms?
One of the reasons for this is the thousands of affiliates who are linking back to the Amazon website/products. This massive number of backlinks pointing to Amazon helps them rank quickly and easily in the search engine results.
So, affiliates may be able to indirectly help you with your search engine optimization efforts.
Form Mutually Beneficial Partnerships

Some of your affiliates may have their own products and online stores. You could work out reciprocal mailings with them. By promoting each other, both parties will benefit.
Just be sure to pair up with those marketers with whom you have shared values, so you know that what you share of theirs to your subscribers will be high quality and valuable to them.
Low Risk

With affiliates, you only pay when they make a sale. This is a performance-based reward system that has very little risk for you. Marketers with on a tight budget will do better with affiliates.
Many beginner marketers will not be able to stomach this risk… and will be better off using affiliate traffic instead.
Full Flexibility

As the vendor, you’ll get to decide the commission rates, whom to accept as affiliates, which products they can promote and so on. There’s a lot of flexibility here and you call the shots.
Never try to short-change your affiliates. It’s not good form and word will get around.
In Conclusion…

By now, you’ll realize that setting up an affiliate program is a necessity if you wish to take your online business to the next level. There’s so much to gain with very few downsides.
Use reliable affiliate software such as iDevAffiliate and you’ll be up and running in no time at all.
Then go out there and proactively recruit affiliates and treat them well. Reward the better performing ones with extra perks and always be transparent with them.
From here on, you can scale up and expand your online business exponentially. It doesn’t get better than that.
BTW, if you want to know more about affiliate marketing as a business model, then check out the featured resource below for a free report; download it read it and take action 🙂
How To Make Your Blog More Appealing

Every blogger who earns income from their blog knows that the only way you can make money is by getting and keeping the traffic coming. Without your readers, you wouldn’t be making money at all.
With them goes their blog’s traffic that you could’ve benefited from if they’d linked to you. Here are some tips to make your blog appealing enough to keep the traffic there to earn you some money.
Design

The most common mistake some bloggers make is in their blog’s design. Blog readers not only look for interesting and informative content – they also want to come to an inviting space to read it.
The blog’s design needs to be inviting to them and comforting. It’s crucial not to have anything that would annoy them to the point of leaving because they can’t stand it. Make sure you’re not annoying them with colored font that’s hard to read or a bunch of graphics that are too distracting.
It’s fine to use colored font for your posts, but make sure it’s easy to read. A pale yellow font color against a pure white background may be too difficult for the visitors to read. They shouldn’t clash with the background color either. Clashing colors can give visitors headaches, so they’ll leave your site without bookmarking it for a later visit.
Content

The other common mistake bloggers tend to make is with their content. Some bloggers don’t update very often. If you only post once a month, your readers will forget you’re there and won’t return to your site.
Some bloggers also make the mistake of only providing text content to their blogs. Text posts are great, but mix it up a little every once in awhile with multi-media formats. Provide some interesting pictures, audio files and videos. Offer a little variety and your visitors will come back to check and see what else you’ve been up to.
It’s also important to stick to your blog’s niche topic. If you’re blogging about Homeschooling, then stick to that topic. Providing information about a celebrity’s latest excursion will turn off your readers unless it somehow relates to homeschooling.
Of course, having a good looking blog is only part of the puzzle. You have seen that you need great content to share with your readers but how do you go about finding and creating that content? Let’s take a closer look…
How To Find Great Content For Your Blog

In order to make your blog a successful money making entity, you’ll need to get traffic to it and keep them coming back.
Even the most successful bloggers start to run out of their own original content to post about. Some resort to scraping the bottom of the barrel to find things to discuss, but that ultimately loses them readers, which means less money streaming in.
Ideas

Where do you find great ideas to post about? There are actually many different things to use to get you out of your stuck-in-a-rut mode. These may be simple techniques to use, but they can be effective if used right. Here are some things to try the next time you get stuck for something to write about:
Scour the news sites – Search the news sites like CNN, MSNBC, and FOXNEWS and see if you can find a top story that you can blog about. Instead of just linking to the story, add your own accounting of it.
Check out your fellow blogger’s sites and see what they’re blogging about – It may seem unethical, but as long as you’re not stealing content, it’s perfectly acceptable to see what the community is interested in.
Is there a post that catches your eye? Is there something you can add to that post? A new spin you can put on it? Media outlets always have an eye on the competition to see what others are doing – and you should, too!
Research

