Ros' Ramblings

How was your week? If you are in the States, I hope you
enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving, and are now relaxed and
rejuvenated.

Mine was great, other than for one telephone call.

The call was from a woman who was looking for help with
affiliate marketing. She sounded very near tears as she
explained having put up a site, joined a lot of programs,
put up a bunch of links... but the site was a bust.

She hadn’t read my book. But today's article, 'Going
Nowhere Fast' deals with the mistake she made, which is
made by many new affiliate marketers.

Jay on the other hand DID read the book. Here is what
he had to say:

     I bought The Super Affiliate Handbook a couple of
     weeks ago and am already  reaping the benefits. 
    
     I spent a lot of time and money trying to figure
     out how to make money on the web by myself.  The
     results were miserable. 
    
     I quickly read your program and decided to follow your
     recommendations.  With every change I have
     implemented to my website, I saw my traffic and
     sales instantly increase... profits too. 
    
     I still have a lot of changes to  implement, but look
     forward to the positive results that should
     follow.  As an affiliate of your program, I will
     be recommending your handbook on  my website
     within the next week.

     Thanks for the great program.  It paid for itself
     the first day I put the  knowledge to use.

     Jay Green, Personal Trainer
     Personal Best Fitness Co.
     www.ubfit.com

Aaaah, THAT's what I like to hear! (And that's why I risked
carpal tunnel syndrome writing the book. :-))

Read the newsletter, read the book, read SOMETHING and
then put the knowledge to use.

'Til next time,

Your Friend in Affiliate Marketing,
Rosalind

Rosalind Gardner is author of the best-selling "Super
Affiliate Handbook: How I Made $436,797 in ONE Year Selling
Other People's Stuff Online.

Free Report: "Profit-Boosting Lessons from Today's Most Successful Super Affiliates"

Jason Potash has graciously allowed me to give you a free
copy of his special report "Profit-Boosting Lessons from
Today's Most Successful Super Affiliates".

Grab your copy here:
"Profit-Boosting Lessons from
Today's Most Successful Super Affiliates"

Free Teleseminar This Thursday, December 2nd

Randy Gilbert and I are giving another teleseminar this
Thursday, December 2nd, at 1 pm Eastern, and again on
Thursday, December 9th, at 1 pm Eastern about how to create 
the 'best plan' that will create the 'best life' in 2005.

2nd Wave of Success

Ros Speaks in Maui

I'm going to Maui!

Actually, I'm going there to speak at the 2nd Wave Success
Maui Coaching Conference. It's NOT just for coaches...

Learn more here:
2nd Wave of Success

Listen to Randy Gilbert and my teleseminar this Thursday
about the MCC. Sign up here:
2nd Wave of Success

Article: "Going Nowhere Fast"

How and why do you surf the 'Net?

Do you turn on your computer, open your browser, then
scratch your head and wonder, "Hmm… what I should look for
today?"

Hardly.

I'll bet you dollars to donuts you've got specific goals in
mind when you surf the 'Net.

Imagine for a moment that you gained a couple pounds over
Thanksgiving. You're concerned that the fast-approaching
Christmas feast, may have you wearing a mumu on Maui this
January.

There's no way you're going to let that happen, so you
decide to research treadmills on the 'Net. Naturally, you
start at Google.com, and type in 'treadmills'. You click on
a link that reads 'Treadmill Buyers Guide - Unbeatable Low
Prices & Expert Info, Buy Direct and Save 40% - 45%'.

Would it frustrate you to land on a page that has no
information about treadmills, and no obvious way to get to
that information?

What about when you have to click on several links?

First you click on 'Sports', then 'Running', then back up
when you don't see 'Treadmills' under 'Running'. Finally
after 10 clicks you find the 'Treadmill' page listed under
'Fitness Equipment', which for some reason has different
stuff than 'Sports Equipment'. There are 3 treadmills listed
on the page, so back you go to Google.

Fortunately, searching at Google gives much better results
than depicted above.

Indeed, when searching for 'treadmills' at Google, the first
page of search engine results all go to pages specifically
about treadmills. Nearly all the natural and sponsored
listings belong to sites that sell just treadmills, or are
sports equipment sites.

So why is it that many newbie webmasters think that building
an all-purpose super mall, that sells everything and
anything, will bring them fame and fortune, and save them
the work of having to build multiple sites?

The answer to that question is beyond me. Those sites just
don't get found, unless their name is Yahoo!, Epinions,
ConsumerSearch or About.com. And if a site doesn't get
found, it certainly doesn't get famous.

As for saving time by building only one site – what a pipe
dream! Building a 1-stop shopping directory site with
universal appeal and umpteen hundred categories, requires
umpteen hundred pages. That takes time - lots and LOTS of
time… unless you've got a Yahoo!-sized staff and advertising
budget.

Lacking that type of investment, your best bet is to focus
on a single theme. A five-to-ten page site that is
easy-to-navigate with excellent reviews and information
beats out a willy-nilly mall site every day of the week.

So put yourself in your customers' (running) shoes, and give
them treadmills when they want treadmills.

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Article by Rosalind Gardner, best-selling author of the 'Super Affiliate Handbook: How I Made $436,797 in ONE Year Selling Other People's Products Online' and the "Net Profits Coach" ezine, a straightforward and entertaining guide to ebusiness. Learn from an expert. Go to: