Associate Programs Newsletter #290

Lots of good things today...a valuable niche, how to achieve your goals, Andy Williams' new book, and a millionaire with an unusual accent.

And a goal my wife, Joanna, and I have achieved.

So let's get into it...

CONTENTS:

1. Valuable niche to explore
2. Here's what I do
 ...How to stay focused and achieve your goals
3. See how Andy Williams "sells" his free ebook
4. Google's new AdWords Editor
5. You asked for it - new list building section
6. Millionaire with a Kiwi accent
7. Thought for today: Why you need to start today

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1. Valuable niche to explore
============================

Here's a niche worthy of close examination.

The news that the first real estate PLR (private label rights) articles membership site has been launched encouraged me to do a bit of quick keyword research.

The membership site was set up by Lindsey Rae, who has experience as a real estate investor.

To do the quick keyword research, I used Google's Keyword Tool - https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal .

You can find a lot of valuable keywords in the real estate industry.

For example, if you want to be in the top 3 in AdWords, here's your estimated cost per click:

bulgaria real estate $17.35
bulgarian real estate $13.83
commercial real estate $13.65
colorado real estate $13.56
real estate license $12.86
seattle real estate listings $11.35
seattle real estate $8.86
las vegas real estate $8.85
wellington real estate $8.71
italian real estate $8.49
real estate course $8.29
real estate courses $7.96
whistler real estate $7.34
australian real estate $7.11
portland real estate $6.78
miami real estate $6.63
tuscany real estate $5.89
san diego real estate $5.85

commercial properties for sale $11.05
alicante properties $10.57
italian properties for sale $9.53
spanish property $8.62
property in spain $8.49
property investment $7.01
crete properties $6.86
costa properties $6.27
properties in spain $6.14
ski properties $5.48
buy to let properties $5.37

properties in bulgaria $21.31
property alicante $14.00
property bulgaria $12.27
murcia property $9.78
property in italy $8.91
golf property $8.78
spanish property $8.62
property software $8.11
property italy $7.93
cyprus properties $7.92
spain property $7.75
north cyprus properties $7.43
rental property software $7.35
investment property $7.01
investing in property $6.97
property investing $6.52
property for sale in spain $6.49

construction lawyers $12.69
used construction equipment $11.78
construction lawyer $10.58
construction management software $10.13

cheap house insurance $28.38
house insurance $25.78
english country cottages $15.96
cottages in wales $13.72
cheap house $11.03
house loan $10.26

west bromwich building society $24.22
buildings insurance $22.58
building contents insurance $20.30
building insurance uk $16.71
coventry building society $13.43
commercial building insurance $12.93

bad tenant $10.24
eviction order $10.46

buildings insurance for landlords $41.26
landlords building insurance $36.02
landlords buildings insurance $34.12
landlords contents insurance $33.28

If you're getting interested in the possibilities of the real estate niche, you'll want to do more in-depth competitor research and keyword research yourself.

Jay's http://www.KeywordWorkshop.com is the best place to start - but as you can see from my quick research, the real estate industry is a promising place to look for anyone earning money from AdSense.

(There are also plenty of affiliate products in this niche.)

If you're using Google's Keyword Tool, for optimum results, select "Cost and ad position estimates" and pretend you're willing to pay $100 per click. If you do, you'll see more keywords.

Note: You need to search for "property" AND "properties". You'll receive different results when you do.

Lindsey is offering 50 real estate articles a month for a surprisingly low price.

The articles, written by Lindsey and a team of writers, are sprinkled with well researched keywords, so some of the search engine optimization is already done for you. Lindsey tells you how often a certain keyword appears in each article.

You'll probably want to jazz up the articles, adding a little personality.

The articles can be used in ebooks, in email mini-courses and on websites. I recommend rewriting them to make them unique, adding your own personality and anecdotes.

Here are the topics of the June articles, available now:

   * 25 articles on: Foreclosure Investing, Avoiding Foreclosure, Where to Find  Foreclosures.

   * 30 articles on: Financing for construction, Finding Contractors, Home Building Kits, Finding and Hiring a  Builder, Fixing up older homes, Building your own home, Constructing a garage.

You can see the topics for the July articles here...

http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/real-estate-articles

Lindsey's membership site was launched on June 1 and already about 100 of the 300 membership spots have been snapped up, so you'll need to be quick to take advantage of this offer.

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2. Here's what I do
  ...How to stay focused and achieve your goals
================================================

(The latest goal I've achieved is at the end of this item.)

Here's a question "Dotdash" asked on our affiliate forum:

  "Anyone else having problems staying focused on specific tasks? I'm finding that as soon as I get settled into  something like writing a page or article I get another email from someone telling me to stop what I'm doing now and pay attention to this extremely important aspect, then another one about something else important and so on.

  "It's so easy to get distracted by things coming at you from all directions that sometimes I spend my couple of hours a   night just going round in circles and not accomplishing very much."

This sounds so familiar. Been there, done that.

Here's how I overcame the problem.

It's a system which works well for me - when I remember to use it...

Keep reminding yourself who's boss of your life.

You are.

1. ALWAYS do the following: At the end of your work day, make a list of the 6 most important tasks to do the next day, in order of priority.

If it's a large task, break it down into bite-sized chunks.

Don't leave this list-making to the next day. Always prepare it the day before. For this system to work, you must hit the ground running every day.

2. Next day, DON'T start your day by checking for email. Don't read newsletters, or visit news sites, or blogs, or do any of your usual favorite distractions. Start on No.1 on your priority list. Do it. Move on to item No. 2. Do it.

