Affiliate Tools Online

Just about everybody who’s new to internet marketing, starts out by doing affiliate marketing.  Why? Because you don’t need a product and it’s easy to start.  And if you already have a web site or blog that is getting lots of visitors, it can also be free to start.

More and more merchants are catching on to the concept of affiliate marketing - and how beneficial it is to their bottom line.  So many merchants already offer affiliate programs - and they’re usually (and should be) free to join.

There are different ways to get started with affiliate marketing.

First, if you already own a web site or blog and are catering to specific audience … then you can search for affiliate programs to compliment your site.

For example, I have a site about trout fishing.  Trout fishers are always in need of more fishing gear.  So I’ve joined many of the more popular trout fishing gear sites and posted banners on my site - as well as look for ways to work in affiliate links to specific gear in my blog posts.   This method is easy and free.

If you don’t already have a web site, then to be a successful affiliate marketer, you will need to do a lot of keyword research to find out what products (or solutions to problems) people are interested in.  The goal here is to start by promoting something folks are already looking for.

How do you promote affiliate products without a web site?

There are a couple of answers to this question.  One is to promote products using Pay-Per-Click campaigns (linking to directly to the merchant’s site).  There are pros and cons to this method, but it works.  The eBook Google Cash gives step by step instructions on how to do this.

Another method is to build a niche web site and promote related affiliate products.  Review sites are a common example of this method of affiliate marketing.

Finding affiliate programs to join is pretty easy.  You can start by signing up at some of the more popular affiliate networks like, ClickBank, LinkShare, and Commission Junction.

You can also the internet for affiliate products in your field or go directly to a merchants web site and search for information about affiliate programs.   If you don’t see any information on the merchant’s web site, contact them and ask directly.

One last thing to remember …. the most successful internet marketers do regular keyword research so that they can stay on top of what people are looking for.  This way, they can better cater to their existing audience or look for new streams of revenue.

This question comes up a lot with regards to affiliate marketing. The technical answer is, “no”, but having one does offer many advantages.

Before discussing the advantages of having a web site, let’s look at not having one. Let’s say you’re new to internet marketing and know you want to make money online, but don’t have product or web site. Can you make money without them?

The short answer is, “yes” - but it will require a lot more continuous work on your part. I started out this way myself. The solution is affiliate marketing - which is the process of promoting somebody else’s products. You can do this without a web site. All you need to is …

1. Figure out what product to promote
2. Find a merchant a that offers that product
3. Create a PPC campaign to advertise that product and drive traffic to the merchant’s the web site.
4. If the referred visitor buys, you get paid!

The process is simple. But do to this successfully, you still need to do keyword research and find a merchant that has a good product, good sales page, and good affiliate terms in order to make the process worth your while.

Let’s take a closer look at steps 1 and 2 above. What if you don’t know what product you want to promote? Or rather, how do you figure out what a good product to promote is?

The answer is keyword research. Start by creating a list of things you’re interested in, hobbies, things that you have trouble finding information on, etc. Brainstorm ideas and then take them to Wordtracker to see if any of those keywords are possible niche markets.

You can also join affiliate networks (like Commission Junction, LinkShare, ClickBank, etc.) first and then find products you’re interested in promoting. Perhaps there’s a merchant you really like and know you’d like to promote their products. It’s okay to look around.

But …. you still don’t want to create your PPC campaign until you’ve done keyword research - otherwise you’re guessing and that never works out as well.

If this sounds appealing and you’d like to explore this option further, I highly suggest buying two eBooks (which I’ve found to be excellent resources on this method of making money on the internet).

The first eBook is called, Google Cash by Chris Carpenter. Chris makes his living using the model described above (although he does use landing pages as well). But his eBook will show you step by step how to promote affiliate products using PPC campaigns.

The other eBook is called, The Super Affiliate Handbook by Rosalind Gardner. Rosalind is a “super affilate” (meaning she’s making a 6-figure income through affiliate marketing). She too has compiled her years of wisdom experience into an eBook.

Okay, so now that you know it is possible to make money (and quick cash at that) without a web site or product - let’s take a quick look at the advantages of having a web site.

Both Chris and Rosalind use landing pages and other web sites to greatly increase their income (and do long term). Landing pages are usually one page web sites offering a personal product review before directing a visitor to the merchant’s web site.

There are two main advantages to using a landing page. First personal recommendations go a long way in selling products. If you can do a good job of highlighting the benefits of a product and how it has helped you, it may help convince a visitor to buy a product.

