Easy Article Starters for Affiliate Marketers – It Just Got Easier

Have you ever had a good idea for a product and never did anything about it?

Yep, me too.

Have you ever took a good idea and when you started creating a product, found it wasn’t such a good idea after all?

Raising my hand here.

Have you ever had a good idea for a product, created it, put it in the marketplace and people loved it?

Yes.   And these home runs are what keep me in internet marketing.

One well-received product is Easy Article Starters.  It came about when I looked at problems many, many people were having with content…

“What do I blog about?”
“How do I write about it differently than everyone else?”
“I have writer’s block!”
“I need more content for my blog, article marketing, emails, ecourses, etc.”

and Easy Article Starters were born. People snatched them up and said very nice things about them. They were able to write faster, create original articles or posts, and come up with additional ideas for articles. One guy said he took an idea from one Starter and wrote an ebook!

So I wrote more Starters in different niches, not just internet marketing. So far there’s IM, Self-Improvement, Weight loss and Fitness, Family and Home, and Dogs. I’m working on more niches right now.

I love it when I can help people!

 

But I was thinking how I could improve upon the idea, and what else people were struggling with in regards to content, and I came up with Easy Article Starters for Affiliate Marketers and did a Mega pack.

These are so you can use them to promote affiliate products (although you don’t have to). The Mega pack contains 10 affiliate product promotion ideas and 5 Easy Article Starters for each topic. They’re not hard-sell, in your face, promo starters. But you can easily slip your affiliate links into all of them.

The Mega pack topics are:

• hosting (promote your favorite)
• domain names/registration (promote your favorite)
• autoresponder (promote your favorite)
• Earn 1K A Day (membership site)
• Nicheology (membership site)
• Amazon
• Easy Video Player
• Thesis WP Theme
• Keyword Scout (need to be a member of WSOPro to promote)
• Contest Burner (WP plugin)

So that’s 50 Article Starters you can use!

And here’s a sample one in case you’re confused:

As you can see, it’s not a whole finished piece. That’s what makes them great – you end up with a unique blog post, or whatever, all your own. Content is your real estate! You can use it strategically, repurpose and reuse it, and it will take you many places!

So that’s the path of this product so far. If it interests you, you can grab it from the discount page above or better yet, buy from one of my affiliates. Hopefully they’ll be visiting the comment section of this post and you can find them there.

• I’d like to hear what you would do if you could quickly and easily produce lots of content for your affiliate campaigns! Would you create an ecourse? Article marketing? A free report with affiliate links in it?

Week 3 of Internet Marketing Uber Production

Today marks the start of week 3 of this challenge Susanne Myers and I have going where we’re trying to see how much we can get done before the NAMS conference in Atlanta. While I’ve been getting a lot done and I’m quite happy with that, I’m sure getting tired. I think Susanne feels the same way. But it’s worth it in the long run!

Last week was all about product creation and launching a product. This week will be about marketing the product. I’ve learned that while I’d love to just spend my time creating, it’s all for naught if the finished product isn’t promoted extensively. If you’ve ever put your creation in the marketplace, you know what I mean.

I‘ve got some personal things that will be taking up about 1/3 of my week, but I’m going to work hard when I can.

So here’s this week’s agenda:

1. Finish up the chapter I’m doing for Connie Ragen Green’s next Kindle book.

2. Market my product. The best bang for the buck, by far, is to have my wonderful affiliates spread the word. So I’m going to have an affiliate contest! I’ll be working like a mad woman today creating material they can use and letting them know all the details. I LOVE doing affiliate contests because I get to see new marketers earn their first-ever commissions and I also get to watch how the super affiliates do it with style and craftsmanship. Everything in-between is wonderful too. If you’d like to join my affiliate program, you can sign up and I’ll be mailing out the details for the contest soon. This should be fun!

I will also be contacting marketers who might be interested in joining in because the fit is good, i.e. they have readers or a customer base that could benefit from the product.

3. Finish up the details for something the amazing Sheila Atwood is working on for me. When you’re weak in an area, you should surround yourself with people who are strong in that area! So that’s what I’m doing.

Now I’m going to hop over to Susanne’s blog and see what she has planned for the week. Join me?

For that matter, will you join us in this week’s production challenge? Comment below if you’re not afraid to be held publicly accountable!

 

 

Internet Marketing Deadines – End of Week 2

Well I was just over to Susanne Myers‘s blog and I can see she’s kicking me to the curb in this Getting Things Done challenge. I actually got everything done on my plate, but I think that means I didn’t set hard enough goals. Honestly though, I was trying a few new processes so I wasn’t sure how they’d go or how long they would take.

