You can’t start a profitable affiliate marketing business until you find out exactly who you are marketing to. Finding a niche is the first in several steps that will allow you to start a reliable stream of online income.
If you’re stuck at the starting gate when it comes to find a niche, here are three ways to find the right niche – including the pros and cons of each.
Method # 1- Picking a niche that you already know a lot about.
When you select a niche that you are already closely familiar with, you will be able to indentify immediately what type of content you need to create, how you need to approach the marketing and where you need to do further research.
This can save you a lot of time when you are searching for affiliate products. You’ll know instantly what type of information that your market is likely to want and you narrow down your affiliate product choices without spending a lot of time on niche research.
Additionally, if you decide to create your own product to pre-sell the affiliate marketing product, you’ll instantly know how to create it. On the downside, the topics that you may be familiar with might not be profitable or in demand.
Method #2 – Pick a niche that you are passionate about.
If you go with the passion method of picking a niche, you’ll enjoy the process of marketing to this niche. A topic you are passionate about it one that you may or may not already be knowledgeable about.
You may just have a passion for learning about it. With a niche you are passionate about, you’ll be more motivated to work on your affiliate business.
Consistent work is the key to success, so enjoying your work is important to keeping consistency. It will also be easier to write passionately about the topic if you are passionate about learning about it.
You’ll be excited to do the work involved in creating a promotional pre-selling product or a website. However, just like with a topic you know about, you may find that the product that you are promoting due to your passion is not very profitable.
Method #3 – Pick a niche that is high in demand
Finding a market that already has a high demand is a smart way to get into affiliate marketing. If the topic already has a great deal of interest and demand, you’ll be more likely to make sales and have profitable affiliate marketing promotions.
The main drawback is that high in demand topics have a lot of competition, but don’t let this discourage you. You’ll be able to make an impact in the market if you keep at it.
There is a hidden fourth method for choosing a niche – finding a niche that is a combination of all three. When you select a product that is something you know about, something you’re passionate about and something that is already high in demand you’ll get the benefits of all of these methods.
Talk soon,
-Gabor
http://IncomeAutopilot.com
One of the most effective methods of sending traffic to your affiliate product landing page is to write articles and distribute them to article directories. However, many affiliate marketers don’t consider themselves to be good article writers.
If you don’t have the funds to outsource your articles right now, you’re going to have to learn quickly how to put together a quality article. Here are six technical tips for creating an article that will be professionally pulled together in order to convert more visitors to buyers.
1.Create an outline first.
If you want to create an article quickly, it’s very helpful to have an outline in place first. Developing a short outline with your introduction paragraph, three body points and conclusion will help focus your writing and make it easier for you to complete the writing process.
2.Keep your articles in the active voice.
Using an active or passive voice is one of those grammatical rules that confuse many people. It’s actually quite simple. You just need to phrase your sentences in such a way that they remain in the active voice.
For example, “Fats are removed from your diet” is passive and “Remove fats from your diet” is an active sentence. Review your article before you publish it to be sure there aren’t any passive sentences.
3.Choose the right word for the job.
Using your thesaurus in order to create an article is no way to write. People like to read to the point and conversational articles online. You need to write exactly how you’d speak in order to find the right words. If you wouldn’t use the word in conversation, don’t use it in your article.
4.Keep your sentences short.
Attention spans are short online and people won’t sit through big long sentences and paragraphs. Read a few other articles online to get an idea of how you should use sentence structure. If you can sum up your sentence in a bullet point, do so.
5.Double check your grammar and punctuation.
Before you submit your article you should make sure that your grammar and punctuation are perfect. A word processing program like Microsoft Word will alert you to any major grammatical errors that your article may have, but for punctuation and minor grammar points you’re going to need to look through your article yourself. Reading it before submitting will be a major factor in catching these small errors.
6.Double check the links in your bio box.
Your bio box is the most important part of the article. Before you submit your article you need to make sure that they are formatted properly and are pointed to the right site. If you are doing the HTML line of code yourself, test it out before you submit it to the article directory. Otherwise, most directories will assist you with adding links onto keywords that you want to use as anchor text.
Talk soon,
-Gabor
http://IncomeAutopilot.com
Internet marketing has its fair share of affiliate programs that you can promote. Sometimes it seems like there is a new product launch every few days. You could spend all of your time promoting internet marketing related information products – but you shouldn’t be.
There are dozens of services that offer recurring affiliate commissions that all Internet marketers need. Whether you decide to promote these programs out right or promote them as backend affiliate recommendations within your larger product, they are essential marketers and you should be making money from them.
The great thing about promoting all of these services is that they are recurring and marketers use them continually. Although the monthly commission may not seem like much compared to the large commissions from IM products, they are each and every month and add up over time.
1.Domain Names and Website hosting
No one makes money online until they have their own website, and a website requires both hosting and a domain name. You can find both of these services with one company, or promote two different companies for the separate services.
Buyers normally shop on price for domain names and a combination of price and reliability for web hosts. Make sure to emphasize the low cost of the domain names and the low cost of hosting in your promotional materials.
2.Autoresponder services
Another essential for Internet marketing is an autoresponder service. With an autoresponder service, your referrals will have the ability to send out continuous email marketing messages to their prospects.
They can also use an autoresponder service to create email course membership sites or deliver important news about promotions. There are several monetization models available through autoresponder services, so promoting your favorite one will be valuable to your referrals.
3.Website templates
Website templates offer the average person the ability to quickly and easily create a website that looks professional and functions well. There are many website template membership sites that offer new templates each month for one flat fee.
Promoting this type of site to your Internet marketing list members will give you ongoing commissions each month.
4.PLR content
Marketers always need fresh content, and if you find a reputable PLR content website you can ensure that you’ll have ongoing commissions for months to come. Find a PLR content website that offers monthly updates on content and a variety of different niches. This way it will provide ongoing commissions and be valuable to a wider group of people.
5.Membership sites
Internet marketing membership sites can offer ongoing training, forums and other important resources to help your referrals make money online. Even if you sell your own Internet marketing product, you can promote membership sites on the backend. You can find membership sites that cover topics you couldn’t go into in depth in your own product.
There are many other types of recurring income products you can find to promote to Internet marketers, but these are just a few to get your started. Promoting Internet marketing services and sites on the backend of your own product is a smart way to make more money.
Talk soon,
-Gabor
http://IncomeAutopilot.com
Affiliate marketing articles are distributed through article directories in order to drive traffic to your affiliate marketing product page. There are many elements to making a great affiliate marketing article, but the first area you should focus on is the title.
Without a compelling title, the visitor won’t click through to your article and he or she won’t be able to see the link to the affiliate marketing landing page. Here are 7 sample titles that you can use to have more effective affiliate marketing articles.
These samples are all for a diet product article.
1.Top 10 Reasons Why Low Carb Diets Work
People love lists – just like this article – and a “top reasons why…” article will help them understand the topic and build desire for the affiliate product. List articles are simple to write and the titles are really attention getting.
2.Top 3 Mistakes Dieters Make
A mistakes article focuses on the problems people can experience when they are trying to accomplish their goal, so this title is very attractive. After they read about the mistakes that they can make, they will be interested in finding solutions so naturally they’ll look to your bio box for more information.
3.How to Lose 5 Pounds in 7 Days
How to articles are simple to write and simple to read, so this title is very interesting to the searcher. Generally people come online in order to find some guidelines to accomplish their goals, so a how to article first right into that. Another optional title for a how to article is “7 Steps to Lose 5 Pounds in 7 Days.”
4.5 Ways to Lose Weight Now
This is another form of a how to article but it focuses on a series of tips rather than a step by step approach to the topic. You can collect a variety of different tips from around the Internet and pull them in to create a brand new article. Additional tips titles can include “6 Secrets to…” or “5 Tricks to…”
5.Are you ready to lose weight? Take this quiz.
Asking a question is a great way to capture the attention of the searcher. Question titles will motivate the searcher to click on your article title in order to get the answer to the question. You can create a short quiz within your article to inform the reader and pre-sell the product.
6.Weight Loss FAQ
Frequently asked questions articles will draw in traffic from people who are interested in learning the basics of a topic. Once they read the helpful content in your article they will likely follow through to click on your affiliate link to learn more about the product.
7.Super Fat Burner – An Honest Review
People who are interested in buying a product are interested in finding reviews on the product before they buy. This type of title is great because it attracts people who are close to making a decision on their purchase.
Talk soon,
-Gabor
http://IncomeAutopilot.com
Affiliate marketing articles are distributed to article directories in order to get traffic and backlinks to your affiliate landing page. With enough traffic coming your way, you can expect to earn quite a bit of income from your affiliate promotions.
The only problem with writing and distributing articles is that you have to make sure they are good quality if you want people to read and use your articles. If you’re intimidated by the thought of researching topics for your articles, don’t be.
There are seven quick ways you can research topics and content for your affiliate marketing articles.
1.Use a blog search engine.
AllTop.com and Technorati.com are both blog search engines that can give you instant access to the top blog posts on your topic. Look through the titles only and see if those titles spark any ideas. Keep in mind that you shouldn’t steal the content.
Rather you can use the titles for inspiration. You may find some aspects of the niche you never thought of before.
2.Look for FAQs related to the topic.
Again…no plagiarism allowed! But there’s no reason why you can’t take just one of the questions on an FAQ list and create a full length article on it. Chances are the FAQ writer didn’t cover all of the aspects possible of the particular question. You can just expand on their original point and provide more insight.
3.Browse through related forums.
