The Number One tool for affiliates

Here's my top choice - the No.1 tool that affiliates need. It doesn't just teach you how to build a website, it teaches you how to build a successful business.

The tool - well, actually, it's a whole suite of tools all in one place- is Site Build It!

Are you frustrated by all the hype, gimmicks and get-rich-quick affiliate marketing junk out there? If so, you'll LOVE the all-in-one-place suite of tools we use and recommend - Site Build it! (SBI).

SBI is all about building a sound, solid, profitable affiliate business and how to create a variety of revenue streams, not just affiliate commissions.

This highly advanced suite of tools simplifies everything for the affiliate who wants to create a themed web site, one that covers a small niche. When you create a themed site, you're building for the future. Search engines - and your human visitors - LOVE niche sites.


Comprehensive instruction manual

It comes with a comprehensive instruction manual. You're not just taught how to build a website, you're taught how to build a successful Internet business.

You don't even have to know HTML, FTP or even how to submit to search engines. Site Build It! does all that for you. You concentrate on YOUR expertise, on writing about things in which you have a passionate interest, and weave affiliate links into your articles.

Can't think of a niche? Don't worry. The brainstorming tool will help you find a profitable one.

One of my assistants, Rupert Farrow, knew NOTHING about affiliate marketing when I hired him.

His first affiliate site, about how to be a club DJ, earns a few hundred dollars a month. His second site, about cheap computers, regularly earns $1,000 a month in commissions and ad revenue, sometimes more.

He did it simply by following the step-by-step instructions in the Action Guide that comes with Site Build It!

Now several years later, the site is maintained by another employee. It still usually earns $1,000 or so a month in commissions and ad revenue.

We love Site Build It! We're building more sites with it.

Very highly recommended. Take the free Video Tour.

Back To Basics, An Affiliate Marketing Refresher Course

Affiliate Marketing Tips
Affiliate Partner Tips

I get alot of e-mail from people who are new to affiliate marketing wanting to know the secret, I always tell them the only secret I know of is to work hard. Sorry but it is true, however now seems a good time to go over the basics.

Choose a topic you know. The most common question asked by people new to affiliate marketing is "What should I start with?" We believe it is best to start with an area you know well. Doing this may not be the best converting, provide you with the highest commission, or even be the best managed program. But it is easy for you to build a site, and it's a subject you know and are interested in. That means you can add your own personal touch and opinions to the site. If you try to build your first site from something in which you have no personal interest, the site soon becomes a painful and boring task. Stick with what you know initially and then grow from there.

Banners, Banners, and More Banners. If success at affiliate marketing could be achieved from throwing up pages of banners - then the world would have many more millionaires. A site with pages of banners or rows banners stuffed under content, not only doesn't make a person want to click the banner; it also has the added bonus of making your site look pretty ugly.

There is no Best Merchant Program. Some people can succeed with a merchant where many others have failed. It is often true that some do poorly where others are making a fist full of dollars. Forums are full of posts that begin with, "My Sales this month for Merchant Program X are very poor." These same posts usually end with some one else posting, "Funny my sales are great." Remember that for your first site select a merchant based on what you know. In the early days, when you have just one small site, it will be easy to swap out all the links if the chosen merchant doesn't work out.

Use multiple merchants in the same niche. As suggested, select a merchant based on what you like, or better yet select a few. Promoting 3-4 merchants on the same site gives your site visitors a variety of destinations to choose from. Doing this provides you with data on what your visitors want to see, and can provide you with important information on how well the different merchants perform against each other when put head to head.

There is no Best Network. Another question commonly asked is, "What is the best network?" Everyone has their own reply to this question, and ultimately there is no best answer. This is especially true when you consider that many great programs don't even belong to a network at all. Every network has its strong points. Make your network selection based on the tools it provides for you. Also take into consideration if the network has the merchants you want to work with. Sometimes joining an undesirable Network is necessary because they have a merchant you really want to sign up with. Our recommendation is to try a merchant from all the main networks, see what works for you, and then focus your time accordingly.

What are Content Sites. If you visit affiliate marketing forums you'll hear people talk about "content sites." These are sites that provide potentially educational and topical content about the products they are promoting, or appear to promote products as a side focus. Content sites are easier to build when you know about the products you are promoting, or the merchant makes content available to you. However, don't forget the goal of your site is to make your site visitors click off of your site onto a merchant's store. No click-through means no sale.

What are Data (Product Info) Sites. Data driven sites are generally limited to pure product data, prices, images, descriptions, there's no illusion of education here. It's all about promoting the product and making the visitor get off your site as fast as possible and onto the merchant's store. Data driven sites generally require access to data feeds and some knowledge of programming or access to software (or scripts) which can produce web pages from the data feeds.