1. Finish up mega Easy Article Starters pack – check

2. Do up a sales page for the above, plus start a new optin list for the backend offer – check

3. Write the first month content for the backend 6 month offer – check

4. Do the sales page for that – check

5. Get the second backend offer set up – check

6. Load the products in DLGuard, create payment buttons, do thank you pages, etc. for the sales funnel – check

7. Work with my coaching clients – check

8. Get the outline for Connie Ragen Green‘s book chapter done and write a portion of it – half way done with the chapter

9. Get next guest post up – check

10. Email my list – check 

Launching a new product can be so time-consuming. It doesn’t matter if it’s a big or small launch, it’s exciting and frustrating and takes all your time. I’ll tell you about it on Tuesday.

~~~~

Susanne asked me a question on her blog and I’ll answer it now.

“We both love NAMS and keep coming back. What’s the biggest benefit you get from attending and what keeps you coming back?”

For me, I have two answers and I’m not sure that one takes top spot over the other. I love NAMS because I learn things I don’t know from people who do know. The teachers are people who have walked the walk, and that matters to me. Even though I’ve been around internet marketing for over 4 years, I like to keep on learning from the best – Terry Dean, Paul Evans, Lynn Terry, Connie Green, Nicole Dean, etc.

The other reason I go to NAMS is to meet people face-to-face that I’ve only had an online friendship or acquaintance with, or barely know by name. This is huge! It’s a chance to share ideas, brainstorm over dinner, talk about common interests, and maybe have some JV opportunities present themselves. When you get to know other online marketers in person, you don’t feel lonely even if you work at home by yourself all day.

Some people go to conferences just to build JV relationships and they skip the classes because they’re pitch-fests or don’t contain valuable information. I find that not to be the case at NAMS. You don’t see people hanging out in the halls during sessions, you see the rooms crammed full of people listening, asking questions, and taking notes.

Thanks for the question, Susanne, and that reminds me of a question I’ve been wanting to ask you about NAMS.

One day I’d like to speak at a conference like NAMS. How do I go about being considered? What steps do I need to take to get noticed by the conference presenters?

I’ll wrap it up now.

• How did y’all do this past week?
  
• Did you try anything you’ve never done before? How did it go?
  

photo credit: leonshishman

Take Advantage Of Your Entrepreneurial ADD to Create New Streams Of Income in 2012

This is a guest post by Susanne Myers. I’d known of Susanne since I started online in 2007 and I finally got to meet  her in August at NAMS. Upon introduction, I think I threw her for a loop when I said, “Thank you for using one of my EzineArticles on your HillbillyHousewife website! It got me a ton of optins!”

You see, even though Susanne is known for her affiliate marketing expertise and I’m a PLR writer and marketer, we’d done business together previously via our niche sites.

 

Take Advantage Of Your Entrepreneurial ADD to Create New Streams Of Income in 2012
By Susanne Myers

I’ve talked to a lot of online entrepreneurs over the years and I’ve noticed that there’s one thing that all of us have in common. We are all a little ADD. And that’s a good thing. Sure, we have to force ourselves not to run after each “shiny new object” and set aside the never ending stream of new ideas. But when we consciously tap into our need to work on something new and build a new stream of income, it can pay off big.

What Am I Talking About?

I’ve spend some time during the first few days of the new year setting some goals for myself and my online business (you can read about them on my blog at AffiliateTreasureChest). One thing I’m focusing on this year is building several new small streams of income. They are little niche sites that can be built and set into motion in just a few days.

Here’s the basic step-by-step plan:

1)   Find a Hot and Profitable Niche.

2)   Set up a WordPress site adding some unique content as well as slightly rewritten PLR along with a few reprint articles from article directories.

I recommend doing a little keyword research and optimizing your content for the search engines.

3)   Set up an optin list for this new site and load up a few autoresponder messages that promote a handful of good affiliate products.

4)   Promote those same affiliate products within the content of your blog.

5)   Set up social media accounts for your site.

6)   Write a few articles and guest blog posts and submit them.

7)   Do whatever else you find effective to market your site and drive traffic.

Then sit back and wait. Add the occasional new blog post, spend a little time socializing on your social media accounts and write the occasional article or guest post here and there. That’s it.

Get It Started – Then Outsource The Rest

Of course one little niche site won’t do the trick. It may pay your phone bill, but it isn’t what I would call an online business. What does make it worthwhile is the fact that this system is very scalable.

Your main job is to come up with more niche site ideas. Ideally you want to focus on related niches that make it easy to cross promote. For example… if you have a low carb diet niche site, your next project could focus on walking workouts. From there you could go into other weight loss niches, various health topics etc.

Sooner or later though, you’ll get to the point where you can’t handle it all on your own anymore. You get tired of setting up new sites and there’s just no way to keep up with the marketing and adding new content here and there.

That’s when it’s time to start thinking about outsourcing some of this. Hire a VA to help you add content, do some social bookmarking, post on your social media sites etc. Buy some more PLR for your niches and have someone tweak it and add it for you.

Where you take it from here is up to you. You can continue to grow your little niche site empire and turn it into several large networks of related sites. Or just sit back, maintain and enjoy a few hundred or thousand dollars in affiliate income.

One of the beauties of this system is that you will get to a point where the niche sites have gained enough momentum of their own that you don’t have to go back and add new content or drive more traffic on a regular basis. I have sites I haven’t touched in years that still generate income. Occasionally I’ll go back and improve on some of that Virtual Real Estate, but that’s entirely optional.

