How to Start an Affiliate Marketing Campaign that Profits

Affiliate Marketing is one way how you can start making money campaign and maximizing those profits online. Affiliate marketing is a marketing program type where advertisers pay publishers on commission basis if only a sale is made. Many people have signed up for affiliate programs but hey it looks like it is not working out as expected. Here I share strategies on how to start an affiliate marketing campaign that works and profits that the same time.

i)  Identify your niche industry and products

Affiliate marketing is not all about marketing to everyone but to a desired niche audience. You must understand that your niche industry that is a small portion of the entire market. If you are to start a profitable affiliate marketing campaign, you must focus on a certain niche and if it is broad you must find a way on how to narrow it down for profit maximization. For example SEO is a broad niche but you can concentrate your affiliate marketing campaign on promoting keywords/keyword phrases services and products hence narrowing it down. You can read more about NicheMarketing Theory to get in depth analysis of niche markets and products.

ii)  Research about the Affiliate Programs

After you have narrowed down your niche market then it’s time to find out which products are popular from different affiliate programs. You must take into considerations things like how regularly does affiliate program issue checks, Click or Hit per Sale Ratio, Hits and Impressions Payments, Amount of Commission Paid Conversion Rate.

iii)  Join the Affiliate Marketing Program

After having research thoroughly, you can now think of joining the best affiliate program for profit from your finding. If you feel like you want to market on interested in promoting physical products, you can set up an affiliate account on CJ or online web stores like Amazon and EBay. For you who feel like virtual products are compatible and flexible with your affiliate marketing campaign you are stating, you can sign up as a publisher on Click bank and Link share.

iv)  Create a Website or install a Blog

Develop a website or a blog that will be used to promote products from the affiliate you have joined. You must make your content on your website more compelling and causes receptiveness by writing reviews on the affiliate products you have started to market on your website or blog. You can include a video in your website showing people how they can use a certain product you are promoting.

v)  Build an Email List

This one way on how you can unlock the hidden income potentials from any affiliate program.  For you to profit from your affiliate marketing campaign you are starting, you must have or build a list (group of subscribers). Building a list involves providing offers in exchange of contact information like email addresses and first names from visitors. You can also place a capture form on your blog or website for people to opt-in for future newsletters that can be informative, product launches, promotional or all the 3. The bigger the list of subscribers, the more money you are capable of making.

vi)  Drive Targeted Traffic

To gain a profit or commission from the affiliate marketing campaign you have started, you must drive targeted traffic to either your website or blog or sales page. Having targeted traffic is one way how you can generate leads which later on turn into sales from your affiliate campaign. Targeted traffic can be achieved through submitting niche articles to article directories, creating web 2.0 properties like Squidoo lens and Hubpages for niche topics, joining forums and discussion boards with a back link inclusion to your website.

PPC(pay per click) advertising campaigns that enable you to bid for a certain keyword if it is to be searched for and also for rankings in the search engines. PPC involves you to pay for each click you get to your website from searched results for a certain keyword you bided for.

How to start an affiliate marketing campaign is all about knowing what you are interested in no matter what the niche may look to be then aim for targeted traffic for lead generation which later turns to sales.

That’s it for now, feel free to Add-on, comment and criticize where possible. Thank You.

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How to Effectively Use YouTube for Business Marketing

Many businesses have created channels on YouTube as a way on how to use the platform for their marketing campaigns effectively. YouTube is a leader of video sharing platforms (website) and the 2^nd used search engine in the world. 

With YouTube, it high time you jumped onto the social network and find out exactly how to use it (YouTube) to effectively market your business in some desired ways explained in this post;

1)     Create a YouTube Channel

This is the first step that will pave a way for YouTube presence. YouTube channel creation involves not just signing up but a few significant aspects like

a)     Customize your YouTube channel according to your brand’s appearance. Define the YouTube themes and colors you want your YouTube channel to use.

b)     Define how channel aspects like comments, subscribers will appear and which video you want to appear in the featured place. You can also set auto plays when a visitor comes to your channel.

c)      Add a description to your YouTube channel. It is a must for an effective YouTube marketing strategy to provide detail description for your YouTube channel and its content.