Internet research – Do a search on the Internet for your blog’s topic. See what information you can come up with concerning your niche.
You may become inspired by something you’ve read there or you may think of some comments to post about it.
And what about podcasts or audio sites? You could try searching sites like Soundcloud to find audio to add to blog posts to enhance them for your readers.
Reviews

Consider doing reviews – Reviews can be a good filler to use while you try to get inspired again. Choose some articles, websites, books or whatever you can think of that’s related to your blog’s topic and post a review of it. If it’s a good review, add your affiliate link and make some money from your opinions!
If your blog is about flowers and you happened to go for a walk and saw some flowers on the way, use that as your post. Let your readers know what kinds of flowers are seen in your neighborhood and if possible, take come pictures to add since visual stimulation enhances the reader’s experience.
You can easily get back your inspiration for your blog posting if you look to other sources. They can help you come up with ideas of what you can share with your readers or they can give you a nice filler until your personal inspiration comes back. Don’t lose readers just because you’ve lost your blogging muse!
If you really want to know more about the power of blogging, you can take a look at the Rapid Blogging Blueprint training course or if you just want a few pointers for now you can grab the featured resource below for a free blogging report; download, read it and take action 🙂
5 Effective Affiliate Marketing Strategies

There are a plethora of affiliate marketing strategies and tactics employed by many successful affiliate marketers to ramp up their sales and commissions.
While some strategies may seem advanced, they are all usually based on the fundamentals of affiliate marketing.
As an affiliate marketer your job is to be a ‘conduit’ that takes an interested visitor to the sales page which will go on to sell the product.
That’s really all there is to it. All other intricacies can be boiled down to this goal. Let’s look at a few highly effective strategies employed by thousands of affiliate marketers all over the world.
Niche Sites

This is without a doubt the most popular strategy. To promote a variety of products you need a niche site. The content that’s interspersed with your affiliate links will make you sales if you do it right.
As long as you grow your site, your earnings will increase exponentially. Some of the large authority sites make 5 to 6 figures a month in affiliate commissions. That’s how powerful this method is.
Facebook Groups/Pinterest Boards

Everyone is on social media these days. Having Facebook groups and Pinterest boards dedicated to your niche, will allow you to tap into existing hotbeds of traffic while targeting and audience that is interested in your niche.
That’s fine too. What matters is that you hang out where your audience hangs out.
YouTube Channels

If you’re shy to be on camera, you can still do unboxing videos or PowerPoint presentations with a voiceover. YouTube is an excellent source of free traffic.
Links in your video descriptions can either go to a landing page or your website. While some affiliates prefer to directly link to the product, it’s wiser to try and capture the lead.
BTW, for an excellent course on video marketing, I highly recommend Video Marketing Insider
Email Lists

As mentioned earlier, always strive to build your list. Have a pop up on your site with a freebie that encourages the visitor to opt in.
Once you have a list and you build a relationship with them, you can promote products that will be well-received. A list will be your greatest asset.
Paid Ads

Many marketers stay away from paid advertising because it’s almost inevitable that you lose money during the testing phase. However, you should give it a try when your budget allows for it. You’re not losing money – you’re buying data.
Give these 5 strategies a try and watch your affiliate commissions soar. They will take you some time to do, but if you’re consistent and stick to the plan, your future self will thank you for it. These strategies will work wonders for your affiliate marketing.
Of course, a major part of affiliate marketing is knowing which products to promote, so how do you decide which to promote and which to leave aside?
What Should You Look For When Choosing Products To Promote?

As an affiliate marketer, when you choose a niche to market in, ideally it should have a wide variety of products to promote. There should be a mix of tangible and digital products to cater to a wide variety of customers within the same niche.
So, it’s important to put right product in front of the right person at the right time to get maximum sales. Below you will find a few tips to guide you.
Does It Fit Your Niche?

This is a very important point. You need to know what your audience is looking for. If you’re in the golf niche, promoting bodybuilding supplements such as mass gainers might be a flop. However, an eBook about improving one’s shoulder strength may be a hit for people hoping to improve their golf swing.
However, that same guide will not be as eagerly bought by women looking to lose weight with an easier program like yoga.
As you can see, even though the problem is the same, the products that’ll interest your audience will be different. So, you must really understand your niche and expect a period of testing.
Vendor

Another factor that you should look at is the vendor. If you’re promoting products on Amazon, you don’t have to worry too much.
Everybody trusts Amazon and they do a great job at selling.
Always check the vendor’s credibility.
Sales Page

Is the sales copy for the product convincing?
Is the description accurate and convincing? Read the sales copy and ask yourself if you’d buy the item. If you would, your site visitor or subscriber might probably buy it too.
Does It Solve A Problem?

Products that solve problems will always sell better than those that are just for satisfying wants.
You need to supply people with what they want, not necessarily what they need. This is just the way of business and marketing; hopefully they will eventually find what they need through you.
Reviews

Look at the testimonials and customer reviews on the site. Amazon makes this easy by providing ratings and reviews from verified customers. Promote products with a high rating and many positive reviews.
The same applies to digital products. You may even wish to ask the vendor to email you a review copy.
Many vendors will gladly accede to your request. If they don’t, just move on and find another product.
Trends

Last but not least, check on Google Trends to see if the product is in demand. Sometimes, products are very popular because of a craze, but then it all suddenly dies down.
These are the pointers to look out for when choosing products to promote. Exercise due diligence in your research and only recommend proven and profitable products to your audience. This will ensure that they trust you and your reputation remains intact.
If you want to know more about affiliate marketing then check out the featured resource below for a free report; download it read it and take action 🙂
7 Ways To Write Great Email Copy

Email marketing has overcome dozens of challenges and competition over the years and still remains one of the most effective solutions for businesses when there’s need to reach the customers directly.
Whether you’re a B2B or B2C marketer, being able to reach your customers through email makes it easier to create interest and generate more leads, not to mention revenue.
A well-written plain email can yield better results than a complex, highly decorated email with dozens of bells and whistles.
So how exactly do you write engaging and compelling marketing email? It’s actually not that complicated: you only need to observe a few copywriting practices and use them when drafting the email.
Next time you sit down to draft a message, consider these 7 tips and ask yourself whether your email meets these requirements.
Write Short, Clear And Compelling Subject Lines

Half the job of drafting good email copy is nailing the subject line.
Keep the following in mind when crafting subject lines:
- Actionable language generates the desired effect. Actionable language doesn’t necessarily describe verbs -though they help. Actionable words tell the recipient what they can do with the information provided. For instance a subject line that reads “Take Mom To Brunch” is bound to pique interest.
- Personalize if possible. Highly segmented emails always have better open rates. This would explain why the best email copy is the one you write to ONE person. Find a way to personalize the subject line and then work on providing relevant content to the recipient.
- The subject line needs to be clear first, then you can worry about making it catchy. If after drafting the subject line, you find that you can make it funny, cute, catchy, whimsical or whatever, then by all means, go for it. But never sacrifice clarity in order to add some entertainment value.
Ask Questions And Try To Convey A Sense Of Urgency

When you ask questions in the subject line you effectively pique your subscribers’ interest and get them to read the email.
One way to do this is to include time-sensitive promotions or some deadline they could miss.
Even when working with a limited number of words you can still convey urgency by making it sound as is everyone is attending the event so the readers feel as if they’ll get left out.
Appeal to The Subscribers’ Self Interest

At the end of the day, the customers only care about services and products in the context of their specific needs. As a way to address this, your copy should go beyond explaining the features of what you’re selling, and explicitly describe all the benefits of the product or service.
Remember features tell, but benefits sell.
This information will have answered the “what”, instead of “how” and “why” the subscriber should purchase the onion. If however you explained the benefits thereof, such as how the onion could spice up a recipe, or how it lowers calorie content, the reader will be interested.
Use Design Effectively

Most sales emails contain some form of design and that can enhance the message but try to support the message in the email- not detract from it.
Use design sparingly if you don’t have enough experience with it.
Several elements can make the purpose of design backfire on you: for instance, all capitalized or bolded text, white typing done over a over light background- which makes it difficult to read text, or a tiny call to action.
Support your message with a captivating photo, good color contrast and clear call to action.
Deliver What Your Subject Line promises

It is absolutely crucial for your email message to deliver what the subject line promises.
Make sure the message body doesn’t disappoint and you should have significantly high open and click-through rates.
Draft A Compelling Message

So now that you have that catchy subject line and you’ve grabbed the reader’s attention, how do craft copy that will keep them engaged, informed and ready to click?
Several issues have to be considered here:
- Establish relevancy. It takes more than a catchy name tag for your email to yield results: you have to start by establishing relevancy, so they have a reason to read the material.
- Write in the second person. This ensures you orient the copy towards the recipient, as opposed to yourself. A typical sales copy contains numerous instances where the words “you” and “yours’” are used.
- Be brief. In cases where you know plenty about the topic, you might be tempted to shove in an entire life story into the copy, but don’t. Few people read marketing emails word for word; so find a way to summarize whatever information you have to offer and allow the reader to quickly scan the document and still get the most important information.
Pump Up Your CTA With Actionable Language

Yes even emails have calls-to-action! Or at least the good ones do; and its up to you to make sure to include a button-effective call to action.
You may rely on plain text with a clear, perhaps hyper-linked call to action so your readers do something about the information offered.
Ultimately you want the reader to click on your call to action so it might not matter how many images or bolded words you have, if they don’t lead to clicks, they’re not being used properly.
If you want to know more about nurturing your list, check out the featured resource below where you can get a free report about simple list building to expand your knowledge further. If you do download it, please read it and take action and good luck 😊
5 Ways To Make New Habits Stick

Wouldn’t it be great if everything in your life was completely automated? You would no longer have to remember to get up and go to work or do your daily chores. You would exercise regularly and eat the healthiest things.
But unfortunately, life doesn’t work that way and you have to be involved in the process.
Sounds good doesn’t it? Yes it does but forming new good habits requires a lot of time, effort and patience.
If you don’t go about it the right way then your new habits will not stick. In this article we will show you ways that you can make your new habits stick.
Start In A Simple Way

A lot of people fall into the trap of trying to totally change their lives in a single day.
Start off with small changes and then build from these.
Make A 90 Day Commitment

You will need to run a routine for at least 21 days to become comfortable with the change.
So ,we recommend that you make a 90 day commitment to your new habit. 90 days is not a long time in the scheme of things and it will pass quickly.
The Importance Of Daily Routines

The best way to make a new habit stick is to be consistent with it. You want to create a new daily routine which includes your new habit.
Don’t go crazy here. You do not want to join a gym and commit to completing a full workout each day.
This is a disaster waiting to happen. Find a form of exercise that is beneficial that you can easily do at home. Gradually migrate to going to the gym a few times a week.
Create A Reminder System

It is important that you never lose sight of why you are forming a new habit.
The stronger your reason for creating the new habit in your life the better.
Write down your reason for making the change and make this strong for example.
Remove Things That Will Tempt You Back Into Bad Ways

Forming a new habit is a tough thing to do and you will help yourself enormously if you remove temptations that could push you back into your bad habits.
If you are changing your diet to a healthy eating plan then get rid of all those forbidden foods from your kitchen for example.
These are not difficult things to implement in your life and they will make the difference between success and failure.
Of course, when we create new habits, we want them to ones that are positive and empower us.
But sometimes we acquire bad habits and need to break free of them but how do you do that?
The Best 5 Ways To Break Bad Habits

Most people have attempted to break bad habits in their life before but found the process so difficult that they gave up and resigned themselves to accepting the bad habit. This is not a place that you want to be in.
So, let’s look at 5 of the best ways to break your bad habits.
Breaking a bad habit is one of the most liberating things that you can do in your life. So please read on and then start putting what you learn into practice.
Make Indulging In Your Bad Habit Painful!

People will usually do more to avoid pain than they will to gain pleasure. So, with this in mind it is a good idea to create a pain situation related to your bad habits.
If you eat too much junk food, then fine yourself each time you visit the hamburger joint. Make this significant such as $20 that you give to your spouse or children when you do this.
You do not have to use money for this pain. Giving up something that you love can be just as painful if not more. The wager could be over your new video game console for example.
What Triggers Your Bad Habit?

You need to understand what kicks off your bad habit in order to break it. This is called a trigger and it can be one thing or several different things.
It is not automatic it just happens very quickly so you think that it is. So, when you next crave your bad habit identify what caused this craving.
The more that you know about your bad habits the more likely you are to break them.
Remind Yourself

You may have the very best intentions to break a bad habit but if you experience a sudden drop in your willpower then you can find yourself easily indulging again.
This will help you to refocus and continue with your good work.
Change Your Environment

As we have seen above, a lot of bad habits are triggered from being in a certain place or seeing the same things over and over.
If the route you take to work stresses you about because of the traffic and makes you want a cigarette then try different routes.
Take Small Steps

You need patience and persistence to break bad habits. Trying to make massive changes in your life all at once is going to be really challenging for you.
You really need to work on building good habits and to do that you will need to develop a strong success mindset and that is easier than you think; you may just need a few pointers to help you out along the way.
To that end, please check out the featured resource below as it features a free report that will help you to develop a strong mindset that can help propel you into the success you deserve. Download, read it and take action 😊




