Affiliate Marketing Blueprint: Questions on Assessment Section
If you’ve been following the posts I put out right before the holidays, you’ve seen the Affiliate Marketing Blueprint. The first 5 modules that I’ve posted all deal with assessing a niche. My philosophy is that you want to waste as little time as possible figuring out which markets you can make a profit from.
The problem is that it takes time to set up a website, an autoresponder, craft a sales letter or landing page, and put together affiliate links/banners/images, or even worse, create your own product. If you’re not careful, you can easily waste a month on just these activities before you make any money from any given market. It’s also possible to do all this work only to find out that you’re not ever going to make any real money from the effort you put in.
So the assessment phase of the blueprint is really important. I put it together and use it to make sure that all the work I do will pay off. It saves time and money. If you don’t use this blueprint, or come up with some other way to assess markets before you spend time and money on them, you’ll likely end up burning yourself out and may give up.
If you’ve read the modules, you’ll see that I like to start with PPC campaigns, specifically Adwords. I think it’s the fastest and easiest way to figure out which keywords directly match up with the product you’re trying to sell. I like SEO and that’s my main method for getting large volumes of traffic, but it still takes some time, especially compared with the speed of using PPC. You can set-up a campaign in about an hour or so with PPCS and start getting traffic immediately. Even if you’re good at SEO and have a plan in place, you’ll be lucky to get a high volume page one ranking in several weeks. So what I do is use PPC to find out the keywords related to my target market that will PAY me before I try to rank for anything. Then after I figure out what keywords I’m making money from, I target those through SEO. I know a lot of people don’t like to pay for traffic, but this is a great way to avoid wasting your time. And time is something we’re all limited by.
I hope you’ll give the information I’ve put together in the assessment part of the blueprint a try. And I’ve set up this post to address any questions you may have on any of the information I’ve covered so far. I’ll do my best to answer your questions in the comments section below.
Tags: affiliate marketing
When you add content to the site do you put all the articles on one page or do you do a page for each article? Also, do you promote the affiliate program within the articles or do you try to use banner ads, etc.?
Could this process work with a free blog or does that signal to the viewers that it is a low budget site thus making them back out?
Thanks for the information.
AndyB@mlm business leadss last blog post..Buy MLM Lead For Profit
Andy … I put together a page for each article. When I start out I’ll promote the affiliate program both within the article and I use banner ads and links. I just want to get the maximum potential for the affiliate program during this phase of the blueprint, later on I test and change it.
I wouldn’t use a free blog for this method. I think it does signal that it’s a low budget site and could cost you enough sales that you don’t pursue it.
Well, Lisa. I’ve read all the modules a month ago and I’ll let you know the final outcome as soon as possible…
Thanks for the guides again!
wilhb81s last blog post..Keep Your Auto Insurance As Low As Possible!
Loved the series. Thanks for the posts.
Lots of testing & experimenting to do in ‘09!
Great post, Lisa.
Yes it’s better to spend more time in the beginning to make sure we’re making the right moves..rather than doing all the time-consuming works only to later realise it’s not a profitable niche to go into.
Zekimann
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yes, i agree that even though SEO is powerful but it takes time.
Internet Marketing Traffics last blog post..Ping Your Blogs to Get Internet Marketing Traffic
To get the best seo results you need content, useful and unique content, and to get it you need to work hard to master your field.
Anyway, nice article!
Have a nice day
I agree that PPC campaigns, and specifically Adwords, are the easiest way to find out which keywords match up with the product you are selling. SEO is very slow compare to that, but can be very effective. Thanks for the post.
Jasmin Wilson@fashion & accessoriess last blog post..Stock market today
Starting out with a concrete plan *before* building the final result is really critical with affiliate marketing…and having a set list to follow can truly simplify things. I myself have never really dabbled in PPC but like the ideas expressed.
Data points, Barbara
I agree you need to optimize your time spend on marketing and figure out which areas hold the best ROI.
