Associate Programs Newsletter #193
My wife Joanna is convinced I think about work all the time.
Unfortunately her suspicions were confirmed the other day when we were out in the car and I said, “Is this the main page?” when I meant, “Is this the main road?”
Oh well, fun’s over. Back to work….
I have some great stuff for you this week. I interviewed a guy who builds simple web sites which collectively earn thousands of dollars in commissions each month. Earning an affiliate income doesn’t have to be complicated.
Enjoy!
CONTENTS:
1. Network of mini-sites earns $5,000 a month
2. AllPosters pays 20% to 25% commissions
3. How Shawn places his keywords
4. Top spot at Yahoo! earns useful traffic
5. “Nothing So Strange”, and other news
6. Basic introduction to e-mail marketing
7. Make a big impression on Valentine’s Day
8. How to expose non-paying affiliate merchants
9. Useful free resource: Beginners, start here
10. NEXT WEEK: My pop-under test results
11. Thought for today: Believe you can do it
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1. Network of mini-sites earns $5,000 a month
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Shawn Campbell of Montreal, Canada, earns more than $5,000 a month in affiliate commissions from a group of mini-sites which require minimal maintenance.
Some of his sites demonstrate that affiliate sites can be very simple and yet earn useful revenue.
For example, have a look at rock-music-posters.com, which promotes posters of rock musicians.
Shawn hasn’t created any graphics for the site. The graphics which brighten it are all supplied by the affiliate merchant, AllPosters – https://www.associateprograms.com/posters .
Attracting traffic from free search engines to a single mini-site is difficult. To increase their chances, Shawn and his brother Jason have set up a network of linked pages and sites.
At the bottom of each of Shawn’s pages you’ll see links to a few of the other poster sites which he owns.
These include:
jennifer-lopez-posters.com/
jazz-posters-tribute.com
movie-posters-for-sale.com
rap-posters.com/
britney-spears-posters.com
music-posters-history.com
harry-potter-posters.com
Those sites all follow the same format – small sites covering the same niche – posters.
Each page covers one keyword-rich topic. For example he has written separate pages devoted to Bob Dylan, The Doors, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Who and David Bowie.
(He’s redesigning the rock music posters site, so this could change.)
Shawn says he began building web sites in 1997 after graduating with a bachelor’s in music education.
“My clients were unhappy with the traffic they were getting so I started researching how to promote web sites. Back then the term search engine optimization (SEO) did not even exist.
“Over the next two years I did SEO work while teaching part-time, until I ‘retired’ in 1999 and turned to promoting web sites full- time. I partnered with my brother Jason, who has his degree in communications, and we opened Red Carpet Web Promotion Inc. ( https://www.redcarpetweb.com ).”
Their main poster site is www.aaronartprints.com.
If you follow links to some of the pages there, for example the one to Botticelli – www.aaronartprints.com/botticelli.html – and look at the links at the bottom of the page, you’ll see that Shawn has been busy.
I found links to more poster sites…
aaronposters.com
aaron-movie-posters.com
aaronmusicposters.com
aaron-sports-posters.com
aaronvintageposters.com
annegeddesbabypictures.com
absolute-fantasy-art.com
…which lead to MORE poster sites…
artgalleryposters.com
fine-artprints.com
art-posters-art.com
fantasyart-gallery.com
matrix-posters.com
star-wars-posters.com
art-prints-and-posters.com
fine-art-prints-posters.com
movie-posters-tribute.com
The poster sites have a variety of styles, enabling Shawn to test what works best.
They have a complex linking structure connecting the network of pages and sites. He doesn’t swamp his visitors with too many choices.
For a detailed description of how to do this sort of linking most effectively, I suggest you read Michael Campbell’s book, “Nothing But Net”.
[UPDATE: Michael Campbell has stopped selling this product.]Shawn says www.rock-music-posters.com took under a week to build but “if you include all the research leading up to it, you could say years”.
Maintenance on each poster site takes about an hour a month.
The poster sites usually get about 1,200 unique daily visits. (“This means that we don’t count the same people twice in the same day.”)
“If you count all my sites together, we send about 120,000 hits to AllPosters every month.”
The most popular pages on www.rock-music-posters.com are the Led Zeppelin page, followed by Jimi Hendrix.
“Over all in the posters industry, movie posters will always win the popularity contests,” Shawn says.
“A special mention should be made about fine art though. People tend to get those posters framed, so it’s worth while getting some fine art sites up.”
Shawn uses only free search engines to attract traffic to
www.rock-music-posters.com.
