Let's go Article Marketing!

Now that you have a basic understanding of article marketing we can discuss its value as an internet marketing tool.

As I said yesterday I posted an article at two different article directories. The first one I selected was Ezine@rticles.com.They are rated number one by Alexa.  

Alexa is a company that rates article directories among other web related items.

I figured if I was going to try to get an article published I might as well shoot for the top. They accepted my submission and today they sent me an email. The email stated I had some errors in the text and the content was too biased and my hyperlinks went nowhere. They claimed the article was a promotion for a product or service.

The email was worded very kindly and even offered solutions to help repair the article.

I am not quite sure how I stepped outside their guidelines. Since I was still not sure what they didn’t like, (I didn’t add any hyperlinks) I was not able to correct the issue. I then sent another article in its place. I am waiting for the acceptance or rejection of that article.

I submitted the same article to GoArticles.com. My article was approved the same day needing no corrections. This is something you may want to keep in mind. GoArticles.com is also ranked highly by Alexa, but they apparently have differing submission requirements.

With that being said let’s look at the article directory itself.

Article directories allow users to search their sight for articles of a specific topic or niche. You then search for a keyword and they give you a list of results like any search engine. If you notice my article came up in the first page of results. Here’s where I missed the boat.

In my arrogance, I enjoy giving my daily blogs cute names. It’s fun for me and hopefully you enjoy it as well. So, when I decided to compose an article on the merits of blogging (To blog or not to blog) I decided to be cute and title the article; “To be or not to be…” an obvious play on words.

Cute, yes. But it doesn’t help people searching for information on blogging find my article. Instead it ends up with literary results. Live and learn I guess. 

Note to self: Use a title that conveys the content of the article. 

When you post an article to an article directory, you are giving permission for anyone who visits the site to; view, copy and/or re-post the article at another web site. 

I have seen postings from my blog copied to other sites. I was performing a Google search to see where my web site was listed. Searching for Eric’s Work at Home Reviews I got these results. I then opened the first few links, to my surprise this was one of the results.

So, it is not uncommon for someone to “borrow” your content. In the case of article marketing, that is the purpose. You want people to post your work at their site thus creating a back -link to your site.

I have read the more back-linking you have from site to site, makes it easier to receive a higher search engine ranking.  Again this is what we are trying to achieve.

In my case, since I blog daily I am not sure I need or have time to drive traffic from article directories. 

As I had reported I am now working part-time from my home setting appointments for an Independent Life Insurance agent. This coupled with commitments at church, my family, yard work, and two other web sites (yes, two others more on that tomorrow) writing an extra quality article every day and posting it at multiply sites may not be in the “time budget” for me.

Now If I blogged at my site once week or once a month, I would then write a short article daily and post it at as many article directories as I could. I could even use an edited version of my blog, but people are not going to visit your website to read what they just read. Not more than once anyway.

And keep in mind; at a site like mine I want people visiting daily and hanging around to click the banners. Fresh content helps keep that a reality. Regardless of what the “experts” say, I get a lot of traffic to my affiliate marketing partners every day from my banner advertising.

In summation, I see the advantage of article marketing. I can see how this would drive traffic to a site. If my site was simply put in place to market a product or service, article marketing makes perfect sense. It gives you the blogging platform without the need for a blog taking up space at your site.

At this point time to get it done will be the issue. Even if I was paying a service to post the articles daily, I would still have to find time to write them. Your case may be different. If I had more time or things change I may pursue the article marketing further, it does make good business sense.

Like always, join and follow the blog, click the banners and text links to start making money. You can use the EWAHR forum to post questions or request a review of a site. You can also email me directly at ewahr2011@yahoo.com

 

Peace.

Another look at affiliate marketing partners

Today’s topic will be affiliate marketing partners. I have blogged before about my affiliate marketing partners and why I use them. Now I will talk discuss why you should use them.

As I am sure you recall my intent is to create long term part-time income. The blog and the websites are the foundation for that plan.

One of the first good articles I found about affiliate marketing showed me the worth and potential of advertising on a website. Unlike an Amazon or Yahoo online store where you are paid a small advertising fee for each transaction, affiliate marketing partners pay a commission for either sales or leads.

Some of the commissions are very substantial. There are also hundreds (probably 10’s of thousands) of affiliate marketing opportunities.  

Commission Junction alone has thousands (literally) of affiliate marketing partners to choose from.  Ranging from accessories (hand bags, shoes etc.) to Travel (airfare, hotels, cruises) and everything in between.

If you have decided on your niche market, you will need to find relevant affiliate marketing partners. Advertising Banners and text links are provided by the affiliate partner. All you need is a place to put HTML or Java code and you’re in business. 

You are required to have a functioning website and not all affiliate marketing partners will accept your application. I have only been rejected by a couple of very large companies. Some will review your site for traffic and relevance before accepting your application.

Commission Junction makes the application process very simple (one click). The advertising is also very easily accessed and current. You will have more options for advertising code then you will ever be able to use.

Many of Commission Junction’s affiliate marketing partners run sales and promotions (like free business card pens) and/or extra incentive plans for marketers (you). I have also signed on with Clickbank, Offer Vault and CPA/DNA who are also affiliate marketing partner “brokers”.

You can read my blog about Click bank here. Offer Vault and CPA/DNA are new to me. Offer Vault is somewhere between CJ and Clickbank as far as affiliate partners go. They offer partnerships from an extremely wide variety of companies. 

