Posted January 11th, 2011

Escape From Manic Marketing: Develop an Internet Marketing Plan for Your Online Business

2011 is the Year of the Plan! Too many online business owners are floundering in the winds of effective internet marketing. They are so many people with valuable solutions to provide but because they are enamored with the bells, whistles and promises of technologies and gurus, most simply fade into the background and become internet wallpaper.

The first thing new and stuck webpreneurs have to understand is, many web moguls we admire hopped on the internet marketing train in its infancy and were able to make a lot of money simply by being first movers in their markets. However, over the last few years the internet marketing field has exploded and many webpreneurs are struggling to carve out a place for their brand message can be heard and received. The problem is, most of them are simply “copycat marketing” instead of practicing only those strategies that work best for their target audience.

Perhaps the biggest problem I’ve observed as an online business manager is the lack of planning that goes into many online businesses. You can have the best business coach in the world and come away with confidence and ideas to get your business in profitable order. But, if you don’t have a plan that anchors you and maps out your direction, you will spin your wheels and get nowhere fast!

If you find yourself lost in the pack, here are 4 ways to use a marketing plan to rock your online business to profitable recognition this year.

Step 1: Create a marketing plan for your online presence.

The first think you need to do is invest in getting a marketing plan done. There are a few ways to do this. If you are the Do-It-Yourself type, the Marketing Plan Pro, Powered by  John Jantsch’s Duct Tape Marketing , is an excellent solution for you.  It’s not only inexpensive, but it offers step by step guidance and examples on how to get a plan done quickly and start executing. Another way to approach this is to find a coach or consultant who specializes in creating marketing plans. You might want to try your local chamber of commerce. Many offer free or discounted business planning and development resources to members and non members.

Step 2:  Activate Your Marketing Magic.

Once you have your plan done, it’s time to start putting it into action. If you are strapped for resources, try using the Duct Tape Marketing principles to gain momentum until you can hire additional resources to get you moving faster. Another option is to hire a virtual assistant or online business manager to execute your plan. When you have a marketing plan in place, it helps your team and you move in sync. Without a plan, you may find that you are operating in a space of “hit-or-miss” that will inevitably land you in manic marketing trouble.

Step 3:  Work It.

Once you have a plan in place and have identified resources for helping you implement it. Now, it’s time for you to work what you’ve got! Don’t aim for perfect execution, especially if you have limited help resources. Aim instead for a slow and steady approach, finding the rhythm that works for your current goals and resources.

Step 4:  Measure.

Of course no marketing plan or strategy would be complete without measuring your efforts. It doesn’t have to be complicated at this point. Don’t get paralyzed by trying to create an elaborate spreadsheets. Start by simply visiting weekly or monthly, those places where you are focusing your marketing energy. Got an ezine? How many people are subscribing, un-subscribing and opening your eZine? Use Google Analytics to track how many site visits you get and analyze how the traffic is translating into sales. Start with what’s the least overwhelming and work your way up to tracking everything. The key is to develop the consistency and the system and build growth upon.

This article highlights simple steps you can take to insure the viability of your online success against manic marketing mayhem! Next, we’re going to take a look at how creating a marketing calendar will help make your new marketing makeover easy.


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Posted October 26th, 2010

Blog Much? Why Blogging is the Best Way to Attract Clients and Cash to Your Online Business

Blogging to make money online? How can a solo online business owner pounce on this opportunity?

There are a number of ways to make money online with blogging. I know when many solo webpreneurs think of juggling the writing of articles , blogs, social media posts, and creating other multi media channels to increase visibility, it causes instant creative paralysis. It makes your head want to explode. However, there are some major benefits to be gained if you can wrangle some of these platforms and use them effectively in your business. One such way is learning how to use blogging to get more traffic and sales.

Now, unless you are an author by trade, coming up with fresh and engaging blog posts two-three times per week can seem a bit intimidating. However, it may be one of the best ways to get people to notice you above your competitors.

I came across a post by Francois Muscat who sites some interesting research numbers from a study conducted by BuzzLogic/Jupiter Research. The study polled “2,000  online consumers found that blogs were a prime influencer of purchase decisions“.

Here are some of the results Muscate highlights from the study:

  1. 50 percent of blog readers said they found blogs useful for purchase information.
    Blog readers trusted relevant blog content for making purchase decisions more than content from social networking sites.
  2. For those who have found blog content useful for product decisions, more than half (56 percent) said blogs with a niche focus and topical expertise were key sources.
  3. What are the ways blog readers make use of the information?  Use it to discover products and services (17 percent). Refine their choices (19 percent).  Decide on a product or service (21 percent). Get support and answers (9 percent).
  4. Twenty-five percent of blog readers say they trust ads on a blog they read. Nineteen percent say they trust ads on social networking sites.

It’s clear by looking at the numbers that a consistent and well written blog will garner the know, like and trust elements needed to drive visitors to buy from you. Because of the perceptions of overwhelm when it comes to blogging, many online business owners skip it altogether and jump right into social media and get frustrated with lackluster results. If you ever wondered why that is, maybe these numbers provide some “ah ha” moments for you.

Not only is blogging key to the obvious benefit of  helping to boost your search engine positioning, it is imperative in establishing credibility, conversation and connection with your visitors. In addition to influencing consumer’s buying decisions, it also arms you with a content marketing arsenal that can be re purposed into other forms to  increase your reach and influence.

Another important take away from the study is the fact that “blog readers trusted relevant blog content for making purchase decisions more than content from social networking sites”. A key indicator that we need to be strategic in employing social media into our marketing mix. If most consumers look to social media to converse verses looking for products or services, perhaps the best strategy is to talk to consumers in social media and inform them on your blog.

As you evaluate your marketing activities and their ROI, make sure you consider how blogging to attract clients will fit into your overall strategy!

Need help with articles and blogs? Like our Facebook Page and get a special discount on our traffic generating, full service Article Marketing Packages to get hands free solutions to your online visibility needs.

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Posted October 18th, 2010

How To Create A Simple Three Month Online Content Delivery Plan

With people spending more and more time online than they do anywhere else, many online business owners battle through technology and trends to get their attention. It isn’t unusual to see pop up, slide over, video or audio ads on webpages you visit, in fact they are very common and often successful form of interruption marketing. However, since you have to get people to your site to experience this, you have to cast a wider net and what about the folk who don’t fall for the hovering opt in form? Where does that leave a good marketing strategy? Yes, my friends, diversity is the name of the game and it seems  content marketing is fast emerging as the way to go when it comes to reaching and connecting with potential customers. So, businesses have turned to that and a variety of websites, blogs, and other online media  with the aim of providing customers with the necessary information to drive them to take a profitable consumer action. The problem is, it’s difficult for a solo online buiness owner with limited time and budget to sustain this kind of undertaking; that is, without a plan.

Your business can gain a lot from using the content marketing model. So, outlined below are steps on how you can create a simple three month online content delivery plan that can help you set up your business for success.

1. Choose a product/service you want to sell

First and foremost know what you are dealing with. Remember, content marketing is all about providing relevant and valuable information to your potential customers. Identify what product or service you want to sell and focus your research on the market or the industry that it belongs to. Mastery of the product or service you are trying to sell is key.

2. Choose a Monthly Theme that relates to your product or service

When you know what  product or service you want to promote each month, try to think of a concept or a theme that will work well around it. Get creative with this one because how you present it will largely determine if people will stick around to know more about it. Choose a different theme per month so there will be some variety and keep people checking for anything new. When in doubt, take a look at an observance calendar to find fun ways to deliver your offerings to your audience.

3. Identify what type of content you want to deliver and how frequently

With the different kinds of media available to you online, pick one that is best suited to your message. Social sites, web blogs, online newsletters, all of these have their own advantages and disadvantages and it is up to you to determine how to work a particular medium’s strengths to your content delivery needs. Don’t employ these methods just because everyone is doing it. Make sure it is the right option for your resources. Otherwise, it can fall flat. Also, plan out a schedule on when you are to deliver your content. This is often neglected by some, but shouldn’t be because it’ll help you keep track of the success of your content and will help you trend on your progress.

4. Publish your content

Once you’ve chosen the appropriate medium for your type of content, it’s time to put it out there. Take on the mindset of a “publisher” instead of a “seller” so that you can come off as more credible as you gift to your potential customers the information they are seeking.

5. Get Feedback: Track What Works and Why

As you release your content, don’t forget to provide avenues from which your customers can give their feedback. This will make it easier for you to improve on matters that they find problematic or to build on ones that they find useful. Make sure you utilize analytics tools to look at the hard numbers and access the impact of your return on investment.

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Posted October 14th, 2010

How to Become a Content Marketing Superstar

Content marketing is the today’s hot new “it” marketing strategy. It’s better suited to meet customer demands as well as business sale’s goals, content marketing benefits both ends by being able to provide customers with relevant and valuable information while at the same time driving them to take better profitable action. So how does one capitalize on the merits of content marketing? Here are some ways on how to become as content marketing superstar.

