Grab The Wealthy Affiliate Christmas Bonus Package

By Jay on December 22, 2009

WA BonusChristmas is a time for giving. Kyle and Carson of Wealthy Affiliate realizes this and want to give you a special gift if you come hang out with us and take your marketing to the next level.

For the next seven day ending on Monday, you will receive all three of their highly acclaimed internet marketing guides as a complimentary gift when you become a member of Wealthy Affiliate.

This is a great deal since I had to pay for each of these guides when they came out.

The bonus package includes:

  1. Beating Adwords which focuses on getting paid traffic from Google’s Adwords program. This book has been called one of the best Adwords guides available and is usually mentioned along with Perry Marshall’s Definitive Guide to Google Adwords. It has been priced at more than $100 before.
  2. Inside The List focuses on email marketing and list building and is a very informative guide that I find myself going back to all the time. The importance of building a list has always been stressed and will be even more important in 2010 with all the latest industry changes going on. Inside the list usually sells for $67.
  3. Who Loves Money is by far my favorite guide by Kyle and Carson. It’s focus is on marketing with little to no budget and there are a lot of handy tips and resources in there that will save you a lot of money in your internet marketing business. I bought Who Loves Money for $77 when it came out.

At some point in your learning experience (and even when you’re already making money you never stop learning), you’re going to have to choose a promotional method that fits your budget. You can choose from paid traffic or free traffic.

You can also decide whether you want to incorporate list building into your marketing. While all these methods are being taught at Wealthy Affiliate, having a resource that goes from front to back outlining the method can help to really enhance your focus.

This can help set up up as a serious force to be reckoned with in 2010. With the guidance of Wealthy Affiliate and your focus on a particular marketing method, you will have armed yourself with a good recipe for success.

So visit Wealthy Affiliate today, claim your Christmas bonus and make 2010 a profitable year.

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Marketing on Hubpages – 3 Benefits

By Jay on December 13, 2009

hubpageOver the past  2 years plus, I’ve been using a site called Hubpages.com as part of my marketing strategy.

Hubpages, a community by user generated content can be very beneficial to any marketer for a number of reasons especially if you’re using SEO and article marketing.

I’ve had a lot of successes using Hubpages and still continue to use it everyday.

If you haven’t tried using Hubpages, or you’re still wondering about it, allow me to give show you three ways that I have personally benefited from using this awesome site.

High Rankings

Getting on the first page of Google or any search engine, is a major goal for any niche marketer. However, getting there with your own site can be a challenge especially when you’ve got a new domain. Sometimes you just want to see results NOW.

Hubpages, because its already an established site in the search engines, has a PR of 6 and tonnes of backlinks and gives Google lots of fresh content on a very regular basis, can get you those high rankings in a short amount of time.

In fact, some of my hubs have gotten to the top 3  positions on Google in a matter of days and a lot of them are on the first page for their respective keywords.

Many of these hubs don’t even have a lot of external backlinks. The reason for this is Hubpages own internal linking which can explain why hubs get indexed so quickly and rank so highly without any extra effort.

With these high rankings, you can get a lot of traffic which you can convert to either direct affiliate sales by linking to merchant sites , affiliate sales through linking to your own website or whatever your end result may be.

Relevant Backlinks

Like most content sites, Hubpages is also do follow when it comes to backlinks.

Whenever I set up a niche site, I’m sure to use Hubpages so that I can get relevant backlinks going to the site. This helps my other pages get indexed and pushed up the search engine rankings in conjunction with the other sites I use for my backlinking strategy.

With Hubpages, you can add your link in the content or use a links module to add related links or even add your RSS feed to a related hub. Hubpages strengthens your hubs backlinking power with its own internal linking by adding your hub to related hubs within the site as well as all the tag pages associated with your hub.

Adsense Earnings

Before Hubpages, I’d only made about $0.10 through Google’s Adsense program. I’ve never really paid Adsense much attention though since I’d rather earn a commission on a sale which would be significantly higher than any Adsense click can earn you.

But since Hubpages is monetized with Adsense, you really can’t opt out of having these ads on your hubs. Luckily, Hubpages has created a win win situation for users by offering a 50% revenue share of their Adsense profits.

Still, I’d rather someone clicked on my affiliate link or visit my website than lose them to Adsense ads. But even so, I’d still earn from that loss which I can’t complain about.

I call it getting paid to build backlinks.

Because of Hubpages, I have been getting a check  from Google for anywhere from $200 – $400 per month for a good while now.

