Posts Tagged ‘affiliate marketing training’
Affiliate Marketing Training: Do You Need Dedicated Hosting?
Have you ever found yourself reading an affiliate marketing training
course that absolutely insisted that you needed to buy dedicated hosting from their suggested host? If you’ve read many ebooks, you probably have. Ebook writers have strong incentives to make these kinds of suggestions, given the large commissions awarded to hosting affiliates.
I’ll be honest, though. Not every affiliate needs a dedicated hosting plan. It really depends on your budget, the amount of traffic you expect to receive, and the amount of variance you can reasonably expect.
If you can afford it, a dedicated server is ideal for almost any active affiliate. Multiple shared plans can work well, too, but they give you far less control over speed and reliability. You have no ability to know whether a single user on the server will do something to jeopardize the stability of YOUR site. A good hosting company can dramatically minimize the odds of that happening, but the best protection is knowing that you’re the only one on the server.
A typical dedicated server package will cost anywhere from $100-200/month or even more, depending on the features, customization, and the amount of support you need from a hosting company. For someone without a highly technical background, I would recommend getting a dedicated package with a well-known provider like HostGator that will give you the full support you need in the event of any problems. They can also give you a huge amount of help when it comes to security issues. Security is one area in which you definitely don’t want to leave things up to chance.
If you’re a new affiliate with a brand new site that doesn’t need to be able to handle thousands of visitors daily, a shared plan is most likely going to be the most cost effective solution. For example, if you’re building simple SEO sites, a niche blog, or a small datafeed site, shared hosting shouldn’t give you any trouble. On the other hand, if you’re going to be paying for very large amounts of traffic, it would be silly to use a shared host and risk paying for traffic that lands on a crashed site.
If you’re not sure about what you’ll need, talk to other affiliates or even your affiliate manager. If your budget can handle it, always err on the side of buying a better hosting plan.
Affiliate Marketing Training: Simple Ways to Make Money on Twitter
When it comes to making money with social media, no affiliate marketing training is complete without a section on making money with Twitter. As marketing goes, Twitter is actually pretty straightforward. After all, there’s only so much you can do with 140 characters. Still, there are a few strategies that top users have in common.
- Follow thousands of users and unfollow those who don’t follow you back. This is the cornerstone of most Twitter building activity. The only caveat is that you must do it at a controlled pace in order to avoid getting your account banned. Don’t follow more than 50-100 people each day, and don’t unfollow in the same day that you follow.
- Encourage retweeting. It takes creativity, but eventually, you’ll get the hang of how to structure your tweets so that other people retweet more often.
- Tweet to famous people. If you can get people to reply, that’s a lot of eyeballs on your Twitter username – not to mention a subtle endorsement that you’re “cool enough” to get a celebrity’s attention for a few brief moments.
- Try Sponsored Tweeting. If you’re not having much luck promoting products, you may still be able to earn a tidy sum by accumulating followers and getting paid to tweet.
Have you had much luck with Twitter in the past? My hunch is that, while plenty of people are earning money there now, the numbers will only increase as we get better ideas about how to deal with this particular marketing channel.
What Affiliate Marketing Training Overlooks
Affiliate marketing training is generally designed based on the style of the teacher. That makes sense. What the training often ignores, though, is that we’re not all the same. There are three basic types of affiliate marketers, and your type plays a huge role in how you ultimately promote offers. Which one are you?
The Numbers Guy –
The numbers-based affiliate is a very logical, testing-oriented affiliate. Instead of using a lot of intuition, he or she will rely heavily on available data, then test and test while letting the numbers guide the way. These affiliates tend to be men, and they are usually very analytical in most aspects of their lives. This can be an extremely effective way to market, but it also means that you’ll typically have a higher rate of new campaigns failing, along with a bit more expense to get things going. The upside is that these guys can optimize the heck out of any campaign. Once they are onto something good, they make it great.
The Intuitive Marketer –
These are the affiliates who have a pretty good understanding of the way a certain market works, and they use that intuition to craft campaigns. What they’re not always good at is testing and tracking. Even still, it doesn’t always matter because when these affiliate marketers are good, they’re really good. They tend to have a much lower failure rate early on, but without a lot of work, they often lack the ability to really optimize and scale a campaign.
The Relationship Marketer –
These affiliates may share traits with either category, but the fundamental difference is that they’re audience builders. They don’t care as much about guessing demographics or optimizing campaigns because they’re building a following and marketing to those people specifically. When these affiliates are well-liked, they can be hugely successful on their limited follower base. The downside, of course, is that not all followers spend a lot of money, and marketing strictly to fans can be a big limitation on total income.