1)      Develop a Content Marketing Mindset

Get yourself out of the traditional marketing mindset that centers on selling your product and services through constantly bombarding potential customers with advertisements or what they call interruption marketing. This method isn’t suited to the times anymore as people are now more likely to  unsubscribe or simply ignore overt selling.  Get yourself into the mindset that people nowadays want to get educated more than anything. They want to be in the know and have the information needed to make an informed decision on how to spend their hard earned dollars.

2)      Re-Think How You Market Your Products and Services

As previously mentioned, you have to get off the horse of traditional marketing because it is no longer effective. With content marketing you broaden your avenues for bringing awareness and relevance to your products and services. A lot of new media is available for you to consider such as online newsletters, podcasts, websites, and microblogs. All of these forms have their advantages and disadvantages so plan you intend to market your business and work with a format that will play particularly well to your talents and resources.

3)      Commit to the Process

Content marketing is all about consist delivery of high quality content. Once you’ve taken it on, commit yourself to providing your customers with the information they need. Through constant exposure and contact with your customers, you establish your expertise as well as influence in your market. This sets up a trust between you and the customer that will be greatly rewarded with an increase in profitable consumer action as well as repeat businesses.

4)      Consider Yourself a Publisher

Getting into the mindset of content marketing means that you now take a different primary role. You are no longer just someone selling a product or offering a service, you have now become a publisher. By embracing this role, you will better be able to work for the interest of your target audience and give them relevant and valuable information.

5)      Focus on Entertaining and Adding Value

Engage your customers with your content by focusing on entertaining as well as adding value to your content. This will be the means by which they will continue to patronize your brand and give you their attention.

6)      Create a Schedule for Delivery

Again, consistency is key not only in matters of content, but also on when it gets to your customers. By defining a schedule you can easily keep track of the success of your content over time.

7)      Systemize your plan and appoint someone to manage the process

A good team and a good strategy are key to the success of content marketing. By having someone manage it, you can define guidelines and standards for the production of content so you remain consistent.

Content marketing is a better fit with the web 2.0 model. The consumer is in control. Like the fans of a music artist or actor, it is their acceptance and magnetism toward you that will catapult you to success. So, if you wanna be a superstar in your market and have the ability to change the world, start implementing these steps today! Lights, Camera ACTION!

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Posted October 12th, 2010

Oh! What a Tangled Web We Weave…

If you are like most solo online business owners, you have become ensnared with all the intricacies of marketing your business. So, much so, that you have totally lost the passion and zeal for operating in your expertise. You may even be second guessing whether this was such a good idea to begin with.

There are so many cool things you can do to reach customers online. The problem is… there are so many things you can do to reach customers online. And, we find ourselves trapped in a web of half completed systems in our business that causes us to slow down and become ineffective in our marketing. So, your business stalls.

If this sounds like you, here are six steps to free yourself of the sticky traps of the how and focus on the “ what” and “why” to build a profitable online presence.

Re-visit “Why” You are in business

When you first started your entrepreneurial journey, you had so much optimism, fire and passion to change people’s lives as well as your own. What happened? The thrift of online business start up, in my opinion, weakens the muscles needed to grow a business. As a result, our vision and purpose gets lost and our voice gets muted as we find ourselves trying to get the technology to work so we can start to move. Things change so fast in the online marketing game that while you are trying to figure out the right auto-responder sequence. People have moved on to another marketing trend of the moment to get customers. And, guess what? You are missing out because you can’t even articulate who you are anymore because your brain is fried.

Define “What” it is you are offering

According to a survey done by Foster Research, 90% of customers go online to make buying decisions. So, if you are murky on what your solutions to the problems people are searching to solve are, no one is going to care that you have an awesome website or free “fill in the blank” to offer.  When you get caught up in the “how” like what email to send, how often etc. It’s not going to matter how often you communicate with your list, because you have not defined what the result of working with you will be. Look at your own inbox and you will see that it is mostly filled with information you could care less about. So ,you need to ask yourself, how you can communicate more value and meaning to the lives  and use of your target audience.

Discover the place where your brilliance breaks through

Online, content is everything and another area where webpreneurs get lost is in operating in areas that don’t suit their natural passion. If you are trying to write weekly blogs and you hate writing or are too busy, you won’t be able to get people to connect to your message. People can’t know you if they don’t see you, like you if they don’t know you or trust you if you are invisible. So, if you can speak, record it then transcribe it. I have found that if you can just talk about what you do and the issues that people have that you exist to solve, the brilliance of you just flows naturally and abundantly.  So start there and re-purpose to reach a broader audience.

Plan to do something, not everything

This is a biggie. If you want a news letter because Guru X said you need a newsletter to build your list or a radio show because Guru Y said so, you will find yourself in a horrible tailspin if there is no strategy in place for YOUR vision. I know that traffic generation is the goal but you have to start somewhere and the “do-it-all” approach will leave you  and your business broke down, especially if you don’t have a team or the financial resources to get help with implementation. So try the small, slow and steady approach.  This way you can develop a rhythm that works for you as well as get more intimate with what your target audience’s pains are.

Commit to an action plan

Don’t allow yourself to become like a dog chasing a ball. Discipline yourself to commit to the plan of action you create. Don’t be distracted by new programs or events. Just work your plan. Those things will always be there. Besides, how many programs have you purchased that you actually use in your business to affect?

Limit your Influencers

Piggybacking off the previous point, try to limit those you follow or employ for advice to a limit of 1-2 people. Anymore will just clog you brain space and render you paralyzed. Stay focused and you will be productive and profitable.

Remember, time is money and the more time you spend trying to do everything and listen to everyone about YOUR business, the less money you will make. So dream big and work smart to see your online business become a web wide success.

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Posted October 7th, 2010

Five Simple Ways to Jumpstart Your Content Marketing Strategy

With the advent of new media, traditional ways of marketing don’t suffice anymore or simply don’t work . People tend to skip through advertisements when watching television, skim through webpages for content that they need and consciously ignore all material that are blatantly selling them something.  With this change in consumer practice, content marketing has taken a foothold by being able to strike at people’s increased need for education as they gain access to newer forms of media brought about by the internet. Til now, the strategic content marketing trend has largely been leveraged by bloggers and mid-size to larger business. But nowadays, a simple content marketing strategy can go a long way for a webpreneur, especially if you give it something extra to stand out. To help you with that here is a list of five simple ways to jumpstart your content marketing strategy.

1)      Create a signature series.

What better way to identify yourself than to create a signature series that will carry your brand’s vision and identity thus giving your content and your business in general a better recall from customers.

2)      Choose content formats that are easy to produce

Different forms of media are available from which you can produce your content so choose one that will best deliver your message to your customers. Know first your available resources and from that work out which format is best suited for you. Email and websites are common choices because they hardly cost anything and only require your time and great content. Other formats such as custom magazines and print or online newsletters require a little more in terms of “packaging” your content. Go with your strengths and your resources.

3)      Create a calendar or timeline for production

A good strategy always comes along with a great deal of planning. Get organized. Assuming you already have a targeted customer base, figure out a schedule of when content gets to them. Remember in content marketing, you only establish your credibility through repetitive contacts with your customers, so make sure that you plan your timeline well.

4)      Determine who will manage this process

Have a team setup for this purpose only and assign someone will manage it. By doing so your content remains cohesive all throughout.  Pick someone adept on your business goals and vision while at the same time has the creativity to deliver these messages the best way possible. With a content manager, guidelines, standards, branding, voice tone and messaging, and the quality control process are tracked and guided properly so that your content remains consistent no matter what format you produce it.

5)      Ask for feedback, duplicate what works and improve on what doesn’t.

The great thing about content marketing is the connection it builds between your business and your customers over time. Given this great opportunity, maximize it by incorporating their feedbacks into your marketing strategy. People are glad enough to be able to find an avenue to voice out their concerns on products and services so give them that. It works to your advantage because then you will be able to improve on your business while building on their trust.

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Posted October 5th, 2010

The Advantages of Content Marketing for Webpreneurs

Content marketing is a term commonly used to cover all marketing strategies or formats that deal with the creation and distribution of relevant and valuable content geared at engaging potential customers and making repeat businesses with those who are already customers. This approach to marketing is different from traditional marketing or interruption marketing as it is more commonly called, which focuses on directly selling products and services to consumers through advertisements which are strategically placed where these customers are likely to be found.