So if you’re still thinking of whether or not to use Hubpages or still using that other site, stop thinking. Sign up today and get to hubbing.

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My Sister Quit Her Job

By Jay on November 30, 2009

the-broken-chain1Well, I’m starting to think that my affiliate marketing success is rubbing off on the people close to me.

My sister, who used to work as a pre school teacher used to get up at 6am to get to work for 7:30am. Then she worked all day with only a lunch break and got off at 4:30pm.

And this was for considerably less than I worked for at my former job.

Although she’s not doing affiliate marketing (so I can’t credit it to affiliate marketing), she said goodbye to her coworkers today.

Why?

She’s had enough of the long hours and measly pay. Not to add the stress that comes with working for people.

She also needed a vacation which we’re going to have since we’re traveling to Florida on December 9th to stay with family for the Christmas season. The vacation extends into the last week of January which would not have been possible if she had to go back.

What Next?

Of course, she has plans and they’re very productive. A candy store which is in the planning stages right now.

I’m funding this venture from my affiliate marketing earnings :) . That to me is sooo cool. I’m an investor in offline business now.

I feel responsible for her freedom and thats why I’m blogging this right now. I don’t think this would have been possible if I wasn’t already making a full time living doing affiliate marketing.

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Flipping IM Myths Pt. 2: You Need a Website To Make Money Online

By Jay on November 29, 2009

webbuilders“But I don’t have a website; I don’t even know how to build one.”

This is one of the most common concerns expressed by people who want to make money online. Its understandable that people would think this way because the internet is made up of networks of websites. How to go about owning a piece of virtual real estate is the issue at the core of this myth.

Myth: You Need A Website To Make Money Online

One of the key points that attracted me to internet marketing initially was the fact that I didn’t need a website in order to make money.

I was like, “Really?”

I then learned about a method called “direct linking”. This was around 2005 when Google Cash was big and Adwords was easy.

It doesn’t work as well now but I can remember getting my first sale using “direct linking” which is where you link directly to the merchant website from your Adwords ad.

This is what proved to me that you didn’t need a website to make money online.

Then I learned about bum marketing.

What is Bum Marketing and Why You Don’t Need a Website

bum-using-laptopThe concept of BumMarketing is that you could take a bum off the streets and give him a computer and internet connection, show him a few steps and he could make money.

It requires no start up capital and no website since we won’t expect a bum to have either. Its really article marketing for people who don’t already have money for advertising or their own resources such as hosting.

Instead of having your own site, you can submit articles or build pages on sites that allow you to create an account and submit content.

For example, you can sign up with Blogger and create a blog which you can use as a website. You can sign up for user generate content sites like Squidoo and Hubpages and build pages where you can promote affiliate sites and make money in the process.

There are other ways you can make money online without having to create webpages such as writing articles for other people, designing graphics, proofreading and other freelance work.

The Truth

Most people who want to make money online usually want to do so for the long term. The truth is, if you’re serious about running an online business, at some point you’re going to need to have your own website.

There is no buts about it.

While its not necessary to have a website when starting out, its not a wise idea to rely on other people’s web properties to do your business. rules

To rely on others means giving up control over your content and putting a restrictive ceiling on your earnings. Rules change from time to time on these sites and you may one day find that your whole business has collapsed just because you aren’t in compliance.

As an example, Squidoo changed a few rules last July and some people I know found themselves back at square one because all their marketing efforts revolved around Squidoo.

With your own website, you make your own rules and do whatever you like for as long as you like.

My advice is if you’re now starting out, use free sites and build up some income, then reinvest that money back into your business by getting your own hosted website. It will only cost you less than $10 for a domain name and you can get $0.01 a month reliable hosting with HostGator.

Install Wordpress and you’re in business.

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Flipping IM Myths Pt 1: Making Money Online Is Easy

By Jay on November 14, 2009

easy-money-onlineYou know the saying, there’s always three sides – my side, your side and the truth?

I was reading DiTesco’s Making Money Online Sucks miniseries today and realized that some myths actually have some truth to them.

So which should you believe?

In this series, I’m going to touch on each of these common misconceptions and show you why they are and why they aren’t misconceptions.

Myth: Making Money Online Is Easy

With infomercials like Jeff Paul’s Shortcuts to Internet Millions and the Facebook bombardment of Google Money System ads just to name a few, the promise of fast, easy money flowing into your bank account while you sleep has created an audience of dreamers.