Parasites and how they affect you. You will see a lot of sites that talk about "Parasites", "ParasiteWare" and "ScumWare." All of these are applications that can redirect, overwrite, or intercept your visitors (and therefore YOUR commission) and change your visitor into their visitor. The majority of these masquerade as shopping support software, file sharing applications, browser help objects (BHOs), and even hidden applications installed on a user's PC via drive-by installs or in bundled software packages. To learn more, and there is an awful lot to learn, please visit www.parasiteware.com. Most ParasiteWare also has various traits of SpyWare. Also click here to learn how you can help consumers protect themselves and your affiliate marketing revenue

Building your first Site. It does help to know HTML and the ability to use graphics software. Knowledge of these areas gives you the ability to add small touches of class to your site. However don't be discouraged if you have no skills in these areas. It is not always necessary to be skilful as there are a number of tools and merchants around that can help you get your first site up and launched. These include page generation tools and fast launch sites. These tools are great for getting rolling but always remember to do some customization of anything you get automated to ensure it is uniqueness to you. Search engines and directories will remove duplicate content.

Buying a domain name. Geocities and Homestead undeniably have their place in the Internet world; however, registering a domain with them generally is not a very wise decision. Many search engines and directories won't list such sites because of their transient nature. In addition to the pitfall of not showing up in search engines, some affiliate managers will skip over your site as they deem it to be a "Personal home page." It is best to get a top level domain (TLD) name and some cheap, but reliable, hosting. When considering a domain name, first think about what you are going to promote and then base your domain name on it. Don't buy the domain name first and then later think about what you'll promote on the site.

Work at it. While it is the ultimate aim of every affiliate partner not to have to do any work, the reality is, especially early on, there's a lot of work to be done. Whether it's in the site's design, updates, education or reading stats, there is a lot to do. The pay-offs aren't instant and it can take a fair few months before you're even making enough to even cover your costs. It takes perseverance, dedication and patience to succeed, don't quit if your first attempts don't pay off.

Educate yourself. Education is an immensely important part of affiliate marketing. There is a heck of a lot to learn. Educating yourself on basic principles of HTML, programming, data feed manipulation, creating custom links, or learn how to identify a good niche in a way that others have overlooked. The affiliate forums are certainly one of the best places to start this education. Invest in and read affiliate marketing books by affiliates such as James Martell

The next step. Once you have that first site up and it's making money, then it's time to start to expand. Using what you have learned by building that first site, move on to a new project. Leave the first site to keep making money, making adjustments, and any needed updates, but generally letting it do its thing. Your next site is likely to be a site in an area you've seen other affiliates having lots of success. It makes sense to follow the money, but remember it can be a crowded market place when everyone is after the same thing. Don't overlook small niche products, items that might not get the huge traffic but should convert well due to limited availability or being in a special interest group. These markets can often be far less crowded and easier to make quick sales on compared to the bigger more crowded programs.

MASKED AFFILIATE DOMAIN SECRETS

OK, in this lesson I want to show you how and why you need to get yourself your own domain for promoting any affiliate program...

First off, is there anything uglier or less desirable to click on then a yucky affiliate link? Especially one that has all sorts of tracking added to it. Plus people are getting more savvy these days and a lot of them know an affiliate link when they see it. The reality is that some people just don't like it when they know they're giving some of their money away to an affiliate.

So, the best way to combat this is to use a masked affiliate domain...one that is pretty to look at and is "easier" to click!

For instance, for an affiliate program I promote "Fat Burning Furnace", I use the domain http://www.thefatburninginferno.com

Just make it as short, descriptive, and enticing as possible.

PPC Usage

As you'll want to use this for your PPC ads so you can get around Google's policy of showing only 1 domain per ad on any given keyword at any given time, you MUST enable "masking" or use the "frame" setting in the forwarded settings in your domain registrar. If you don't, Google will stop your ads from running because your display URL doesn't match the destination URL.


The Other Computer!

Yet another reason to use your own masked affiliate domain to promote your affiliate links has to do with the fact that many people have both work and home computers. Here's a scenario that happens ALL THE TIME:

Let's say they see your ad at home one night and click on it. They get to the vendors site and are interested, but don't buy right away. Well, usualy the site will place a cookie on their computer telling them that the referral came from YOU, but you'll only get credit for the sale if that person ends up buying on that computer.

What happens when they go to work the next day and end up buying on their work computer? Well, the vendor still gets the sale, but your commission is gone..

So here's how to get your own masked affiliate domain:

1. Go to Namecheap.com or Godaddy.com, set up an account if you don't have one already, and search for a domain relevant to thee affiliate program you are promoting. It doesn't have to say the programs name in it, it just has to be relevant.

2. Once you've found a good one, bite the bullet and spend the $9, and go to your forwarding options. There, make sure to forward it to your affiliate link, and enable "masking" or "frame".

That's it! The domain is now yours. Use it in your PPC ads, squidoo lense, youtube video, hub page, landing page, and more and watch the sales roll in.



Click here for more info and Over $1,000 In Advanced Money-Making Videos - Yours FREE!

How To Find Profitable Niches

Every single day there are 100’s of frustrated Internet marketers out there banging their heads against the wall for ONE very big reason.

They can’t find a niche for the life of them!!

Quit being so dang hard on yourselves. Niche hunting should be fun, should be ad hoc, and should be a habit if you are a marketer.

I am going to outline one proven and effective niche finding tactic that you can incorporate into your daily research activities. I say “daily” because you should always be doing research, whether you are really coherent to it or not.

Niches will come out of thin air…

When you are at the bus stop, when you are at the shopping mall, when you are flipping through a mag, when you are browsing through Facebook…wherever there are people communicating, advertising mediums or an audience searching to make purchases, there are plenty of niches

Sorry for ranting, but now I will get to the goods…the strategy, the easiest way to find super motivated and hyperactive buyers. People that are ready to make an emotional purchase and all you have to do is put something out in front of them to buy and they will complete the sale!

Look no further than the How To’s.

People that search “how to XXXX” into Google or any other search engine…and even if they are talking about it, are actively looking for a solution to a problem.

That is easy enough, right?

Well, your job is made even that much easier with the addition of new “How To’ Q & A and Wikipediaesque websites.

The following are some of the top “how to” website that you should take some time familiarizing yourself with:

* WikiHow
* eHow
* Yahoo Answers

Spend a couple minutes (or even an hour) on these sites and you are going to have an idea of some of the queries that people are searching online, but also some of the inner intricacies of these audiences.

People wanting to know how to prepare their child for camp…
People are wanting to know how to heal cavities using Ozone….
People are wanting to know how to attend college to become a teacher…

You could pull literally 1000’s of ideas for niches just by roaming these sites. Take some time and learn the “how to’s” within an industry; YOU WON’T REGRET IT!

Affiliate Marketing Top Tips

This information is aimed at people who are new to affiliate marketing. Most of these tips are widely known and we don't pretend to have the "Big Secret" to success. If there really is a big secret at all, it undoubtedly would have to be: "work hard." We hope that the information provided here helps you get rolling down the road to affiliate marketing success. We also hope it will save you a little time and money in the process. Some of the below suggestions are pretty obvious ones, but sometimes it's nice to have someone else tell you that the obvious answer is a good one. Please also feel free to visit our 10 page Affiliate Training section.

Choose a topic you know. The most common question asked by people new to affiliate marketing is "What should I start with?" We believe it is best to start with an area you know well. Doing this may not be the best converting, provide you with the highest commission, or even be the best managed program. But it is easy for you to build a site, and it's a subject you know and are interested in. That means you can add your own personal touch and opinions to the site. If you try to build your first site from something in which you have no personal interest, the site soon becomes a painful and boring task. Stick with what you know initially and then grow from there.

Banners, Banners, and More Banners. If success at affiliate marketing could be achieved from throwing up pages of banners - then the world would have many more millionaires. A site with pages of banners or rows banners stuffed under content, not only doesn't make a person want to click the banner; it also has the added bonus of making your site look pretty ugly.

There is no Best Merchant Program. Some people can succeed with a merchant where many others have failed. It is often true that some do poorly where others are making a fist full of dollars. Forums are full of posts that begin with, "My Sales this month for Merchant Program X are very poor." These same posts usually end with some one else posting, "Funny my sales are great." Remember that for your first site select a merchant based on what you know. In the early days, when you have just one small site, it will be easy to swap out all the links if the chosen merchant doesn't work out.

Use multiple merchants in the same niche. As suggested, select a merchant based on what you like, or better yet select a few. Promoting 3-4 merchants on the same site gives your site visitors a variety of destinations to choose from. Doing this provides you with data on what your visitors want to see, and can provide you with important information on how well the different merchants perform against each other when put head to head.

There is no Best Network. Another question commonly asked is, "What is the best network?" Everyone has their own reply to this question, and ultimately there is no best answer. This is especially true when you consider that many great programs don't even belong to a network at all. Every network has its strong points. Make your network selection based on the tools it provides for you. Also take into consideration if the network has the merchants you want to work with. Sometimes joining an undesirable Network is necessary because they have a merchant you really want to sign up with. Our recommendation is to try a merchant from all the main networks, see what works for you, and then focus your time accordingly.

What are Content Sites. If you visit affiliate marketing forums you'll hear people talk about "content sites." These are sites that provide potentially educational and topical content about the products they are promoting, or appear to promote products as a side focus. Content sites are easier to build when you know about the products you are promoting, or the merchant makes content available to you. However, don't forget the goal of your site is to make your site visitors click off of your site onto a merchant's store. No click-through means no sale.

