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 How to Effectively Plan an Affiliate
Site Copyright 2005 by Shannon Herod
I was running out of patience and the hatred of it all was
setting in. Whirling around the net searching for that one
piece of gold that was going to set everything in motion
and bring a windfall of cash was just a big waste of time.
Thousands of dollars wasted and countless hours wasted
with not one single return of investment.
That was the way that I started my business. As you can
imagine I was getting nowhere fast. Setting up running and
profiting from an Internet business takes more than just a
web site, an e-mail account, and a computer. You need a
plan of action, what direction are you going to go with
your web site, what products will you promote, what other
sources of revenue will you have, and many other factors
will determine your success.
Affiliate Game Plan
I can give you a quick glimpse or taste of a simple plan
that you can put in effect. This plane is going to focus
on affiliate marketing in the arena of Internet marketing.
OK, here is a simple little plan but at least it's a plan.
The first thing you need to consider is the products or
services that you will be promoting. There is a ton of
different products and services available for you to
promote. Finding the right one that pays is the most
important part. When considering what you will promote you
need to look at a few different areas.
1. What percentage does that product pay 2. How well does
the sales page convert 3. Does the sales page have cookies
and how long does the cookie last 4. What is the minimum
payout and how often do they pay 5. How long has the
Company been in business 6. What type of reputation and
customer service does the company have
These are a few things that I consider when looking at a
product to promote. Always try and test a product before
you put your name on a recommendation for that product.
Just as this you are going to open a brick and mortar
business your reputation is very important.
Web Site and Hosting
Next you need to consider the type of site you will build
and the hosting company you will use. Your web site will
be your virtual real estate and you need to assure that is
in a good location. You can find many hosting options by
just going to Google and doing a search for hosting
company. When choosing a hosting company here is a few
things that I consider.
1. How much bandwidth do they offer 2. How much disk space
do they offer 3. How many mysql databases do they offer 4.
Can I host multiple web sites from one account
As a beginner those four things should be the only things
you really need to worry about. As you become more
experienced and building web sites and programming
there'll be a few other options you will consider, but for
now I think that should do.
The type of web site you build is going to be very
important. Don't worry if you are a complete moron when it
comes to HTML there are plenty of what you see is what you
get (wysiwyg) web site builders available just go to
Google and search for web site builders.
A simple direct response web site should be your goal. You
do not need to worry about building a fancy web site with
a ton of graphics and fancy navigation bars. That piece of
information alone should take your fear out of trying to
build a site. Remember keep it simple stupid.
A direct response web site is just what it sounds like.
Your main goal should be to capture your visitors' name
and e-mail address. You can do this by giving away a free
report that you produced or by getting a report that has
giveaway rights.
Build a List
You are going to want to build an opt in e-mail list so
you can keep in constant contact with all of your leads.
To do this you will need an autoresponder to make your
life a whole easier.
Your goal with your opt in e-mail list should be to build
a relationship so you can offer products that you
recommend. Once you have a list that trust you making
money is very simple.
The Process of Profit Maximization
Now there is a process you are going to want to take your
visitors through in order to maximize your profits, here
it is in a short description.
From your opt in page you will want to lead your visitor
to a thank you page that should offer some sort of up
sell. Your thank you page should exit to the product sales
page. Even will need to follow up with your new lead on
consistent basis and offer information to help your new
customer and occasionally recommend a product that you
believe in.
That is a short version because I'm not trying to make
this book just a quick little plan for you to follow.
That is a real quick plan of action that definitely need
some more consideration, but hopefully it will get your
wheels turning so you can expand on this idea to fit your
business. There are many different things to consider like
traffic generation and support but that is a whole new
subject.
Do some research and try to expand on the ideas listed
above. Your business should have goals and your goal
should have plans of action. Put your mind to work, work
up plan, and work your plan and success will be right
around the corner.
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