Affiliates where to begin…
Where to begin as a new Affiliate (Part one)Let’s start at the beginning, no I mean it… right from the very beginning.99% of the battle is being able to write good content. So before we continue, can you
a) Switch on a computer?
b) Can you write?
c) Can you use word or equivalent?
If you cant do a) b) or c) or cant get some one to do a) b) or c) click here now, this will be far more interesting.Affiliate marketing In its basic form
Affiliates / publishers are content rich websites promoting relevant advertisers / merchants via a variety of advertising methods. Example Banners, text links and product feeds.
How much will it cost to become an affiliate?
If you use some thing as simple as blogger.com or wordpress, then all it will cost is your time.
For a website, then web publishing software (if you don’t already have it) + hosting
Using google adwords or equivalent will cost you per click.
What tools do you need in order to build your own affiliate website?
Web publishing software. There are so many out there and at different prices and loads of free software and gadgets promising you how easy it all is. Bish, bash, bosh and behold a magnificent webpage that not only delivers a content rich website all neat and pretty but makes you breakfast in the morning and sends you flowers once a month. The truth is, some software is easier to use then others and some software is more expensive then others some are free (yes we like the word free but be cautious if you are using free software get it from reputable websites like http://www.download.com and always be wary of spyware). I for example use Microsoft Frontpage (I have been told so many times by different people “No real affiliate uses frontpage” “Front page messes up code” “Frontpage omits radio active particles which will prevent you from opening a can of beer” Ok I lied about the last one, but ask any affiliate what is the best software and you will get a lot of different answers.Like I said this advice is based on my experience, the tools I use and find useful. Check back in a day or so, Ill find some free tools to try out.
Competing in a saturated market, can you?
Having seen the results of the first UK Census (Available to the public in Jan 07) I feel compelled to write this article as a guide to any affiliate wanting to break in to affiliate marketing regardless of where you are in the world. I suspect that the following will be a little controversial in some areas and every one will have their own opinion. The following has been written based on my personal experience of being an affiliate, a prerequisite I feel for any one dishing out advice to online business. I can only tell you what I have explored and what works for me. It’s basic practical advice and aimed at how to get started in affiliate marketing.
Chose the industry you want to promote carefully, do your research. As most affiliate marketing people would agree, chose a sector that you are genuinely interested in because the clock is ticking and time is money. Chose a sector that you loath may cause you to quit down the line and after having already invested time and energy putting the website together. The best affiliate websites have been in the past and still holds true today have been the sites where the affiliate/publisher has a genuine passion, interest and knowledge of their subject matter.
The amount of affiliates that are doing affiliate marketing in their spare time suggests that the football field is really wide open, with very few but savvy defenders (other affiliates) all protecting the goal area. Take for example the financial sector. Go to google and type in mortgages. Google tells me there are Results 1 of about 87,800,000 for mortgages websites. There are three top ppc sponsored listings (pay per click via google adwords) and nine on the right hand side. But look who has No1 for organic listings www.mortgages.co.uk (I bet that domain name is worth a few pennies). There are two pieces of advice I would give to new affiliates. The first is look that the market/s you want to promote, if it’s too competitive, stay away, you are not ready and will spend vast amounts of your time being frustrated. If you think that you could set up a ppc (pay per click) campaign then… via google as of the 19th of December for a generic terms such as mortgages, you can expect to pay GBP average click of between £4.00 and £6.00, my daily budget would be in excess of £450.00 upwards. So here is some sound advice, unless you are Rupert Murdoch or part of the Rockefeller family, walk away.But… here is my second bit of advice for entering into a saturated market or any industry is the domain name. Let’s revisit www.mortgages.co.uk (by the way, if mortgages.co.uk are reading this, I have given you a free link, I want one back :oP) ranks no1 in the organic listings for the search term mortgages. The domain name you choose for any new affiliate website may give you the head start that you need. Whilst some would argue that a domain name is not always important, I would strongly argue that it is, just using mortages.co.uk by way of example. Google tells us how popular we are in terms of quality links that are pointing to mortgages.co.uk (if mortgages.co.uk are reading this, I would like shares in your company now after all the free promoting Im doing for you) Let’s see if this is true.
Experiment.
Go to www.linkpoularity.com and type in www.mortgages.co.uk you should see the results on google are 1 – 10 of about 659 on MSN its 8522 and yahoo is 13680. Let’s do the same for the third one down the google list and type in www.moneysupermarket.com/mortgages (ahh, it would seem they may have got a penalty from google as there are no inbound links at all re google, quick note, you get penalized from google if you are trying to find a different way to get around the google rules, I could be wrong re MSuperMark’ and would need some confirmation on this.) But on MSN its 11990 and on Yahoo its 18,981. Evidently, more then mortgages.co.uk. The point I am trying to make is that a domain name is important and it’s not just about incoming links. If the content is good, the name is good then there is no reason not to rank number 1 in organic listings for a search term domain name. If I have not convinced you that entering a saturated market, despite it’s lucrative rewards is not good for the beginner in affiliate marketing, then the next piece of advice for you should give that rebel streak more fuel.If we keep to the financial sector by way of an example, then grab a domain name that has a search term included. Hyphenated (no more then one hyphen) I would suggest. Having just gone to godaddy domain registration company, I have just done a search for a domain name using the search term mortgages and with very little effort I found this FINDMORTGAGEADVICE.COM.
Tip: If you are promoting US merchants / advertisers register a .com if its UK register a .co.uk. If you want UK traffic or US traffic or EU or where ever, I would usually opt for country specific domain name.
So go find out what you want to promote and check back here for the next step.
How to make a website and how to get it online.
btw : Thanks Lee, well spotted ;0)
Tools
Web publishing
Frontpage (£££ or $$$)
Could try 
VodaHost its free, but… you will never then learn the basics.
You will also need the software to be abale to upload your website.
CuteFTP is pretty good.
Also you will need some one to host the website, wow there are so many to choose from, godaddy have hosting services also you may want to drop ddeveloper a line, they do hosting, from £5.00 $2.50 per month (approx)
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