Email Marketing

Hi,

After long time i am updating my blog sorry for delay.............

Now in this post you understand about the latest tricks and techniques about "Email Marketing".

Email marketing is one of the major idea to stand and get solid postion and branding in online marketing world. By this techniques we can get large number of visitors for our website and also get market value and branding by this.

Here i am giving some idea aout email marketing which are as follows:

E-mail marketing:

Email marketing is a form of direct marketing which uses electronic mail as a means of communicating commercial or fundraising messages to an audience. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. However, the term is usually used to refer to:

Sending emails with the purpose of enhancing the relationship of a merchant with its current or old customers and to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business.
Sending emails with the purpose of acquiring new customers or convincing old customers to buy something immediately.
Adding advertisements in emails sent by other companies to their customers.
Emails that are being sent on the Internet (Email did and does exist outside the Internet, Network Email, FIDO etc.)

Researchers estimate that US firms alone spent $400 million on email marketing in 2006.[1]

Contents [hide]
1 Advantages
2 Disadvantages
3 CAN-SPAM compliance
4 Opt-in email advertising
5 Terms
6 See also
7 References

(1) Advantages

Email marketing (on the Internet) is popular with companies because:

The advantage of a mailing list is clearly the ability to distribute information to a wide range of specific, potential customers at a relatively low cost.

Compared to other media investments such as direct mail or printed newsletters, it is less expensive.

An exact Return on investment can be tracked ("track to basket") and has proven to be high when done properly. Email marketing is often reported as second only to search marketing as the most effective online marketing tactic.[2]

It is instant, as opposed to a mailed advertisement, an email arrives in a few seconds or minutes.

It lets the advertiser "push" the message to its audience, as opposed to a website that waits for customers to come in.

It is easy to track. An advertiser can track users via web bugs, bounce messages, un-subscribes, read-receipts, click-throughs, etc. These can be used to measure open rates, positive or negative responses, correlate sales with marketing.

Advertisers can generate repeat business affordably and automatically
Advertisers can reach substantial numbers of email subscribers who have opted in (consented) to receive email communications on subjects of interest to them
Over half of Internet users check or send email on a typical day.[3]

Specific types of interaction with messages can trigger other messages to be automatically delivered.

Specific types of interaction with messages can trigger other events such as updating the profile of the recipient to indicate a specific interest category.
Green - email marketing is paper-free

[2] Disadvantages

Many companies use email marketing to communicate with existing customers, but many other companies send unsolicited bulk email, also known as spam.

Illicit email marketing antedates legitimate email marketing, since on the early Internet (see Arpanet) it was not permitted to use the medium for commercial purposes. As a result, marketers attempting to establish themselves as legitimate businesses in email marketing have had an uphill battle, hampered also by criminal spam operations billing themselves as legitimate.

It is frequently difficult for observers to distinguish between legitimate and spam email marketing. First off, spammers attempt to represent themselves as legitimate operators, obfuscating the issue. Second, direct-marketing political groups such as the U.S. Direct Marketing Association (DMA) have pressured legislatures to legalize activities which many Internet operators consider to be spamming, such as the sending of "opt-out" unsolicited commercial email. Third, the sheer volume of spam email has led some users to mistake legitimate commercial email (for instance, a mailing list to which the user subscribed) for spam — especially when the two have a similar appearance, as when messages include HTML and flashy graphics.

Due to the volume of spam email on the Internet, spam filters are essential to most users. Some marketers report that legitimate commercial emails frequently get caught by filters, and hidden; however, it is somewhat less common for email users to complain that spam filters block legitimate mail.

Companies considering an email marketing program must make sure that their program does not violate spam laws such as the United States' CAN-SPAM Act (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act),[4] the European Privacy & Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 or their Internet provider's acceptable use policy. Even if a company follows the law, if Internet mail administrators find that it is sending spam it is likely to be listed in blacklists such as SPEWS.


[3] CAN-SPAM compliance

Because the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 authorizes a USD 11,000 penalty per violation for spamming each individual recipient, many commercial email marketers within the United States utilize a service or special software that helps ensure compliance with the Act. A variety of older systems exist which do not ensure compliance with the Act. To comply with the Act's regulation of commercial email, services typically: require users to authenticate their return address and include a valid physical address, provide a one-click unsubscribe feature, and prohibit importing lists of purchased addresses which may not have given valid permission.

In addition to satisfying legal requirements, service providers stepped in to help customers to set up and manage their own email marketing campaigns. The services provide email templates, automatically handle subscriptions and removals, and generate statistics on how many messages were received and opened, and whether the recipients clicked on any links within the messages.