The second advantage to using a landing page is that it gives you an opportunity to build a subscriber list. One of the downsides of affiliate marketing is that when you refer somebody to a merchant’s web site - that customer belongs to the merchant (not you).

But if you can convince that potential customer to Optin to your offer (thereby giving you their name and email address), then they become your customer as well as the merchant’s. This means you can contact them through email and market directly to them again and again.

These are just two reason to have a landing page or web site to send your potential customers to.

If you don’t have a web site, none of the potential customers you refer are yours. You will continually have to spend money on PPC campaigns to market to them (since you can’t email them directly). This results in more work and expense on your part.

So, the original answer to the question is that you CAN make money without having a web site - but there are definite advantages to having one. And these are things you should keep in the back of your mind as you’re building your internet business.

Most people understand that Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns are a good way to start driving traffic to your web site immediately. But, a lot of people struggle to create PPC campaigns that actually convert visitors into buyers - so they end up spending a lot money.

One of the primary reasons for this is that a lot of people don’t take the time to do keyword research or learn how to write good PPC ads.

Google Adwords makes it so easy to get up and running in as little as 15 minutes that it’s hard to hold off creating ads until the research is done. Let’s face it - we all tend to assume we know what our keywords are.

But jumping in and creating ads before doing keyword research is the first step toward wasting a lot of money with PPC. And failing to learn how to write good ads is the second step.

Effective PPC ads require the same copyrighting elements as any good sales letter. You need to have a catchy headline. You need to highlight benefits (not features). You need to target the people already looking for that solution or information (as opposed to trying to target everybody).

Really good PPC ads also incorporate the primary keyword in the headline and ad itself. Why? Because keywords used in search strings appear in bold in the results. This makes them stand out more. And the more your ad stands out from the competition, the better chance it as of getting noticed.

Another good PPC strategy is to clearly communicate to your potential visitors what they will get if they click on your link. This isn’t the time for cute ads or plays on words that others may not pick up on. Make it clear what’s on the other side of that ad - and you’ll get more targeted visitors (and waste less money on clicks).

The use of negative keywords, substituted keywords, display URL, stated price, and more also affect the success of PPC campaigns.

If you want to get the most for your advertising dollars and covert more visitors into buyers, taking time to learn these strategies and other little secrets are critical.

And one of the best eBooks I know on the subject is called, Google Cash by Chris Carpenter. This eBook is written by a guy who makes his entire living through affiliate marketing using PPC campaigns.

While Perry Marshall is considered the definitive Adwords guru, Google Cash is like the PPC for dummies book. Chris studied under Perry Marshall and mastered the material so well, that he wrote his own eBook based on his knowledge and experience. And best of all, Google Cash also includes tips for Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly Overture).

Without a doubt, the textbooks for teaching you how to create effective PPC ads are Perry Marshall’s Adwords book and Google Cash. If money is tight (or you want an eBook that cuts to the chase, so to speak), I would start with Google Cash.

Trying to run PPC ads without some kind of training will only waste your money. Google Cash has played a huge role teaching me to create better PPC campaigns - and I highly recommend it to everybody else wanting to successful PPC ads.

Perry Marshall also offers Adwords coaching - for those who feel they need more personal help.

I get asked this question a lot! Now that internet marketing is catching on, everybody wants to make money online. But they get stuck on where to start.

If you’re one of these people, let me assure you this is normal. Starting something new (especially something as complicated as internet marketing) can be overwhelming. After all, there aren’t any college classes for this stuff (not yet anyway). And so if you want to learn internet marketing, you have to use resources on the internet (which aren’t always trustworthy).

I’ve wasted a lot of money on eBooks and other resources promising answers, solutions and success before figuring out who I could trust and who I should ignore. While my education was costly, I don’t regret it. I’ve learned a lot and am now in a position to help others. Every product, eBook software, or other resource you see mentioned on this site was useful to me and played a role in my online success.

So where to do you start?

Ask ten different people this question, and you’re likely to get ten different answers. While my answer may be different than others you’ve asked, I’m going to share with you some of the lessons I learned from IMC (my favorite group of internet marketing experts).

When I started internet marketing a few years ago, I tried many different strategies, and none of them have been as successful as the ones I learned from IMC. So here’s my advice to everybody wondering where to start?

Step 1 - Buy the Insiders Secrets Course

This course is a complete how-to course for anybody wanting to make money online or make better use of their existing business web page. Not only did following all the steps in this eBook help make my web businesses successful, but I still consider it an invaluable resource.

