Tuesday

Follow Affiliate Networks On Twitter


Part of staying up to date on all things money-making oriented requires a lot of tools, but most recently the tool I'm using most has been Twitter. Many of the most popular affiliate networks are already using Twitter to keep in touch and offer updates to their affiliate program users, publishers, advertisers etc. The latest affiliate network I've been following has been the PepperJamNetwork.

The most recent benefit I've noticed is the announcement about special Easter Affiliate Programs. Being so busy I very well could have missed out on the boat to Easter affiliate income, but thanks to Twitter I was granted with a pleasant reminder.

The downside is that not everyone uses Twitter or a Twitter page is only as good as how frequently it's updated. Therefore it's important not to abandon other tools like RSS Readers and good ol'email as well just yet. However, to stay up to date like never before, join Twitter and start searching out Affiliate Networks that like to keep their publishers in the know.

Monday

Defeat Image Frames Like Google Image Search



One of my sites has always received a lot of Google Image Search traffic. Which is great, except they usually bounce immediately and I always suspected it was because of the way Google frames the image results at the top of the page. This keeps the visitor from actually needing to visit the site and potentially read on about more content or images on my automotive blog.

Thanks to some handy dandy super search powers, I came up with a viable solution that I've put into practice over the past few months. The results have been outstanding, where my traffic has soared and my bounce rate has plummeted. The trick is to insert some javascript in the top of your pages with images, that will break the Google Image Search frames when your image is clicked on.

Insert this code into the head of your template:

Problems posting code, so please view my thread at WebTalkForums.


So far as I can tell this does not create any adverse effects in your normal search engine rankings or in the image search rankings. Furthermore, this javascript should also work to break the frames created by Yahoo and MSN image search as well.

Wednesday

Automatically Update Twitter With WordPress


Twitter is great for followers, but not so great if you are already to busy to even drop 140 characters in a clean submit box. So, to kill two birds with one stone I've begun using a plugin for WordPress that automatically updates twitter with my latest blog post and a TinyURL link back to my blog. This is not my only method of twittering, but it helps fill in a lot of gaps where I'm busy working and not busy updating my Twitter profile.

TweetSuite

This is the plugin I'm using on two of my blogs to update Twitter. There are plenty of options with TweetSuite, including built in widgets to add to your blog, automatic twittering via blog posts, and the ability to add 'ReTweet This' to the bottom of posts.

Tweet Suite Home Page
Download TweetSuite

Active bloggers and not-so-active Twitees should check out this handy WordPress plugin. It's free to download and free to use. And, if you aren't using Twitter yet, and you are an affiliate marketer, you are stupid. That is all.

Friday

Creating Affiliate Focus

Perhaps I'm not the only one in the situation where my mind races and I get a ton of ideas in any single day. It's a curse, that doesn't allow me to focus on a single program and perhaps maximize my earnings before moving on. Arguably it's a benefit, since not all my eggs are in one basket, but it's a hindrance since I won't realize the upper tier earnings of one specific program.

Although it's been working for me in the past 3 years, I'm really hoping to start focusing on specific affiliate programs. Create true quality focused landing pages and websites that will help bring in the bonus's that many affiliate programs offer.

For example, CallawayGolfPreowned.com offers a sizable increase in commission rate for sales totaling over $2,000 and then $5,000. This is a perfect program that focuses on a quality known brand, Callaway Golf, and are a high cost item that can quickly total up some high sales. This makes the tiers easily reached, if the affiliate marketer could focus on it more than the hundreds of other golf affiliate programs on the market.

Tuesday

Fast and Easy Keyword Research – Affiliate Espionage Versus Other Keyword Tools



Which keyword research approach do you like?

Do you want to be in and out of there and pick out the exact information you need – the wham bam thank you maim approach?

Or do you like to dig right down into the nitty gritty and trawl through a lot of data to find all the keywords you need?

If you favor the quick approach, then Affiliate Espionage is for you, however if you like to dig and analyze data, then Keyword Elite would be better for you.

Really what it comes down to is whether you want to conduct some quick laser focused keyword research and enter a new market today, or spend some time going through mounds of data, sifting for the gems and taking longer making those market entry decisions.

People just starting out on the internet, and seasoned experts alike, can all suffer from information overload and a keyword tool like Affiliate Espionage irons out the creases and gets you straight to the point. It helps people make more money by side stepping the analysis paralysis and noise generated by research tools like Keyword Elite.

This extra noise can both be a blessing and a hindrance.

As a user of both keyword research tools, I know Keyword Elite can uncover some really useful information, but only if you know what you are looking for and are prepared to spend some time sorting through the data.

However, if you don’t know what you are doing, it is easy to get bogged down or overwhelmed by the expanse of data, this kind of research tool cooks up. This is especially true if you are entering a new market where you know nothing about the competitors or keywords.

Wouldn’t you much prefer succinct keyword research advice that allows you to make a decision, without too much thinking on your part?

This is what Affiliate Espionage does.

In fact, I would describe Affiliate Espionage as a secret weapon, it helps you discover great markets by allowing you to emulate other people’s success by letting you spy on their online activities and the keywords they are using for their success. Whereas when you use keyword research tools like Keyword Elite you have to find your own successful keywords through trial and error.

So you can use Affiliate Espionage to quickly emulate the success of others or use other keyword tools if you want to spend time hunting for the golden gooses yourself.

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Monday

Bad Economy Equals Lower Prices and Lower Commissions

No doubt the economy is effecting online purchasing as well, which is trending towards lowering prices. These lower prices, coupons, etc are translating into obviously lower commissions. Where a referred visitor may purchase an average of $200 worth of product, with coupons and lowered pricing, the average may be down as low as $100.

So what's the best way to compete with lower commissions, based on factors you have no control over? My suggestion is to focus on more referrals, more visitors, and make up for the lower tiered commissions with volume. That's what the advertisers are hoping for, that the deals will translate into more sales, although lower dollars each.

Maybe more than ever affiliates need to be focusing on getting cheap traffic, by focusing heavily on SEO and less on PPC. Although SEO is an ongoing job, it can translate into lower cost visitors and have lasting effects. Where as on PPC when the campaign funds dry up, the visitors stop coming, and the cost per visitor adds up to lower your ROI even more on dropped priced sales.