[4] Opt-in email advertising

Opt-in email advertising or permission marketing is a method of advertising by electronic mail wherein the recipient of the advertisement has consented to receive it. It is one of several ways developed by marketers to eliminate the disadvantages of email marketing.[5]

Email has become a very popular mode of communication across the world. It has also become extremely popular to advertise through. Some of the many advantages of advertising through email are the direct contact with the consumer and is “inexpensive, flexible, and simple to implement” (Fairhead, 2003). There are also disadvantages attached to email advertising such as, alienating the consumer because of overload to messages or the advertisement getting deleted without getting read.

Permission email marketing may evolve into a technology that uses a handshake protocol between sender and receiver (Fairhaed, 2003). This system is intended to eventually result in a high degree of satisfaction between consumers and marketers. If opt-in email advertising is used, the material that is emailed to consumers will be “anticipated.” It is assumed that the consumer wants to receive it, which makes it unlike unsolicited advertisements sent to the consumer (often referred to as spam). Ideally, opt-in email advertisements will be more personal and relevant to the consumer than untargetted advertisements.

A common example of permission marketing is a newsletter sent to a firm’s customers. Newsletters like this are a way to let customers know about upcoming events or promotions, or new products. In this type of advertising, a company that wants to send a newsletter to their customers may ask them at the point of purchase if they would like to receive this newsletter.

With a foundation of opted-in contact information stored in a database, marketers can automatically send out promotional materials. The marketers can also segment their promotions to specific market segments.[6]


[5] Terms

There are number of terms used in email marketing, marketers in this space have to be familiar with, to name a few: auto-responder, bounce message, click-through rate, double opt-in or opt-in, open rate and spam for example.[7]

[6] See also

CAUCE
Customer engagement

Sourse taken for above content from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_marketing

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Email Content: Are You Repackaging?

Email content is often inspired by what we read online or in magazines related to our topic. After all, without inspiration, it would be very difficult to produce quality email content on a daily or weekly basis. But, are you writing original content or simply repackaging what you have found elsewhere?

There is nothing wrong with using information you find on another website or blog . . . within reason. It´s not ok to blatantly copy an article and use it as your own, that violates copyright laws. But what if you just rewrite it?

The danger of rewriting or repackaging someone else´s article is twofold. One, if you are going to use someone else´s content, even if slightly rewritten, you should include a link back to their website. Secondly, you run the risk of giving email content to your readers that has already been done.

This second problem is a big one. Your readers subscribed to your email newsletter to receive new and useful information. If you are simply rehashing what you read elsewhere, you can be sure that some of your subscribers will have read the same articles. This drops your credibility drastically.

How can you avoid this issue? It´s really quite easy. You can either hire a freelancer to do the work of writing original email content for you or write your own articles using several different sources. Compiling information from five or six websites will give you more comprehensive email content and offers new, interesting information to your readers. It also helps you avoid the issue of repeating exactly what someone else has already said.

Opt-In Techniques: Learning from Unsubscribers

It happens to the best of us, you are checking your stats and realize that your opt-in list has dropped in number. While it´s not a good thing when people unsubscribe, that doesn´t mean that it has to be entirely negative, either. A very good opt-in technique is to learn from your unsubscribers.

You need to make sure that you are asking people why they are unsubscribing. This may seem simple, but it is a very valuable opt-in technique that not a lot of people take advantage of. Not everyone will give you a reason, but enough readers should tell you why they aren´t interested in staying on your opt-in list that you will have a fairly good idea of what is going on. Here are a few of the more common reasons for unsubscribing.

Irrelevant information: This could be because you didn´t deliver what you said you would on the sign up page. Or perhaps the reader didn´t get what they needed from your newsletter.

Too many emails: Are you sending out frequent emails? Some people don´t like to get three or four newsletters a week from one email marketer, so you might consider toning it down. You will automatically receive more unsubscribes when you write more often.

Too many newsletters: If someone is subscribed to twenty or thirty different internet marketers, they are bound to get the same email every time there is a new launch. You can help prevent this from being a problem by not using the standard sales letter and write one yourself. Change the subject line, too and people will feel that you have original email content.

Too much spam: Now, you may not consider your email to be spam, especially if you used legit opt-in techniques to grow your list, but some people will just count everything that isn´t from their aunt or brother as spam, so there isn´t much you can do about this except offer high quality content.

Learning from what people enter in the box when you ask them why they are unsubscribing is a very valuable opt-in technique. Use it and you´ll find out exactly how to help your remaining readers and keep them on your list.

Email Newsletters vs. Email Promotions

It´s easy to turn every email into a promotion rather than an email newsletter when you are a beginning email marketer. Knowing the difference between the two could help you build and maintain your opt-in list.

Email Newsletters

• Offer quality content

• Focus on retaining existing subscribers

• Build a long term relationship

Email Promotions

• Offer hot deals and sales

• Focus on gaining new subscribers

• Are based on a very short-term relationship

While an email promotion is not necessarily a bad thing, you will probably have more luck in the long run with an email newsletter, which builds relationships with your subscribers. This builds trust and you will find that you make more sales per reader than with a promo.

