Another place to look for suitable affiliate programs is http://www.affiliatescout.com/, where you will find over 3000 programs in 270 categories. If you scroll down, you will find a list of new affiliate programs as well as recent forum postings.
You need to be a member to access the forum, however, membership is free with a valid email address.
Now you have a few sites to check out. Surely, we will be able to find some good affiliate products to sell on your website.
Next, we will talk about what else your website can do to generate money. Talk to you soon!
Barb
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Finding Affiliate Products
Last time we reviewed www.affiliateprograms.com and I suggested this was a good place to look for other people's products to sell.
Another such website is http://www.affiliatebot.com/ where you can either list a product as a "merchant" or become an affiliate of a program as a "publisher". The products as listed together with the % commission that is offered on each sale.
You may be wondering how you will promote products like this. Well, a few posts ago, we discussed finding your area of interest and then I directed you to find some products relating to your area of interest. Here's why.
As you are starting out, you don't likely have a product that matches exactly what people are looking for on the web. If you did, you would already be rich! If you are interested in and have knowledge of an area that people are searching for, you can start by selling other people's products that relate to your area of interest. If your interest is in time management and you find that people are searching for time management tips on the web, perhaps you will find some time management software or ebooks on these affiliate websites that you can promote on your website. You can develop a site with all kinds of tips and articles on time management (since you are an expert on this topic, writing some tips and other content shouldn't be too hard for you). You will attract people to your site with your valuable content. Once they are there, they may purchase a product, resulting in a commission for you.
Take a look at http://www.affiliatebot.com/ and see if you can find any products that complement your area of interest or that spark your creative juices and start you writing those articles and content.
Barb
Another such website is http://www.affiliatebot.com/ where you can either list a product as a "merchant" or become an affiliate of a program as a "publisher". The products as listed together with the % commission that is offered on each sale.
You may be wondering how you will promote products like this. Well, a few posts ago, we discussed finding your area of interest and then I directed you to find some products relating to your area of interest. Here's why.
As you are starting out, you don't likely have a product that matches exactly what people are looking for on the web. If you did, you would already be rich! If you are interested in and have knowledge of an area that people are searching for, you can start by selling other people's products that relate to your area of interest. If your interest is in time management and you find that people are searching for time management tips on the web, perhaps you will find some time management software or ebooks on these affiliate websites that you can promote on your website. You can develop a site with all kinds of tips and articles on time management (since you are an expert on this topic, writing some tips and other content shouldn't be too hard for you). You will attract people to your site with your valuable content. Once they are there, they may purchase a product, resulting in a commission for you.
Take a look at http://www.affiliatebot.com/ and see if you can find any products that complement your area of interest or that spark your creative juices and start you writing those articles and content.
Barb
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Other people's products
Last time we reviewed Clickbank's website with a view to finding products that complement our area of interest. Did you find any? Well, here is another website with affiliate programs. Go to http://www.affiliateprograms.com/ and see what they have to offer. Among all of the affiliate programs you can sign up for, there is also a blog, a forum if you want to talk to others just starting out and you can also sign up for their weekly newsletter.
The affiliate programs are accessible either on the left of the home page or under "directory". There are many categories to choose from. Hopefully, your area of interest is there somewhere, or at least a product or service that relates somehow to your specialty.
I have a couple of other sites like this that we can review and then I want to discuss search engine optimization. Once we have a couple or a few products that we would consider selling on a website, I want us to look at the big picture before actually setting up a website. When we are ready to set it up, what elements does it need to be successful. If we know this upfront, it will save us a lot of re-doing later on.
Of course, we are also going to talk about other things we can sell on our website, as well as giving away things (like free ebooks). I also want to give you access to some other free business ebooks I have found, so stay tuned.
Until next time...
Barb
The affiliate programs are accessible either on the left of the home page or under "directory". There are many categories to choose from. Hopefully, your area of interest is there somewhere, or at least a product or service that relates somehow to your specialty.
I have a couple of other sites like this that we can review and then I want to discuss search engine optimization. Once we have a couple or a few products that we would consider selling on a website, I want us to look at the big picture before actually setting up a website. When we are ready to set it up, what elements does it need to be successful. If we know this upfront, it will save us a lot of re-doing later on.
Of course, we are also going to talk about other things we can sell on our website, as well as giving away things (like free ebooks). I also want to give you access to some other free business ebooks I have found, so stay tuned.
Until next time...
Barb
Friday, January 18, 2008
What to sell on your site
Have you had a chance to brainstorm about what you could do/sell on your website in your area of expertise?
One of the options we discussed a couple of days ago is selling other people's products. That is called affiliate marketing. Basically, you find a product that you like, then you sell that product and the company who makes it give you a commission on the sale. You can do this a couple of ways:
One of the options we discussed a couple of days ago is selling other people's products. That is called affiliate marketing. Basically, you find a product that you like, then you sell that product and the company who makes it give you a commission on the sale. You can do this a couple of ways:
- You can find a specific company and, if they have an affiliate program, you would register with the, start selling it on your website and collect commissions when you make sales.
- Go to an online marketplace and choose which products to sell.
If you haven't heard of Clickbank yet, check it out at www.clickbank.com and see what they have to offer. The commissions are high (usually 50-75%) and all of the products are electronic.
See if you can find an ebook on your business of choice. Good luck!
Barb
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Another Free eBook
Last night I found a terrific free business ebook for you online! It is written by Jennifer Laycock and can be found at http://www.searchengineguide.com/ebooks/freeebook.html, where it is downloadable as a pdf file. It chronicles her 30 day journey to making money online with a zero dollar budget.
I am still going through it, so I'm not sure what the outcome is yet, but the beginning is great. A word of advice, though. If you are brand new to internet marketing, you may get lost in some of her terminology, although there is a glossary at the end. She has a background in web development, so she discusses her experiences from that perspective. Despite this, I really think she has an interesting product here and that you can learn from her mistakes. From the Table of Contents, it appears that she really does cover everything in her 30 day endeavour.
Enjoy!
Barb
I am still going through it, so I'm not sure what the outcome is yet, but the beginning is great. A word of advice, though. If you are brand new to internet marketing, you may get lost in some of her terminology, although there is a glossary at the end. She has a background in web development, so she discusses her experiences from that perspective. Despite this, I really think she has an interesting product here and that you can learn from her mistakes. From the Table of Contents, it appears that she really does cover everything in her 30 day endeavour.
Enjoy!
Barb
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
What will you sell on your website?
How did you like the free ebook from Wordtracker? Did you find it helpful?
Now that you are an expert in keyword research, have you found some keywords for your area of interest? Hopefully, you found some with high KEIs. Now what?
It's time to do some brainstorming on what your website will be about. If your area of interest was hampsters and you found the keyword "hampster training" had a high KEI, what could you do on your website?
There are a few different things your website can do:
Now that you are an expert in keyword research, have you found some keywords for your area of interest? Hopefully, you found some with high KEIs. Now what?
It's time to do some brainstorming on what your website will be about. If your area of interest was hampsters and you found the keyword "hampster training" had a high KEI, what could you do on your website?
There are a few different things your website can do:
- Sell a product that you have to sell (physical product like hampster cages);
- Sell a ditigal product that you wrote (an ebook on how to train your hampster);
- Give free information on how to train your hampster (an information website);
- Sell other people's hampster products;
- Sell a monthly newletters that people subscribe to;
- What else can you think of?
Do some thinking about what your specific knowledge is in your area of interest. What do you have to offer that you know people are looking for? We will discuss all of the above options in upcoming posts.
Have a great day!
Barb
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Free Business eBook - Keyword research
Hi. So, have you done any keyword research? I have a link to a free business ebook for you - all about keyword research. You may have seen it if you checked out wordtracker's website. Their guide, "Keyword Research Guide" can be downloaded at http://learn.wordtracker.com/ebooks/keyword-research-guide/ for free! Go ahead and see what all the hype is about.
You can make the best website in the world and have the best product on the market but if people aren't actually searching for your product with keywords, no one will find you!
What keywords/niche markets can you come up with?
Barb
You can make the best website in the world and have the best product on the market but if people aren't actually searching for your product with keywords, no one will find you!
What keywords/niche markets can you come up with?
Barb
Monday, January 14, 2008
Finding a Niche
So, now that you have had a chance to think about all of your interests and hobbies, what have you come up with? Did you find that you are interested in cars (very popular) or hampsters (perhaps less popular)? If so, don't think that you will be out of luck. There is a niche market for everyone, whether your passion is a popular or unpopular one!!
Once you have found what you are interested in, the next step is to find a niche market. If you are wondering what that is, it is a group of people who are all looking for the answer to a problem, or information on a certain topic. If hampsters is your area of expertise, perhaps there are people out there who want to learn how to teach their hampsters how to do tricks. Since you know how to do that, that's what your website will be about. Maybe your business will be to offer an ebook on how to teach your hampster tricks.
How do you find what people are searching for? I use Wordtracker. You can find it at http://www.wordtracker.com/ and they will let you try a scaled-down version for free (I think it only lets you search MSN). For about $7.00 a day or $30.00 a week you can have access to wordtracker.