What makes content marketing different?
Three words…”relevant” and “valuable” and consistent delivery of content. While traditional marketing focuses on content aimed at directly selling products, content marketing focuses on providing consumers with the necessary information to make a good choice whether or not they choose to buy your product or service. And doing so consistently. This approach may have been unthinkable before given the ease by which advertisements provide recall and identity to a brand, but the advancements in technology that have made information easier to be distributed has caused a shift in how people approach products and services, they now want to know more about what they are looking at before they get it. It is no wonder then that content marketing has become the chosen marketing strategy of businesses in recent years.

Here are some of the other advantages of content marketing and why you should make a shift if you want your online business to be successful.

Builds customer trust and confidence.

When you are in touch with the needs of your customers and you willingly provide it to them without any hidden agenda, they break down their sales resistance and respond better to your product or service. Content marketing allows you to educate your customers on the industry and the relevance of your product or service without it sounding like a sales pitch. As you continue to provide them with information, you begin to establish your credibility in their eyes thus building their trust of your brand as an authority in your field. This leads to increased consumer action and more repeat businesses.

Effects last longer.

Unlike other forms of marketing, publishing your content via a blog, a microsite, or other online media will continue to provide traffic long after you’ve posted them. Given that you have high-quality content posted, anyone who stumbles upon your content even months after you initially published it can still potentially become a customer.

Economical.

Content marketing makes good use of your time, energy and money. In most cases, money isn’t even the biggest issue because you don’t have to spend as much as you have to for ads. The real investments would have to be time and effort because great content only comes out through the most extensive planning, research, and execution.

Reaches your target audience.

With content marketing you can lock on to a specific consumer base and reap tremendous success from it. This is because content marketing allows you to optimize and create your content based on the specific interests or needs of your target customers plus allows you to distribute it in formats most suited to them.

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Posted March 5th, 2010

7 Ways to Play a Bigger Game, Build Your List and Create Multiple Income Streams…

As you know, you can find oodles of information on the above topics all around the we. The problem is, most of it is just infocrap’ and doesn’t really tell you much beyond what you already know. Well, I have happened upon a really great resource for you( which does not require opt-in, sweet!).

Check out The Launch Coach Library: http://www.thelaunchcoach.com/thelibrary

Hurry, though, I am not sure how long this information will be free.  Enjoy!

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Posted December 1st, 2009

“5 Ways to Use Testimonials in Your Marketing”

Author: Katrina Sawa

This is an obvious message for some of you but is it for all of you? Are there areas you’re missing in your marketing where you could be utilizing testimonials in order to give you, your business and your products and services more credibility?

Using testimonials in your marketing in various ways is a F.R.E.E. way to compel people to buy from you so you really want to maximize your efforts.

First of course you have to HAVE testimonials to show. If you don’t have any then ASK your customers for them. If they drag their heels in getting them to you on their own then offer to write them for them if you have to and let them review and approve them. If you have customers that are business owners, offer to showcase their testimonial with their picture and website link on your website or in your ezine and they’ll get added exposure for their business just for helping you out.

If you have customers that want to keep their involvement with you kept secret or the services you provide are more embarrassing for many to admit to using for example then try getting testimonials from vendors, referral sources or other means for other things.

5 Ways to use Testimonials in Your Marketing:

1. Ezines
You may always want to put a testimonial in your ezines because it could be the only thing your subscribers see about you every once in a while. Whether they read every single issue or only one once in a while, if you always have a testimonial in them then that ONE day that ONE person decides to think about taking action with your products or services from one of your ezines it could very well help them make their decision if you have a really great testimonial in it.
Notice I always have a testimonial in my ezines right below the featured article, whether I wrote the article or if I’m using a guest article, it doesn’t matter. I trade them out about every 3 ezines in case you didn’t notice…I do have many and collect them all the time for this reason.

2. Website
You should always have testimonials on your website and I say it’s better to sprinkle them all over the site, on every page in boxes or side columns so they stand out rather than just putting them all on ONE testimonial page (which you can still have but put them everywhere too).

3. Direct Mail
You want to use testimonials even in your direct mailing like on oversized postcards, letters and flyers or anything you send to add credibility to whatever you’re trying to sell. (P.S. Hopefully you ARE still doing direct mail as a means of follow up even if you’re doing email marketing too!!)

4. Marketing Materials
You can put testimonials on your brochures (if you still have them), your handouts, flyers and anything in print you use to promote your business with. Testimonials are actually more important to show here than bullet points of your products or services; those should be on your website because most people will look at your website before taking action with you anyway and one marketing piece sure isn’t going to sell them. So use testimonials to give them an incentive to actually go to your site for more info.