Another thing to consider is what you are offering your subscribers. If you are encouraging them to sign up for and email newsletter full of tips and information and then only deliver sales information, you will find that many people will unsubscribe in disappointment. Make sure you are delivering what you promise.

Email Marketing Surveys Boost Business

Have you ever asked your subscribers what they are interested in learning from you? If not, it is high time you tried doing an email marketing survey. Surveys let you know exactly what people are looking for when they subscribe to your opt in list and you can adapt your email content to fit what they need.

Throwing together a bunch of questions can make a survey, but it isn´t exactly the most effective way to create an email marketing survey. An effective survey is comprised of just the right questions which will get your readers to tell you what it is that they need. However, unless you know how to interpret the results, there isn´t much point in doing a survey.

That´s where companies like Brick Marketing come in. It can really be worth hiring a company that knows what it´s doing to set up your email marketing surveys for you. They will help you not only figure out what the answers mean, but how to improve your email content.

E-Mail Marketing Necessities: What You Need To Effectively Market Yourself Through E-Mail

E-mail is the new direct mail. A few years ago, direct mail marketers were harping on the benefits of mail outs and circulars sent through the U.S. postal system. But the rising cost of postage and paper have made direct mail costs to prohibitive for many businesses. E-mail, on the other hand, is a much less expensive alternative. Unfortunately, SPAM laws make sending out e-mail to just anyone too risky and many businesses are leery of trying it.

I won’t deny the risks, but you shouldn’t shy away from e-mail marketing just because it is risky. There is a way to make it pay for your business. It’s called permission marketing. Your job as marketer is to get the permission of your prospects to market your products and services to them through e-mail. To do that effectively, there are some things you need to lay in place before you start. Consider this:

• You need a highly-optimized website with well-written copy
• You need an e-mail marketing opt-in form on your webite
• You should have a free digital product or give something away for free in exchange for your prospect’s personal information
• An auto responder system should be in place so that you can manage your contacts more effectively
• You must follow up with every prospect on a regular basis

E-mail marketing isn’t hard, but there are strategies that work and strategies that don’t work. I encourage you to get to know them.

3 Common Email Design Errors

Are you making one of these common email design mistakes? Many people do and they could really improve their email marketing skills by fixing them.

1. Sending your email as an image. Many email marketers find that it is easier to simply design the newsletter as an image to avoid the hassles of HTML. Plus, images look the same, no matter which email server your subscribers use. But there are some major flaws in this method, the main one being that more and more servers are actually blocking emails that only consist of images. So, think twice before taking the easy way out.

2. Not including a text based link back to your website. Having the URL in plain sight means people are more likely to click on it than a cloaked link, but many email designs don´t include this vital factor. If your email newsletter is one that lacks a text based link, add it in today.

3. Forgetting to include Alt-text. If your images don´t load, the alt-text is what tells your reader what the content of the photo or illustration is. Without it, they will just be looking at big blank spots in the email design.

If you are making any of these mistakes, it is time to reevaluate your email design and try to improve it. It´s never too late to fix your email design.

Improve Open and Click Rates with 3 Simple Techniques

Every email marketer wants better open and click rates. After all, that´s what makes your business tick, right? Here are 3 very simple techniques that will help you boost your open and click rates easily.

1. Deliverability. If your emails aren´t getting through, your open and click rates won´t go up. Make sure that your emails are CAN-SPAM compliant and that your email service is a reputable one. Ask new subscribers to add you to their email list to guarantee delivery of your emails.

2. Your “from” line. Does your email pop out when readers are scanning their inbox? If your “from” line reads something like Get Fit Now! you have far less chance of improving open and click rates than one that is more personal like “Gene Garrison” or more descriptive without being spammy like “Fitness Techniques”.

3. Timing. What is the best day for emails in your target group. If you cater to a Christian crowd, Sunday probably isn´t your best opportunity to get those open and click rates up there! You might need to test different days, but finding the right one is worth it, you could really boost your active readership.

Three very easy techniques that you could start applying today. They work and you might be surprised at the improvement in your open and click rates.

Email Content: Is Your Welcome Message Up to Par?

You know by now that email content requires a lot of work to keep it useful and interesting, but what about your list welcome message? The majority of email marketers simply use a standard welcome message, something cobbled together at the last minute or even the default autoresponder message.

This simply won´t cut it. If someone was interested enough in what you had to say that they actually gave you their email address, why wouldn´t you be kind enough to send them a well-crafted welcome? It could cement your credibility in the subscriber´s eyes and offers just one more chance to make that vital connection with your readers.

Here´s what should be included in your welcome email content:

• A thank you is a good idea. Thank the person for subscribing.

• Let them know that they have been added to your mailing list because they asked to be.

• Include no-spam requirements somewhere in your email content, let the reader know how to unsubscribe if so desired.