Were CJ is more main stream Offer Vault is a little left of center. Not all major brand name companies (a few but not like CJ) and things as off the wall as advertising for a class action Paxil lawsuit. The commission is $550 per lead qualified lead.

Here is a very good video explaining Offer Vault.

If your blog is about medical lawsuits with drug companies or where to finds the best attorney, then they have an affiliate marketing partner for you.

CPA/DNA affiliate marketing partners are a little different. From what I have seen so far a portion of the marketing partners offer free trails (a free 30 day trail of Direct Buy) or free samples (Zantac, Snuggle). 

They do have some mainstream partners like Teleflora and 1-800 Flowers. I will be adding advertising from both in the next few days. I do have advertising up for a few new affiliate marketing partners.

National Pen Promotional Products, eBillme (an alternative to PayPal), Outright.com (affordable online accounting services), Russell Simmons Rush Card and Silver Prepaid Master Card (if you don’t want a prepaid Visa card) and iNet Video ($5 DVDs) are my newest partners.

Again I am trying to keep the affiliate marketing partners relevant to the websites. But I also want to add a few fun ones to the mix.

National Pen Promotional Products has a campaign running now that offers a free business card pen. This is a great offer for consumers. One the other side of the relationship marketers (like me) receive $1.00 for each pen given away. Win,Win. You get a free pen with your business card copy on it and I get a buck.

Commissions vary widely so you will have to explore each one. Some like Russell Simmons Rush Card pays $6 for each application accepted (acceptance is guaranteed). Outright.com offers an online alternative to Quickbooks and pays marketers $25 for each new online customer.

One of the cool perks is the fact the companies (affiliate marketing partners) keep track of the point of origin for up to 45 days (in some cases) via “cookies”. If a customer uses your banner or text link to access a site, they will credit all transactions from that customer to you for the next 45 days, no matter how they get there.

This again is all used as the foundation for a long term business model. Based on number of impressions I have received thus far I am confident overtime they will create income. And remember these affiliate marketing partnerships cost zero dollars to use. You can also market these partners and their products on other online sale sights like Craigslist, Corkin.com and Kijiji (ebay classifieds).

I highly recommend using affiliate marketing at your website.

Like always, join and follow the blog, click the banners and text links to start making money. You can use the EWAHR forum to post questions or request a review of a site. You can also email me directly at ewahr2011@yahoo.com

Peace.

Adding another website

Now the blog site is up and running smoothly I can spend some time working on other sites to market my affiliate markting partners. Even though this site is showing signs of steady growth, I still want to be as diverse as possible.

Diversity- differing from one another. Keep in mind we are trying to find a niche market for each site. Besides narrowing focus, a niche market also lowers the number of interested parties. Multiple websites allows reaching more than one niche market.

The second format I chose to use is the forum style site. Over the past couple of years I have spent some time in a half dozen or so forums. For the most part the posters are friendly and helpful while other sites are full of elitests who are never wrong and belittle those who disagree.

Regardless of the mood of the site, every one I have visited sees a fair amount of traffic. They are also a good place to sell. Many of the postings are from people looking for advice to make a purchase. This is a great opportunity to get your products in front of a ready to buy audience.

Since I am a musician, I built a music related forum. I also have a love for inexpensive equipment that does the job. Most budding musicians start out on entry level equipment. But, when you visit some of these forums the elite do nothing but tell you you have a piece of junk and you should buy something else.

My site Poppy's Cheap Gear Forum and Review caters to the entry level musician and their budget. Musicians can discuss their equipment and ask questions from other members. I also review a different piece of equipment each month and invite members to post reviews.

It will also be used to market products. Some of the affiliate marketing partners I have, were chosen specifically for the the forum. While partners like AVG, Yahoo Affiliates, GoDaddy.com and Vision Premier Prepaid Visa are affiliate partners offering products to home based business owners.

Rock.com Store, Nerdy Shirts, Fretlight Guitars, Riff Master Pro, Jamorama and Poppy's Guitar Zone are all music or musician related.

I am targeting the niche market made up of musicians, young and old, who buy entry level equipment. Like any good affiliate marketer I will promote those partners in my blog articles.

Now onto the construction of the new site. I had such good luck with Yola as my webhost for the blog. It made sense to build other sites there as well.

It wasn't obvious to me at first, that you could use Yola to create a forum. I contacted Customer Service and I got an answer the next day. Every time I have sent a message to C.S. I have received a response back very quickly.

Yola makes it very easy with a widget (a small application that can be installed and executed within a web page by an end user) from Tal.ki. The widget does all the work. You simply drag it where you want it, drop it and Tal.ki does the rest.

I added other pages for banner links and reviews, but it took me no more than an hour to complete the site. I actually spent more time findning the picture I used on the home page, than any other function in setting up the site.

Now the site is up and I have affiliate marketing partners to advertise at the site, I will need to drive traffic to the site. I have already started posting the site on Craigslist and received a few visitors and 2 members. Next, I will start to visit other forums to spread the word.

I wrote another guest blog at 99ers.net. It is about making the decision to blog. Make sure you visit Dan's site. He is working very hard to provide help and information for those who have been out of work for 99 weeks or more.

Like always, join and follow the blog, click the banners and text links to start making money. You can use the EWAHR Forum to post questions or request a review of a site or, you can e-mail me directly at ewahr2011@ yahoo.com

Peace.