There is so much to learn when it comes to internet marketing that it’s impossible to digest it all at once. As you learn more, you’ll progress onto something else. The Insider Secrets Course is a great reference to refer to over and over again when you’re ready for that next step!

Think of the Insider Secrets Course as being your college book to help teach you internet marketing skills and strategies (as well as explain a lot of stuff to you).

Step 2 - Start a List of Your Interests

While you can find sites that offer you a pre-built web business (or boxed business), I don’t recommend them. Instead, the folks who are the most successful on line are either Super Affiliates (like Rosalind Gardner) or are selling their own product or service.

I’m a big fan of selling your own product or service, or starting an affiliate web site. And the best place to start doing this is to create a list of your top interests. Include things like:

• your favorite hobbies
• things you’re good at
• things you have a lot of knowledge about
• and things people are always asking your advice on.

Once you have your list, you’ll want to write out some problem statements for some of those interests. For example, if music was one of your interests, you might write statements like:

• How to play piano
• How to read music
• How to play by ear
• How to play guitar

These statements will help think about the different things people might be searching for. People search the internet information or solutions to problems. Writing out problem statements help you to think this way.

Step 3 - Do Some Keyword Research

Keyword research is the backbone of internet marketing. It’s okay to have an idea of what you might like to sell or market, but keep in mind those are guesses. Keyword research helps to eliminate the guesswork - and to truly be successful online, this is critical!

So now that you have your problem statements, you want to take them to Wordtracker to see if people are actually searching for information related to your interests and problem statements. Wordtracker will also tell you exactly what words people are using to search, how often they’re using them, and how much competition you have.

Learning to use Wordtracker and interpret it’s data takes practice. Be sure to read their online help pages. This step is so critical to success that you really want to spend some time exhausting your research.

Step 4 - Research Your Competition

After you think you’ve found a niche, you’ll want to take those keywords and check out the competition. Type each keyword into Google and see how many pages come up. Click on each one (for the first few pages) and check out. Are the sites really relevant? Are they providing good info or solutions? Do they look professional? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Do you think you can beat them?

Again, this takes time and you want to be thorough. But taking the time to know and understand your competition will help you be that more much successful.

The steps mentioned above are the place to start with internet marketing. Focusing on one step at a time will keep you from feeling overwhelmed and will help you complete them.

A couple of days ago, I talked about sites that try and sell you a “business in a box” and why you should avoid those kinds of internet businesses.

I also briefly mentioned the Insider’s Course. Today, I like to share more of why I think it’s worth your time.

The Insider’s Course is officially called, “The Insider’s Course to Marketing Your Business on the Internet”, and it was created by the Internet Marketing Center (IMC). But most people, just shorten the title to, “The Insider’s Course” or the “The Insider Secret’s Course”.

I’ve never been crazy about the title of the course, because I always felt that it didn’t speak to the complete newbie who wants to start an online business. But despite the title of the course, this book is designed to help two groups of people:

• Folks who already have an online web business (or have a web site for their offline business), and
• Folks who want to start an internet business from scratch

If you fit into either of those categories, this book is for you. It’s basically a complete how-to guide for the beginner. It will walk you through the steps of researching a business idea, determining if their is a market for it, and help guide you through building an optimized web site.

Once your web site is online, the course walks you through the next steps including how to:

• Drive traffic to your web site using SEO, SEM, PPC and other strategies
• Capture visitors name and email addresses so you can build a customer list
• Use autorepsonders and email marketing to keep in touch with your customers and increase your profits
• And so much more.

If you already have a web business, you can skip the first chapters and pick up at the lessons that are relevant to you and your business. The course is designed in such a way that you can easily skip and around and focus on the topics that are relevant at that moment (which is one of the reasons the book is such a great resource).

This book actually comes in two separate binders. There is so much information in this book that it’s almost impossible to digest it all the first time. I find myself constantly referring to as I focus on other aspects of my internet businesses.

One of the things I really liked about the course, is that IMC is perfectly willing to share their personal recommendations for other resources. This is a very successful company and I want to know what resources they use to do some tasks - as well as why they use them. Many folks don’t like to share this kind of information - but you’ll find it in this book.

Before I stumbled across the Insider’s Course, I read countless other eBooks (all promising the same thing - inside knowledge, tips and strategies for making it big on the internet). After a couple of years of studying and more research, I came to the conclusion that many of the eBooks I read are actually copycats of the Insider’s Course.

