If you run your own web site, there is a strategy that can help you increase your profits with little risk: affiliate marketing. If you are unfamiliar with affiliate marketing, it involves selling products for other companies for a commission. These commissions generally range from 5% to 10% for physical products to 50% to 75% for digital information products like e-books. There are vendors offering affiliate programs for almost every type of niche marketing.

For existing web sites, there are a few different methods for finding related affiliate programs. Perhaps the easiest is a simple search on Google; you can search for the word “affiliate” along with your niche or the high-level category of your site. For example, “golf affiliate” would find affiliate programs for products in the golf niche.

Just look through the results until you find a vendor or product that catches your eye. Remember that you don’t want to directly compete with your site; continuing with the previous example, if your site sells golf clubs, you wouldn’t want to use a golf affiliate program, but golf travel would be a good fit.

Another more detailed method involves searching through sites that manage affiliate programs for other companies. Shareasale and Commission Junction are to examples of this type of site. These sites manage the affiliate programs for hundreds of companies, and they allow you to search and join the programs from one site. It isn’t as easy to find vendors with products related to your niche with this method, but once you find one, it takes less work to join the program.

Once you find an appropriate affiliate program, joining it is pretty straightforward. The company will usually want some information about your site and which promotion methods you use to get traffic. Some programs allow anyone to join. Others require some level of review to ensure that your site is a good fit for their brand. In any case, should your application get denied, you can always find another program (or just try again).

No matter your niche, affiliate marketing programs can add a nice source of additional income to your site. Finding and joining a relevant affiliate program is a relatively painless process as well. As long as you choose a program whose products complement yours, affiliate programs can really help your bottom line. Then you too can become a wealthy affiliate.

Technorati Tags: affiliate marketing, Affiliate Programs, joining affiliate programs, niche marketing

How to “Drill Down” a Niche

Finding a niche topic requires more than just identifying your interests. You need to divide the topic down to a very specific area so that you can better target the audience. Let’s look at how to break down a niche idea using a popular online search topic:  how to make money with online marketing.

That’s much too broad and difficult to market. You’ll also bump into many competitors. Think of the process as an upside down funnel. Or, if you’re mathematically inclined, it’s like reducing a fraction to its lowest terms.

Overall Topic: How to make money with online marketing.

Sub Topics from initial brainstorming include:

·        People who want to work from home

·        People who want to work anywhere using a computer

·        People who want freedom to choose their own work hours

·        People who hate their job and want to get out of the cubicle

·        People who lack advanced skills or degrees and need to learn a skill fast

·        People who lost their jobs due to downsizing or outsourcing

·        Baby boomers looking to supplement their retirement income

·        College kids needing to earn extra money

·        Stay at home moms who don’t want to go back to work

Wow! That’s an entire set of niche topics that can be developed merely by taking time to analyze why people might want to earn money from online marketing. Out of the six topics generated, select two that really interest you or represent areas where you have personal experience.

Take the first topic you chose and brainstorm five to seven key questions that people might ask in searching for the topic. Next, start a niche search using the keywords you developed and see what you find. Using Google Notebooks or designated files, collect this information. Add to your research those websites that deal with the niche topic.

Finally, look in ClickBank and on similar sites for affiliate products that you can use in developing the niche. If you decide to write your own information product, create an outline for each eBook that you’ll prepare. Then get ready to dominate your area of expertise.

Go to the link below. If niche marketing isn’t for you, then
you’ve just spent about 30 seconds reading a great website. Check us out. I think you’ll be glad you did.

Bilt 2 Sell.com

Technorati Tags: home based business ideas, niche marketing, online marketing

Go for the Online Gold

Sports have a universal appeal.  Whether you play football with feet or hands, there are crazed fans who eat, sleep and breathe the sport.  Sports minded online marketers can cash in during the season for their favorite sports.

To score big in this market, you need winning plays and excellent timing. In the United States, football season captures a huge fan base from the college teams and bowl games to the pro teams culminating in the massive appeal of the Super Bowl.

In Europe and South America, soccer matches and the World Cup have similar appeal. Months before the “big game,” you have almost seven months to market sports memorabilia, fan gear and snacks for game watching.

Speaking of watching, those die-hard sports fans want the latest electronics. You can market reviews of new plasma TVs, DLPs and projectors. You can also sell information products that explain how to install your own wall mounted TV or satellite system.

Then get an affiliate connection with a cable system, satellite service or electronics company to make money off products you review or recommend. But that’s not all – make a list of other major sports events that attract huge attention such as the World Series (baseball), Wimbledon (tennis), Master’s and British Open (golf), NASCAR (racing) and Grand Prix (formula one racing), Boston Marathon (running), Ironman (tri-athlete) and Tour de France (bicycling) just to name a few.

Each of these major events is preceded by qualifying events, which extend the online marketing opportunities for months before the major event. For each sport, use drill down niche research to find specific marketing options, products and affiliate markets.

Then there’s the world wide interest grabber – the Olympics. As soon as the next Olympic site and marketing theme is announced by the host city, you swing into action with online marketing offers.

You can easily get the jump on host city marketing by a year or more if you work fast. Be careful with logos and trademarks for the Olympics and other major sports events, but you can work around that or connect with authorized affiliate products.

After the flag goes down, the trophy is awarded and medals earned, be ready to flaunt the winners to the fans and console the losing fans.  Have some products with the winners’ names ready to launch within minutes of learning the outcome.

If you have Super Bowl winning theme products, you need a set for each team and a set of “maybe next year” for both teams. Don’t wait a day or two to get these ready or you’ll miss the first wave of buying while fans are riding high or crying loud.

Go to the link below. If internet or niche marketing isn’t for you, then you’ve just spent about 30 seconds reading a great website.

Check us out. I think you’ll be glad you did.

Bilt 2 Sell.com

 

Technorati Tags: internet marketing, niche marketing, Online Gold

Finding Affiliate Partners

You can always position your product in third party marketplaces like ClickBank and PayDotCom. They’re the most well-known markets for selling your products, but you also want to secure joint ventures directly with marketers who promote your niche topic, not wait for them to find your item on ClickBank.

Start by listing as many sites as you can where there’s strong interest in your niche topic.  That includes discussion forums, chat groups, membership sites, and Google groups. Don’t forget the social networking sites like Squidoo, Facebook and MySpace just to name a few very popular sites.

Listen to the social conversation going on. Ask a relevant questions and pay attention to the answers. Do you get comments and ideas or recommendations for an information product and website with more details?

From that information, go to the suggested sites. These are potential affiliate partners. Even if you don’t see any affiliate products on their sites, contact them and propose an affiliation.  It may be that the site owner is so focused on his or her niche that product affiliation wasn’t even considered.

Or they may not know how this can work to their advantage for new business. You never know until you ask.    When you discover another start-up site related to your niche, propose an affiliate JV opportunity. 

They may not have much traffic in the beginning, but you’ll grow with them. You can also propose a shared email campaign – agree to recommend their site to your list if they do the same for you with their list.

Now, here’s one source that new marketers tend to avoid: highly successful sites. As soon as you see the big site with powerful affiliate partners, don’t think there’s no room for you.  An established site has a large following and repeat visitors and the owner is always looking for ways to provide value and insight to his or her community. You can offer a special bonus or discount for the site owner. 

Identify the top 5 most influential people in your niche and study their websites.  Look at their products and promotion methods. After a thorough analysis, contact their centers of influence and propose your product as an affiliate.

Send your product for a review. Most new Internet marketers avoid the big guys thinking that people so well established in the niche wouldn’t bother with a newcomer.  You might be surprised at the result of simply asking.

Some of the biggest names in Internet marketing are great people who believe strongly in the “pay it forward” philosophy. Don’t hype yourself, tell it straight and ask for an opportunity. When you get the open door, you need to present your best quality product with excellent customer service so they feel comfortable sending their traffic to your site.

Go to the link below. If Affiliate marketing isn’t for you, then
you’ve just spent about 30 seconds reading a great website.
Check us out. I think you’ll be glad you did.

Bilt 2 Sell.com

 

Technorati Tags: Finding Affiliate Partners, internet marketing, niche marketing

Energize Your eBook Sales

You worked so hard to prepare an eBook that’s right on trend in your niche. After the initial burst of sales, all that remains is a trickle of buyers.  Even your returns are rising. So what just happened?

The information is solid and unique. Do you have to change the content to pump up the sales? No, but you may need to make simple adjustments to get those sales back on the rise and prevent more refund requests.

Give away free samples. You know how that draws people in the grocery store or at the coffee shop. Everybody wants to try something that’s free.  Let prospective buyers have a sample of your eBook.

Provide a link on your website that allows viewers to read a sample chapter. Then circulate that link to every site, forum and discussion group in your niche.  The more people who sample your work, the more potential buyers you attract. 

The free sample is another way to reduce requests for refunds. The buyer has a chance to see if this is the kind of information and presentation that’s worth buying.  You can also add a free look at the table of contents. An informed buyer is more likely to be a satisfied buyer.

Don’t be afraid to highlight the money back guarantee. Rather than prompt refunds, a strong guarantee of satisfaction actually reduces refunds.   Add a gold seal or other icon that shows a guarantee symbol.

Buyers want to know that their purchase information is safe. Instead of saying, “ Your order is secure” add to your link “Order Now on our Secure SSL Server” (or other appropriate security message).

Speaking of the Order Now link, apply this several times in your sales letter and in several locations on the sales page.  Each time you add more reasons to purchase or add a bonus offer, put in the Order Now link.

Don’t make your prospect search for how to buy. You want to grab them while they’re still overwhelmed by the urge to have what you’re selling. Inside your eBook is another place for the Check New Titles link.

You can add it in the copy a few times as long as you don’t interrupt the flow of the content. Have that link in the opening page with your welcome, in the signature line of your “about the author” page and on the last page of the copy.

If you already have a title for the next eBook, use that in the link. While the reader is enjoying your work, it’s a great time to promote another eBook. Make it easy for a satisfied reader to find and buy more eBooks from you.

Add a bonus survey at the end of the eBook. Ask your reader to “review” this eBook by answering a few questions for a Special Free Bonus Gift.  Add the link for the review. When the reader finishes, the review goes into your autoresponder and the Bonus Gift is sent immediately with a note from you. 

The Bonus Gift is the incentive to complete the survey. You can get useful information from your readers that will help in targeting your next product. But even if the survey information isn’t that important, it’s a way to build a relationship with your buyers. Let them know what you have to offer and give past buyers the first chance to get your newest information products.

Go to the link below. If ebooks and niche marketing are not for you, then you’ve just spent about 30 seconds reading a great website.

Check us out. I think you’ll be glad you did.

Bilt 2 Sell.com

 

Technorati Tags: eBook Sales, internet marketing, niche marketing

Follow this basic guide and you should have no trouble finding a niche that is profitable for you as well and enable you to tap an area of constant income with little competition .Finding a niche topic requires more than just identifying your interests. You need to break  the topic down to a very specific area so that you can better target the audience.

First step in the process is to just pick something, anything. It doesn’t matter what it is. Just find yourself a starting point. Think of things that are commonly sold online. If you’re not sure, go to Ebay,Clickbank,or other online store  and see what some of the hottest items are. Visit relevant forums and observe what people are discussing.After you pick something, go to Google’s keyword tool to see how many searches there are for that niche and its related keywords.

Don’t worry, Google will give you a fairly large related list of keywords. Take the first topic you chose and brainstorm five to seven key questions that people might ask in searching for the topic. Next, start a niche search using those keywords you developed and see what you find. Using Google Notebooks or designated files, collect this information. Add to your research those websites that deal with the niche topic.

After you’ve collected your list, go through each keyword one at a time and plug them into Google’s actual search engine to see how many competing sites there are. Let’s say a keyword phrase gets 1,000 monthly searches and there are only 10,000 competing sites. By plugging these figures into the formula (monthly searches / competing sites) X monthly searches, you come up with your KEI, which stands for Keyword Efficiency Index. If the KEI is 100 or greater, the niche is, for the most part, considered to be one that has the potential to be profitable.
 

Finally, you want to see if there are any products that are being sold in that niche. If there are, this is further evidence that the niche is probably one that could be profitable. Even if there isn’t, that could simply mean that nobody has taken advantage of it yet. The potential still exists.Look in ClickBank and on similar sites for affiliate products that you can use in developing the niche. If you decide to write your own information product, create an outline for each eBook that you’ll prepare. Then get ready to dominate your area of expertise.

As you can see, niche research is not rocket science. It comes down to finding out what  people are searching for, how much competition there is and finally if products actually exist in the niche itself. If the figures look good, the potential for income is probably there. And even if there is no product being sold, that could simply mean that the niche hasn’t been exploited yet…which means a possible great opportunity for you.Yes, it’s THAT simple.To YOUR Success,

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Bilt 2 Sell.com

Technorati Tags: niche marketing, niche research