• Let them know how often they can expect to hear from you.

• Tell them how you are going to help them (improve their website, save money, etc.).

All of this should be written as if a real person were talking to them, so try not to make it too dry! That welcome message is just as important as all your other email content. Treat it as something important and you´ll have loyal visitors for life.

Opt-In Techniques to Grab Subscribers

Our inboxes are overflowing with emails every day and you have to give someone a pretty good reason to add your email newsletter to their roster. Here are some opt-in techniques that do just that.

Offer something of value. You know that freebies help draw more subscribers, but did you know that this opt-in technique won´t work unless you offer something that has perceived value? If you offer a free report that is free elsewhere online, why would they sign up with you? However, if you are giving away an ebook that you normally sell for $29.99, that´s value.

Use Tell a Friend. You can find Tell a Friend scripts all over the internet. Use one. Having a trusted friend recommend your newsletter is the best opt-in technique out there. People listen to their friends.

Give them a good reason. If you have an upcoming event or giveaway happening, let people know that they will get an extra discount or receive special behind-the-scene info ahead of time by signing up for your newsletter. They have a good reason to read your email newsletter, to find out when the giveaway starts.

These opt-in techniques are designed to make sure that your email list is one subscribers want to be on. If they are getting something of value just for signing up and then receiving high quality email content along the way, you will find that your opt-in numbers grow.

Source Taken : http://emailmarketingjournal.com/
*-*-*-*-*-*-**-*--*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*--*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-**-*-*-*-*

Do and Don’ts in Email marketing:

1) Address Recipients with Their Name in Email Campaigns.

2) Avoid $ or ### Signs in Email Marketing Campaigns.

3) Avoid Email Marketing During the Holidays.

4) Avoid Mistyped Addresses by Requiring Retyping.

5) Create a Clear Call to Action in Email Marketing Campaigns

6) Experiment with Link Placement in Newsletters

7) HTML or Plain Text: Let Your Recipients Decide

8) Include an Easy to Use Unsubscription Link in Newsletters

9) Inform Your ISP About Your Email Marketing Activities

10) Make HTML and Plain Text Parts Have Corresponding Content

11) Make it Easy for Subscribers to Change Their Email Address

12) Make Sure Unusbscriptions are Effective Immediately

13) Make Sure Your Email Marketing ASP is Opt-In Only

14) Marketing: If You Use Sound, Make Sure it Rocks

15) Motivate People to Sign Up for Your Newsletter with a Bonus

16) Newsletter Content Ideas: Asking the User's Questions

17) Prioritize Newsletter Content for More Clicks

18) Put Newsletter Sign-up Boxes on Every Page.

19) Reply to Requests Within 1 Day

20) Rule of Thumb How Often to Send Your Newsletter

21) Rule of Thumb When to Send Your Newsletter

22) Sales Pitch Makes No Newsletter

23) Send Newsletters at Least Once a Month

24) Send Newsletters On Time

25) Test the Layout of Your Newsletter with Email Clients

26) Test the Links in Your Email Marketing Messages

27) The Difference Between Opt-In and Double Opt-In

28) Use a Template for Your Email Newsletter

29) Use Absolute URLs in Email Marketing Messages, Newsletters

30) Use Bold Face for Emphasis in Email Marketing

31) Use Your Brand in the Subject

32) Use Your Name in the From: Line

Top 10 Rules For Email Marketing

1. Use good data. Only rent email addresses that have a verifiable opt-in status. Response

rates are generally 10 times greater using good opt-in data rather than opt-out.

2. Keep the message simple. Email message broadcasting should be seen as a means to an

end - the end being a contact with your prospect or a visit to your website. Long messages

raise the threshold to response. Keep the reason for emailing to the forefront of the message.

3. Keep the creative simple. Try to ensure the whole message can be seen on one screen,

including response mechanisms. Don't use lots of different font sizes and typefaces - it

confuses and detracts from the message. Make sure that graphics are hosted so that the file

size is kept to a minimum - preferably less than 24kb.

4. Create a good Subject Line. Give the recipient a reason to open your message. Poorly

considered subject lines will negate any good creative or offer, as the recipient may not even

see it. Subject lines should be intriguing and not too salesmanlike.

5. Make it easy to respond - after all, this is the point of the exercise. Always have a clear,

concise call to action. Allow them immediate access to your website and contact by email -

they are online so use the media. You should also enable them to contact you offline.

6. Be prepared to broadcast on multiple occasions. You should not think of email marketing as a

one off hit - an all or nothing approach. Research shows that response rates increase with

frequency as the recognition factor increases.

7. Make use of HTML. Whilst keeping the message simple, you should where possible use html

to create the message - it looks far better on screen, and allows the URL's of links to be

hidden behind visually pleasing images. You should always produce a txt version of the html

to be broadcast simultaneously to the html, to ensure that recipients unable to accept html

will be able to receive your message.