What you will do, once you have access to wordtracker, is to start entering words that describe your interests into "keyword universe". Start with something general, like "hampsters". Wordtracker will provide you with a bunch of words similar to hampsters and as you click on each one, a list will appear on the right side of the screen with words and phrases that people are actually searching for on the internet. Add the ones that look good to you to the basket. Once you have a bunch of keywords in your basket, do a "competition search" and find out how many people are searching for those keywords compared to how many competing websites there are. Wordtracker will assign a "KEI" number for each result. You are looking for a high KEI (at least 10). This will be a keyword that has a lot of searchers and not a lot of answering websites.
Once you have some keywords with high KEIs, you can brainstorm about what website you might be able to have that solves this problem.
Next time, we will discuss the types of websites there are and what you can sell on yours.
Happy wordtracking!
Barb
Once you have found what you are interested in, the next step is to find a niche market. If you are wondering what that is, it is a group of people who are all looking for the answer to a problem, or information on a certain topic. If hampsters is your area of expertise, perhaps there are people out there who want to learn how to teach their hampsters how to do tricks. Since you know how to do that, that's what your website will be about. Maybe your business will be to offer an ebook on how to teach your hampster tricks.
How do you find what people are searching for? I use Wordtracker. You can find it at http://www.wordtracker.com/ and they will let you try a scaled-down version for free (I think it only lets you search MSN). For about $7.00 a day or $30.00 a week you can have access to wordtracker.
What you will do, once you have access to wordtracker, is to start entering words that describe your interests into "keyword universe". Start with something general, like "hampsters". Wordtracker will provide you with a bunch of words similar to hampsters and as you click on each one, a list will appear on the right side of the screen with words and phrases that people are actually searching for on the internet. Add the ones that look good to you to the basket. Once you have a bunch of keywords in your basket, do a "competition search" and find out how many people are searching for those keywords compared to how many competing websites there are. Wordtracker will assign a "KEI" number for each result. You are looking for a high KEI (at least 10). This will be a keyword that has a lot of searchers and not a lot of answering websites.
Once you have some keywords with high KEIs, you can brainstorm about what website you might be able to have that solves this problem.
Next time, we will discuss the types of websites there are and what you can sell on yours.
Happy wordtracking!
Barb
Sunday, January 13, 2008
New Website
Hi! I am thrilled to announce that my new website, http://www.free-business-ebook.com/ is now live! This blog will be a companion site to my new website, discussing topics of interest to those in the process of creating websites for their online business. Of course, keeping with the theme of my website, I will direct readers to any additional free products I stumble across.
My goal is to find like-minded individuals who are having the same difficulties I had when I started my online publishing business and alleviate many of their problems and concerns. My biggest problem when I was starting out was that it didn't take me very long to get overwhelmed. The elarning curve was great and, to top it all off, I ended up with TONS of ebooks and products sitting on my hard drive and I just didn't know where to start.
Well, now I DO know where to start!
If you are starting out, my advice to you would be to make a list of all of the hobbies and interests you have. You goal is to create a business for yourself in an area that you love, so naturally, if you base your business on one of your hobbies or interests, you will be motivated to work because you like the topic and you won't mind "going" to work - again because you like (or hopefully love) the area you chose to create your business in.
So, you may be thinking, "What if my interest is in hampsters? How can I make an online business in the area of hampsters?" Well, you may be surprised! For the next day, make a list of your interests and hobbies (I mean everything!) and then my new post will take it from there.
Happy brainstorming!
Barb
PS - If you want to go right to the 30-day course I offer, visit http://www.free-business-ebook.com/ and get started right away!
My goal is to find like-minded individuals who are having the same difficulties I had when I started my online publishing business and alleviate many of their problems and concerns. My biggest problem when I was starting out was that it didn't take me very long to get overwhelmed. The elarning curve was great and, to top it all off, I ended up with TONS of ebooks and products sitting on my hard drive and I just didn't know where to start.
Well, now I DO know where to start!
If you are starting out, my advice to you would be to make a list of all of the hobbies and interests you have. You goal is to create a business for yourself in an area that you love, so naturally, if you base your business on one of your hobbies or interests, you will be motivated to work because you like the topic and you won't mind "going" to work - again because you like (or hopefully love) the area you chose to create your business in.
So, you may be thinking, "What if my interest is in hampsters? How can I make an online business in the area of hampsters?" Well, you may be surprised! For the next day, make a list of your interests and hobbies (I mean everything!) and then my new post will take it from there.
Happy brainstorming!
Barb
PS - If you want to go right to the 30-day course I offer, visit http://www.free-business-ebook.com/ and get started right away!
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