ArticleEDUs last blog post..Physical activity of children ages 6-8: the beginning of school attendance.(Report)
I agree. Optimization is the key to success and building your business.
Using PPC to find keywords that turn into sales is an interesting twist on what is usually taught.
The problem with PPC is you can spend a lot of money in a short amount of time if you’re not careful.
Mike at Link Rotators last blog post..Link Rotation Uses
SEO takes time, but if you do it right it can make you lots of money. PPC – fast route, but needs quite a big of investment.
Wow i didn’t know much about affiliate marketing. Thanks for the useful information, now i know more about it. Thanks for sharing!
@CashMakers:
You can better try PPC first, to see if the organic results actually convert.
Seo is the best route but takes alot of work and time. PPC is easy way to get traffic fast but you need to make ure to choose terms that convert into sales well. Both take work one is free and other cost money.
Etfs last blog post..Gold double long etf.
Never tried Adwords. I heard stories of people losing lots of money with it so i started with SEO. It takes time but it can be done at zero cost. A good idea is to make some money with SEO then reinvest a part with a properly studied adword campaign. In this case your advice s are really useful.
Hi there,
I am inclined to agree with the amount of time involved in setting up and promoting a website, pick a number and multiply it by ten. Been thinking about supplementing the organics myself, I do believe something from the paid listings fiter across in one way or another its the nature of the medium… Anyway nice post, I have just bunged a trackback on my link building blog because I think what you have to say is interesting to my traffic (humans that is !)
Monker
Link Building Specialists
Great post, I believe that affiliate marketing can be effective with the proper SEO methods and with the owners commitment to hire someone to get backlinks or do it himself.
SEO can be a real pain in the butt, but unlike ppc campaigns it doesn’t have the propensity to dry up over night.
–what I do is use PPC to find out the keywords related to my target market that will PAY me before I try to rank for anything. Then after I figure out what keywords I’m making money from, I target those through SEO. –
This is an interesting approach. Im going to give it a shot in a few days. Thanks!
Terry@geek gadgetss last blog post..Nikon’s D5000 DSLR unboxed ahead of schedule
I spent a lot of time not to long ago looking into a lot of markets. It was kind of a research month where I looked into and compared multiple markets to see which would be best for me at the present time and what to pursue in the future.
So I spent probably more time than you would of but I did this all at once and now I just work in the markets. It’s worked for me and something others might want to consider.
Virtual Wholesalings last blog post..Flips For Cash
I like the idea of using PPC for targeting your keywords. It’s an excellent way, as you say, of quickly targeting a profitable market. SEO can be just as expensive if you figure in the labor. Even outsourcing SEO efforts could cost just as much with very little return.
Jakes last blog post..How To Fix a Loose Screw
Great post, thanks for the links.
I’ve been checking out this blog it’s very very helpful. I was just wasting the time by not knowing what I was doing. But your blog helped me a lot. Thank you very much and all the best in future
Assessing your niches is ridiculously important – sometimes even when you think you’re about to knock one out of the park you find that it’s harder than you intended. Still, making a solid evaluation is more than likely to save you a lot of trouble down the line.
-Jay
How To Make A Videos last blog post..Writing A Script
Many people earn a good living from it. I personally bring in a decent percentage of income from doing this.
SEO is a long-term strategy. But, the results are more sustainable. PPC, on the other hand, offers instant traffic and exposure. It could mean quick profits or quick losses depending on one’s skill level.
Ryan at internet marketing strategiess last blog post..I Am Offering A Domain Name For Free
affilate marketing is very profitable if you can assess your site from a visitor view. You can get a nice good template with some good offers and build good page with some nice images that attract eye and start driving traffic to your page by bookmarking, tweeting, SEO and payed ad campaigns. Thank you very much for the good information you shared here
Thanks for the share lisa
Yes good Search Engine Optimization is the key to success, but it doesn’t happen over night. It takes a lot of hard work and it takes a time to see your results.