8. Track everything - open rates, unsubscribes clickable-links, emails received, telephone and

faxes received. Simply tracking the clicks is only half the story. You should monitor what

happened when the click through occurred on the website, as well as your sales call centre.

9. Get the timing right - don't broadcast over night to B2B databases as the first thing that will

happen the following morning is that the message will be deleted. Tuesdays and Thursdays

have proved to be the most responsive for B2B broadcasts. Sending a message on a Friday

afternoon to consumers has proved very successful.

10. Datacapture - make sure that at least one link on your email is to a datacapture screen.

Affitliate Marketing

Affitliate Marketing

You joined an affiliate program. Here are the 18 steps to take next

This Affiliate Program Tutorial aims to give you a quick overview.

It's your road map to success as an affiliate.

I've been earning a good living from affiliate programs since 1998. Based on that experience, this tutorial tells you the 18 steps to take to generate a useful income from affiliate programs.

No tricks. No gimmicks. Just solid, reliable methods designed to work for years.

You have the choice of many different ways of earning affiliate commissions.

In my experience, you'll have your best chance of success if you do the following. Find a niche and create a useful, interesting, content-rich, keyword-rich website on one topic and weave in affiliate links and AdSense ads.

This method - with the more recent addition of AdSense ads - has worked beautifully for me since 1998.

I urge you to master this basic method. It's a bit like serving an apprenticeship.

As part of your apprenticeship you'll learn SEO (search engine optimization) skills, copywriting skills and various other Internet marketing skills which will prove to be invaluable, whatever route you choose next.

With any luck, you'll have a bit of fun, too! I do.

I include Google's AdSense in this tutorial. Strictly speaking, AdSense is an advertising network. However, in many ways it's similar to an affiliate program. I think AdSense is fantastic. It's free to join, free to use and easy to use.

It's often much easier to earn good money from AdSense than affiliate programs, so it's essential that you include AdSense in your plans.

OK. Let's get started...

STEP 1: Set a goal

If you want to go somewhere, you need to know where you're going.

Let's start with a modest goal. Say you aim to earn a total of $300 (US) a month in affiliate commissions and AdSense revenue. Imagine what you could do with that money. A holiday? A better lifestyle?

I've kept the amount low, because it's important that you believe you can do this. Achieve small successes first, see the money in your hands or in your bank account, and then increase your goals.

Perhaps you have much larger goals. That's OK. Whatever your goals, I strongly recommend that you serve your apprenticeship by taking these 18 steps. They'll give you solid knowledge and experience on which to build your affiliate business.

Find your niche

STEP 2: Find your niche

To help you find your niche topic, read Ken Evoy's free Affiliate Masters Course and use the excellent advice in it to find a niche that suits you and your interests.

Print out the Affiliate Masters Course, find a quiet, comfortable spot and read it several times.

Spend a lot of time thinking carefully about this and jotting down notes. You're planning a business, so don't rush it. It's very important.

You'll probably avoid Internet marketing topics because that field is so overcrowded and competitive. It's much easier to succeed if you locate a less competitive niche.

Choose a topic that is easy to write about.

Even if you've already chosen a niche, I urge you to read the Affiliate Masters Course. It might make you change your mind.

You can follow your passion or chase the money. With luck - and a bit of keyword research - you may be able to do both.

Examine your potential competitors

If you're considering building a site about hiking boots, type "hiking boots" (using quotation marks) into Google and Yahoo! and carefully examine the top 10 sites which appear in the search results.

They're your real competitors. Can you create a better, more interesting, more useful site? Can you think of a new angle, a new approach?

Do those top 10 sites all have high PageRank - say 6 or more? If so, you'll have to work really hard to get in the top 10.

Let's say the top 3 sites in Google are PageRank 8, 7 and 6. If so, you'll probably have to work hard for a couple of years or more to outrank them. I'm not saying it cannot be done, but it will require either a great deal of work, or a very innovative, eye-catching approach.

You can quickly check the PageRank of your potential competitors by using Seochat's free online tool - http://www.seochat.com/seo-tools/pagerank-search . Type in "hiking boots" or whatever and you'll be able to see the PageRank of the top 10 sites.

Do those sites all have the phrase in the title? (The title is the words that appear at the very top of your screen when you visit a site.) If not, you may be able to beat them.


How many links do your potential competitors have?

Do your potential competitors all have thousands of links to them? This is important, because links are important to search engines. You need good, relevant links to your site. To find out how many sites are linking to a site, use the free Yahoo! Site Explorer. Go to http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com - and login (set up a free account if necessary).

Type the URL of the site you want to explore.

Click on "Explore URL".

Click on "Inlinks".

Modify your search to make it more useful. Select the options to show Inlinks "except from this domain" and "entire site". This will exclude internal links and show you all external links that Yahoo! knows about to ANY page of the website.

