Ros' Ramblings

I was so busy last week revamping NetProfitsToday.com that NPT-Tuesday came and went with barely a thought about publishing the NPT newsletter.

All day Wednesday I toyed with the idea of writing a quick issue, but by Thursday my guilt had pretty much passed.

However, it returned with a vengeance on Friday when Joel and I were swamped by triple the usual amount of readers' questions.

Some sweeties even wrote to ask if anything was wrong 'cause they hadn't heard from me.

I learned this... about that... again.

Write a regular newsletter with good information and your subscribers will look forward to reading it each week, or month, or however often you choose to publish.

When you decide to take a break, drop a quick note to send your love and tell your subscribers when to expect the next issue.

By doing so, you'll avoid causing disappointment, concern and/or unsubscriptions.

And YES! that applies to affiliate marketers too!

Not having a newsletter is perhaps the BIGGEST mistake made by new affiliate marketers.

The only way to really connect with visitors to your site, and establish yourself as an expert in your field, is to communicate with them on a regular basis.

If you don't 'feel' like an expert yet, trust me, when you research and write on a topic every week, it doesn't take long before you ARE an expert, or even 'the expert'.

Although thinking up new topics to write about every week or month may seem like lot of work, you'll soon look forward to the exchange you have with people who share your interests. Their questions will inspire you to keep learning and sharing what you know.

Most importantly, 'sharing' good information must be your primary objective.

Successful businesses are built on giving people what they need and want, not starry-eyed visions of fancy cars, huge mansions and big bank accounts. Those things come from giving first.

Speaking of readers' questions... one of the questions asked most frequently is whether it's too late to start a business as an affiliate marketer. That question is usually accompanied by the suggestion that all the good niches are already taken.

Let me say this about that.

If you assess strong market demand in your chosen niche, approach the topic in a way that is completely unique, and learn how to market to your target audience, no niche is ever 'full'.

Too many folks worry about 'the competition'.

Worry, doubt and fear is what kills a prospective business... not competition.

To demonstrate, here's a perfect example of a brand-new affiliate business quickly becoming a success story.

Last week Mike Lord sent me a very nice note about the NPT newsletter and how it had helped him with his affiliate business. After reading it, I asked him to tell me more about his affiliate site.

I've included both his messages for you to read below. Take special note of his and David's approach to building their site, and where they focus their attention. Their site is a shining example of the success one can expect to achieve with time, effort and reasonable expectations.

Let their success inspire you.

'Til next time, learn and prosper!

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.

Super Affiliate Handbook

Upcoming (Tele)Seminars

What: The New Face of Affiliate Marketing Teleseminar
When: Thursday, February 24, 2005
5PM Pacific, 8PM Eastern

90 minutes of incredible information about important changes happening in the world of affiliate marketing.

What: Joel Christopher and Ted Nicholas' 'Double Birthday Bash'
Where: San Antonio, Texas
When: March 18th and 19th, 2005

Also featuring illustrious names such as Joe Vitale, Jay Conrad Levinson, John 'The Street Kid' Assaraf, Brian Keith Voiles, Tom 'Big Al' Schreiter, Sydney "Queen of eBay" Johnston, Tom Antion, Shawn Casey, Marc Goldman, Alan Bechtold & 2 'Mystery Guests'

'Double Birthday Bash'

What: Yanik Silver's 'Underground' seminar
Where: Washington, D.C.,
When: April 28 - 30, 2005.

I could tell you who's gonna be there, but then it wouldn't be the 'Underground' seminar... so just click the link below... and shhhhhhh.

'Underground' seminar.

Top Dog Success Story

This is the first note that I received from Mike Lord.

Rosalind,

First of all let me tell you how much I enjoy your Net Profits Today Ezine. I also bought your e-book (Super Affiliate Handbook) a while back which kick started me to build my own web site. Although I have extensive retail experience in the offline world, your tips and ideas helped integrate my skills into the online world where I am still a definite newbie but actually doing some pretty good business!

Your latest newsletter about data feeds and the software program WebMerge was really interesting. And talk about timely! I have downloaded the demo to take it for a test drive but something tells me that it will save me days of work, especially for piece by piece product lines that I market through affiliate programs.

I have subscribed to a lot of newsletters, many of which I have unsubscribed from because they have been hard sell with no added value. My subscription to your newsletter is staying---that's for sure! I always learn a nugget or two from you. I just wanted to pass that on because I happen to know that working in the cyber world, feedback is very different than dealing with everyday customers. So you get my kudo this month for sure!

Thanks again,
Mike Lord

I asked Mike to tell me more about his affiliate site and this is what he wrote:

Hi Rosalind,

PoochCentral.com is only 3 months old. In our first month, we made just a little over $500 US in profits after advertising expenses etc. Dec and Jan were excellent months where we doubled our sales and profits. Our subscriber list has shot from nothing to over 1000 virtually overnight. We have hired a programmer friend to take our site to the next level with a fully functional database driven site which will be a lot more interactive for our customers. We expect that to be ready and working in March.

As a former retailer (senior exec at The Bay) in the real world, one thing I knew for sure: I did not want to handle inventory of any kind. For me, this site was an experiment. Could I generate enough interest investing nothing in product and just market other peoples merchandise? What I and my partner, David, have found is that the demand for our site and its products is huge. We get many emails telling us how much people love our site and how they feel they "trust us".

We have tried to be patient and take the process one step at a time learning along the way and trying to develop good relationships with our merchants. Many of them have taken the time to give us their nuggets about the business just for the asking. But most of all, this has turned out to be a lot of fun. We expect that sales will level out in the area of $4000-5000US in commissions per month by mid-summer. While this is peanuts for some people, it's rewarding for us and it has cost us virtually nothing except some time and doing something we love.

Periodically, I go back to your e-book and look for new information. I find I've always missed something and find something new again on a re-read. I try to study the newsletters we subscribe to for information about how we can do things smarter. The question I always seem to be asking is: could we use this on our site and what impact would it have for making it a better site for our customers?

By trying to do things for our customers first, we have been getting the sales we need. For example, we decided up front not to do pop-ups on our our site when many of the marketing gurus were yelling about how effective they were. But they are also a great way to tick off your customers. And where are pop-ups today? Trash can!

I liked your approach to doing business from the start. Informative and soft sell. Maybe it's a Canadian thing. LOL

Reading the Super Affiliate Handbook was just the motivation we needed to get us moving and doing something. While you made it sound easy, you were realistic about the work involved and the potential payoffs.

We hope to develop another couple of sites in different areas. Our goal is to have about 12 to 15,000US in commissions coming in every month. If it takes us a year or two to get there, so be it. In the meantime we're having fun.

We'd be lying if we said that this is not a lot of work. It's almost as much work as looking after our mentally challenged foster son who has lived with us for the past 9 years. We didn't give up on him 9 years ago when everyone else did and he now has a great life and has developed many skills that the so-called experts said were beyond his ability. We are using the same determination on our web ventures. Now we're the ones learning new skills!

Another thing we know is, if we don't try, then nothing will happen. To be honest we are pleased with what we've learned and where we're going. I find that there is something new to learn everyday. That in itself is a huge motivator for me.

I'm sorry it's not a rag to riches story, but it' s a practical one that I believe anyone can do. The big thing is "just do it!" Your E-book is what really got us started and we have you to thank for that.

Mike Lord and David Flowers
PoochCentral.com
Essentials for Dogs and The People They Own

How's that for inspirational? So what's YOUR passion? Find it and run with it as an affiliate marketer.

To learn more about becoming an affiliate marketer, read the: