Make Money Online

Join Marc Purtell and Michael Gustman from Ten Golden Rules to learn the “Ten Golden Rules for Blogging.”

This presentation will explain the significant business opportunities for blogging and how to build your personal brand with a blog.

- The benefits of blogging
- How to blog
- Optimizing for Google and the search engines
- How to generate traffic to your blog
- What to blog about

This free webinar will take place on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 12:30pmEST – 1:30pmEST. To register and for more information please visit: 10 Golden Rules for Blogging

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InternetMarketingClub.org Presents 10 Golden Rules for Blogging

Welcome to the newly redesigned Share Results blog. We’ve been working hard to make this space more accessible for affiliates who are looking for information on the industry, affiliate marketing tips and techniques and information on how to use the Share Results software to leverage their affiliate marketing campaigns.

Not only does the site look a lot different, we have also added some new functions to open up the space to encourage interaction between affiliates and commenting on blogs. The intention of the redesign was to create a forum where affiliates and merchants can learn more about the business, and get involved in the conversation.

Our goal at Share Results is to provide merchants and affiliates with the tools they need to spearhead successful affiliate marketing campaigns. Lately, we have been writing blogs about how Facebook might affect affiliate marketing campaigns, what makes for effective affiliate managers and tips for merchants on brand bidding. Of course, we also use this space to let affiliates know about promotions that affiliates can take advantage of by being a part of the Share Results network. And if you’re looking for tips on how to write effective blogs, you’ve come to the right place.

If you like a blog entry, you can use one of around 220 different networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to immediately share it with your friends. You can also vote on each article to let us know whether you like it or not. And be sure to let us know why in the comments section!

The whole team at Share Results gets involved with blogging. You will find posts from our marketing department, affiliate managers, and even our designers like to get in on the blogging action from time to time. If you’re looking for entries by a specific person, you can now click on their name, read their bio and find all of the articles that they have contributed.

Affiliate marketing works best when it happens within a community, and we’re proud to present an arena for affiliates to become a part of a community. We also want to share with you some posts by other bloggers that we think are pretty great, so look for lots of interaction and information.

Stay tuned for more great articles and exciting affiliate offers. We have some great contests coming up for affiliates, so make sure to come back and check us out regularly.

We’d love to know what you think about the new blog and our articles. Make sure to leave us a comment and let us know what you think!

Related posts:

1. Make 2010 your Best Year Yet
2. Affiliates, Merchants, Join us for our Holiday Blogging Event to Get Ready for the Holiday Season!
3. Share Results Enters the New Year with a New Website Design

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The Newly Redesigned Share Results Blog

Social Media is a complex and highly integrated marketing practice and at times can be quite more bamboozling than necessary.  DaveFleet put together a visual model to highlight social media as an evolving tool in a “marketing media ecosystem”.   His model visually describes different marketing media including social media and how they can connect to a corporate brand including Linkedin, facebook, msn, etc [personally I would have loved to have seen affiliate marketing in the diagram ]

Secondly,  he put forward the idea that social media should be a forth model considered in Corcoran’s Model on owned, paid and earned media.  Corcoran describes that all marketing media can be categorized into these three groups and Dave has put forward a forth, “social”, because these categories on there own do not singularly encompass social.  Irrespective of how you wish to define your media in your marketing mix,  these models pose interesting questions to an affiliate marketer including:

-          Am I leveraging the most opportunities available to me to promote my message?

-          How does our approach to affiliate marketing impact on the brand we represent?

Furthermore, depending on your philosophy and approach to affiliate marketing your affiliate program can infiltrate into all forms of marketing media. 1) As a brand you own your affiliate program  creatives/messages – via affiliates we influence how we are seen on the internet and the community.  2) If your budget is big enough you can buy affiliates’ real estate with commissions, bonuses, prizes or 3) You can earn your affiliates by building trust and transparency through good affiliate management practices and affiliate software.  4)You can use social media to support your affiliate marketing activities and strengthen your overall marketing mix.

Related posts:

1. Using Social Media to Drive Sales
2. 12 Tips for Social Media Newbies
3. Social Media Updates Now Part of Google and Bing Search Results

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Social Media Ecosystems and Affiliate Marketing

To run a successful search engine optimization campaign, it is important to first clearly define the keywords to focus on. Simply trying to rank for a list of keywords you think are important is not always the best for your bottom line. You should be less focused on generating lots of traffic and more focused on generating revenue.

To develop your list of keywords to focus your efforts on, you want to consider a few things: how frequently are they searched, how competitive they are, and how well they convert for your business. Keyword research tools, such as Wordtracker, Keyword Discovery, and Google Suggest are useful in determining how frequently keyword phrases are searched and how competitive they are. While this information is valuable in deciding which keywords present the greatest opportunities for optimization (high search frequency, low competition), you also want to determine which keywords are likely to generate a lead or a sale.

If you run a pay per click campaign, you have a head start in identifying your best converting keywords (as long as you are tracking conversions). Go through your campaigns and see which phrases have the highest conversion rate. If they convert well from pay per click, there is a good chance that they will convert well in organic search.

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Choosing Keywords for SEO

If you read our blog regularly, then you know how much we like to talk about the importance of testing different things on your sales, or landing pages. One of the important aspects of those pages that should be taken into consideration is the color of your page. There are a lot of psychological influences at work with page colors, and these can be used to build a sense of trust from the audience that you are targeting. Here are a few tips on how to use colors on your website to put your customers in the right frame of mind to purchase the products that you are selling.

Basically all colors can be divided into three groups. Thus, blue and green are considered cool colors, whereas red, yellow, pink and orange are warm ones. Black and white are neutral.

Blue represents a feeling of security and trustworthiness. Subconsciously it is associated with the sky. This particular color is recommended for business-related websites (e.g. banks).

Green, on the other hand, represents wealth (deep green) or calmness (light green). Emotionally it is related to the color of money (”the color of success”), while light green is related to trees and spring. Therefore, dark green is suggested for finance related websites. As for light green, it is recommended for entertainment and leisure related websites.

Among warm colors, red is a very powerful color, able to grab attention and make one energetic by subconsciously activating one’s pituitary gland. Red is recommended for eye-catching logos and calls to action.

Black is also a very powerful color. It creates a feeling of color absence, and should be used for promoting expensive products.

Yellow is a color of optimism, subconsciously associated with the sun. This is why yellow is often used on attention-grabbing websites, especially when it is used in contrast with other colors.

People often think of pink as a feminine color. Hot pink stands for energy, while lighter pink represents romantic feelings. Both should be used for websites related to products for young women and girls.

Orange is a cheerful color, making us think of citrus fruit. You will quite often see these associated with children’s websites.

White is the color of simplicity and purity and effectively catches the eye. There are numerous associations related to this color, from weddings to hospitals. It is why the response to this color can be unpredictable. White is highly recommended for health-related product sites.

The main purpose of colors on a website is to put your visitors in a mindset that is in tune with the goal of your site. All these techniques are widely used to improve the appearance and effectiveness of websites. This is because our subconscious minds consist of our feelings, thoughts and aspirations. So, in order to make a connection on a subconscious level with visitors, it is important to put them in the right mind frame by using a color that makes the right association with the product that you’re promoting.

Have you played with color on your website? Tell us about the kinds of products you promote, and the colors that you use to convey your message. What colors work best for you?

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What Color is Your Website?

I was recently developing a Facebook strategy for one of my new clients and figured it would be a great topic for this week’s post. Anybody can create a business or fan page for Facebook. What you do with the page is an entirely different story.

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Facebook Page Marketing 101

Have you started taking advantage of the cash bonuses the 1-plus.com affiliate program has made available for March at Addition Elle?

If not, you should log in now to Share Results and become an affiliate for the 1-Plus affiliate program - because for this week Addition Elle has some exciting promotions ready for their online clientele only!

From March 3rd to March 9th, 2010 Addition Elle is offering all their online clientele the chance to Buy 2 Bras and get the 3rd one FREE! This is an excellent opportunity for retail affiliates to write some value-added content, highlighting all the features of The Convertible Bra – a versatile, comfortable, flexible bra with seamless design.

For more information on how to promote this brand, send us an email at 1plusaffiliates@shareresults.com

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This week at AdditionElle

There’s a brand new Membership site that has 5 websites you get that make money for you automatically – and you can get them in just 6 minutes from now – all with just 1-click!

You can literally get 5 powerful websites that are already making money!

I’m NOT joking – I’ll show you PROOF in a moment!

But what you need to know most is this:

You get…

1. 5 amazing websites!
2. 5 websites that convert sales automatically!
3. 5 websites that forcibly put money directly into your pocket!
4. 5 websites that are run by another firm for you (and at NO charge!)
5. 5 websites that continue to promote for you over & over!
6. 5 websites that grow & cultivate 5 separate proven lists!
7. 5 websites that function automatically (so you never run it!)
8. And 5 websites that you get Free HOSTING for!

And again, they all come in a very easy-to-use Members Area you get your own private Username & Password LOGIN to!

It’s rumored that the husband and wife couple who operate the sites may either LIMIT how many people are allowed in, or at the very least “choke” down the flow of new Members so as not to let just anybody get in.

It’s also been speculated that they may stop offering anymore “5-Site Set” Memberships after some time (and without notice) just to keep competition “alive and well” (but who really knows?)

Regardless of which, it’s clearly understood that once you’re in, *YOU’RE IN!* (So don’t waste time, or worse still: DO NOT RISK IT!)

PROOF!…

———————

Here is the link in case you’re smart and want in just like me and the few others who’ve found this so far:

~~~> Start here with this awesome opportunity!

**Just DON’T be shocked in case when you get there they’re closed to any “NEW” Members!

(But just don’t say I didn’t warn you!)

CASH FLOW: CASH MAKING POWER SITES

Cash Making Power Sites Review. Cash Making Power Sites is a new kind of internet marketing technology “that forces the web to pay you”…This is Fully-Guaranteed! Here is what you will get with Cash Making Power Sites: …

Publish Date: 02/24/2010 5:18

http://911cashflow.blogspot.com/

Know what you want…

Seems simple right? In my experience, dealing with hundreds of clients over the last 12 years, very few can actually quantify what they want.

Some tell me they want marketing help (far too vague), but when I ask about success metrics, they almost invariably cite traffic as their primary success measure. Now, not to discount traffic, but that’s not what pays the bills is it?

ROI shouldn’t be calculated on traffic*, but by counting other other measures. If your aim is engagement, count comments, reviews, buzz. If your aim is sales, count overall revenue increases, direct conversions, increase of average sales…

In an SEM campaign in particular, knowing what you want is vital, because every click costs you. Your campaigns should be highly segmented, helping you know where each dime goes, how each ad performs, how each keyword you’re buying contributes to the goals you’ve set.

Search Engine Guide has an excellent post up today about segmenting your keywords:

There are four distinct keyword segments each representing a different phase of the searcher’s buying cycle. After going through the process above you should be left with one or more groups of keyword that can be optimized into a page or several pages. The next step is to take each group and segment them even further based on those keyword segments.

Once you know what you want, you can do A/B testing to determine where your money’s going and whether or not your plan is working.  Know what you want and you have a heck of a lot better chance at getting it.

*there are a few, rare exceptions to this rule

Social Bookmarking

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Online Marketing Goals

I thought it would be helpful to provide a post about some next steps for your blog writing journey. Before I do that though, check out Part 1 of this post; you will find this post is a beneficial supplement.

So you now have some blog ideas and a plan in place – but then you ask yourself – in what format do I put down all of my thoughts? Here are a couple of the best ways to format/structure your posts:

Lists. Creating your blog posts around a “list” format makes the information that much more digestible for the reader. You want to make sure you don’t lose your reader a few sentences into your post. Lists make it less overwhelming for the many on-the-go readers.

Segmented Paragraphs. Not every post you write is going to be short and sweet or able to be chopped up in a list format. A great way to write a longer post but still keep a reader’s attention is by putting each of the points you are illustrating under “headings”. Take a look at how this post has two separate thoughts broken up by preceding bold headings. The concept of this is that readers’ eyes will scan “headings” and skip to the section they are most interested in without abandoning your post altogether.

Think about some of your favorite posts and how they were formatted. What did you enjoy most about them? What about them enticed you to keep reading until the very end?

Excerpted from:

When it comes to best blogging practices, one of my favourite resources is Copyblogger. In fact, I took the format of this headline from some of their blog-writing tips: “[Fill in the Blank] That Everyone Ought to Know About”, because I trust that since it came from them, it might help my blog get some extra attention.

And that’s really the goal, isn’t it? Getting the most eyes on your blog, the most comments—and of course, ‘going viral’.

A lot of the affiliates that we work with in the Share Results network use blogs to generate traffic, and create a buzz around the product that they’re promoting.

We love blogging at Share Results, and because it’s a team effort, it’s always a lot of fun to bounce ideas off each other, and come up with some pieces that we feel are really going to be effective for our readers.

Most recently, our writing team teamed up with our SEO experts to present a training seminar on Best Blogging Practices. We got a lot of great feedback on this training, so we thought we’d include these tips on our blog to help out some of our blogging affiliates, and anyone else involved in blogging.

1. Make Sure Your Headline Rocks
In a world of RSS and Twitter feeds, where the headline of your blog is all you have to pique a reader’s attention, it’s so important that it be a good one. Take one of Copyblogger’s most recent blogs, for example: The Mr. Rogers Guide to Blogging from the Heart. I mean, as a blogger, I could barely click on the link fast enough. (Not to mention, I have a bit of special spot in my heart for Mr. Rogers). And really, that’s the effect you want to have every time.

A tip that I recommend when it comes to writing great headlines is, summarize your wow-factor. If one of the merchants you are promoting has a product that you have tried and made you look ten years younger, I suggest you get that in your headline—it’s your wow factor!

2. Hook Your Reader with a Great Lead
Ok. So you’ve managed to garner some reader excitement with your great wow-factor headline; next in line is your lead paragraph. In terms of best blogging practices, after the headline, your lead paragraph is the second most important element of your post. Readers are busy, and there is an abundance of really great blogs out there, so if they’ve given your blog a chance, based on your great headline, then the goal of your lead is to hook them into reading your whole blog.

Say something bold, get personal, expand on your wow-factor, but at all costs, engage your reader. Report on some unbelievable new research that is affecting the industry, the most interesting aspect of a product you’re promoting or state a product benefit that you know will be of interest to them. Whether you like to use humor, or prefer a more serious approach, be like Mr. Rogers, and convince your reader that what you’re about to share in your blog has real value, and that you care.

3. Keywords, Anchor Texting and Inter-Linking