2)    Create your Company/ Business Videos

This is how you can start your YouTube journey by taking up videos that are compelling in the eyes of the target audience. Companies can create such videos;

a)     How to videos; videos that help a visitor on how to use a product or service

b)     Answering/ Problem solving videos; videos that answer questions, solve problems

c)      Product launch videos; videos announcing a release of a certain product and product reviews

d)     Running a contest and promotion video is how you can market your business by giving out offers to channel visitors for their unique and desired actions.

e)     Videos that provide tips, tricks about a service

f)       Videos on what is happening on ground in the company

3)    Optimize your Videos

YouTube optimization is how you can use YouTube to get traffic for your videos you have created by making your business videos visible in YouTube. T his involves some bit of work that needs to be done effectively like SEO as explained;

a)     Conduct a keyword research analysis: As I told you that is like search engine optimization. For you to market your products through YouTube, you must carry out a keyword/phrase research exercise. Do not conduct it for yourself but the audience that is about to use the YouTube search engine.

b)     Effectively place the keywords/phrases in the videos. Put the keyword/ phrases in the following spots;

i)                   Title: It reminds me of the web pages, articles and posts where the publisher knows the title must be keyword rich hence the same principle applies to your videos.

ii)                Description: These are the details of the video, so the details must be keyword rich in order to meet that business marketing strategy you have for YouTube.

iii)              Video Tags: It is important that the YouTube videos you have created to have keywords rich tags so that they are automatically caught up in search when the audience looks ups for them. These keywords must relate with your business else marketing your business on YouTube will never tally hence loss of traffic.

iv)               Narration: The algorithm of YouTube uses what you say and how you say it. So include keywords and phrases in what you say in your videos.

4)    Organize with Playlists

This is one effective way on how you can organize and arrange a collection of your videos. Creation of playlists helps in the following ways;

a)     Individual playlists per product /service helps in an organized inventory and arrangement of videos.

b)     It makes it easy for the audience to select all you in terms of videos with the help of a single click.

c)      Helps in choosing which favorite lists should be displayed.

5)    Provide Call to Actions

Call to actions is the thing you want the audience to do as the video ends, starts or surprisingly even in middle. Call to actions embrace marketing your business on YouTube hence driving traffic to company’s website. Some of them include;

a)     Telling visitors to visit your website to visit your website at end of the video

b)     Tell them to rate your video after watching it

c)      Tell them to comment on the video

d)     Tell them to subscribe to your business YouTube channel

e)     Tell them to follow up your business on other social networks like Twitter, Google +, Facebook

6)    Integrate with Social media, Blogs and Websites.

Link your YouTube channel to other social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, so that when you post a video, it automatically posted the other side hence effectively boosting traffic and business marketing. You can also put YouTube icons on blog or website pointing back to your channel. You can also include you’re your YouTube channel link on other company social network profiles.

7)    Monitor, Analyze and Evaluate

Use Googleanalytics to see how the audience is associating with your business channel. Google analytics effectively tracks and measure traffic to your channels in the following ways;

a)     Repeated Audience visits and loyal subscribers

b)     Finding and searching your YouTube channel by the audience

c)      Location of your audience

d)     Time people spend on your channel

Another tool is YouTubeinsights that you can use in marketing your business on YouTube effectively. It provides statistical details about your audience. These statistical data types include;

1. Views and popularity
2. Discovery, finding and search
3. Demographics (audience, age bracket and sex)
4. Audience attention
5. Community engagement- view, comment rates and number of video favorites (likes)

YouTube can be effectively used on how to go about your marketing plans for your business in those ways above. Just follow what is in the post and practice it as required and wait to see how your traffic flow, business soars, and markets open.
That’s it for now, feel free to Add-on, comment and criticize where possible. Thank You.