What are Data (Product Info) Sites. Data driven sites are generally limited to pure product data, prices, images, descriptions, there's no illusion of education here. It's all about promoting the product and making the visitor get off your site as fast as possible and onto the merchant's store. Data driven sites generally require access to data feeds and some knowledge of programming or access to software (or scripts) which can produce web pages from the data feeds.

Parasites and how they affect you. You will see a lot of sites that talk about "Parasites", "ParasiteWare" and "ScumWare." All of these are applications that can redirect, overwrite, or intercept your visitors (and therefore YOUR commission) and change your visitor into their visitor. The majority of these masquerade as shopping support software, file sharing applications, browser help objects (BHOs), and even hidden applications installed on a user's PC via drive-by installs or in bundled software packages. To learn more, and there is an awful lot to learn, please visit www.parasiteware.com. Most ParasiteWare also has various traits of SpyWare. Also click here to learn how you can help consumers protect themselves and your affiliate marketing revenue

Building your first Site. It does help to know HTML and the ability to use graphics software. Knowledge of these areas gives you the ability to add small touches of class to your site. However don't be discouraged if you have no skills in these areas. It is not always necessary to be skilful as there are a number of tools and merchants around that can help you get your first site up and launched. These include page generation tools and fast launch sites. These tools are great for getting rolling but always remember to do some customization of anything you get automated to ensure it is uniqueness to you. Search engines and directories will remove duplicate content.

Buying a domain name. Geocities and Homestead undeniably have their place in the Internet world; however, registering a domain with them generally is not a very wise decision. Many search engines and directories won't list such sites because of their transient nature. In addition to the pitfall of not showing up in search engines, some affiliate managers will skip over your site as they deem it to be a "Personal home page." It is best to get a top level domain (TLD) name and some cheap, but reliable, hosting. When considering a domain name, first think about what you are going to promote and then base your domain name on it. Don't buy the domain name first and then later think about what you'll promote on the site.

Work at it. While it is the ultimate aim of every affiliate partner not to have to do any work, the reality is, especially early on, there's a lot of work to be done. Whether it's in the site's design, updates, education or reading stats, there is a lot to do. The pay-offs aren't instant and it can take a fair few months before you're even making enough to even cover your costs. It takes perseverance, dedication and patience to succeed, don't quit if your first attempts don't pay off.

Educate yourself. Education is an immensely important part of affiliate marketing. There is a heck of a lot to learn. Educating yourself on basic principles of HTML, programming, data feed manipulation, creating custom links, or learn how to identify a good niche in a way that others have overlooked. The affiliate forums are certainly one of the best places to start this education. Invest in and read affiliate marketing books by affiliates such as James Martell

The next step. Once you have that first site up and it's making money, then it's time to start to expand. Using what you have learned by building that first site, move on to a new project. Leave the first site to keep making money, making adjustments, and any needed updates, but generally letting it do its thing. Your next site is likely to be a site in an area you've seen other affiliates having lots of success. It makes sense to follow the money, but remember it can be a crowded market place when everyone is after the same thing. Don't overlook small niche products, items that might not get the huge traffic but should convert well due to limited availability or being in a special interest group. These markets can often be far less crowded and easier to make quick sales on compared to the bigger more crowded programs.

Why Affiliate Marketing Is Your Key To Online Income

Affiliate marketing is a business model whereby a product provider will pay you a commission based on a sale you will make on his behalf.

Affiliate marketing is much older than the internet, but with the advent of online sales, it has become far more widely used by companies, with very few online merchants not offering some sort of affiliate or partner program.

It is pretty obvious why merchants of all sizes have embraced the affiliate model as to use it costs them nothing, and as the merchant assumes the visitors or sales the affiliate partner brings them are in addition to their usual customers, it can only add to their bottom line.

Affiliates like the model, because all they have to do is focus on selling. They have no Inventory, shipping, customer care, returns or complex paperwork issues to deal with.

That is why affiliate marketing is your key to online income, even as a complete "newbie" you are on pretty even footing with all your competitors, and if you already have a blog or website that is producing traffic, it can be as easy as placing a few banners or links, embedded with your affiliate id. onto your pages and you can be earning that commission from day one.

Most affiliate programs will pay you monthly, or bi monthly, but there are some that pay weekly or even daily or instantly, Recently some have even been known to pay directly into the affiliates paypal account. Ideal for cash strapped affiliates who get their commission instantly.

The instant or near instant payment model is good for the affiliate, because Even if the affiliate is using pay per click or some other kind of paid advertising, to drive traffic to the affiliate link, his or her cash flow is likely to be more or less positive, as they can expect to receive their affiliate revenue before the advertising bill becomes due.

You can get started in affiliate marketing as a complete "newbie" today. even without a customer list or blog or even website, having these can be an advantage, but you don't need to wait until you do to get your start in affiliate marketing.