If your potential sites have thousands of links to them, they're likely to be very tough competitors.

Don't decide definitely on a niche topic until you've taken the next two steps...

STEP 3. Choose a profitable niche

Do some research on Google AdWords and Wordtracker to choose the most profitable niche from among the ones you're considering. Because you're planning to use AdSense, you want valuable keywords or key phrases, if possible ones that people are paying at least 50 cents per click for on Yahoo! Search Marketing (it used to be called Overture) and AdWords.

You're going to build a site the search engines love, so you also want to find key phrases that many people are typing into search engines. You don't rely on guesswork.

You must do this BEFORE you start building your web site. That's critically important.

Here's a useful free tool I like using for quick, rough keyword research: pixelfast.com/overture/ (Unfortunately, this free tool is based on the free Overture Keyword Suggestion Tool which Yahoo! doesn't bother maintaining properly. Sometimes it doesn't work.)

Type in a phrase, for example, "hiking boots", click "Go", follow the instructions, and you can see how much advertisers are paying per click for that phrase on the Overture network of web sites.

You can also see how many people searched for the phrase the previous month. For a number of reasons, this figure is often unreliable and can be grossly exaggerated. For example, it gives you the SAME results for "wool rug" and "rug wool", which is ridiculous. That's why I double check results using Wordtracker.

Wordtracker's free trial is fairly limited. Fortunately, they allow you to subscribe cheaply for a week at a time. It's very fast, so you can do an awful lot of keyword research in a week. I use the annual subscription now.

Go to Google's AdWords and find out how much advertisers are willing to pay for the keywords or key phrases you're interested in. Here's how.

Go to https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal and play around with the free Keyword Tool.

For example, try putting in a keyword or phrase, such as "recipe" and click on "Get More Keywords". Pretend you're willing to pay the maximum per click the tool allows - 100. (You can choose any currency. I chose US.)

Over on the right side of the page, make sure that "Cost and position estimates" is selected.

The tool will calculate for you the estimated average CPC (cost per click) for a whole lot of words and phrases.

Try entering a different word, say "debt" or "free", click on "Re-calculate" and watch how the CPC changes.

You don't HAVE to choose a topic which has expensive keywords. Often topics that have expensive keywords are very competitive. You may do better choosing a less competitive niche with cheaper keywords.

If you use Site Build It to build your site, you'll find the brainstorming tool in it awesome to help you come up with ideas and phrases you wouldn't have thought of without it.

Beware: If you choose certain topics, Google will not allow you to place AdSense ads on your site and you'll miss out on a very lucrative opportunity.

Such topics include gambling, firearms, ammunition, balisongs, butterfly knives, and brass knuckles; beer or alcohol; tobacco or tobacco-related products; and prescription drugs.

For a full list of topics you may wish to avoid see: https://www.google.com/adsense/policies?hl=en_US

Advertisers can choose to have their ads displayed only on Google or also on a large network of sites. Will AdSense ads you see on Google appear on your pages? To get an idea, find web pages that have material similar to the content you're planning to create and look at their AdSense ads.

For more accurate research, you can also use the free AdSense preview tool to see which ads are being displayed to people in different countries.

Another niche-finding tool I'm very fond of is Myleena's NicheInspector. Using this powerful tool will save you a LOT of time, because it automates a great deal of the work. If you're going to get this tool, make sure you read her free report before you start using it, because her free report explains why she uses the methods she does.

Don't make any firm decision on your niche until you've taken the next step...

Research affiliate merchants

STEP: 4. Research affiliate merchants

Before you make a firm decision on a topic for your site, you'll need to do research to see if there are suitable affiliate products which match your topic.

You want affiliate merchants that have excellent products, excellent reputations and sites that look as though they're good at selling. You can search the AssociatePrograms.com affiliate directory for ideas.

Consider aiming for lifetime commissions.

If you're lucky, you'll manage to select a web site topic that has affiliate programs which pay lifetime commissions or residual commissions - the sort reviewed at LifetimeCommissions.com.

You'll earn repeat commissions when "your" customers make more purchases

Build a useful, interesting web site on your niche

STEP 5: Build a useful, interesting web site on your niche

Here's an very important step. Many newcomer affiliates who fail do so because they have overlooked its importance.

Don't just build a website. Build a useful, interesting website on your niche.

One of the best ways is to build a site which solves people's problems. Useful sites also often help their visitors decide which products to buy.

Create a content rich, keyword-rich site, designed to be found in search engines.

Show your personality. Have a bit of fun. Be memorable. You need to connect with your visitors. Remember that people like buying from people they like.

There's no space in this affiliate program tutorial to describe how to build a website. For that, you'll need a good instruction manual.

If you're short of money, you can hunt for free information on sites such HTMLGoodies.

You'll save yourself an enormous amount of time and frustration if you take the plunge and buy a good instruction manual.