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12 Most Important Features a Blog Should Have

Web logs are important online journals on internet characterized by distinct features and most company websites should have a blog extension. Blog engagement, success, visibility and reputation depend on the most important features you have decided that they should appear on your blog. These blog features give the most important reasons for their presence in terms of call for actions like commenting, spreading the word, search and sorting blog posts and content. This post highlights the most important features your blog should have in order to stand out among the million blogs we have today

1) Recent Post Feature

This is widget or plug-in that will help your blog to feature most recent posts to your readers. Since blog posts are arranged in a way that latest appears first. This will acts as a guide for the reader to find fresh and new content on your blog.

2) Popular Post Feature

This is one of the most important widget or plug-in your blog should have because it shows the visitors the most viewed blog posts. Posts become popular on a blog due to the number of views.  You the blogger should have this feature in place to help the visitors or readers know which blog post is making headlines.

3) A Blog Tag or Label

Tag or label is a keyword or keyword phrase in a block that do add links to all blog posts tagged with in a period of time. This blog feature helps to importantly describe and sort posts by use of keywords         or keyword phrases that will always form links when created. This helps the reader to know where blog posts fall with the use of keywords and what the posts under the linked keyword phrase are.

4) Blog Category

Word Press blogs are the ones mainly having feature. This feature allows the blogger to sort posts in topic hence making easier reader and web log owners search for old posts. Categories help in bringing an organized inventory of blog content.

5) Blog Archive

A must have and important feature for every blog that will sort all blog entries from the newest to the oldest by month and year. This feature should be able to show the reader what posts were published in a given month. Therefore it stores posts for reading purposes.

6) RSS Feeds

Real simple syndication (RSS) feed is one of the most important features every web (publishing) platform is having today. RSS feeds are web formats that help publishers to syndicate content over the web. Instead of a reader visiting your blog, he/she can opt-in for your blog feed that will keep him posted on new content. This feature is important when it comes to building loyal subscribers that will always interact with content. Examples of feed RSS feed reader include Google feedburner.

 7) Search Feature

This is a mist feature every blog and even website should have. It plays an important role of a gate find for specific content on the entire blog hence embracing user experience.

8) Social Media Platforms

New media is selling like a hot cake. The blog publisher should integrate social media platforms in the blog so that is easy for the reader share and spread the word across most social networks.

9) Subscription Form

This is a blog feature that should help the reader or visitor to opt in for your blog updates by submitting in his/her email to feed readers and email marketing softwares like MailChimp. This saves time in a way that instead of checking a blog for new post, all new posts and dropped in the reader’s inbox each time they are published.

10) Comment System

It is important that your blog should have this feature in the era of web 2.0 that is read/write the web. It helps most impressed blog readers to leave remarks, bring out you ideas through comments, criticize and create conversation between a reader and the publisher.

11) Comment Spam Filters

This blog feature plays an important role for blog owners and administrators when it comes to spam attacks and issues. Spam protection platforms and filters like Akismet for Word Press block most spam attacks in form of comments. It is recommended that you should weed out spam comments manually because spam filters have proved not to be that perfect as I thought.

12) Contact Form

This feature is mostly used for networking and connecting purposes by the reader on the blog. Readers may use the contact form to ask questions, share important remarks privately, for partnerships, guest blogging etc. This is a must have feature and should not miss on your blog because its one way readers can reach you directly concerning most issues on your web log.

The above are some of the most important features your blog should have regardless of the blogging platform or type. These features help in blog growth and plans. If your important blog feature lacks in this post, it will be wise of you to leave it in comments.
That’s it for now, feel free to Add-on, comment and criticize where possible. Thank You.

