How To Avoid A Job That Sucks!

The job market is a fascinating environment. Having been an employee for 7 years, I was able to reflect on a number of issues. I would like to share a few of those with you in this blog post. The reality is this: most jobs suck! Whether it’s your job itself that doesn’t inspire you …

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12 Reasons Why Creating Passive Income Online Is NOT For Everyone

Creating Passive Income Online has become a hot topic lately. In fact, it’s been a hot topic for a while. Unfortunately, most people that have tried to create a passive income online have ‘failed’. For a while, I’ve asked myself this question: “why do some fail and others succeed?” In my latest blog project: “Create …

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8 Ingredients To Creating Passive Income

How often have you come across the term ‘passive income’? Perhaps you’ve tried to create one for yourself and found it to be a nightmare. What I do know is this: we seldom get a guideline on how to go about it. And so, in this Blog Post, I would like to share 8 ingredients …

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10 Reasons Why Healthy Competition Is King!

It’s funny how you always want to avoid competition when you venture into a new business opportunity. I don’t know about you, but I had that urge for a while when I started marketing online. I often looked for markets where there was no or very little competition, where the marketers in that space would …

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Blog the Smart Way: Have a Daily Blogging Schedule That Works

What really separates the successful bloggers from the failures? One simple word called CONSISTENCY! Consistency is the glue that sticks all your dreams, plan and actions to results. I’d like to ask you an important question: Do you have a dream centred around your blog?   (read a brief story of my dreams and why I …

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How To Avoid A Job That Sucks!How To Avoid A Job That Sucks!How To Avoid A Job That Sucks!How To Avoid A Job That Sucks!How To Avoid A Job That Sucks!

May
18

How To Avoid A Job That Sucks!

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The job market is a fascinating environment. Having been an employee for 7 years, I was able to reflect on a number of issues. I would like to share a few of those with you in this blog post.

The reality is this: most jobs suck! Whether it’s your job itself that doesn’t inspire you or your manager who makes life a living hell or your rubbish attitude towards your job, the truth of the matter is that most jobs really suck.

In this blog post, I would like to help you understand why this is the case and then give you a really cool solution.

In doing so, I’ll take you through the following:

  1. We fail to understand who we are
  2. We dream but lack the guts to pursue
  3. We have become selfish – we value ourselves over others
  4. Our personal financial ill-discipline keeps us miserable
  5. How to re-align and get back on track


We fail to understand who we are

Most people don’t quite understand who they are. They fail to recognize the power that exists within them. Although this sounds very cliché, the reality is that nothing is more true. As a consequence, most people settle for much less than their worth. They pursue jobs that are a complete mismatch to their potential.

Sadly, most people are driven by money and material things. Money and materials are the primary reason why most people fail to understand who they are. When money and material are the primary focus, it is very difficult to keep a clear and sober head. You will want things now. You’ll struggle to play the patience game. And yes, you might get what you want now, but most of what we settle for now is far from the full reward we can get in future.

Identity is incredibly important. It drives the way in which you think, talk and behave.

If your mind is not positioned appropriately, you can’t land yourself a satisfactory and fulfilling job. Yes, you might get a job that satisfies you in the short term. But in the long term you’ll struggle.

If you don’t think right, you’ll talk wrong. You can’t separate thoughts from speech.

Ultimately, you act the way you think and talk. The job you have now has a lot to do with how you perceive yourselves.

Get your identity right and you’ll start attracting better opportunities in life.

 

We dream but lack the guts to pursue

We all have dreams about a bright future. Unfortunately, as life unfolds, we find ourselves falling into one of 2 categories:

  1. Those who have stopped dreaming
  2. Those who dream but lack guts to pursue

Those who have stopped dreaming have stopped because their lack of identity has over-powered them. When you start to think, talk and behave like you are worthless, you’ll soon stop dreaming. Most people in society have stopped dreaming. They rely on government grants and hand outs to keep their lives going.