Which of these affiliate types are you most like? Are you a hybrid, or do you find that you have to work really hard on a particular skill? Share in the comments!
Affiliate Marketing Training Seminars – Should You Go?
If you’re on any affiliate marketing newsletter lists, you’ve probably been invited to pay for an affiliate marketing training seminar at some point. They’re often held in exotic locales or on cruise ships, and they’re almost always very expensive. Still, the prospect of getting face time with a known expert is always enticing. So – should you go? Consider this a good checklist for making the decision.
- Can you afford it? I don’t mean, “Can you scrape together enough by using 4 credit cards and selling your motorcycle?” If you can’t pay for it without too much pain, you’re better off staying home or waiting for a cheap conference like ad:tech or Affilaite Summit where you can do after hours networking for the cost of a few drinks or dinner.
- Are you already actively running campaigns? Not just one, but have you tested at least a dozen or more campaigns? If not, you’re not going to have a lot to show your instructor. Lack of previously tested campaigns can also indicate that you just don’t have the drive that it takes to make the most of an expensive seminar.
- Will you have testing money left over afterwards? If the seminar is going to blow your new campaign testing budget, don’t go. You’ll learn a lot more (in most cases) from actively testing campaigns.
- Are you expecting to become friends with the instructor? Don’t count on it. Teaching students has a tendency to make even the nicest instructors a bit jaded and sick of newbie questions. If you want to befriend someone, you’re better off getting successful and then approaching. They’re not going to view you as an equal if you’re their student.
- Will you have time to take action? If you don’t have time to run campaigns, don’t expect an event to magically energize you and help you find more free time.
If you can pass through this checklist without any issues, it’s definitely worth considering an affiliate marketing training seminar. Otherwise, stay at home for now and revisit the idea when you’re ready.
Learning Affiliate Marketing From EBooks
Learning affiliate marketing with ebooks is always a controversial topic. If you go to any affiliate marketing forum, you’ll see a vocal group of people who think that all ebooks are a rip-off and that no one should buy them. You’ll also find those who have purchased almost every book on the market. What you won’t find in most cases, though, is a sane middle ground.
It’s definitely true that most people who buy an ebook will fail to make money based on what they’ve read. You’ll also find, though, that most people who have taken Algebra at some point will fail to be able to do much more than basic Algebra as an adult. That doesn’t mean that Algebra is a scam, or that it doesn’t work – it just means that some people like it more, some people are more motivated than others, and some people will just decide that it’s not right for them. And of course, some people won’t be good enough to succeed at it. That is true of basically anything.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t study Algebra, or that you shouldn’t buy ebooks. Take a balanced, rational approach to things and only buy those books which seem very likely to help you. And remember, also, that most ebooks have a 60-day guarantee. If you’re terribly dissatisfied with one, you can always ask for your money back.
In short, don’t let the naysayers deter you from buying ebooks to learn affiliate marketing, but don’t become overly addicted, either. There’s a time to study and a time to put plans into action, and it’s important that you do both if you want to succeed.
Affiliate Marketing: System for Finding Competitors’ Landing Pages
When it comes to affiliate marketing, system is key. Whether it’s a system for sitting down to work, or a system for cranking out new campaigns, you need to have one – probably more than one. What I’m going to talk about now, though, is a solid system for finding your competitors so you can do solid research on what’s currently working for competitors.
- Define your niche. Pick an offer so we know what we’re looking for.
- Pick keywords. Use a free tool like Google’s External Keyword Tool to find related keywords.
- Search Google. Look at both free and paid competitors. Pay especially close attention to which relevant keywords have fewer competitors – these may be hidden opportunities, but it could also be a sign that the keyword isn’t profitable. Either way, it’s probably worth testing if there isn’t much competition.
- Search EZineArticles.com. Look for articles that optimize for your keywords, along with AdSense ads on the page. If you see a lot of articles on a topic, there’s a good chance that it’s a winner for affiliates. Check the article bylines to see what pages the articles point to. This may give you some insight about how to build your landing page.
- Check popular social media sites like Squidoo and Twitter. Do you see affiliates pushing the product(s) you’re interested in?
- Check PPV traffic if applicable. If you have a computer you don’t use, you can install popular browser toolbars that serve popup ads, then visit related sites and see if other affiliates have ads popping up.
With a little practice, you’ll have no trouble differentiating the affiliate pages from portal sites, authority pages, or merchants. Once you reach that point, you’ll be steps ahead of many other affiliates in figuring out what’s working for other people and how you could fit yourself into a crowded market.