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6 Reasons why Niche Marketing is Important

Has one ever wondered why it is important to market specific products to a certain niche rather than the entire mass market to everyone. If you do not know where to start from with niche marketing check out my post on Niche Marketing Theory   Niche marketing has proven to be an important and determinant factor for people business’ success in the 6 fully described reasons;

1)    Easier to Locate a Target Audience

With niche marketing, you are able to develop products and services for a certain group. Once you discover a niche, one knows where exactly to market and to whom you are going to sell the product. Like a bed manufacturer when he decides to make infants’ beds in shapes of cars, trucks, tractors. The bed manufacturer will know his target audiences which are infants not adults.

2)   Cost Effectiveness and Cheaper

Niche marketing reduces the burden and cost of marketing to everyone since the entire is carried out to a certain group of people. A new niche market may have a smaller volume of monthly searches for secondary long tailored keywords. These keywords prove to be cheaper in terms of running PPC ad campaigns and will appeal to almost every consumer in that niche hence high conversion rate.

3)   Concentration and Focus on the Niche Market and Audience

From the definition of Niche Market, we see that there is focus on a certain product aimed to satisfy a group of people. Niche markets help you to focus on a certain group of people given their problem than everyone. This helps in developing more meaningful products and product features for consumers like you are targeting. Like the bed manufacturer for toddlers in different shapes.

4)   Solves the Problem by Providing the Answer, Defines the Need and Supplies the Demand

Niche marketer will have to discover the need or want of certain consumer group and provides the answers in form of products and services. Like a photographer who takes snaps and wants to share them instantly on social media rather than putting them on a computer then upload them on the internet. Here a camera manufacturer like Samsung has developed a smart camera where photos are taken and shared on the go on social media and other web platforms.

5)   Feasible Marketing Plans and Budgets

With this type of marketing, the marketing plan drawn becomes workable since the campaigns in terms of ads and Pay Per Click is cheaper due to lower audience. Once you decide to run a marketing campaign for a certain niche, it will be feasible since the target consumer group is small and all in that group may turn to be receptive to one’s product or service.

6)   Becoming an Expert hence Expertise

Niche marketing can help you become a guru in a certain niche since people will run to you for answers, solutions in various aspects. When you discover a niche you will find more sub niches hence increase in expertise of a certain niche.

Niche Marketing has proved its importance by the way it concentrates in a narrower consumer group for profit maximization and niche exploitation. That’s it for now, feel free to Add-on, comment and criticize where possible. Thank You.

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Niche Marketing Theory

The success of people’s businesses depend on a lot of factors like niche marketing and the theory that surrounding it. Companies and individuals have discovered niches by cutting down the whole market to create niche products and services addressing niche’s problem or need.

In order to be profitable, one must follow the concepts and the theory that identifies, defines niches and creates niche markets as put in detail below;

i)                 Niche

This a group of people that share the same interest in something for example soccer fans   but this example can be carved out to create more meaningful sub niches like Swansea Football Club fans.

ii)              Niche Market

It is a small targetable segment of the market on which a particular product is focused to meet needs and wants of a specific group of consumers. Specific groups can be characterized by demographics, seasonal activity, ethnicity, weather, age, passion etc. Niche markets have never existed by default but are always created to meet needs and problems of a particular niche. Here is an example to fully explain what I mean

A jersey manufacturer for Swansea football club decides to make trendy tops for female youth fans than the usual player jersey. Here the manufacturer has discovered that female youths aged 16-35 years like wearing fitting tops that bring out body curves… Lol so the company will narrow down to the trendy jersey tops from the usual jersey.

iii)           Niche Marketing

This is the type of marketing where by marketing efforts and campaigns focus on a small defined, specific portion of the market rather than the entire market. It involves cutting down the whole market into segments and also creating products and services that satisfy a particular group.

iv)             Niche Products

These are smaller classes of a product that are meant for a specific group of consumers. Like the earlier example of fitting jersey tops that are part of the major product called jerseys are meant for female youth aged 16-35 years.

v)                Niche Audience

These are smaller defined groups of consumers that a particular niche product and market tend to serve or target. Using the same example the niche audience the jersey manufacturer is targeting are the female youth aged 16-35 years then the niche market is jersey tops.

