Affiliate Links
Many of the ads you see on this site are affiliate links. I wanted to post this warning, and it is going to go to all my sites. If you should click on one of my links and it doesn’t go to the program that it should but to another program then be sure and research that program thoroughly.
I have no control of redirected affiliate links. That is done through the marketing companies I work with. Should the program I am sponsoring fill up then the link will automatically redirect to another program the company is sponsoring.
Why am I telling you this? Simple, not all the programs that you will get redirected to are legitimate and it has nothing to do with me as an affiliate marketer. This is just one of the downsides of the business. I try my hardest to only promote products I am comfortable with and that will not cost my customers an arm and a leg, because let’s face it in these hard economic times arms and legs are hard to come by.
Also recently on one of my other sites my link was being redirected to a product that I myself got burned on and so naturally I do not want to promote it. Yes, I can get burned. I forgot my cardinal rule when I applied for the product…research. I didn’t do enough and I got burned.
So I took my link down on a very good legitimate offer so that others would not get scammed.
Affiliate Marketing-My Thoughts
I talk a lot on this blog about affiliate marketing and how it works. For the last 10 years this is what I have done, affiliate marketing. I have never promised anyone they would get rich over night, because quite frankly that is not going to happen.
Affiliate marketing takes time, perseverance and quite truthfully trial and error. I will be the first to admit some of the programs that I have offered turned out to be troubling to say the least. But I am proud to say this is not the norm.
Finding legitimate work at home offers is not hard, finding ones that will be in business 5-6 years from now is the hard part. There are no guarantees when it comes to work at home businesses. You could sign up for one company on Monday, get the “hang” of the business by Friday, start making money the following week, and then the bottom drops out from under you.
This is the nature of both affiliate marketing and the programs we sell. During the last 10 years I like to think I have built relationships and knowledge about the people behind the programs I offer. Not saying there won’t be a few “duds” in the mix, I am not infallible.
My parents used to say there are no guarantees in life, just try as hard as you can, be yourself, and keep on moving forward. This advice I have followed.
The Importance Of Article Writing
Ten years ago when I started my online business with just one website I had no money to advertise. The biggest challenge for me was finding the money to make money. One of my mentors online suggested article writing as a means to promote my new business.
The first thought that entered my head was “I don’t write”. He reminded me that I said I couldn’t develop a website either, but I did it. So “don’t” was erased from my vocabulary when it came to my online business. If you want to succeed erase from yours also, it has no place.
I wrote my first article and submitted it to various article sites on the Internet. Then I wrote my second and did the same. Within a very short time I started having real visitors to my site, not just friends and family.
I continued this trend for the next year writing about experiences online, what I had discovered as a newbie, I read other people’s articles and got ideas-never copying their articles but using ideas from one article and incorporating into another. Updating previous articles I had wrote. I discovered PLR articles. Which are sometimes a free grouping of articles on a particular subject, these helped me when I got stuck on what to write. Although I do not recommend using them as your whole article as they have been used many times by many people and you will come off as not knowing what it is you are talking about.
A Web Site For Your Small Business
A well developed website will not only bring credibility to your business but will also help to advance your brand name. When a prospect visits your website they are looking for information and facts given to them in a well organized fashion. By having a well developed website you are showing prospects that you understand their requirements as well as awareness for the transactions that will follow. If however your website is disorganized and not well developed you are essentially showing the prospect that you might not know everything there is to know.
Visualize your site as a prospect. Is your site offering help and knowledge about your products? Your knowledge of products on your site will give you an advantage over your competitors and possibly lead to a sale.
Do you keep in contact with your prospects either through email or phone calls? These regular contacts will keep your website in the mind of the prospect, so stay in touch. Regular updating of your site will also help to keep in contact with your prospect, especially if the changes reflect new products and services. Letting the prospect get to know you is one of the easiest ways to market your product. After all the old adage “Out of sight, out of mind” most definitely applies to Internet marketing.
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME AN EXPERT?
I guess when you come right down to it we are all expert at something. Right? When I started writing articles I didn’t know what to write about. Still don’t for the most part. I just get an idea and go with it. It’s that simple for me.
I know a little about most subjects, but not an expert on anything. You probably expect me to say “except” now. Except….. I still don’t know what I am an expert on.
So when the publishers of articles for ezines or other publishing say to write what you know…it opens a whole new world for me. Remember I know a little about most subjects. Just enough to get me in trouble.
I first decided to get into online marketing, well because I had this job where I set up the database for a small carpet cleaning company, and I worked on the marketing for the company with an “expert”. He worked for Sears Advertising before taking over the running of this company. So I guess he qualifies as an “expert” in marketing. I learned a lot from him, about how to approach your advertising.
So now I have the computer “knowledge” (I use the phrase very loosely), I do understand marketing, thanks to my tenure with carpet cleaning. I believe I forgot to mention that somewhere in my misbegotten youth I graduated from college with a Business Degree, which I put to use raising four children and running a household. What one has to do with the other is another story.