In other words, somebody else read them, learned from them, and produced their own book based on the original information. You’ll find a lot of material like this on the internet. It took me a couple of years, but I finally traced much of the teachings back to the Insider’s Course (the horse’s mouth, so to speak).

So why read a poor imitation when you can read the original material? And IMC updates this course every year so that it always contains fresh and current information!

I believe this book is a MUST HAVE resource for everybody wanting to do business on the internet (no matter what level you’re at).

You can check out the Insider Secret’s Course by clicking here.

If you’ve been searching the internet for information on starting an internet business, you may have seen some of the sites that sell complete internet businesses.

These types of businesses are commonly called, “Business in a Box” - meaning you buy the package, and in 15 minutes have an internet business up and running. You have sales copy, products and a store front for people give you money.

You’ll get a site that already built along with training material. Often times, these sites will even promise to send you loads of free traffic. The sales copy convinces you you’ll be rich overnight.

Sounds enticing! But here’s what they’re not telling you!

This same business is being sold to countless other people - so even though you can personalize your internet business, you’re site still looks like all the rest.

You have a LOT of competition, which means that it will hard to make your site stand out from the crowd (which it must do to you money).

The free traffic they promise to send you is often a manipulation tactic (which can actually hurt you in Google). This kind of traffic is very low quality and not targeted. So if people not interested in your product are coming to your site, chances that they’ll buy are very low.

“Boxed Businesses” just don’t work - except for the person selling them. They have “sucker” written all over them in invisible ink. They’re designed to take your hard-earned money and make the person selling them rich (not you).

I highly suggest avoiding internet business packages like this.

A better solution is buy a how-to course that teaches you how to create an internet business from scratch - and my favorite course for doing just that is IMC’s “Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet“.

This course is complete and created by people who KNOW how to create successful online businesses. They’re not selling internet businesses, they’re showing you step by step, how to create your own internet business around something your passionate and knowledgeable about. Armed with this knowledge, you can do it again and again.

I own this course and highly recommend it to everybody wanting to start an internet business (which of course, I think is the greatest job in the world).

Keyword research is the backbone of all good internet marketing sites and advertising campaigns.

In order to be successful online, you have to know what people are looking for, and how they’re looking for it. In other words, you need to know what kind of information people are searching for, and what words they are typing into the search engines (like Google) to find that information.

This is where keyword research comes in.

A “keyword” is a word or phrase that people type into a search engine to find information. For example, “baseball cards” might be a keyword used by somebody looking to buy baseball cards. Other keywords might be, “trade baseball cards”, “baseball card value” or “how much is my baseball card worth”.

Notice that there are different ways to search for information on the same topic. And there are different kinds of information (buy, trade, value) that people might be looking for under a general topic (baseball cards). This is the kind of information you want to discover while doing keyword research.

There are several software programs you can buy that will help you find your “keywords”. Most of these software programs will also give you some idea of how much competition each keyword has. Two of the more popular programs are Keyword Analyzer and Keyword Elite.
There are also fee-based online keyword research programs like Wordtracker and Keyword Discovery.

At a first glance, the software programs seem attractive, because you only pay for them once, whereas you pay subscription fees to use the online services. Having used both, I now prefer the online services - and I especially prefer Wordtracker.

One thing to keep in mind that is that NONE of these keyword tools are 100% accurate. They are simply tools designed to help you find niche keywords and understand your market better. But do give you a pretty good idea of what your actual keywords are.

My biggest complaint with the software programs is that they all tended to bog down my computer while they were running (I don’t have a lot of patience for that) and I was constantly having to update the software. Even though both programs mentioned above offer free lifetime updates - I tired of having to download and install them after a while.

With the online services, you can just log in and start doing your research (even when you’re away from your own computer). This is a definite advantage for me.

When you’re first starting out, I highly recommend using Wordtracker’s free trial too. While it only shows you information for Alta Vista (and not Google or Yahoo), it will help you learn how to do keyword research and interpret the data. Wordtacker also has a nice learning center (called the Wordtracker Academy) to help you get started.

Below is a list of terms and acronyms commonly associated with Internet Marketing. Some of the terms have links which will take you pages offering more detailed information about that term.

If you don’t see a term you’re looking for, let me know so I can get it added to the list.

Adsense
This is another Google advertising program whereby internet marketers can make money by displaying ads on their web pages. Unlike Google Adwords (where you pay Google for clicks), with Adsense, Google pays you when people click on the ad.