In order to be safe and successful with the niche market you have found, you must consider the following concepts and principles;

Principles of Niche Marketing

1)    Identify and Define the Niche Market

This is one of the first that you have to adhere to. Remember niche markets have never existed by default but found and created to meet special needs of a specific group of consumers.

2)   Discover the Problem, Challenge or Need of a Particular Niche

It’s one’s responsibility as a niche marketer to brainstorm, think harder and discover the problem, challenge or want of a targeted niche like in the above example where a jersey manufacturer needs to know what is a trendy wear for female youth fans for Swansea Football Club and that is Female Jersey tops.

3)   Carry Out Market Research

Once you have discovered the niche and created its products or service. Don’t just enter the market automatically because you may get embarrassed. Do some research or how consumers behave to different markets, products, and demand and supply changes according to a specific niche. Carry out a competitive analysis to measure your competitors’ strength and weakness given in a niche Market, competitors marketing campaigns and efforts. Use a keyword research tool that will help you discover hidden though profitable niches with the best targeted keywords to use. These keywords can be secondary keyword phrases that are of lower cost when it comes to pay per click campaigns yet they have a high conversion rate because they cater for a certain group.

4)   Know the Niche language and Information

For you to be successful in the niche you have found, you must know the language used in a given niche. You the niche marketer must be ready to communicate in a way that is understandable and appeals to niche members. Furthermore niche marketers should convince consumers of a certain niche why should opt for newly branded niche products and services by providing information, backups, product walk through. This should be created in such a way that it is compelling, causes receptiveness and calls for action.

5)   Target the Right People with the Right and Appropriate Product

When you create a niche product, make sure that is fit for the targeted niche members in terms of answering and solving their problems, addressing their needs and wants. It is so embarrassing to take your time on development and marketing efforts on niche products for wrong consumers. Therefore discover the niche’s needs and problems and go ahead to develop what is really fit for them. Don’t just guess…

Niche Marketing today is not just trendy but one way to carve out the market to find hidden, invisible though cost effective and profitable niche markets. So get on board today to discover the niche market and more within that (sub niche markets) and exploit or maximize it for profit. That’s it for now, feel free to Add-on, comment and criticize where possible. Thank You.

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5 Exotic Uses of an RSS Feed to Your Blog

 The web is always evolving by the exotic way we use it to dig content from blogs, websites etc. RSS (Real Simple Syndication) is one of the greatest tools ever in invented in content curation, content marketing or mining. One may ask “What is this RSS am seeing on every Blog and what is it used for?” The answer will be; An RSS feed is a collection of web formats that are used to syndicate updated content inform of blog entries, articles, news etc.

RSS feed is a must important feature of the blog not for formality but one simple technique to publish content to blog followers. Here I explain the 5 exotic uses of the RSS feed to your web log and why it’s such an important feature.

1)    Subscribe to the Latest Post

RSS feeds are used on blogs so that blog followers can subscribe for latest updates via email using Google Feed Burner or that browser technique… Now blog posts will be syndicated into emails dropped into the followers’ (subscribers) inbox or the browser technique…

2)   Recent Posts

The recent posts plug-in or widget on blogs use the RSS feed technology. Recent posts are such an important feature on the blog because they notify visitors with what’s new in terms of blog posts. RSS feeds help the blogger to syndicate most recent post in such an exotic way by providing link post titles for new blog entries to followers and readers.

3)   Notify about Latest Post, News, Articles

This more less the same as number one (1). This is one significant reason as to why I call the RSS feed the exotic technique of finding content on the web. RSS feeds are use to help in alerting and informing you or any blog follower about either latest posts or news or articles of your favorite blog through emails and feed readers. It will be a disaster if your content is killer yet you luck the RSS feed button for visitors to subscribe to your blog updates published rather than visiting your blog regularly.

