In Mourning for the Google Cash System

Do you remember when you could pick an affiliate program, hustle up a few hundred keywords toss it all into your Adwords account & wait for the commissions. No me neither! I was busy doing something else during those glory days.

If it ever was that easy it certainly isn't any more, there's a lot of competition & intense bidding for keywords. There are big corporations bidding on anything that moves & paying tens of thousands of dollars every month for number one listings.

Just in case you weren't getting the message. Google changed the rules. Now Google will only list one ad for each domain name in any given set of results. If you've ever searched for something obscure and found three or four ads telling you it can be found on eBay you will understand why they did this. The result of this change is that you almost certainly now need your own website to succeed.

But never fear, there are still opportunities for the little guy to earn big.

You just need a plan to maximise revenue from everything that you do and from every visitor that passes through your online real estate.

Here are my top five tips steps for maximising income from affiliate programs.

#1 Sell to a niche. I know you've heard that message a thousand times before. There are hundreds of guides to niche marketing online and you might be forgiven for thinking it's just the latest big hype. But the fact is if you choose a small market you can focus your product more precisely on your target market. If you get this right more of your visitors will think that your recommendation was written just for them and for their situation. The result? More of your visitors will buy.

#2 Always collect contact details from your visitors, if they don't buy today many will buy tomorrow or the day after. If you have a responsive mailing list, you have an asset that can earn you money on demand. All lists start small and small lists can earn big money.

#3 Once you have their mailing details keep in touch, don't let these people forget who you are. Certainly don't only send them mail when you have something to sell. Send them freebies and news as well. Build a relationship, tell them about your life, be their trusted friend.

-- Side Bar-

I read a post on a forum a while back about a guy who had been promoting an affiliate program for about a year. Then the program decided they didn't want affiliates any more. This guy calculated that he had sent over 10,000 paying customers to the merchant over the course of the year. Now he had lost a whole revenue stream and had no way to earn from his past efforts.

If only he had kept in touch with these people by collecting names and mail addresses and keeping in contact, he would probably have made more sales along the way but better still he could now contact them and tell them about another great product.

-- End Sidebar--

#4 Upsell your list. If they didn't buy initially then keep reminding them of the benefits of the product. If they still don't buy after later mails sell them something else. If they were buyers of the initial offering then upsell them on something bigger and more expensive.

#5 Don't stop. Never stop sending mail to your list and don't leave it so long between mails that they forget who you are. Keep sending useful information every week, build a rapport with them. Do this right and they will come to trust you like a friend and when their friend recommends something they will buy it.If they don't want to hear from you any more they will use the unsubscribe link. Don't assume they are all sold out. A good list is good for as long as you maintain it. Which can be until the day you retire.

Build your business right and you will be building an asset that will keep you for the rest of your life.

One great benefit to taking the long term view instead of immediate profits is that you will be in a better position to compete in the PPC marketplace. If the goal of your campaign is to build a list as opposed to making a profit then you can bid higher and run a break even campaign.

Would you like a free subscription to a monthly magazine dedicated to affiliate marketing? Visit .

Darren Power is your host at where you will find news of the latest Internet Marketing products along with reviews, articles and free resources.

In The News:


LiveWorld Reports 56% Revenue Growth and Profitable 1st Quarter
MarketWatch (press release)
Total revenues were $2.6 million for the first quarter of 2012 as compared to the $1.7 million in total revenues reported for the first quarter of 2011. The Company reported net income for the first quarter of 2012 of $272000, or 11% of total revenues.

and more »

Argo Systems Opens London Office
MarketWatch (press release)
Argo Systems' Medea software is the Pay TV industry's only end-to-end affiliate revenue management system. Medea delivers greater efficiency, visibility and control of the distribution lifecycle. Industry leading software since 1995, Argo Systems has ...

and more »

TechCrunch

Refer.ly Lets Regular Folks Earn Affiliate Revenue For Recommending Products ...
TechCrunch
Will a few dollars in affiliate revenue motivate people enough to use Refer.ly? Don't we just share products with friends and family because we genuinely love to help other people out? Morrill said she doesn't expect Refer.ly users to make a living off ...
Danielle Morrill leaves Twilio to start Y Combinator-backed ReferlyGeekWire

all 2 news articles »

Advertising, affiliate revs lift Scripps: Revenue rose 11% to $535 million
Chicago Tribune
Scripps Networks Interactive, parent of Food Network, HGTV and The Travel Channel, said strong advertising and affiliate revenue boosted profit last quarter despite hefty programming costs. Net profit rose to $115 million from $101 million.
Ad & Affiliate Revenues Boost Scripps ResultsWorld Screen
Scripps Networks 1Q Net Up 14% On Stronger Ad RevenueWall Street Journal
Scripps Networks Interactive reports first quarter financial resultsMarketWatch (press release)
Zacks.com -NASDAQ
all 52 news articles »

Roomlinx Reports Results for Quarter Ended March 31, 2012
MarketWatch (press release)
Roomlinx's revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2012 was $1537541 compared to $1423172 for the same period in 2011. This represents an 8% increase year over year. Direct costs for the three months ended March 31, 2012 were $1220378 compared to ...


Naughty Revenue Offers Tip Sheet Blog
XBIZ
By Rhett Pardon, XBIZ.com SAN DIEGO — Naughty Revenue, the affiliate program for flagship site Naughty America, has launched a new blog, "The Naughty Revenue Insider." The blog will offer tricks of the trade, tactics and strategies, news, ...


Businessandleadership.com

UTV Media revenues up 2pc in first four months
Businessandleadership.com
UTV Media has reported a 2pc increase in revenues for the first four months of 2012 compared with last year, the company said today in an interim management statement. Excluding the impact of negative foreign exchange movements, the group said the ...


Wall Street Journal

AMC Networks Earnings Call Insights: Affiliate Revenue Growth, Ratings
Wall St. Cheat Sheet
Two questions first on the affiliate revenue growth, 8% in the first quarter, two things there. Number one, it is an acceleration from your full year rate from last year. Does that acceleration represent some – or is that primarily due to some of the ...
AMC Reports Higher First-Quarter EarningsBroadcasting & Cable
AMC Networks quarterly profit jumps 45%MarketWatch
AMC sees 40% jump in Q1 profit: Execs say Dish threats are retaliation for ...Chicago Tribune
MediaPost Communications -Multichannel News
all 42 news articles »

WPTV

Thousands of nonprofits misreport fundraising costs
ScrippsNews
Forty-one percent of all 37987 charities and other nonprofit groups that collected at least $1 million according to their most recent report to the Internal Revenue Service made what experts agree is a ridiculous claim: They raised significant amounts ...
Local charities following tax reporting rulesRecord-Searchlight
States nonprofit groups that reported no spending on fundraisingTimes Record News

all 22 news articles »

ABC News

Yemen President Attends Parade, Vows Defiance After Suicide Bomb
San Francisco Chronicle
He vowed yesterday to continue the fight against al-Qaeda, whose Yemeni affiliate claimed responsibility for the bombing in an e- mailed statement, saying its target was Defense Minister Mohammed Naser Ahmed. The minister and Chief of Staff Ahmed ...
Yemen bombing missed defence ministeriPolitics.ca (subscription)

all 2,319 news articles »
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