“I have bought traffic in the past, and I find it doesn’t always work, especially since Overture (formerly GoTo) has raised its minimum bids… I do buy traffic for some sites. Usually only the ones that make a hefty profit.”
“Other than that, it just comes down to writing keyword-rich text and building a good web site that people enjoy.”
Shawn has tried other poster companies. He recommends AllPosters and is switching over completely to it.
[UPDATE – and warning:Some search engine optimization methods work wonderfully for a while and then fail. If you build a network of sites that are all linked to each other and don’t have outside links to them, you run the risk that Google will see this as an artificial structure and penalize you with PageRanks of zero. To avoid such a mess, keep up to date with what the search engines are doing by reading Stephen Mahaney’s book – updated monthly – and newsletter: https://www.associateprograms.com/unfair ]
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2. AllPosters pays 20% to 25% commissions
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The AllPosters affiliate program pays 20% to 25% commissions.
Typical commissions are:
Commission on a $10 poster = $10 x 20% = $2.
Commission on a $150 framed print = $150 x 20% = $30.
You can link to AllPosters from a selection of more than 50,000 poster and art print images as well as banners and search boxes. The company has images related to movies, music, sports, art, animals… just about everything.
Affiliate support is friendly and helpful.
You can join the program here:
https://www.associateprograms.com/posters
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3. How Shawn places his keywords
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One way in which Shawn helps his network of poster sites to be found in search engines – earning him $5,000 a month in commissions – is by the careful placement of important keywords.
(He doesn’t use cloaking to hide his pages from the public so you can see exactly how he places phrases he wants the search engines to find.)
For example, in the main page at rock-music-posters.com you can find the phrase “rock music” in all these spots:
In the domain name www.rock-music-posters.com
In links to the site.
In the title (A Rock Music Posters Lover)
In the meta name description (“Nostalgic rock music posters for fans, from a musician’s perspective.”)
In the meta tag keywords (“rock music posters, rock music memorabilia, rock music, posters, music posters, classic rock posters”)
In a heading high up on the page. (“A Rock Music Posters Lover”)
In the opening paragraph (It starts: “Rock music…)
I was surprised to see that he DIDN’T also use “rock music” this way:
Repeatedly in the body of the page (On some pages he uses keywords this way, not on others.)
At the bottom of the page.
Those are the basic rules for getting found in search engines. Get them right, add some links to your site, and that may be all you need to learn, especially if your niche is not too competitive.
However, there are over 62 different elements on a web page that must be checked before you submit a page to a search engine, says the President of Planet Ocean Communications, Stephen Mahaney, a widely acknowledged search engine expert.
Stephen strongly recommends a tool called Search Engine Optimizer, which keeps track of all the rules and evaluates your web pages before you submit them to the engines. It even keeps up with the changes through monthly updates.
You can learn more about it here:
https://www.associateprograms.com/se-optimizer
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4. Top spot at Yahoo! earns useful traffic
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A couple of weeks ago I told you about Neil Shearing’s new ebook, “Yahoo! Exposed”, in which he describes how he achieved top ranking in Yahoo! for a new site, FHBO.
Today I checked with Neil to see how valuable that top ranking is.
“FHBO is now averaging 200 visitors per day, and has had over 6,000 visitors from Yahoo! since its launch (of which, only approx 60, or 1%, have come from the directory versus 99% searches),” Neil told me today.
Over 6,000 visitors! Not bad at all. That top ranking could end up attracting traffic worth many thousands of dollars.
In “Yahoo! Exposed” Neil describes how he did it.
It’s a fascinating case study – written after the recent changes to the way Yahoo! ranks sites. Neil takes you step by step through the process he used to get that No.1 spot.
You can get the book here:
https://www.associateprograms.com/yahoo
If you already have the ebook, you can rebrand it as yours, sell it and keep all the profits. Here’s how:
https://www.associateprograms.com/yahoo-rights
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5. “Nothing So Strange”, and other news
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Brian Clark of Revenews.com and co-founder of GMD Studios is in the news, as an executive producer of a controversial mock documentary film, “Nothing So Strange”. The movie is guaranteed to attract lots of attention. The film begins with the assassination of Microsoft founder Bill Gates in 1999.
The movie comes with what Wired.com calls a “brilliant and ingenious Internet component – an entire Web universe of memorials to Bill Gates and conspiracy theorist sites”. Watch this viral marketing campaign grow…
users.metro2000.net/~stabbott/AHgatesdiesin99.htm
Beyond.com has filed for bankruptcy and says it has agreed to sell most of its assets to Digital River Inc. The Chapter 11 filing “protects the value of Beyond.com’s business, including its eStores and Government Systems businesses for the benefit of Beyond.com’s creditors…” says CEO and president Ron Smith.
internetnews.com/ec-news/article/0,,4_961601,00.html
Dialpad Communications, Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, LinkShare has told affiliates.