4)   Following Blog Comments

If any one of you has heard of something like Comment RSS or Subscribe to Comment via RSS. The power of the RSS feed takes the advantage of comments that also play an important role on your web logs. Comment RSS feeds help you to know who is commenting on which post and on what blog. It helps to show you whose comments are more vibrant than others.

5)   Extract and Curate Content

RSS feed are if much importance to the blog because the blog followers can use the RSS feed url or link to systematically pull out content and distribute it on other several web platforms, websites and social networks. If your blog influences a certain niche industry, one can extract the RSS feed URL and use it to share content through things like auto tweeted posts.

RSS (feed) play an important role on your blog and it shouldn’t be taken for granted. Its usage on your blog will help bind to bind your web log with followers through RSS subscriptions, notifications, of new content, recent posts etc. That’s it for now, feel free to Add-on, comment and criticize where possible. Thank You.

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8 Killer Email Marketing Tips

Emails to business prospects are sent using various email marketing software  considering the right email marketing tips, following the right rules and procedures. Email marketing is a form of commercial communication with business prospects by use of email. Email Marketing Campaigns will be effective if such tips below are followed and considered when sending out emails to your subscribers.

1)    Test the Email Subject Line

When crafting the subject line, try to create as many subject lines as possible and test them with some subscribers on your list. Analyze, monitor and evaluate to pick out the most promising subject line according to most responses and reactions.

2)   Personalize the Subject Line of the Email

For emails you are about to send, it’s a good email marketing tip to personalize the subject line by including the recipient ’s name or even his or her  location in it. (Subject line) This portrays a feeling that you are talking to that one person at that time.

3)   Always Say the Truth and Deliver

Always say the truth and it shall set you free. Always deliver according to what is in your subject line and email body content. If it is a link to a post or product or site, let it be portrayed in the subject line and email body.

4)   Avoid Use of Spammy Words and Phrases.

Use of spammy words in the subject line can be of harm to your email marketing campaign. It is because mail servers and clients scan subject lines and email content to detect spam. I am tipping you off with words such as free, win, money, etc that may halt your email marketing process. So it should be avoided. More about spamming in email marketing read the CAN SPAM ACT OF 2003.

5)   Build a Relationship with your Email List

When I talk of Killer tips unearthed for email marketing, I mean; creating a connection with your email list through conversations, strategies, tips, offer and freebies. Try as much as you can to communicate with recipient to know their behavior and history that will help you send out that targeted campaign to them.

6)   Indicate Sender’s Name and Location

The CAN-SPAM ACTOF 2003 indicates that the email marketer must provide full details of his or her name, company name, telephone, postal and physical address. In case of anything, the recipient will have to refer to any of the email marketer’s contact information. It is good email marketing practice to indicate your details because it creates trust and credibility for the sender.

7)   Keep the Subject Line of the Emails Short

This is a tip in everything that we publish, submit or send via the web and so it applies to email marketing. Craft the subject line in a way that your message you are airing out is in the first 50 characters or else it will be cut off and loss of meaning. Remember also to keep the subject line clear, brief, precise and articulate.

8)   Keep Track of your Email Results 

For any campaign or survey or exercise that is carried out, monitoring its progress and outcomes becomes part and parcel of it. Tracking your email results is a necessary tip that will open successful email marketing by monitoring, analyzing, evaluating delivery rates, click through rates, open rates and conversion rates. This also helps the email marketer to plan effectively.

Email marketing will bear fruit if that commercial communication to business prospects is respected with such Killer tips. Not even a huge email list will do well for you if the concept in the tips above is not adhered to for a successful email marketing campaign. That’s it for now, feel free to Add-on, comment and criticize where possible. Thank You.

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