Ideally you’ll want to have articles that help solve problem and provide insight for the niche. If you want to know what the big problems are for a niche, you can look to a niche forum. Look for the most frequently visited threads and you’ll find big problems that people need help with. Your article can address one of those problems to draw in readers from that niche.
4.Search through Yahoo Answers.
Similar to the tip above, Yahoo Answers at http://answers.yahoo.com can provide you with potential topics and research for your affiliate marketing articles. You can search through the answers to see what people are asking. If the questions have been answered you have the foundation for your article.
You can also use this same technique on any of the answer sites. The answerers at these sites may clue you into some research resources you may have never thought of.
5.Read tutorials.
There’s nothing worse than not understanding the topic that you are trying to write about. If you’re unfamiliar with the topic, try reading a basic tutorial to get your bearings. Without understanding the basics, you won’t even know what you should be researching.
6.Look to a user generated content site.
People that are passionate about topics will freely share their knowledge on user generated content sites. These normally have pages or articles that are focused on one small topic.
Talk soon,
-Gabor
http://IncomeAutopilot.com
Lots of people want to make money online as an affiliate, but very few end up giving up or seeing a profit before they succeed.
There are several components that go into being a successful affiliate marketer. Before you start your next affiliate marketing campaign, look through these tips and be sure you’re following the rules of effective affiliate marketing.
1.Know who your target market is.
Many affiliate marketers make the mistake of starting with a product in mind instead of starting with a target market in mind. Affiliate marketing is all about reaching out to the audience and making an honest recommendation of a product.
If you don’t know who you are reaching out to, you won’t be able to market effectively.
2.Purchase the product so you can be trustworthy.
Making an affiliate recommendation is not only a safe business practice, but these days it’s a legal responsibility in some countries. If you want to make an honest affiliate recommendation, how can you do so without knowing exactly what is in the product?
3.Offer advice and help.
Experienced affiliate marketers know that getting the sale is a lot more than just giving a link and asking the visitor to purchase through that link. They are looking to your site to help them make a decision on what they should buy to help them solve a problem.
Offer them help and advice related to the product but also related to the niche in general.
4.Be honest and transparent.
You need to disclose that you are being paid as an affiliate for your promotions. You can do this with a link to a full disclosure page or by just inserting a small line of text in your offer page.
5.Choose your product carefully.
The ultimate success of your affiliate marketing campaigns will rely upon the products that you select. Be sure to do a lot of research in regard to the product. Take a look at the reputation of the product creator, review the actual product and evaluate the sales page through a consumer’s eyes.
6.Try out different promotions.
Don’t be afraid to try out different affiliate products in order to see which works best for your niche. You may find that you will get better results with a different type of product. A video course or recurring income membership site may convert better and bring you higher commissions.
7.Write content that will be helpful and timeless.
Even though you’re an affiliate marketer, you’re still going to need some form of content in order to get your business up and running.
From article marketing articles to promotional blog posts, you need to write content that will stand up for months to come and continue to convert people long after you’ve launched your initial promotion.
This way you won’t have to go back and make changes frequently. For example, write “10 Ways to Save Money on Gifts” instead of “10 Ways to save on Christmas 2010 Gifts.”
Talk soon,
-Gabor
http://IncomeAutopilot.com
Affiliate marketing success comes from a few basic principles that you can put in place today. Make a goal for establishing a stream of affiliate income today and you’ll see it pay off in a few weeks and for months to come.
There are several methods that you can use in order to create more affiliate marketing sales. By following these tips, you can be sure that you are maximizing your profits as an affiliate.
1.Find a recurring income affiliate product.
This is the number one tip for a good reason. You can make more money long term from recurring income affiliate product than you can from a onetime sale. If you can locate a program that pays you each month for your referral, and there are hundreds, you’ll be better off as an affiliate.
2.Purchase the product you are promoting.
It’s amazing how many people try to get around this simple step. If you purchase the affiliate product yourself, it will be much easier to create quality promotional information. You’ll give yourself an edge over the competition that is trying to get away with vague recommendations and information about the product. Buying the product itself will help give you more insight into how to promote it.
3.Make sure the product meets a real need.
Sometimes product creators do not do adequate research to determine whether or not there is a real need for the product before they create it. Just because a product has an affiliate program doesn’t mean that you should have to promote it.
Do your due diligence and make sure there is a real need for the product before you put time and effort into promoting it.
4.Build a list.
You can build a list by offering a free report to visitors to your website. Inside the report you can promote the affiliate product and emphasize the reasons why they should purchase the product.
Alternatively, you can create your own product for sale and promote the affiliate product as a backend product. Either method will help you build your list so you can send them promotions in the future and build your authority in the niche.
5.Offer bonus products for those who purchase the product you are promoting.
People will be more likely to purchase through your affiliate link if you offer a few bonuses to go along with it. Your bonus products should be closely related to the topic of the main product.