Paul Colligan decided that if the affiliate programs weren’t going to treat him right, he’d just become the merchant.
clickz.com/aff_mkt/aff_mkt/article.php/961081
The big search and directory sites are heading down a slippery slope when they present search results that are essentially paid ads, says Hal Plotkin. It’s an argument that can also be applied to many affiliate web sites.
sfgate.com/technology/beat/
Affiliates using AffTrack tracking, which includes sites like RealNames and LookSmart, increased performance-based sales in the 2001 holiday season by 79% compared with the previous holiday season. I can’t get the details because AffTrack guards its clients’ data carefully, but CEO Scott McNulty did tell me that AffTrack clients earn millions of dollars in commissions a month.
biz.yahoo.com/iw/020117/036880.html
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6. Basic introduction to email marketing
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For beginners to email marketing, John Vorwerk’s new ebook, “The Email Marketing FAQ”, provides a good, basic introduction.
However, I’d like to see a few case studies and more specific details to illustrate the advice John gives. The book costs $24.95 and the affiliate program pays 40% commission.
https://www.emailmarketingfaq.com
A far more thorough book is “Ezine Adrenaline: How to Create, Publish and Market A Profitable E-zine on the Internet” by Kate Schultz. It’s a very good, no-hype guide to ezine publishing and marketing. It’s only $27. Excellent value.
[UPDATE: Kate’s book is no longer available. For a more advanced guide to email publishing, I recommend The Insider Secrets to E-mail marketing – Advanced Series by Derek Gehl and the Internet Marketing Center. These really experienced guys show you everything, from growing a super-responsive opt-in list as quickly as possible, to generating the highest possible revenue from every email you send, to protecting your business from being wrongly accused of spamming and knowing how to effectively deal with it if you are. This is vitally important stuff you need to know before you begin.]===========================================
7. Make a big impression on Valentine’s Day
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Valentine’s Day isn’t far away. How about planning something really romantic this year? Something that will make a big impression?
Not sure what? I can help you there.
Innovative, imaginative Paul Myers has created a guide that will help you make Valentine’s Day more romantic, “10 Great Date Ideas… For Valentine’s Day and Beyond” (in PDF format).
I’m not talking flowers and chocolates or a trip to the movies. Paul’s ideas will REALLY set the right mood – fun stuff perfect for a first date, 10th date, anniversary, or whatever…
I’ve arranged for you to get a free copy, just for the asking. To download yours today (so you can start planning the special occasion) visit https://10greatdatingideas.com/a149.html
AOL users click here. Happy Valentine’s Day!
[Take a closer look at how this works. It’s a nifty marketing concept. You can give away Paul’s free guide and perhaps earn a few commissions on products listed on a page seen by people who download the report. If you want to give away “10 Great Date Ideas”, call Paul toll-free on (888) 576-1755. Be quick. Valentine’s Day is nearly here.]===============================================
8. How to expose non-paying affiliate merchants
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“Is there a place to report non-paying affiliate merchants?” one respondent asked in the recent survey I ran.
There sure is. Post a message on the Associate Programs Message Board giving details such as how long you’ve been waiting and what you’ve done to try to get the money you are owed.
Then e-mail the merchant telling them that you’ve made the public post.
This not only warns other affiliates, it can occasionally result in a payout. Good companies are embarrassed by bad publicity and act fast to correct errors.
Message board: https://www.associateprograms.com/discus/index.php
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9. Useful free resource: Beginners, start here
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If you’re new to the Net and are planning to build your first Web page, here’s a good place to start. This article has everything you need to get started. From explanations of the Internet, the World Wide Web, HTML, and more, to a catalog of Web based tutorials, it’s got it all.
https://wdvl.internet.com/WebRef/Help/Begin.html
For a different teaching style, try these free tutorials, with beginner and advanced sections:
https://www.w3schools.com
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10. NEXT WEEK: My pop-under test results
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I’ve been testing buying pop-under traffic and tracking the conversion rates. There’s good news and bad news.
I’ll give you my test results next week.
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11. Thought for today: Believe you can do it
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“Believe you can do it. Believing something can be done puts your mind to work for you and helps you find ways to do it.”
– George Shinn, author of
“The Miracle of Motivation”
Are you new to affiliate programs? I highly recommend the FREE “Affiliate Masters” course.
Download the 10-day free course here…
All the best from beautiful New Zealand.
Allan Gardyne