Affiliate Marketing Training: Questions to Ask
Before you buy any kind of affiliate marketing training, there are a number of questions you should ask. Too often, we let ourselves be swayed by a fancy sales letter or a cool promotional video, but with so much at stake, it’s important to be cool and rational. Next time you’re thinking about a big training investment, go through these questions first. You won’t always be able to get precise answers, but the responses you get can also tell you a lot.
- Do you offer a money back guarantee? What do I have to do to get it?
- What is the average affiliate income of your students? What percentage of your students are profitable? They probably won’t have exact answers, but you will learn a lot by how they respond.
- What is your background? How long have you been in the industry?
- What does your course teach? What does it leave out?
- Do students need any tools to follow your strategies? If so, how much do they cost?
Depending on the nature of the product, you may be able to come up with other questions that are relevant. The main thing here is to examine each product with an objective eye. By having a checklist, you encourage yourself to really examine things before jumping in headfirst, full of optimism. Dare to be a little skeptical. Questioning someone else’s product or system doesn’t mean that you’re questioning your own ability to succeed. It’s just good business.
Do You Need Affiliate Marketing Coaching?
A lot of new affiliates want to know if they need affiliate marketing coaching, or if they can get by with just a standard self-study course. The answer is that it depends on the student. Some new affiliates need very little help, taking to marketing like fish take to water. Others, on the other hand, may enter the field with fewer technical skills or less of a marketing mindset, and those students can benefit greatly from extra coaching.
But how do you know which one you are? Consider these questions – honestly – when you’re trying to decide if you should seek out coaching help.
- Do you work well independently, or do you have a tendency to procrastinate? A coach can keep you on track if you need an extra push.
- Do you have a solid technical background, or do you pick up on computer tasks easily? If you have trouble figuring out your DVD player, a coach can significantly cut down your time and frustration in the early learning stages.
- Do you find yourself reading through courses with a lot of unanswered questions? If so, a coach may be able to save you a lot of time.
- Do you have a lot of implementation questions that you can’t seem to get answered through simple Google searches? An experienced affiliate marketing coach will probably have the answers or be able to help you get them much quicker than you could find them on your own.
- Do you have room in your budget for a coach? If hiring a coach is going to cut into your household or advertising budgets, it might be better to try to befriend other marketers on forums. If you have room in your budget, though, a coach can be a huge asset for any new affiliate.
Coaching is an extremely effective way to cut down the amount of time you need to learn affiliate marketing and start making money. Have you worked with a coach? What was your experience like? Leave comments!
Affiliate Marketing Training That Works
I’m going to let you in on a little secret about affiliate marketing training. It’s one you won’t hear often, but it’s also one that anyone who’s been in affiliate marketing very long knows to be true. Here it is: There is no single magical program that will make you a millionaire.
“What??!” you’re thinking, “But what about all the sales letters and their promises??”
I’m not saying that sales letters are lying, or that you can’t find a system that will teach you things that can make you rich. Actually, what I’m saying is just the opposite. Virtually any recent, reputable training program out there can teach you the skills that you can use to create a solid income or even get wealthy online. What matters is that you follow the training, apply what it teaches, and continually work to improve and refine your skills.
It also matters that you choose a training program that teaches promotional methods that suit YOUR skills. If you can’t make a landing page to save your life, a course on PPC marketing with Google may involve too many new skills for you to have success in a reasonable amount of time. On the other hand, if you can barely put together sentences in your chosen language, a course on article marketing probably isn’t the best use of your money.
Basically, I want to encourage you to stop buying every product on the market and to stop worrying so much about finding THE system. You may not find the right one on your first try, but ultimately, the system that is going to work is the one that suits your skillset and the one you actually follow through on.
Creating Your Own Internet Marketing Program
Never try to learn all you need to know from a pre-configured internet marketing program. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you shouldn’t buy internet marketing products – I’m just saying that it’s much more important to create your own course based on what you know to be your strengths and weaknesses.
Instead of looking for one simple solution that does it all, try thinking about it like you’re a teacher designing a school curriculum. Figure out what area you’ll be specializing in. Then, figure out exactly which skills you’ll need to get started. Remember, too, that you don’t need to know everything to start making money. You just need a firm grasp of the basics.
Once you know your weaknesses, seek out a combination of free tutorial, paid products, and mentors you could work with to improve your skills. Don’t forget the possibility of barter if you’re low on funds. By taking your learning into your own hands instead of letting someone else give you a one-size-fits-all program, you’ll get exactly what YOU need.