Using PPC as a way to determine what keywords are buying keywords is the best way to go. SEO takes a month or more for a NON competitive term. To waste all that time only to SEO for a non buying keyword really hurts.
Time to invest in stocks last blog post..When is it a good time to buy Bank of America stock
PPC is great as long as it is done carefully. It is one of the things that can get you burned very fast – I’ve been there, stuck with a bill larger then I anticipated
Alex Sysoefs last blog post..Advanced Twitter Marketing System
I agree with you Lisa that PPC is the fastest way to get traffic but on the same time I thing organic traffic is the best one. If you do well with search engine optimization it will give you huge and stable traffic for long time.
I just subscribed to you in my Reader account. Very helpful post. I tried one PPC campaign 2 years ago, with no real focus, and no clear plan of attack. I think I will go back and read everything you have posted here before my next attempt, so in that respect I found you with perfect timing. I love Adsense, but Adwords is still foreign to me, and it’s nice to look at it as research, rather than a gamble. What I did before was a gamble. THIS is going to be research.
Cheers
Chris S.
connect with me on twitter @webovator
No questions here, Lisa. You’ve been extremely helpful, thanks to your blog and the advice you’ve given us I saved a lot of time.
You should come up with a way to charge people for time saved on research.
Keep up the good work!
Jim Stancje
Stancjes last blog post..Wrocław 27.05.2009: Mam do wynajęcia
I will give SEO all the time it needs, I am sure that it’s the best way for traffic!
I agree. I just stumbled onto this post, and have gone back to look at the others. SEO can be hard, but it is definitely the main strategy for long term success, in my opinion. It’s good to see bloggers sharing good information about these topics. Thanks for sharing.
Jerrys last blog post..Two Hubs in One Day
You must always use both seo and PPC.
SEO, in the long term, will be your paycheck.
PPC I use more to test which niches convert;
But you can also make big money from PPC when you land on something witha good convertion rate !
Jeffrey Mireaults last blog post..Is Affiliate Marketing Another Smoke Screen To Sell Useless Guides To Desperate People ?
You are correct, establishing a web site takes time. A lot of time. If i may add, it also needs a lot of patience and a competitive edge. I, for one, dont like to pay for traffic. Your concept is interesting.
I like SEO over PPC, reason being it’s because I simply don’t like the idea of having to pay for a click when, if I put the effort in, I can get it for free. Infact put in enough effort and get Adsense to pay you for clicks!
I really like your Blue print and I did get a chance to see those 5 points you put up, Thanks a bunch!
The affiliate business should be a breeze. After all you’re selling someone else’s product so all the hard work of production, customer service, employment issues and the like are not yours to deal with. All you have to do is promote the product and rake in the money.
It is imperative that you work out which keywords will be effective for you. This is good advice
Setting up a PPC campaign to test the market is not only essential for an affiliate marketing niche, it is also the best way to go for any business. If you´re thinking about starting an online business yourself and need to find out what keywords will work or if there is any potential market at all then a PPC campaign is your first point of reference. The good thing about the PPC test is you only need to run it for a couple of days and you will have all the data you require.
I have always thought about starting an affiliate site, with a view, of course, to make money. The hardest part I find, is to identify the market that have money potential and the market that you are familiar with, that you are able to add value. Great post!
Thats a good idea using adwords to find out what keywords to use, ive sorta just been blundering through guessing what keywords I should focus on and I think it’s not really working out. I don’t like having to pay for traffic but maybe I’ll give it a try, hopefully they don’t charge too much per click.
PPC Campaign is like Rabbit which runs fast and SEO is like Turtle which moves slowly but steadily and won the race in the end.No Doubt PPC is the quickest way to start getting traffic immediately where as SEO do Take some time but Pays back in the form of huge reward.
SEO is hard, but at the end it pays off. Still you also need good content…
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http://www.Arted4life.com
Yes, I am finding that it is taking time as well.Nothing works overnight.
Your modules have been a fantasic help to me, thank you very much