Emphasize the benefits of the bonus product and the affiliate product on a bonus landing page will increase your conversion rates and get you more affiliate commissions.
6.Keep the relationship going with your list.
If you want to want to earn long term money with affiliate marketing, you have to build a relationship with your list. Send them informative articles and quick tips in between your promotional emails and you’ll earn their trust. When you do send them a promotional email message, they’ll be more likely to take notice and trust your recommendation.
Talk soon,
-Gabor
http://IncomeAutopilot.com
Article marketing and affiliate marketing can go hand in hand, if you plan correctly. Although many article directories do not allow you to link directly from your articles to your affiliate link, there is nothing really stopping you from using article marketing to drive traffic to a personal landing page.
Using the following tips, you can create a powerful article marketing campaign that will lead to increased affiliate sales.
1.Use keywords in your article title.
Put your main topic into a keyword research tool and then pull some of the most popular keywords from that list to create your article titles. Using the keyword in the title will help your article rank well.
Try to work in two mentions of the article title if you can – for example “Organic Gardening Tips: 3 Tips for Better Organic Gardening.”
In this example, the author squeezed in “organic gardening” twice in that small space.
2.Use the keywords within the article.
For the best results, you should select three to five keywords that are closely related and use them in your article. Use your main keyword in the title and the first sentence. Make sure to incorporate the other keywords within your article to bring in extra traffic.
3.Make your article stand out.
If you type your main article keyword into a directory like EzineArticles.com to see what is already being published. Giving a quick glance at the top 10 topics will help you see if there are any trends.
For example, if all of the titles of the articles follow a “Top 10 Reason Why…” then you should create a “Top 10 Mistakes…” type of article so your article will stand out.
4.Create an optimized bio box.
The most important part of your article marketing article, besides the title, is the optimized bio box. With the right bio box, you’ll be able to have lots of traffic to your affiliate marketing landing page.
An optimized bio box includes your main keyword as well as two links to your affiliate marketing landing page. Interested parties can click on your links to get more information about the topic you are discussing in the article.
5.Give away quality information.
Don’t write a fluff filled article that is empty on content. Even though this article’s purpose is to drive traffic to your affiliate marketing landing page, you should take steps to make sure that your article has quality information and tips that the reader will benefit from.
6.Don’t give away too much.
As an addendum to the previous point, you should keep in mind that your article should provide partial information but not the entire solution to the problem. The entire solution can be found in the main affiliate product.
If you give away the solution, the reader will have no reason to read through to the rest. For example, give the first two steps of a five step process in order to lead the audience to find out more with the product.
Talk soon,
-Gabor
http://IncomeAutopilot.com
So you’re interested in making money as an affiliate?
Lots of people enter the Internet marketing field each year to try to become successful affiliates, but so few of them actually succeed.
There are five common mistakes that new affiliate marketers make that kill their commissions.
Without high enough commissions, people assume that affiliate marketing is a scam or they are no good at it and they just give up. By being aware of the following mistakes starting right off, you can increase your chances for success and become one of the few that sticks with it.
Mistake #1 – Picking the wrong products
Picking the wrong products is the first major mistake that people make when they are starting out as an affiliate. There are always going to be misjudgments here and there, but in general you should spend a good amount of time doing niche research determining whether or not there is a demand for the type of product that you are intending on promoting.
Mistake #2 – Not building a list
Sometimes, in an attempt to save money, affiliate marketers will just try and refer the traffic directly to the homepage for the offer. Autoresponder services, domain names and hosting for a landing page website are relatively cheap when compared to the ongoing income you’ll be able to make from building a list. Developing a pre-selling list can help you make more money from the affiliate offer and, eventually, from your own product.
Mistake #3 – Not buying the product
This is another one of those “money saving” measures that can really cost you in the long run. There are hundreds of affiliates out there who are attempting to make money by giving vague reviews and insight on a particular product.
It’s impossible to give a proper review and recommendation without purchasing the product in question. Set yourself apart from the pack by purchasing the product and then giving real insight to your list members about its contents. They’ll be more likely to buy through your link.
Mistake #4 – Not offering bonuses
This is essential if you are promoting a very popular product. You have to give your landing page visitors a good reason to purchase through your affiliate link and not through another site. Select one to three quality products that you can package together as a bonus when an individual buys through your link. Emphasize the benefits of the product and you’ll increase your conversion rate.
Mistake #5 – Not looking for recurring affiliate commission opportunities
It takes just as much time and effort to promote a product that pays you once as it does to promote a product that pays you month after month. The best products to promote as an affiliate are recurring income products that pay you a small commission each month. Even though the monthly commission may be less than the commission you earn from a onetime product, it adds up quickly. There are recurring income products available in each and every niche, so seek them out and promote them.
Talk soon,
-Gabor
http://IncomeAutopilot.com
