How Affiliates can become Article Marketer
If you’re at all familiar with Article Marketing, then you know that the main thrust behind your articles is the bio box or resource box which is located at the bottom of all articles. This is where you put a link to a significant website that you’re trying to promote.
But that can be a real problem when you’re attempting to promote a product that isn’t your own.
Affiliate links can be long and very ugly, not to mention obvious. So it becomes pretty difficult to get your readers to see you as an expert when your links have all those “=”, “?” and long arrays of numbers and codes in it.
To add to the problem, most of the article directories now strip out html coding in both the article body and the bio box and hyperlink your URL instead.
So hiding your long affiliate link behind some coded text is pretty much out of the question too. Which leaves you to post your articles with your affiliate link hyperlinked in your bio box. And as you probably know, it’s awfully hard to hide something that’s neon blue against a background of black and white.
There are, however,a few things you can do to hide the fact that you’re promoting an affiliate product. Some of them have some potential drawbacks, but when you’re desperate, anything is better than nothing.
1. URL Shrinkers:
Pros: These are usually free to use and can quickly change any link to a much smaller, cloaked link. You just have to paste your long affiliate link in the box and click one button to get a mini link that will take visitors to the same site.
Cons: Your new URL will have the link shrinker’s domain name. If they are a popular service you might find your links timing out when their servers get over worked.
Seasoned marketers usually know what a shrunken URL means (affiliate link).
2. PHP Script Rerouters:
Pros: Allows you to create alternate links directly on your own domain. Good for Article Marketing because they usually have you place the script in a folder named “recommends” or something similar. So your link looks like . . .
“yourdomain.com/recommends/theirproduct”
Cons: You have to manually tweak php files and upload them to your server. Then you have to have a system where you can keep track of all your real affiliate links, what you’ve renamed them and where they are on your server.
3. Desktop Link Management Programs:
Pros: You fill in a few lines on a form, click a couple buttons and your new links are created and uploaded to your server for you. Your real affiliate links are stored in the system along with the name and location of your rerouted links. Plus you’re able to easily modify the whole process.
You can create hundreds of links for one product, which is a big plus for article marketing because if you use an article submission program you can load all your different links into different bio boxes, which solves the html code stripping problem in the directories.
Cons: They don’t come free. There’s a price to pay for ease, speed and efficiency. Prices vary, but expect to pay at the lowest around $30.
In any event, there are ways to successfully turn an Affiliate Marketer into a high powered Article Marketer. Affiliate links don’t have to look like affiliate links anymore, which opens things up for Affiliate Marketers to use this highly effective marketing venue.
Earning multiple streams of income with simple, niche specific sites
It’s been said many times that the single best way to internet riches is through multiple streams of income.
The average person that suddenly decides they want a website isn’t going to come up with a million dollar a week wonder on the first try. In fact most people will never come up with a one thousand dollar a week web site. A couple hundred dollars a week is another story altogether, however. This is an actually attainable goal. I would even go so far as to say it’s not really extremely hard.
Of course you have work to do but this type of work will continue to pay off long after you’ve stopped working. Your site will hopefully continue to grow and exist as long as you pay for web hosting and domain name registration. In my opinion this little side effect of having a decent web site makes the internet better than real estate. A web site that you start up for $90 and allow to grow for a couple or years could not only possibly sell for enough to buy a house if your wise but also earn you steady income during the years it remains in your possession.
I hope you can see the potential benefit of having multiple, very niche specific web sites. Google can dish out a lot of traffic to some pretty interesting search terms. As an example the term ‘grasshopper’ rakes in about 13,000 searches a month via Yahoo alone. If you focus on something even less competitive like ‘mexican bull frog’ you’ll find yourself readily picked up by search engines and getting some search engine traffic.
The basic challenge is to pick out a niche that you can find non competitive keywords for. After that grab some hosting and put together a simple, informative site about your niche. Focus on helping the people that would be searching for what your trying to offer. When you have a site that’s good for both search engines and searchers alike then throw in a way to monetize your traffic. You could do this by selling services or items, adding an affiliate link or two, or maybe adding some Google adsense ads or something.
I tend to lean toward affiliate links because it’s easier for me to take care of my web sites. It leaves nothing left to do but add new content every once in awhile and build some back links. To me it almost seems as if I am building a little machine to help me make money.
I’ll conclude with a couple tips about web hosting. If you’re going to oversee multiple websites I’d go with a web host that lets you host multiple domains on one account. You’ll save a ton of money that way and things will be much easier to manage. My host allows me to host up to 6 web sites on one account. If I need more than that I just get multiple accounts. Don’t rush yourself either. Take things one page at a time and get things working before you rush off to another project.
