Here's the plan...

[allclues]

I am a newbie about affiliate programs, working (setting up) on my first website. I would like to know the best way (i mean best) to promote my site with as little a budget as possible but effectively. Search engines? Adsense? E-mail marketing? . . . .


Help please. . . . I wanna make it!

[netsalesroom]

[happyfingers]

Hi, I'm Arlene! I've been trying to learn all I can about IM. I've just launched my first site, am tweaking the keywords, have a couple articles waiting for approval. You get the idea...right now its been a steep learning curve, a bunch of work and to date the first sale is still outside of my grasp.

Since the guy before me didn't write a question, there's none to answer.

To continue the game:

What attracted you to IM other than the huge profit?

[hk999]

[Shawna]

[Suresh]

Hi all -

IM is a lot of fun indeed, lots to learn and put into practice. Well I've been doing the learning part, time to get my feet wet!! No point just dipping my toe in...
I'd have to agree that building your website is an essential first step to promote your business, but after that little step -
- submit to search engines
- get some ppc going to drive traffic to your site (this definitely works!)
- have an opt-in to capture your visitors' IDs
- blog and submit to article posts
- try and help people out in your chosen topic of interest in forums like these; or start one up of your own

Do you know what your time is worth, I mean REALLY worth, in dollars/hour or per minute?

[rw]

Hi Suresh,

Well I hope you enjoy your journey. It is all fun I feel you are correct on that.

What are you asking how much time is worth?

I feel it is irreplaceable that is why it should be live to its fullest. If you are working do it the best you can do. If you are relaxing or playing live it experiences it fully in that moment.

Or are you using a set value to gage how much you are earning per invested hours?

Sorry I didn’t mean to go off in a different direction.

Anyway I hope your journey is a fulfilling adventure.

Take Care! Make It A Great Day!!

[Suresh]

Hi RW,

Welcome to the affiliate marketing business, I'm a newbie like you. You're right in that life should be lived to its fullest - but I was specifically referring to UNDERSTANDING the $$ value of one's time.

This has to do with an eye-opening exercise pointed out by another famous affiliate marketer. You make a rough estimate of how much $$ you'd like to make per year as an affiliate marketer. Then set 10% of that amount as your goal for this year (2007 is still young )

Then divide that amount by the number of PRODUCTIVE hours per year; so how many hours/day/week/month/year you spend on ACTUAL INCOME-MAKING ACTIVITIES. Not reading, surfing for info, emailing, posting on forums but actions that make you money/profits.

THAT'S the value of your (working) time. Cool, isn't it? So the question is, after you do this little exercise, what's stopping you from making that kind of money? Is it
- lack of information
- lack of money
- lack of time
- lack of mentorship
- general lack of resources

What do you think?
Cheers & success
Suresh M. Nair
Affiliate One Online
Amsterdam

[rw]

Very well put I thought that was your intentions.

I am going to think about this one for it a bit. It is a great way to mentally get a handle on what is going on with our businesses and us.

I am glad you shared this.

I generally treat my business as a second job I devote as much dedication and effort to it as I would my day job (soon to be my X job ). I am a pretty high producer so doing the same for my business will produce great results. With this bit added to that I will be able to define it even more GREAT!

Cheers! Make It A Great Day!
RW

[thebloke]

Hi _ my first job was that of a guitar teacher - it was a long time ago , and with internet income - I hope to become a guitar student instead !

[Roy Carter]

Hi everyone! Roy here from sunny Cyprus.

I'm new to this forum - (don't know why, 'cos i've been getting Ros's newsletters since I bought her ebook in 2004)!

To answer the question...what's the best way to promote your website!?

Here's something that I have passed on to my subscribers:-

I know some people on my list are at a more
advanced stage than others, so some people
may already be doing this. But if you haven't
yet tried it, you definitely should!

Here's what i'm talking about...

If you are using Google adwords to promote an
affiliate product or more preferably, your OWN
product then here's something that i've
found works better for me.

Instead of using just Google Adword ads in the
normal fashion, try using the 'site targeted'
option within your Adwords account.

You'll find the link to this option right next
to the link where you usually start creating a
new 'keyword-targeted' campaign. Just look for
the 'site targeted' link.

This option allows you to place your adwords ad
on a site that YOU select (providing the site
allows Google ads on their site).

The beauty of this method is that it is so much
more targeted.

Let's say you are selling 'abc Widgets'.

You simply find a site (or blog) where the
content is all about that same subject, and you
can have your ad appearing on that site.

This allows you to legally 'steal' the traffic
from that site! And just as importantly, you
know that the person who clicks on your ad is
already interested in your subject matter!

I have found that my conversion rate has
skyrocketed since using this method.

So don't think that you have to wait until your
own site has ranked highly with the search engines
and you are getting tons of your OWN traffic. Why
not use the visitors of sites that have already
got masses of traffic?

With the 'site-targeted' method you don't pay per
click, you pay per 1000 visitors to the site's page
where your ad appears, so you still have total
control of what your spending and you can pause or
stop your ad at leisure.

You want some highly targeted traffic? Just switch
the traffic on and off at will!!

Hope this was helpful.

Nice to be here!

Regards,
Roy Carter

[Roy Carter]

Oops! Forgot to ask the next question!

New Question:

How many people who are currently affiliates for other people's products also intend to have their OWN products to promote at some stage?

regards
Roy Carter

[MikeCabarles]

Well, that's a toughie cause I'm only one person.

It certainly is a good strategy to aspire to.
By doing affiliate marketing you learn the ropes and how to market and all the basic technical skills.
Then there's the affiliate launch process which basically overlaps a lot with the new product launch process. When it boils down to it - you need to consider the product development costs compared to the potential increase in profits.

Next Question: What are the best affiliate products you've had success with?

Cheers,

Mike Cabarles

[aussie]

Hi!

I am relatively new to affiliate marketing so I'm not able to answer your question Mike! But to others reading if you have an answer I would also love to know! I have just finished reading The Super Affiliate Handbook and although I am only beginning to work on my first site, I already know that this is a must have for every affiliate. I just want to say a personal Thank You to Rosalind in advance!

Now, as for the next question...

Would would be the biggest lesson you have learned in affiliate marketing?

Have a good one!

[smallville]

I just want to say hello to everyone. I am brand new to affiliate marketing. I have no webmaster skills.

Unfortunately, I'm too new to really answer the question...

"What would be the biggest lesson you have learned in affiliate marketing?"

So if I had to pose another question, it would be what attracted you to affiliate marketing?