Friday, August 22, 2008

Free Blog Traffic - 7 Steps To Bring Traffic To You Blog

You just setup your own blog and it’s ready to go. You’ve Install all the plugins and selected a theme you like out of hundreds. The next step is to bring traffic in. So how do you do that? Before you can bring in traffic, it’s best to have at lease 10 post or articles so your blog doesn’t look empty. Do you want to greet visitors with an empty hand. I don’t think so. That’s the first step.

The next 6 steps after you made your first 10 post:

Ping The Blog Services – After each post you make, ping the blog services to let them know you have a blog and it’s just updated. These services are specially design to track and connect blogs. Ping-O-Matic is one of the services that can ping a number of services with a single click.
Optimize Your Posts for Search Engines – There are rules to follow to get your post listed on search engine result page. Make your blog post title contains the primary keyword, use secondary keywords in your body of your post and use your keywords in the anchor text of links in the body of your posts.
Submit To Press Releases – You blog is new, why not tell the world. Press release is a great way to bring in traffic and a great tool for branding. It’s free advertising and it can bring in massive traffic.
Post on forums – Include your blog URL on your signature. Join forums you are interested in or your niche. Post and respond to other posts. Answer question that can help forum members. The more you expose yourself, the more your blog URL is visible. Don’t Spam. It’s a no-no on forums.
Link exchange – Request link exchange with friends from other blogs related to yours. If you don’t have friends, find a blog you like and post comments. Make friends with the blog owner and create a relationship. The more you post comments the morel likely you will get traffic. Again, don’t spam. It will be a waste of your effort if you spam.
Sign up for MyBlogLog.com - Open an account, install the widget and upload a picture. Every time you visit other blogs with a MyBlogLog widget install, your picture will appear on the widget box. Other people who visit that blog, might click on your picture and go to your blog.
These 7 simple steps should give you a little boost to start building your blog traffic, and it’s free. That’s how I brought traffic to this blog for the past 54 days.

Rammel Firdaus -tq 4 tips

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Linkshare

Linkshare

Linkshare is the other top affiliate network providing affiliates access to hundreds of merchants. They host some pretty big name merchants and sign-up is easy. Their tracking isn't quite as user friendly as CJ, but the programs they provide are high quality.
From their site:
"LinkShare hosts a password-protected website that offers affiliates a choice of hundreds of merchant programs. On the site, affiliates can join new programs, get links to put on their sites, and then see reports about how their links are performing and how much they have earned.

When a visitor from an affiliate's site clicks on a link and goes to a merchant's site, LinkShare keeps track of all of the transactions that the visitor makes. If that visitor buys something on the merchant's site, you get a commission.

In some cases, affiliates are compensated even if the visitor doesn't buy anything, just for having driven traffic to the merchant's site.

LinkShare also provides affiliates with customer service, notifies affiliates about new programs and new opportunities, and offers resources for affiliates to learn about how to get the most out of their programs

The Advantages of Using An Affiliate Network

The Advantages of Using An Affiliate Network

Though not all affiliate programs are administrated through an affiliate network, there are some advantages to using ones that are. Affiliate networks take the head-ache out of tracking and receiving payment and can help webmasters concentrate their efforts on driving traffic instead of maintaining affiliate programs.
What is an Affiliate Network?
Affiliate Networks act as the trusted third party to track and report sales and traffic from ads, they send monthly payment, and often provide online tools to help affiliates optimize their performance. They provide webmasters with access to hundreds of affiliate programs all in one convenient location.

If You DON'T use Affiliate Networks
Webmasters who don't utilize affiliate networks, and use affiliate programs from independent parties may suffer from inaccurate tracking, late or no payment, and dead links and banners.

Should all Affiliates Use an Affiliate Network?
We recommend using an affiliate network to webmasters who are signing up for more than one affiliate program.

Can Affiliates Be Part of Multiple Networks?
Yes. We advise affiliates to sign up for as many affiliate networks as they would like to. Sign-up is free to affiliates and Affiliate Networks partner with different merchants. For example, Ebay uses Commission Junction to mediate their affiliate program, whereas 1-800-Flowers.com uses Linkshare. If you want to sign up for both affiliate programs you should be a part of both networks. Using multiple networks can give you access to more merchants and affiliate programs.

Are Some Networks Better Than Others?
While all affiliate networks have their strong points, we like Commission Junction the best. They have the best optimization tools for affiliates, so affiliates can make the most money possible from each click of traffic.

Commission Junction

Commission Junction

Housing the most lucrative affiliate programs available, Commission Junction is the premier network for affiliate marketing. CJ provides affiliates and merchants alike with optimal revenue sharing tools and experiences.
From an affiliate standpoint we have found CJ to be first-class in the following areas: ease of use, tracking capabilities, affiliate/merchant relations, multiple site compatibility and incentive programs.

Ease of Use
CJ Sign-up is quick and easy. You put in contact information, the URL for the site you will be using, send in the W-9 for tax purposes and you are on your way. Log-in email is sent to your inbox and then you can log in to the network of web sites that offer affiliate programs.

Tracking Capabilities
CJ has the most advanced tracking and reporting capabilities we've found. Webmasters are able to optimize their efforts by using their advanced statistics and advertiser earning potential reports. CJ tells webmasters which advertisers are performing the best and handing out the highest commissions based on actual statistics.

