Golden Goose Marketing

When you’re learning affiliate marketing, there’s a temptation for many of us to stick with guides or ebooks.  Unfortunately, that’s like getting all of your education from textbooks.  It just doesn’t do a good job of providing a comprehensive education.  Just as with anything else, you need to combine your textbook education with real world experience and current news on your topic.  That’s where blogs come in.

Now, before I go any further, let me emphasize that I am not trying to encourage you to overindulge in blogs.  Too much is just as bad as too little.  Action is vital.

Most affiliate blogs can be categorized into a few groups:

• General Affiliate Talk - These blogs are typically very broad, and they include a combination of personal performance reports, industry drama, and occasional news.  Although they’re usually run by a single affiliate and they’re not always very regular, these can be a great source of sneaky tactics and general updates when something huge happens.
• Industry News - These blogs are usually written by multiple authors, and they tend to be updated more reliably than more general affiliate blogs.  Often, these blogs are related to industry conferences or magazines with the funding to pay writers.
• Niche Blogs - These blogs are typically like the more general affiliate blogs, but with a narrower focus.  Often, you can find blogs focusing on SEO, PPV, PPC, or social media.

To maximize your learning without spending too much time, try to choose a mix of blog types.  If you notice a lot of overlap, there’s a good chance that you’re reading too many blogs.  You can also try using an aggregator like AffBuzz.com, where popular posts rise to the top and the remainder can be scanned quickly on a single page.