~~~

If you’d like to see what Susanne does on a daily basis to grow these Affiliate Niche sites, I invite you to join her at Daily Affiliate Tasks. Each week she shares a short instructional report and a weekly task list with you. Spend about 30 minutes a day completing these tasks and watch your niche sites grow.

 

Results Of The Affiliate Contest I Entered

Sorry this has taken me a while to post. Honestly, I wasn’t sure where I ended up with the PLRme affiliate contest so I waited for Ronnie to tell me. Then I got uber-focused on the product I was creating so I could get it live. I’ll post about that next!

Anyway, I learned some things in this contest, both about affiliate marketing, and about me and what I’m comfortable with.

[See the previous posts on this blog if you're not up to speed on this contest]

 

Here’s what I did:

Please note – I do have different optin lists in different niches, even separate lists for certain areas within a niche.

First thing I did was brand the reports he offered and let you and some of my lists know about them.

While I was doing that I asked Ronnie if he could give me a discount coupon so I could share it with my lists. He did! I also sent him some written interview questions and he answered them.

I gave my group of PLR writers a heads up to opt in to one of Ronnie’s free PLR packs so they could watch how he operates. I preach how important it is to know what the “competition” is doing and how they’re doing it, especially when the competition is  a successful marketer.

I emailed my PLR user lists a nice email promo. Afterwards, I could hear crickets chirping. Not the best start! I realized I forgot to tell them about the bonus they’d get from me if they purchased through my link. Doh!

I waited a day and emailed again – just a short one admitting my mistake and letting them know about the bonus.

I tweeted, but rather sporadically. Not near as often as I should have. I kept forgetting and my other tasks/work were getting in the way of this. I have to admit it is hard to focus on one stream of income when you have other streams that need attending to as well.

I posted Ronnie’s interview on my PLR blog and emailed my list a little over a week after the last email. No promoting in this email, I sent them to the blog post.

I sent a last reminder when the sale/contest was almost over. There were several items I talked about in that email so it wasn’t just about PLRme.

 

Here are my results:

I made enough sales to get me to the 2nd level of prizes. That means I earned over $200 in commissions (over $400 in sales)  My prize choices were $50 iTunes gift card, $50 Amazon gift card, or $50 Paypal. I chose to have the nice Paypal addition.

The sales were slow going with the most coming with my last reminder email.

Some of the sales were for memberships, so that means I will have a recurring income.

Ronnie’s affiliate program is 2-tiered and several people became affiliates under me. That means when they make sales I also make a small commission off their sales (at Ronnie’s expense, not the affiliate’s).

Only 1 buyer has contacted me about her bonuses so far which is a surprise. If it were me, I’d be all over the bonuses!

Unexpectedly, sales for my own PLR products were up during this time. I did email about this one promo more than I am used to and this made me a little uncomfortable. I don’t like to “bug” people. But these emails must have kept me and my products in the front of their mind. This promo wasn’t the only thing I was emailing about, I was sending a few of my regular emails as well.

The people I sent over to PLRme are now cookied with my affiliate link and I continue to make sales. Just this morning I made $98.50 on one transaction. Gotta love that!

Sounds crazy, but while this contest was going on I became more attuned to affiliate opportunities in general. I thought of a new benefit for another product that I had promoted and I let a specific list know about that. This benefit wasn’t really talked about on the sales page so I had happy results from pointing it out.

All in all, I had hoped to do better, but I realize I didn’t spend as much time on this as I wanted. I did learn some more about affiliate marketing and about myself while earning commissions and a prize!

Thanks again to Steve Scott, Connie Ragen Green and everyone else who offered their tips and insights.

photo credit: annethelibrarian

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