Affiliate/Advertiser Relations
Applying for affiliate programs takes just one click. CJ uses a web-based email system for merchants and affiliates to keep in touch. CJ also notifies webmasters of links and advertisers that have expired, so affiliates can always keep current ads and advertisers up on their site.

Multiple Site Compatibility
For webmasters who oversee many different sites with advertiser links on them, CJ makes it easy to diversify the tracking codes and monitor the performance of each site's affiliate links.

Incentive Programs
Advertisers are always offering new incentive programs to raise affiliate performance. CJ makes it easy to stay abreast of new offers and changes. They also offer Rewards incentives to web site visitors of affiliates.

Overall, Commission Junction is the best affiliate network and makes keeping track of affiliate programs a breeze. To sign up with CJ click on the link below and apply for a "Publisher Account" with them. (FYI- CJ calls affiliates "publishers" and merchants providing affiliate programs "advertisers")

Pay Per Click Affiliate Programs

Pay Per Click Affiliate Programs

While affiliate marketing began as a pay per click model it is becoming more difficult for webmasters to find pay per click affiliate programs to sign up for. Read on to find out where you can still find merchants who will pay you for every visitor you send to their site using pay per click affiliate programs.
Pay Per Click vs. Pay Per Action
Every webmaster would love to be highly compensated for every visitor sent to an affiliate website, however that is not how most affiliate programs work. Merchants sponsoring affiliate programs have found pay per action models to much more profitable for them. Pay per action means the merchant only has to pay the affiliate if the customer click converts to a sale. Most merchants have turned to this more profitable payment scheme from the original pay per click model.

Finding Pay Per Click Affiliate Programs
We have found the most pay per click affiliate programs in the the easiest to manage location through the Commission Junction affiliate network. CJ is our favorite because it makes choosing high performing products and creatives easy, as well as tracking sales, receiving payment, and managing multiple sites. CJ will tell just exactly how the merchant plans to pay, per sale, per lead, or per click.

The majority of pay per click affiliate programs are for products like casinos, online dating, and recreational sites that are sure to make money off most visitors to their site, so they are willing to pay merchants the same way. If these types of affiliate programs fit your site you may be interested in a pay per click affiliate program.

High Traffic = High Commissions
For webmasters with high traffic websites, pay per click affiliate programs can be very profitable. If you haven't already, sign up for an account with Commission Junction (its free to webmasters) and start connecting with merchants who are paying for every visitor.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Finding the Perfect Affiliate Program

Finding the Perfect Affiliate Program


Every now and again we webmasters will come across one affiliate program that out-performs the rest; the affiliate program that converts clicks to sales as fast as you can send traffic. If you haven't yet found your "Golden Goose" affiliate program, read on to learn how to spot the one in a million.
Discovering an affiliate program that blows the others out of the water requires a fine balance between three key factors: recommending a quality product, buyer-friendly website design, and lastly, affiliate program payout.

Quality Product
You may be able to succeed for a short while recommending a faulty product, but get-rich-quick schemes like that are not the way to find the cash-cow affiliate program. Find a good quality product/service to recommend to your website visitors. Choose an upstanding established company who emphasizes customer satisfaction. By teaming up with a good company and quality product you are on the right track.

Buyer-Friendly Web Design
It does you no good to send precious traffic to poorly designed websites that can't convert your clicks to sales. The perfect affiliate program takes the traffic you send instantly by the hand and leads them to a sale. Bad design is the sales enemy and customers can click away as easily as they came, leaving you commissionless. Be certain that you send your traffic to affiliate programs that can make a sale.

Affiliate Program Payout
This last tip should be fairly obvious to webmasters familiar with affiliate marketing; however, many casual affiliates who don't know they could be making big money overlook choosing an affiliate program with a high payout. The best affiliate programs are willing to pay their affiliates well. This means high bounties, longer cookie duration, and recurring payment on repeat customers if possible.

The perfect affiliate program factors in the three key elements of affiliate success: choosing a good product, with a great website and a terrific payout. Sending your website traffic to these types of affiliate programs will turn your hard-earned traffic into revenue.

Negotiating Bigger Bounties

Negotiating Bigger Bounties


So you are making money with affiliate programs, now what? Make more money! Here's how…

Get To Know Your Merchants

People do business with people they know, right? You need to establish relationships with the merchants you are affiliated with. This can be easy or difficult depending on your market. Credit card merchants, for example, are almost impossible to get in touch with as most use outsourced affiliate programs. Other affiliate program directors may be easy to contact and open to negotiations. Remember, solid relationships take time, so be patient and persistent and don't be afraid to make the first move.

Be a Top Affiliate

Merchants are almost always willing to award top performing affiliates. Higher bounties are handed out to continue to entice and reward the affiliates who send the most business. It is only natural - you make more money for them, they have more money to share with you. Stand out from the other affiliates as the top of the heap, and you will get noticed and (hopefully) rewarded.

You Have to Ask

It is very rare to receive a commission raise without asking for one. Unless you are a top performing affiliate, you will not get paid more per click/sale unless you ask, beg, or bribe. Okay, maybe bribery is a little far, but you will have to ask nicely and offer the merchant something in return - like increased traffic, better traffic, or more sales.

Taking the initiative to establish or improve relationships with merchants and affiliate program directors can pay off in the long run with higher bounties and better commissions. Don't settle for mediocre commissions. If you are a good affiliate you deserve more.