So, armed with false hope and a determination to make money on autopilot overnight, you set out to do just that and soon realize that you’re missing something.

Seems all of a sudden that making money online isn’t so easy after all.

2009-porsche

Oh well, maybe next year.

Then you get a little know how and find out there is much more to making money online than sitting at the beach with your laptop computer, working two hours each day while generating huge sums of money. Suddenly that Porsche you were thinking of buying next month with the money you were going to make would have to wait a bit longer.

Because now you gotta write articles and monitor and tweak your PPC ads, you have to do niche research and keyword research, write blog posts and autoresponder follow ups. You have to keep putting in work to get traffic to your offers in order to make substantial amounts of money online.

Making money online isn’t as easy as the gurus would want you to believe. There is a lot of work involved and you have to know what you’re doing by learning how to put together different aspects of your promotional campaigns.

Whoever told you that you can just set it up in a few clicks and let it run on autopilot to make thousands online was flat out lying to you.

There are no shortcuts but then again consider the other side of the coin…

Myth: Making Money Online Aint Easy

If you believe this myth, then you’ve probably had a bit of experience trying to make money online. This is probably your realization after believing the first myth, that making money online was easy.

Hold on, I know what you’re thinking…I just debunked that myth and said that making money online was in fact not easy.

Thing is, the audience that believes these two myths are different.

So let me explain why making money online is easy.

Affiliate marketing is probably the only business I know that you can start:

  • without having to get a loan from the bank
  • without having to purchase stock
  • without having to employ workers
  • without any specialized knowledge

You can learn how to make money without having to go to college for 4 years to get a degree before you enter the field. In fact, you can earn money as you go, while learning different techniques.

What about if you choose a niche and fail? You won’t have lost much compared to if you’d gone into an offline venture and that had failed. All you would have to do is choose another niche and try to make money with it.

The Truth

successfailureA huge percentage of people that start out trying to make money online quit even before they’ve made their first sale.

Motivation and determination to succeed plays a major part in whether you quit or you try to find a way to succeed. Don’t be afraid to fail over and over again. Failure only paves the way for you to succeed.

I’ve failed before and so have many of the most successful internet marketers. The reason why they became successful is because they were determined to make money online and learned from their failures.

Once you learn the ins and outs of making money online without the unrealistic expectations and are prepared to do some work then making money online can indeed be one of the easiest ways to generate a full time income.

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8 Tips To Getting Accepted By Any Affiliate Network

By Jay on October 3, 2009

approved

There are many affiliate networks that will approve your sign up application automatically like Clickbank and Commission Junction. But there are also affiliate networks that only want serious affiliates who are willing to put in the work so in order to weed out tire kicking under performers, they require that your application go through an approval system.

Getting approved to these networks, mainly CPA networks, can be a pain for the up and coming affiliate marketer and they usually have to deal with rejection. Knowing what the affiliate manager looks for can help ease the pain.

Here are some tips you can try to help get that application approved.

1. Have a good looking website or blog with a real domain name.

Your blogspot blog may be fine if the network approves you automatically but some networks frown on free setups. Doesn’t mean you won’t get accepted if you have a free blog but a real hosted website can go a long way to convincing an affiliate manager that you mean business.

2. An email address attached to your domain works best.

Seriously, applying with a free yahoo address makes you look like a spammer. If you have a domain, which you should, then you should use an email address such as myemail@mydomain.com on your application. This lets them know that you own the domain and website.

3. Fill out as much of the application as possible

Even the optional fields. The more experienced you appear, the better your chances of getting approved. However, don’t make up stuff, just to look good.

4. Know the Lingo.

If you’re just getting started and don’t know the meaning of traffic for example then this is going to damage your chances. Be versed on industry terminology so that when you’re talking to the affiliate manager on the phone you sound like you know what you’re doing.

5. Prepare to Answer the Phone

You’ll need to submit a phone number so that the networks call you. Not all the networks will call (nearly all CPA ones do), but you have to be prepared to answer the phone. It would be a good idea to get a separate phone to use just for phonebusiness. If not, answer the phone in a professional manner and please make sure that your voicemail message isn’t some crass recording designed to amuse your friends.

6. Better Yet, Call Them!

Speaking of the phone, soon after you submit your application, instead of waiting on the call, pick up the phone and call the affiliate network. This shows initiative and that you’re serious about getting approved. Tell them that you just submitted your application and can’t wait to get started.

