Showing posts with label affiliate marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label affiliate marketing. Show all posts

Friday, June 4, 2010

The Art of Niche Marketing

To begin with, if you follow Zeitgeist* you can see if there is anything that catches the eye. These are the keywords that are hot at the moment, if they excite, then add them to the list.

If they are particularly new, the analysis that follows may be invalid, so please use common sense. i.e. world trade center would have been cold before 9/11, then hot, then cooling over the following years and now it will be hot again because of the film. If in doubt, check the trends to see the movement over the years.

You do not want to be buying into a keyword that is taking a downward trend (unless you have some inside information). If you are still short of inspiration, try the thousands of websites that accept PayPal. Or Google Groups. In the search box, type in the name of a product you're interested in possibly selling. The search results will list the news groups discussing the product. Have a look if there is any RECENT buzz. Any groups or products that match?

Go to the Amazon. Click on the Top Sellers tab near the top of the page. The most popular items are featured there, organized by category, and updated hourly. Go to the E-Bay - In the search box, type in the name of a product you're interested in possibly selling. This gives an indication of the activity surrounding the item in question.

Click on the Sell tab at the top of the page. Then, click on the Seller Central link at the bottom of the Sell page. Scroll down the page and click on the What Is Hot link. Then Hot Items by Category eBay Pulse and eBay Marketplace Research are all worth a look. This is where you find out which categories and products are hot -- and where demand is outpacing supply! *Zeitgeist means the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era.

Once you have an idea of the target market then it is a simple matter to go to your favourite keyword research station. Punch in your potential keywords and look for the KEI. The KEI is simply a calculation between the number of web-sites competing for that term and the number of times that search term is used on a daily basis.

Ideally what you are looking for is a keyword with FEW competing sites and LOTS of visitors. This is what the KEI identifies. Assuming that the best KEI has a reasonable number of searches (count above 400 should do) and the KEI is over 10 then that is your one! If your KEI is over 100 then you may have hit gold! Write it down and start over. If it does not meet your benchmarks then try some other words from your list for that subject.

Repeat for your other six categories so you end up with at least 7 target words. What I do is usually come up with 2 or 3 options per category and score them KEI/count i.e. 15/585 so when we get to the next stage I know which ones are more valuable. Final tip: Avoid the word free in your keywords - too hard to make any money with that one.

Allen Jesson
http://www.internet-marketing-sense.com/
source by : Ennie

Monday, May 31, 2010

Win At Niche Marketing By Eliminating 'Analysis-Paralysis'

It's a confusing mess. Every day brings a new 'genius' method, 'killer' tactic, 'winning' system. But where to begin? That's the big question. An important question - but also one that's easy to answer. However, it is hard to act upon!

Don't follow EVERYTHING.

You read hundreds of books. Great. But knowledge without action to back it up is useless. And the kind of action you need to take can come from just 1 or 2 or 5 books. Do not buy new stuff until you can maximize the impact of existing material.

You have to get started, take action.

"But, where to begin?"

It sure is bewildering. Every 'guru' advises something different. You need to understand they are advocating what worked... for THEM. It may work for you - or it may not. The only way to find out is by trying it out.

You might have to go exploring in many different directions - before finding what works for you. That's why you'll hear many respected marketers talk about failing - and failing FAST.

Try stuff. See if it works. If it doesn't, give it up and move on. Keep trying until you find one which does work. Then explore it deeper, do more of it and build your business.

Here's a step by step blueprint which may help you get started with your niche marketing:

* Study some of the resources on niche marketing, get a feel for it

* Carry out keyword research or use your interests to decide upon a niche

* Research the niche market you choose and see what people in it are asking for, what problems they face, what pain they want removed from their lives

* See if you can create, outsource or buy resell rights to a product or service which will solve the biggest problems

* Market the solution. Start small, at low cost, as you assess the marketplace. Test different elements of your sales process and keep learning.

* Track your results every week, or better still, every day

* Tweak your marketing to see if it performs better - or worse

* Aim for a steady 2% improvement each week

Within 6 months, you'll definitely hit upon some parts of your marketing process which work. Then you can choose to learn more about those elements - buy ebooks, attend courses and seminars, ask experts, participate on forums. Become the expert - and use these same methods more effectively.

Before you know it, your niche marketing will become explosively profitable and your business will be a huge success.

Gowri Cumba
http://ezinemarketingcenter.com/
source by : Ennie
Justify Full

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Protecting Your Affiliate Commissions

There are numerous software products on the market
that range from 15 - 50 dollars for special types
of software that'll assist you in protecting your
affiliate marketing commissions. The effectiveness
and ease of use for the programs range greatly, so
before you buy one, you should always learn as
much as you possibly can.

Banner servers

Banner servers not only serve banners, as many of
the more recent servers will also display text
links as well. The link coding that's associated
with served ads is normally long, so that the
visitor won't be able to see on the status bar
where the redirect is heading.

Click tracking software

Click counting software will not show the target
URL as the links point inwards to the software,
which is normally installed on your own website.

Once someone has clicked on the link, the click
tracking application will then redirect the
visitor to the URL that you have specified within
the script. The click tracking software will also
provide a great way to monitor the usefulness of
your ads and not just relying on the reports
that merchants will provide.

Protecting your commissions is extremely important,
as you want to get paid for what you do. Even
though fraud is possible with affiliate marketing,
you can protect yourself. Fraudsters have certain
techniques and tactics they use, which you can
protect yourself from.

If you own your own business, the last thing you
want to experience is either credit card fraud or
affiliate fraud. They do happen on a regular
basis, simply because those who have it happen
haven't taken the necessary steps they should
have to protect themselves.

source by : Ennie