A Great Idea is No Longer Enough
Whether youare starting up a new web site aimed at bloggers or whether you are looking to make your existing blogging site more distinctive, the key to building and maintaining a site that will capture the interest and attention of the blogging community is finding your niche. If you can fill a unique need in a way that no other web site does, you’ll be able to build a lasting readership among web surfers. Once you have discovered a niche, you will still have a lot to do, but finding your place in the blogosphere is the place to begin.
Every great blogging web site starts with a great idea, and you can’t build a successful site that will last without one. There are many great sites aimed at today’s bloggers, and competition for the attention of this growing demographic is fierce. To make your blogging web site stand out from the pack, you will need to offer something that no other site is currently offering, or you will need to do the same thing that an already popular site does but in a more impressive or valuable way.
One way to discover an ideal model for your blogging web site is to look at the sites that have successfully captured a blogging audience already to determine if you can appropriate some of their strategies to help realize your vision. Of course, you will also need to add a unique flair to your project in order to stand apart from your competition. Many people agree that the web sites that do the best in today’s market are the sites that have the most personality. The fiercely individual surfers who are bloggers are a demographic that responds especially strongly to personality, so consider how you can give your site a unique and attractive feeling by lending your own voice and sensibility to your site’s design and content.
Once you have a great idea for your site, have pinpointed a special niche that you are well equipped to fill, and have infused the site with personality, the next step is figuring out how to get the word out to bloggers.
In the long run, a great idea just isn’t enough to propel your blogging web site to success. You will need to draft a smart and realistic marketing plan in order to draw readers to your site. Once you hook a blogger, your great content will keep them coming back, but it is vital to get that first glance or your site won’t have a chance to shine.
Beginners Guide To Blogging, Get Started Right Now!
A blog is basically an online journal wherein you can digitally pen down your thoughts, ideas, opinions and practically anything that you want people to read. Blogs come in different styles, formats, and settings, depending on the preference of the user. Many blogging sites, offer built in features such as hyperlink, straight texts, pictures etc. Some blogging sites, even allow you to put video and mp3′s on your blogs.
Instead of writing texts, some bloggers choose to make their blogs more audio friendly, by using spoken word entries. This is called audio blogging.
Basically a blog contains these features:
title- which allows you to label your post
body- this is the content of your post
trackback- other sites can be linked back to your blog
permanent link- every article that you write has a URL
comments- this allow readers to post comments on your blog.
One of the advantages of blogging, is that it is made of only a few templates. Unlike, other websites that is made up of numerous individual pages. This make it easier for blog users to create new pages, because it already has a fix setting that include: slots for title, body of the post, category, etc.
This is especially useful for first time users, since they can start blogging right away. They can chose from a number of templates that blogging websites provide.
Anyone who wants to start a blog can do so by becoming a member of a blogging website of their choice. Once they’ve become members, they automatically become a part of that particular blogging community. They can browse through other bloggers pages, and link them back to their own blogs. They can also make comments on other members’ blogs.
Blogging is not just limited to personal usage. There are a lot of blogs that follow a theme such as: sports, politics, philosophy, social commentary, etc. These blogs espouse on their specific themes. This way blogging becomes a medium in which people can share their knowledge and opinions about a variety of themes and topics.
Some bloggers even use their blogs as a means to advertise. Some authors advertise their books on their blogs. While other bloggers, use their blogs to shed light to currents issues, events, news and catastrophes.
Nowadays in education, blogs also play an important part. Professors use blogging to document the lessons that they have discussed and taught. This way, students who who have missed classes, can easily catch up with their assignments.
A lot of entrepreneurs benefit from blogging by promoting their businesses on their blogs, with millions and millions of people logging onto the net everyday, blogging has become a lucrative move. Some bloggers who run online businesses promote their merchandise online. While others profit through advertisement.
But by far, the most popular blog type is the one that takes the form of a personal journal. This is the kind that is usually used by first time bloggers. Individuals who want to document the daily struggle of their everyday lives, poems, rants, opinions, find that blogging offers them a medium in which to express themselves.
Bloggers usually communicate within themselves. This is one of the appeals of blogging. It creates a community of people sharing their ideas, thoughts, and comments with each other.
Blogs varying in topics, themes, and set-ups, can be found in blog directories. First time users who want to get an idea of what the blogging world is all about can browse through a number of blogs using these directories. This way they’d get an idea of what these blogging communities are like.
Blogging is popular all over the world. Blog is short for the term weblog. There are no rules when it comes to blogging. Bloggers have the freedom to express themselves how ever way they want, and the best thing about blogging, is that most blogging sites are free.
There are numerous blogging websites to choose from in the net. This give first time users the option of joining a blogging community that appeals to their interests.
Just search any blogging directory and you’d get a listing of a lot of blogging sites that are available on the net. It’s easy to search a blogging directory, because it is organized according to category. This way you would get exactly what you are after. Blogging is really for everyone. It is fun, simple and easy.