Here are the two best options:

(1.) For keen do-it-your-selfers, I recommend Rosalind Gardner's Super Affiliate Handbook.

Rosalind is a real been-there-done-that super affiliate.

Her instruction manual shows you how she builds very successful sites using web authoring software.

It starts right at the beginning, discussing topics such as myths about doing business online, mistakes to avoid, how to choose the best topic, how to choose the right domain name, etc.

The book, updated in May 2006, takes you step-by-step through the whole process.

One particularly useful feature is her explanation of how she achieves high conversion rates (visitor-to-sales ratios), achieving conversion rates of 4% or 6% while most affiliates are happy with 1%.

Another of the strengths of the book is her descriptions of a wide variety of ways to get traffic to your site. This is important - too many affiliates rely on just one or two traffic-generating methods. The more traffic-generating methods you have, the safer your business is.

Rosaland is genuinely successful, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Now she's also a very successful author, with sales of more $1 million from her book, which is excellent value.

When you learn from her, you're learning from a winner.

Learn more about Rosalind's Super Affiliate Handbook here.

(2.) For affiliates who want to simplify things as much as possible and automate the tedious techie stuff, I recommend Ken Evoy's Site Build It (SBI).

SBI is a site-building, site-hosting, site-promoting suite of tools, all in one place.

Once you have SBI, you don't have to go scurrying all over the Net adding more tools and software. You have almost all you need in one package, so you can concentrate on the fun part - creating useful, interesting content.

Here's what one happy SBI user says

SBI comes with a newly updated, truly comprehensive instruction manual, a step-by-step Action Guide, and a truly superb private forum where SBI users share information and help each other.

SBI is the tool I give my assistants. Take the free Video Tour and you'll understand why.

Ken Evoy's instruction manual is doing my work for me. First it taught Rupert and then Ros how to build a high quality, successful, revenue-generating site. Now it's being used by another assistant to whom I outsource website maintenance.

You could build a site without SBI, but using it saves you time and effort by simplifying the process. It provides a recipe for business success.

SBI teaches you how to optimize your web pages so they'll be found in search engines. After building a page, you click the "Analyze It" button and it tells you what you need to do to improve it.

The SBI technique really works. Two of the SBI sites that Rupert built are included in the case studies on the SBI site.

Add affiliate links

STEP 6: Add affiliate links

As you write the articles for your site, weave affiliate links into them. Always have a typical visitor in mind as you write the articles. Speak to that visitor.

Your task as an affiliate is to help your visitor decide what to buy.

One successful technique is to gradually lead your visitor towards a purchase. Start by outlining a problem, discuss a good solution that has worked for you, and end the article with a link that is a call to action, such as a hyperlink that says, "Find out more here."

Your task as an affiliate is NOT to sell (that's the merchant's job) but to presell, to warm up your visitors. You want your visitors in a ready-to-buy frame of mind when they arrive at the merchant's site.

For superb advice on preselling, I strongly recommend you join Ken Evoy's 5 Pillar Affiliate Program. It's free to join.

Ken is an absolute whiz at preselling and he's renowned for working extremely hard to help his affiliates succeed. He has a superb program. It's been No.1 in my Top 10 for several years. I earn five-figure monthly commissions from this affiliate program.

STEP 7: Place AdSense ads on your site

If you have a good, popular site, it's remarkably easy to make good money with Google AdSense. AdSense is free to join.

Get good quality links to your site

STEP 8: Get good quality links to your site

Without links to your site, your site won't be found in the search engines. So you MUST get links to your site, if possible from "authority" sites - ones that have lots of links to them.

First, link to other sites. Choose sites that have similar or related themes, and invite those sites to link to you.

This is hugely important. Search engines love sites that have many links to them - especially if those links come from sites which are themselves popular.

Now you see why I said build a useful, interesting site. If you do that, people are more likely to link to your site.

Here's an article I wrote describing how to get reciprocal links.

Reciprocal links should be only a small part of your marketing strategy - not your whole marketing strategy.

Even better than reciprocal links are one-way links. Here's an article describing how to get one-way links.

Some of these one-way links techniques are fairly advanced and require considerable work. Most of your competitors will be too lazy to do them, so you'll have a big advantage if you do. They can make the difference between a hobby site and a serious, very profitable business.

STEP 9: Anchor text

You'll also need to understand the importance of anchor text, the words you use to link to pages on your site, the words people use when they link to your site.

To search engines, anchor text is very important.

STEP 10: List your site in major directories and niche directories in your industry.

You probably already know about Yahoo! (good but expensive) and DMOZ (often takes months to get into).

Here are some more directories (some charge a fee):

Gimpsy
Skaffe
Joeant
Business.com
GoGuides
SevenSeek
ThisIsOurYear
Looksmart (probably too expensive)
BlueFind
WowDirectory
Best of the Web
GeniusFind

Guides to web directories

David Mahler has a Guide to Web Directories. It's a good list of recommended web directories.