5. Ads
If you’re still doing some sort of traditional advertising (it’s still a good way to market for some businesses, but typically not entrepreneurs like coaches, consultants, etc.) then the same thing goes for testimonials in your ads like I mentioned in #4 above. People are less likely these days to buy your stuff from an ad but your ad if done well and compelling enough could lead them to your website where you can get them on the list and encourage them more to take action.

Another thing to consider when gathering your testimonials is to try getting them in other formats rather than just the written word. You can have your customer read their testimonial into an audio recording service with their phone even. You can videotape your clients when you meet with them or have them videotape themselves and send you the file. With videos then you can even upload them to your YouTube, MySpace and Facebook profiles in addition to your website.

The more creative you can get the more they will work for you.

My favorite thing to do whenever I can is to brainstorm with entrepreneurs on how they can design, update, recreate or shift their businesses and implement new marketing strategies in order to be happier, live a more fulfilled life and do the things they are passionate about that can make them a very good living if set up correctly.

What is YOUR favorite thing to do for ‘work’? Are you doing that or do YOU need to make a shift?

About the Author:

(c) Copyright 2009 K. Sawa Marketing International. Katrina Sawa is an Award-Winning Relationship Marketing Coach who’s helped hundreds of small business owners take dramatic steps in their businesses to get them to the next level in business, revenues and life. Go online now to get started with her Free Report and Free Audio at http://www.jumpstartyourmarketing.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com“5 Ways to Use Testimonials in Your Marketing”

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Posted November 18th, 2009

Create an Affiliate Program to Increase Sales for the Holidays!

agreementSo you’ve released a new book or some other tele-product and your list just gobbled it up. The first month of your release, sales were jumpin’. Now, they’ve slowed to a crawl. How can you give your sales a jolt in time for the holidays. Well, you can work harder to find, engage and compel new customers or you can recruit a loyal sales force by creating an affiliate program for your product.

Odds are you yourself, whether knowingly or unknowingly, have made a purchase thorough an affiliate. If you have ever clicked through a link on a blog post or and ad that caught your eye to make a purchase, there was most likely an affiliate of that product somewhere that got a cut. So, why not put this trend to work for you?

First things first. What is an Affiliate Program? The affiliate bandwagon is on the fast track these days because it allows people who have bought your product or believe in your offerings to be rewarded a commission for driving new sales to your site. Think of affiliates like your ‘virtual foot soldiers’; they help you to reach people in places online you would not have been able to reach alone.

Why would you want to use an affiliate program? An affiliate program is a great way to build the solidarity of your brand through the powerful web community. It is awesome when your buyers, not only become advocates of your products, but benefit themselves for helping you win more sales. It’s a win, win!

So, how do you set one up? When you think about setting up an affiliate program for your online business, think systems first!

Check your shopping cart solution: This can be a another topic in and of its own. If you are using a shopping cart solution to transact sales, check the features. Some of these programs come with the ability to create affiliate programs within your current set up. This makes setting one up a little easier, since you are already familiar with the system. Tools, structure and automation are key. Affiliate programs should not be set up apart from the shopping cart system itself (unless you have a really deliberate reason for doing so). That is, it should be built in as a feature so that integrating it is simpler. A program that runs separately, if any such thing exists could turn out to be more trouble than it’s worth. Here are a couple of the most popular tools and some of the ones I am familiar with.

What percentage commission should I pay? It depends. Referral payout rates can range from 10-50 percent. However, on average 25% is a good starting point. Of course, you would want to consider the product, its pricing and the affiliate’s time in making your decision. At the end of the day, if the affiliate isn’t enthused about the payout, they won’t make a real effort to get you sales. Be fair to yourself and your affiliates.

Some best practices to ensure success: While the idea of a loyal sales force inspired to bring your products to millions is alluring, Your affiliate campaign can fall flat if you don’t do all that you can to arm your affiliates with tools to make their job easier. This includes creating promotional resources such as:

  • Text ads for quick posting on blogs and social networks (i.e. facebook, friendfeed,twitter, etc…)
  • Graphical ads
  • Pre-written marketing copy that can easily be inserted as a blog or published elsewhere around the web
  • Create a resource page complete with faqs, training/video and checklist section that show affiliates how to boost earnings
  • I love affiliate marketing, because when it’s done right, it provides you the opportunity to get and give all at the same time. In keeping with the generosity based marketing theme this month, this is a great starting point for building this concept into your business model.
    Reward your customers and followers for believing in you and everyone wins.

    Until next post,

    Happy Wishing

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