Keywords are essential for obtaining blog traffic from search engines. Keywords should be incorporated into your headline, and then every 75-100 words in the blog post. In this blog, for example, I am using the keyword, “Best Blogging Practices”. You will find that keyword as part of my headline, and then I have used it throughout the rest of my blog. For best blogging practices, you also should bold your keyword on the second mention.

In addition to using keywords, interlinking to other blog posts should be done with every entry. You can use your own blog for this, and even link out to other blogs. You want to use an anchor text to link to the blog that uses your keyword from your article title, or if not, then a related keyword to the text of the entry.

4. Closing with a Strong Call to Action
A good call to action will not only prompt a reader to take the steps you are suggesting, but will get them to take that action NOW. You may want a reader to visit a merchant’s website, sign up to your newsletter, take a demo of your affiliate marketing software solution, or simply provide their feedback. Whatever it is, make it ridiculously clear what they are suppose to do, and what will happen when they do so.

Statistics show that incorporating “Click Here” into your Call to Action is the most effective way of getting readers to take the step you are suggesting. It’s even better if “click here” is at the end of the sentence, like this: “To sign up to my affiliate newsletter, click here.” But here’s the trick. Whatever link you use in your “Click Here” link in your Call to Action, HAS to also be used in the body of your blog, and must also be relevant to the page you are linking to. And a final word of caution here, I don’t recommend using this approach each and every time, as it can get a bit dry and predictable. So make sure to switch it up!

These are some of the best blogging practices that we try hard to incorporate into our Share Results blog. We’d love to know what practices have worked best for your blog. Tell us about them here! (That’s your cue to take action now!).

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Best Blogging Practices That Everyone Ought to Know About

Over the past few months the industry has seemed to gone through some slight changes. Rebill offers for the most part are not run like they were before. I know this because of what’s happened to my own traffic, getting approval on my own offer, and then friends that I’ve talked to who have had to go back to “legit” affiliate offers.

So now what? Some food for thought…

Oldies but Goodies

Offers like credit reports, auto insurance, dating, etc. These are the classics but they’re offers that have been running strong this entire time for a reason…they convert. Some of the very first offers I ran back in the day were all 3 of those I listed above, and all 3 were profitable. I also see Google ads as well as Facebook ads for all 3 of those, which tells me that it looks like they’re converting just like the old days.

Mobile/IQ

Mobile used to be the hot “shady” thing to do, when rebilling people for $9.99 was unethical. My oh my if we only knew we would rebill for 10x that amount and go to bed with a smile on our faces (’our’ just referring to the entire industry). Mobile offers are doing well from what I hear. I see some ads on Myspace and other teenage oriented sites, and I also hear incenting these offers on app traffic is working nicely.

Edu

If you take a closer peek at Facebook and a few other places, you’ll see a few people running education offers. These have been kind of a “sleeper” for a while now, I ran them a while ago with some success. The only thing you have to watch out for is quality, they can end up nailing you on it. But other than that it’s a nice leadgen with a good payout for just completing a form with no credit card.

Good Ole Fashioned Business

Maybe it’s time for you to take some of those rebill profits and pour them into a business idea you’ve had in your mind for the past year. Don’t forget that affiliate marketing is just one of the ways to make money online. Build a site that people want to visit every day or a service that they don’t mind paying to use. In the age of Facebook/Digg/Reddit/etc, sharing has never been easier. This makes viral sites all the more easier to go viral.

Just some things to think about in case you’re a deer in headlights now that the FTC truck is speeding at you.

Source:

Stop Procrastination, Increase Personal Productivity

To any pay per click advertising veteran, it is well-known that bidding on misspellings of keywords is a good way to cut down on the cost per click of your campaigns. In competitive industries, however, your competitors are also aware and even commonly misspelled keywords can become very expensive to bid on.

A misspelling that is often overlooked, but common in virtually any industry is leaving out a space between words in a phrase.

People are busy. They type fast. Look at a document you recently wrote quickly. It’s very likely that there is a space missing somewhere. The same holds true for your market.

Let’s say for example you are in online marketing. Bidding on the phrase “online marketing” will cost you about $5.72/click while bidding on “onlinemarketing” will only cost about $2.26/click.

If you decide to bid on misspellings like these, you should set up an ad group specifically for that and not use keyword insertion in your ads. Using keyword insertion when bidding on misspellings will cause your ad copy to contain misspellings and look unprofessional.

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PPC Tip – Remove the Spaces

We give out way too much information online. You know it, I know it, but it’s fun and we so push the fear out of our minds and continue to chat about our kids, our friends, how annoying so-and-so is at work on Facebook, Twitter and more. But we’ve been conditioned to share, and it’s not a recent evolution.

Supermarket ‘clubs’, like those in place at CVS, Safeway, Publix, and virtually every chain supermarket, save Walmart, already share your data with telemarketers and email marketers.  The swipe saves us a few bucks so we agree… Upromise, by Sallie Mae, has already gotten into big trouble with not disclosing the truckloads of data they collect from their toolbar to their users.  Still college students add that toolbar and hope for the best. WE SHARE TOO MUCH!

A Mashable post on Data Mining in Social Media digs a little deeper, but still not deep enough. They don’t even mention the new iPhone app that’s being called a ’stalker’s dream’ nor the freaky 123People that lets you check the government documents that other people have filed (or had filed against them).

I’m big on social media, I love it, but this trend toward over-sharing, both purposefully and unintentionally, frightens me.

Social Bookmarking

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Data Mining and Social Media