Here's another list: http://www.strongestlinks.com/directories.php

How to find niche directories:

• Go to Search It! (It's a very handy free research tool.)
• Scroll to the Search Category, "Specialty Hubs and Directories"
• Choose one of the 4 options in STEP 2
• Read the "Click Here for Information..." help before proceeding
• Complete STEPS 3 and 4, and then click on Search It!
• Read the tutorial. It tells you what to do with the search results
• Get your search results. You should be able to find relevant, themed hub sites and directories which will list your site. Some charge a fee, some are free.

Place your articles on other websites

STEP 11: Place your articles on other websites

Write articles and distribute them to article directories (fairly easy) and try to persuade newsletters and other sites to publish them (more challenging.

This step isn't absolutely essential, but it helps enormously if you do it. Now you understand why it was so important that you chose a topic that was easy to write about.

STEP 12: Add more pages and get more links.

Keep adding useful, interesting, keyword-rich pages (you do research at Wordtracker for this) and keep encouraging more sites to link to your site.

Make friends with other web site owners, and more people will link to you...

STEP 13: Be patient.

If your new site is typical, nothing much will seem to happen for the first couple of months or so, and you'll probably become frustrated and find it hard to believe that this is going to work.

You're likely to feel annoyed, cheated and ready to quit. You're likely to be a prime target for people selling get-rich-quick junk.

Many affiliates give up at this stage. Stick with it. If you're persistent and get the details right, the process I'm describing works beautifully.

Learn something new every day. Do something to improve your business every day. If you do this, success is inevitable.

Expect to see signs of success

STEP 14: Expect to see signs of success.

Eventually, because of all the links to your site on other sites, Google, Yahoo! and MSN will find your site and start sending you traffic.

Perhaps around the three-month or four-month stage you'll be receiving 100 visitors a day. Visitors will like what they see and some site owners will start linking to you and asking you to link to them.

Keep at it. You're just getting warmed up.

STEP 15: The payoff...

About six months down the road, after little expense but quite a lot of hard work and research, you hit your magical $300 a month mark, from affiliate sales and from AdSense ads on your site.

Depending on the niche you've chosen and the skills you've learned, you might earn considerably more than $300.

Perhaps after 12 months, you'll be earning $500 to $1,000 a month from your site.

The checks keep coming in, month after month, even when you take a little vacation. You start telling friends how easy affiliate marketing is, and are puzzled when they're not convinced.

Of course, it's not really easy. It just seems easy after you've done the hard work.

...or the NON-payoff

If you've merely scanned the instruction manual and jumped right in without doing any research and built a "Make Money on the Internet" site, you'll probably earn very little. A search on Google for "make money" displays more than 4 million pages. If one of those is yours, you have a LOT of competition.

If you did this and it isn't working for you, go back to step 1 and start again.

Tweak your site

STEP 16: Tweak your site

To boost your conversion rate (your visitor-to-sales ratio), try little experiments, one thing at a time.

Try changing the heading on a page, the words, the colors, the placement of your links. With each change wait until about 1,000 visitors have seen the change, and monitor your affiliate commissions to see if they rise or fall.

You do this because you understand that if 1% of your visitors are buying and tiny changes boost your success rate to 2%, you'll DOUBLE your commissions.

STEP 17: The future

When you reach your goal of $300 a month, you wonder whether you should expand your site, perhaps adding a newsletter, an autoresponder course or two, a forum, RSS newsfeeds, a blog, a whitepaper, a report to sell ... and turn it into a portal. You dream big. Perhaps you even start dreaming of having your own affiliates promoting your reports for you...

Or perhaps you just research another little overlooked niche and start on your next simple little, low-maintenance money-generating site.

It can be done. The main ingredient needed is persistence. Been there, done that, and I have a very nice lifestyle to prove it.

The $300 a month target is very conservative. If that's all you earn, you've done something "wrong". You haven't chosen profitable keywords carefully enough, you haven't built enough attractive, keyword-rich pages, you haven't learned the basics of optimizing pages for search engines, or you haven't attracted enough good quality links to your site.

That's the wonderful thing about this business. You can make lots of mistakes and still earn useful money. Just don't make TOO many mistakes.

STEP 18: Take the first step

That's the one that matters most.

I suggest you go back and read through this affiliate program tutorial again.

Picture yourself owning a successful Internet business. Picture yourself opening letters and finding checks in them. Picture yourself going into your PayPal account and seeing the latest commissions you've been paid by affiliate merchants.

Imagine enjoying yourself spending the money, perhaps even giving up your day job so that you can concentrate on your own business.

Now take the first step.

And when you've quit your day job, please write and tell me. I love getting emails like that.

Source Taken From: http://www.associateprograms.com/