7. Your main source of traffic.

If you’re not in the US or Canada your chances of getting approved are less simply because many networks want US traffic mostly. where the majority of your traffic comes from is one of the questions you are likely to be asked in the interview with your affiliate manager. If they mention your location during the interview, let them know that yes you’re from such and such place but you get mainly US traffic. I had an affiliate manager approve me right away when I did this and told him that “according to my Google Analytics stats, 89% of my websites traffic is from the United States and Canada.”

8. Incentivized or Not?

They’ll ask if you have incentivized traffic. The answer to this question is always a “no”. Incentivized traffic is usually a source of bad leads so this isn’t of much use to the majority of advertisers although some are ok with it.

I’ve used these tips myself to get approved by CPA affiliate networks. Not only do they work with CPA affiliate networks but they also work with individual advertisers who may decline your application for whatever reason.

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Wealthy Affiliate Platinum $1 Trial

By Jay on September 15, 2009

What if there was a legitimate program that could teach you how to make thousands of dollars online (obviously not overnight), allow you to quit your boring and stressful job and work from the comfort oplatinumdash1f your own home?

How much would you pay?

Wealthy Affiliate is one such program and its about to get better.

They’re set to open the doors of Wealthy Affiliate Platinum, which is their 3rd major upgrade in 4 years. This upgrade brings a whole new system with better tools and better training.

And here’s the best thing about it…

From September 15th (12pm EST) until September 29th, you can access the entire site for only $1.

$1 for 7 days at Wealthy Affiliate Platinum

Maybe you’ve been scammed before. Or simply mislead.

Whatever happened you really can’t blame yourself because you couldn’t possibly know what was in store for you.

You may not be totally sure about Wealthy Affiliate Platinum or if its for you. This is your chance to try the system because there is no risk at all.

You try it and don’t like it? Just cancel before your trial period has ended.

I’m pretty sure you’re not going to do that anyways.

You see, your trial isn’t limited to a few areas of the site…you get everything a regular member has access to. You can set up a profile, participate on the forum, access all the tutorials and training, create websites and even get a free hosting account.

This could be the best $1 you’ve ever spent. I’ll let you know more about Wealthy Affiliate Platinum when it launches.

Are you coming?

Click here to try Wealthy Affiliate Platinum for just $1

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Fastest Way to Get Blocked on Twitter

By Jay on August 10, 2009

Talk about bad Twitter etiquette (can we say Twittiquette?)

Block Request?

Block Request?

So this shows up in my tweets mentioning @kpfingaz. This is a good way to get my attention because I would check here to see who’s talking to me. I’m sure most other people do check these as well.

But when exploited this way, it becomes an annoyance for several reasons and the last thing you want to do is annoy your followers.

I got 4 of these back to back and to make the situation even worse, the persons tweeting aren’t even following me.

Ok, if you’re thinking of doing this or don’t really know how to use Twitter effectively, then please don’t try the above. It might look like it would work but this is like telemarketing. No one likes telemarketers.

Twitter is all about building relationships. If you’re serious about earning money online and building a business then the best thing to do is to learn how to use Twitter effectively to market your business and yourself.

Doing it the wrong way is the fastest way to get ignored and possibly blocked.

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The Clickbank Code Rips off Commission Blueprint?

By Jay on August 7, 2009

I thought it was suspect when I saw the overview of the contents from The Clickbank Code. They looked very similar to Commission Blueprint which is a good PPC course that I own.

Then I saw this video.

Well we know someone got a lot of value out of Commission Blueprint. So much so that he decided to do a course just like it.

Not ever similar to it but to do the exact course. Maybe he was reading from the slides that came with the Commission Blueprint course. Its one thing to rehash, I don’t buy IM stuff much anyway. Its another thing to rip off someones work and call it yours.

If you were considering the Clickbank Code, pass on it and try Commission Blueprint instead. You can read my review of the Commission Blueprint at my Wealthy Affiliate Insider blog.

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Embed Your Affiliate Link In Youtube Videos

By Jay on July 5, 2009

Just found something cool and would like to share it with you.

It’s called Linkedtube and what it does is, it lets you add a button with live link to an embedded Youtube video. Its incredibly easy to use. All you do is put your info into the widget creator and save and grab the code. You’ll then have a video with your affiliate link always displayed as your visitors watch.

Here’s how it looks. I shamelessly put my Wealthy Affiliate link into this video review to demonstrate.

See the gray button in the right hand corner with the caption?

Now hover over it. Click it :)

Beats watermarking those long affiliate links.

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