If possible, break your tasks into 50-minute slices. Aim to get a task done in 50 minutes, or perhaps two tasks in 50 minutes, depending on how complex they are. Setting a time limit will speed up your work, especially if you're a perfectionist or a procrastinator.

Reward yourself with a 10-minute break. Do a few stretching exercises. Drink a glass of water - you need to keep your brain lubricated.

As you're reading this, picture yourself actually doing this. At last, you're getting USEFUL things done. You're building your business. It feels good, doesn't it?

After lunch, when you go back to work, DON'T check your emails, don't read newsletters etc. They can wait. Carry on doing your high priority tasks. You're the boss, remember. You're allowed to decide what's important.

(If you have employees or people to whom you've outsourced work to who are likely to need prompt answers, schedule times for answering urgent emails. Don't allow them to interrupt your vital tasks. If you allow them, constant interruptions will spoil your creativity and slow your output.)

When you've completed your list of tasks, reward yourself with an enjoyable break. You've earned it.

Go for a walk, watch the sunset, read a chapter of a novel. Watch TV for half an hour. Chat with a friend or spouse. Do something you enjoy, and soak in the good feelings you're having about achieving something worth while that day.

It feels good, doesn't it?

OK. Now allow yourself to check a few emails and answer any urgent ones.

Before stopping work for the day, make a new list of the 6 most important things to do.

Stick with this system for 21 days. It seems to take 21 days to form a habit.

Keep concentrating on how GOOD it feels when you tick those items off your list. Don't cross them off. Write them down on paper and put a big fat, satisfying red tick beside each one as you achieve it. (If you have software which enables you to tick off items on a list, that's good, too.)

Try this system and you'll be utterly amazed at how much you can achieve in a day, in a week, in a month.

An important part of this system is rewarding yourself when you achieve your goals. For example, take your spouse or a friend out to dinner to reward yourself for having achieved your first day where you get 100 visitors a day, 500 visitors a day, 1,000 visitors a day, etc.

Plan special rewards for when you finish a special report, write your first 20 articles for a new website, have your first $100 day, $500 day, $1,000 day, whatever.

When you buy your first investment shares, when you buy your first property, etc., ALWAYS celebrate.

This is really important. Always enjoy your successes.

You deserve them.

I admit I get distracted from this system occasionally and then have to prod myself back to it. I'm a bit of a rebel and don't like taking orders from anyone - not even myself.

On days when I do follow the system my productivity is hugely better than on the days when I'm disobedient.

Sometimes I wonder just how much more I could have achieved if I'd followed this system more consistently.

But it is working...

Joanna and I have just bought another apartment with water views.

It's what you might call a "lifestyle investment" rather than a strictly business-minded investment. All thanks to affiliate marketing.

We haven't moved in yet. I'll show you some photos another day.

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3. See how Andy Williams "sells" his free ebook
===============================================

Andy Williams, who has created a long, extremely useful course for affiliates, has now turned it into an ebook and is giving it away.

Most people don't do anything special when giving away an ebook. Andy realises you have to "sell" it just the way you sell other ebooks, and the best way to do that is with testimonials.

See how he does it here:
http://ezseonews.com/cfas/fat-affiliate-sites.htm

It's a straight download. You don't have to hand over your email address.

[UPDATE: Andy has changed the page, making you subscribe to his free newsletter to get the book.]

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4. Google's new AdWords Editor
==============================

Now you can manage your AdWords campaigns from your desktop.

You can download Google's AdWords Editor, make your changes, share them with your colleagues, and then upload your revised campaigns.

More details here:

http://services.google.com/adwordseditor/

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5. You asked for it - list building section
===========================================

We've created a new section on our affiliate forum, and collected the most interesting and useful posts and put them there:

List Building and Newsletters
http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/discus/forum46.html

Jay and I are working on a list building experiment. I'll tell you more about that when we've made some progress.

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6. Millionaire with a Kiwi accent
=================================

This newsletter is getting far too long, so to finish here's a quick note about an interesting New Zealander, Mark Ling.

Until he contacted me this week, I'd never heard of him, but he says he earns a million dollars a year from affiliate marketing.

Does he? I don't know. I've seen some of his websites, but I haven't seen a report from his accountant.

Mark began affiliate marketing in 1999 as a way of earning extra money while at university. He quickly turned it into a full-time job and began employing friends to help him.

He now owns six companies which create products, and is still deeply involved in affiliate marketing.

"My companies earn tens of thousands of dollars every single week from marketing other people's products online and earning commissions," he says.

Mark has now created Affilorama - Your Essential Guide To Becoming A Super Affiliate.

It's a series of 28 DVDs, a training system for super affiliates, starting right from the beginning.

I've spent several hours today watching some of the videos and reading the lesson notes.

You'll appreciate the way the videos are made.

While Mark shows and explains what he does, a newcomer affiliate asks him questions and gets him to explain bits more fully. The videos are nicely done.

If you've never heard a Kiwi accent, it will probably make you smile.

Mark says the videos are aimed at creating super affiliates and - even better - master affiliates.

From what I've seen so far, I think they're aimed more at the beginner to intermediate level.

One really good thing about the videos is the options available. You can:

  * Watch the videos online
  * Download them and watch them on your computer
  * Read the lesson notes (with illustrations) online. They're
  full transcripts of each video.
  * Download and read the lesson notes.

So which ever way you prefer to learn, Mark has it covered.

Find out more about Mark's affiliate training here...

http://www.AssociatePrograms.com/affiliate-training

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7. Thought for today: Why you need to start today
=================================================

"What is not started today is never finished tomorrow." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

All the best

Allan Gardyne