Affiliate Marketing
The process of promoting products for somebody else in exchange for commissions on leads or sales generated. An affiliate marketer is somebody who makes money doing affiliate marketing.

Affiliate Network
An internet site that brings merchants and affiliate marketers together is an affiliate network. Merchants pay a fee for the service, whereas affiliates can usually sign up for free. ClickBank, Commission Junction, and LinkShare are most popular affiliate networks.

Affiliate Program
The program ran by a merchant whereby affiliates can sign up to promote their products. A merchant will hire an affiliate network to run their affiliate program for them, or run their own by purchasing affiliate management software. Most affiliate programs are free to join (and you should avoid any that charge you to join).

Autoresponder
An automatically generated response or action to an email. One of the most common uses is to have an auto-response email sent to folks who complete your Opt-In offer. There are various other uses for autoresponders, but the goal is to provide immediate response to customers – and the more personalized, the better.

Blog
Short for “web log“, blogs are an informal web site where you can post opinions, product reviews, information, news, and more, and let people comment on it. Posting to a blog is called “blogging”. Blogs are a great way to add content to your site without interfering with your sales copy. They’re also a great way to interact with your site’s visitors. And if done right, you can build in affiliate links to posts to boost your income. Blogger (owned by Google) is a web site which lets you set up a blog for free.

CAPTCHA
CAPTCHA is short for “Completely Automated Public Turing Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”. No doubt you’ve been to sites that have those little boxes with warped letters in them that you have to fill in before you’re allowed to complete your request. Those little boxes are CAPTCHA. The idea behind CAPTCHA is to prevent automated computer spamming.

Chicklets
Chicklets are little feed buttons. They can be added to your web site or blog so that people can add your RSS feed by clicking on the button. For more information as well as instructions for how to add chicklets to your site, click here.

eBook
These are electronic (or digital) books that people download from the internet and read on their computer. Most eBooks can be printed and kept in a 3-ring binder. Some eBooks are free, some aren’t. But creating an eBook is a great way to make money online, because you only have to create it once and you can sell it again and again.

Email Marketing
The process of sharing relevant information on a particular topic as well as soft plugs for products. If you have a good relationship with folks on your mailing list, people will buy products from you that you recommend via email.

IMC
This is short for “Internet Marketing Center”, one of the top experts on internet marketing. This company was started by Corl Rudl and is now headed by Derek Gehl. they are my favorite group of internet experts.

Internet Marketing
The process of marketing a web site or product on the internet. An internet marketer is somebody who makes money on the internet through various means (affiliate marketing, direct sales, PPC, etc.).

Keyword
Words or phrases that people type into a search engine to find information about or solutions to problems. Keyword research is the backbone of internet marketing.

Niche Market
A group of keywords (or topic) that folks are actively searching for information on and not finding many relevant results. Finding a niche market is critical to internet marketing success!

Opt-In
This refers to any free offer given on a web site whereby people must provide their name and email address in order to receive the free offer. This strategy is used to gain people’s names an information so you can communicate and market to them via email. And Opt-Out is when the visitor chooses to have their name and email address removed from your list.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)
Internet advertising where you create ads relevant for search results and pay the search engine (Google, Yahoo, etc.) every time somebody clicks on your ad. Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly Overture) are the most popular PPC programs.

PermaLink
Permalinks are short for “permanent link” and are the direct URL to a blog post. One of the problems with blogs is that posts are archived over time and may no longer be visible on the main blog page. So if somebody wanted to bookmark that post, bookmarking the index page wouldn’t help since that post will eventually be archived and no longer displayed on the index. But if you have a permalink, then the reader only needs to click that link to get the actual URL for that post (which doesn’t change) - and they can save that. Some blogs display the permalink as a link at the bottom of the post, and others use the title as the permalink (like this one).

Private Label Rights (PLR)
These are similar to reprint or resell rights, except that Private Label Rights allow you to modify the original content so it looks like you’re the original author of it. Anything allowing you to change the content (except branding an affiliate link) is called Private Label Rights. For more information about Private Label Rights, click here.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
SEM is a combination of different SEO stategies used to increase a web sites visibility for internet marketing purposes.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The strategy for optimizing a web site or page around certain keywords so as to better target the market. To be successful online, every internet marketer must learn the basics of SEO.

Social Marketing
This is the process of interacting with others through blogs, forums, and other social web sites . The purpose is to better understand your target audience (their needs, likes and dislikes) and build your credibility.

Wordtracker
A fee based site that helps you find keywords and niche markets. It’s the first place to start your research on internet business ideas.