The other group of people are those who dream but lack the guts to pursue. I am amazed at the number of people that talk big but never get to acting. Yes, many people try and give up because of the challenges you find along the road to success. Again, if you have a strong identity – you will know and appreciate that as human beings, we were created for battle. More importantly, we were created to conquer!

Most people in society don’t want to come across challenges. They avoid them and hate them. Life will always have challenges. We simply need to train ourselves to embrace and overcome them.

How does this impact your job?

When you avoid challenges, you will end up settling for less. You’ll settle for what you think presents less challenges. And so most people in frustrating jobs opted for those jobs because they thought they could avoid the challenges of life.

Fulfilling a dream requires guts. Interestingly, the same energy required to pursue your dreams is the same energy you’ll spend in a frustrating job. Frustration, negative talk, negative actions, stress, etc that land in your lap as a result of a job that sucks all require energy to deal with.

 

We have become selfish – we value ourselves over others

All of us have been hurt and betrayed in the past. Again, if you have a strong identity, you’ll soon realise that all these occurrences are meant to bring out the best in you. They are not meant to take you down a road where you become selfish and self-centred.

Most people in the job market are selfish and self-centred. They place their needs before the needs of their colleagues and clients.

Yes – I strongly agree that it seems crazy to be selfless when most people are selfish. But, I’ll tell you this much, the best way to get yourself out a job that sucks is to be selfless.

Think about it for a second. If you are the minority, is it not easier to stick out? Now, if you are the minority and you are doing good, is that not a smart option to take? Someone is bound to notice your good at some point.

Yes, you’ll get hurt, betrayed and insulted. People will even take the recognition you deserve and use it to further their own personal agenda. Don’t worry yourself with all this negativity. ONE DAY – and that’s all it takes really – you’ll get the break of your life.

You only need one break!

Start valuing relationships. Place more value on others than you do on yourself.

 

Our personal financial ill-discipline keeps us miserable

Financial ill-discipline is one of the biggest reasons why most people’s jobs suck! If only we could spend less than we earn, we would lead more fulfilled lives.

Imagine the pain of earning peanuts and not being able to afford the basics. Unimaginable to most because they have never earned peanuts or the minimum wages.

For most people, the issue is not earning peanuts. The issue is spending way beyond our means. Most people earn so much money but the frustration comes from the debt and monthly financial commitments. From clothes, drinking, smoking to cars, houses all in the name of living a lavish lifestyle, we find ourselves in jobs that frustrate us.  The issue is not the job but our personal financial mis-management.

I had to spend many years trying to get out of debt and frustrating financial commitments. I would urge you to do the same.

 

How to re-align and get back on track

I am launching a new passive income project online titled: “Create Passive Income Online”. I’ll be launching very soon and will be addressing a lot of the issues I have mentioned above.

Ultimately, through the project, my objective is to help willing individuals create a passive income and get themselves out of jobs that suck.

I’d like you to ask yourself the following questions as you reflect:

  • Do I really understand my identity and the power that lies within me?
  • Have I stopped dreaming about a better future?
  • Do I still dream but lack the guts to pursue?
  • Have I become selfish because of what has happened in the past?
  • Do I manage my finances correctly?
  • Would I like to create a passive income online?

If you have answered yes to any of the above and would like to join me when I launch, kindly drop me an e-mail at petenikuz@yahoo.com

I hope you’ve found value in this post. If you have, feel free to share

 

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May
10

12 Reasons Why Creating Passive Income Online Is NOT For Everyone

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Creating Passive Income Online has become a hot topic lately. In fact, it’s been a hot topic for a while. Unfortunately, most people that have tried to create a passive income online have ‘failed’.

For a while, I’ve asked myself this question: “why do some fail and others succeed?”

In my latest blog project: “Create Passive Income Online” (to be launched in the next 2 weeks), I spent some time compiling a list of 12 Reasons Why I Think Creating Passive Income Is Not For Everyone.

These reasons are Lesson 13 of my “Create Passive Income Online” course.

If you’d like to get notification when the blog gets launched, kindly send your e-mail address to petenikuz@yahoo.com and I”ll be sure to add you to my mailing list.

 Great! Let’s check these reasons out….

1.     If you lack self-belief

God has given you the power to create. He has given you ideas that are unique and valuable, ideas that can’t be brought to life by anyone else but you.

 The longer you doubt what I am saying above, the longer it will take you to create passive income online. (In Lesson 3 of the course, titled: “Researching Your Goldmine”, I address this at length)

2.     If you don’t believe in internet as a business model

Most people still believe in conventional businesses. They want to see the physical shop, physical stock, customers in person, etc. The idea of a virtual environment doesn’t make sense. If that’s you, this is not for you.

3.     If you have an ego

I’m incredibly amazed at the humility of most of the internet marketers who have succeeded and created millions of dollars online.

They all have one thing in common: they are there to learn and to help others. At no point is it ever about them and their ego.

Online marketing and creating a passive income online has no room for egos.

4.     If you are still satisfied and comfortable with your current job

A lot of people are just too comfortable. There is nothing pushing them to take the next step in their life. I have found that people who make a success out of creating passive income online had a very strong driving force. Some examples were:

  • Retrenchment
  • Excessive costs just to keep their job
  • Insufficient income to take care of family, etc
  • Frustration at work from their boss
  • Dissatisfaction with their job

If you are comfortable, I doubt this is for you, unless you are a visionary who is looking for surplus income and is willing to work hard and smart at creating it.

If you are feeling extremely uncomfortable, I’d love to welcome you on board.

5.     If you want overnight success

A lot of business opportunities on the internet sell hype and miracles! If you are looking for a miracle opportunity, you are bound to hit a brick wall. However, creating passive income online is the type of business that grows exponentially if you lay the foundation correctly. Yep, take your time laying a good foundation for a year or 2, and after that the business will reward you with miracle results! People that earn $50 000 – $100 000 per month did not do that overnight. But, it also didn’t take them 10 years. It is very possible to achieve these figures within a 5 year period

6.   If you don’t enjoy reading

Reading is the one sure way of getting ahead. I want to learn something new EVERYDAY! I might not get around to reading every day, but it’s certainly my intention.

How long does it take me to read? Takes about 1 – 2 hours per day

What do I read? I read all sorts of material that will help me grow as a person. Some examples

  • My bible
  • Blog Posts from all the bloggers I follow
  • Comments on other blog posts
  • Comments on my blog posts
  • Books related to personal development and other areas of interest

If you don’t read, you will not get ahead in life. The difference between people that are more successful than you is that they know something that you don’t! Read and find out what it is they know, that you don’t.

7.    If you don’t enjoy writing

You are going to have to do a heck of a lot of writing. If you don’t enjoy writing, don’t bother. Yes, after a couple of years, you can outsource, but initially you will have to do all of the writing yourself.

Interestingly, a lot of people keep journals on a regular basis but they will tell you that don’t enjoy writing. (weird if you ask me!)

In addition, people want to get promoted to managerial positions at work. If you want to be a manger at work, at some point or another, you will be expected to compile written monthly, quarterly and annual reports for your boss right? Either way, you will find yourself writing – whether you do it for your own benefit or for your company.

8.   If you hate numbers

Not everyone was great with numbers at school or college. But, the reality is this: if you want to build and run a successful business, you’ve got to start loving numbers – one way or another.

In the 13 Lessons of the “Create Passive Income Online” course, I cover a lot of statistics that you will need to know, understand and monitor. All those crazy stats are IMPORTANT!

If you don’t monitor them, you will not succeed at creating a passive income online.

9.    If you don’t believe in sharing other people’s information

One of the most effective ways of gaining trust from others is to share what other people have to offer.

Have you ever received information that you thought was worth gold? If you have, did you share it?

If you share valuable information that you receive from others, people will value that and you will gain credibility because you are showing that you are willing to help others.

Share as much information as you can, especially on social media. It takes a few seconds to retweet or share a really great article on a platform such as Facebook.

10.  Being disorganised

If you are one of those ‘go with the flow’ type people who just go where the wind blows, you’ll struggle. Reading other posts, participating on forums, writing articles, recording audio visual material, monitoring the progress of your work, etc requires a solid plan. That plan reflects your organisational skills.

Organisation might not be your strongest attribute, but when you start out you will to work hard at improving it

11.   Procrastination

Planning means absolutely nothing if you don’t implement. Big talk and no action will get you nowhere. Remember this: no one is going to monitor your work. You don’t have a manager or boss to sit on your neck. YOU, and only you are responsible for you own productivity.

12.   If you hate disappointment

The “Create Passive Income Online” lessons have been designed in a “Do It Yourself” format to show you that you need to take charge over your life and take responsibility. It is important to plan, be organised and act on your plans.

But, in all of this, you need to understand that life throws you all sorts of curve balls and challenges at you. This part of life is inevitable and unavoidable. As such, it is important to make room for disappointment.

Disappointment simply delays (it doesn’t stop) your success. But hating disappointment will cause you to give up and turn a delay into complete failure. Ultimately, you will stop your own success if you don’t embrace disappointment.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this post. Feel free to share it.

Once agin, If you’d like to get notification when the “Create Passive Income Online”blog gets launched, kindly send your e-mail address to petenikuz@yahoo.com and I”ll be sure to add you to my mailing list.

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May
03

8 Ingredients To Creating Passive Income

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How often have you come across the term ‘passive income’? Perhaps you’ve tried to create one for yourself and found it to be a nightmare. What I do know is this: we seldom get a guideline on how to go about it. And so, in this Blog Post, I would like to share 8 ingredients to Creating A Passive Income.

These are not by any means a suggestion that if you deviate from them you will fail. They are a guideline for those who would like to create a passive income but have no where to start or have failed in the past because there was no foundation.

The past 2 weeks have been kind of crazy because I’m on the verge of launching my latest blog on “How To Create Passive Income”. The blog will become platform that I will use to create a blueprint of how you can create a passive income in a simple, effective and sustainable manner.

I’ve spent the past month doing a lot of writing compiling content that I will offer on the blog.

Part of the content is a 9 Lesson Course packed with all the ingredients. I want to share a summary of 8 Lessons from that 9 Lesson Course. You’ll get the finer details when I launch pretty soon.

Hopefully, I can get you to start thinking about creating passive income for yourself.

Here are the ingredients…

1.     You need to understand the definition of Passive Income

I’m amazed at how many people think passive income is a ‘sit back and chill at restaurants drinking Mojitos’ concept. The reality is that passive income requires you to work. The only difference is that once you’ve done the work, you don’t have to be there for the business to create money for you.

There are 4 critical components to passive income:

  1. The income has to be regular (ideally monthly)
  2. You have to build a business (an asset)
  3. You work on the business and not in it (in other words you don’t have to be there for the business to work BUT, you still have to work on it regularly)
  4. You have the freedom of time to work on your business when you want to (and of course this means you can do other things you enjoy doing when you want to)

2.     You need a Business Model

The right type of business model is essential. Ideally, you want a model that runs 24 hours per day, 7 days per week and 365 days per year. You can only achieve time freedom if you use an effective business model.

3.     You need to Research

The first aspect is self-research. We all have passions, talents and gifts that can be created into passive income. Sadly though, our belief systems limit the way in which we think and act. Researching who you are can help you significantly. We spend so much time chasing life and in the process we lose ourselves and identity. Taking some time out to do some self-introspection is a sure way to creating passive income.

The second aspect is internet research. The internet is an incredibly powerful platform. People are constantly in demand of information. In addition, people spend millions of dollars everyday buying information, products and services.

If you can tie the outcome of your self-research to the outcome of your internet research, you’ll be amazed at the results.

4.     You have to be in Control

To Create Passive Income successfully requires you to be in control. You need to be in a position where you can manage the entire business process from start to finish. Does this mean things will never go wrong? Absolutely not! It simply means you have the ability to take charge of your success.

In my latest Blog Project I take you through a lesson titled: “Setting Up Your Worldwide Business”. It’s a 2 part series that helps you take charge of your own destiny and ensures that YOU are in control.

5.     You need to have a Formula

To Create Passive Income, you need a formula. A formula shows you the overall picture. It also directs your activities in relation to your business activities. In addition, it helps you to measure the right elements. In my latest project, I take you through a lesson titled: “Understanding the Online Marketing Money Formula”.

6.     You must sell Value

I often say that the art of selling is never to sell. Almost all the people that send me e-mail messages of ‘thank yous’ and ask me  about how to get started are people who believe I have added value to their lives. At no point did I ever make a sales pitch saying: “this is what I’m selling. please buy”. Add value to people’s lives and the sales will take care of themselves.

In short, all I’m saying is that you need to prioritise value over making money. In a lesson titled: “How To Sell Value”, I take you through this all important process.

 7.     You need to Market yourself

You can seldom Create Passive Income in a vacuum. You need mentors to guide you along the process. You also need mentors who can give you the thumbs up and help you to market yourself. In addition, you need other people you can mentor because they look up to you. This process doesn’t happen by osmosis. You need a plan. You need to make people aware that you are there. There’s a thin line between irritating people and making your presence felt in a subtle, yet effective way.

In a lesson titled: “Building Your Blogosphere”, I give you insights on how you can go about marketing yourself successfully.

8.     Consistency

Many people that go on to become successful and do extra-ordinary things are ordinary people. Creating Passive Income is no different! You need to be consistent.

There are 2 things you need to learn:

  1. Getting the basics right (all the aspects I’ve covered above)
  2. Implementing the basics and being consistent

You don’t need to a genius. Just get the basics right, be patient and most importantly be consistent.

In a lesson titled: “The Smart Daily Blogging Schedule”, I address simple things that will help you to develop and maintain your consistency.

Lastly, I take you through a lesson titled: “15 Reasons Why Creating Passive Income Is NOT For Everyone”. Weird as it may sound, not everyone wants to succeed. Yep, most people are happy living mediocre and average lives. I take you through a number of issues that I believe we need to be aware of and avoid at all costs if we want to create passive income.

I must say, I’m really excited about this latest Blog project on “How To Create Passive Income”.

If you’ve enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to go ahead and share.

I’d also love some feedback from you regarding the following:

i.      Have you ever considered creating a passive income?

ii.      Did you try create a passive income around your passion, gifts and talents

iii.      What business model did you use?

iv.      Did you have a formula that you followed?

v.      Did you sell by being a ‘sales pitch machine’ or did you sell value?

vi.      Did you source some mentors?

vii.      Were you consistent with your efforts?

You can post your comments in the ‘comments’ section below.

God Bless!

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Apr
20

10 Reasons Why Healthy Competition Is King!

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It’s funny how you always want to avoid competition when you venture into a new business opportunity. I don’t know about you, but I had that urge for a while when I started marketing online. I often looked for markets where there was no or very little competition, where the marketers in that space would not intimidate me. But, after a while you will realise that you need competition if you want to become a respected Online marketer.

So, in this article I want to give you 10 reasons why should never run away from healthy competition.

First up though, I want to say the following: “There is competition and then there is healthy competition”. What you don’t want is a situation where you compete in an unhealthy, unprofitable market. To help you out, go check out these two articles:

Ultimately making sure you are in a healthy market is incredibly important. Prior to starting a blog, just make sure you enter a healthy market. If you already have a blog, check it out against these warning signs.

Right, let’s get into it…

1.       You will LEARN a heck of a lot pretty quickly…

Forget the money for now, just learn as much as you can. Look for market leaders in your niche. If they have a readership of more than 10 000, sign up and follow them! Your knowledge will benefit you greatly over the long term. In fact in a blog post titled “Why making Money Online In The 1st 6 Months Doesn’t Matter”, you’ll get better insight on valuing knowledge and participation over money initially.

2.       There is an EXISTING AUDIENCE already…

Where there’s competition, there is an audience. Don’t focus on out-competing your competition, rather focus on how can tap into the existing audience.

3.       There will be a FUTURE AUDIENCE…

The internet is a fascinating platform. If the competition is healthy, you can bet your last penny there is a new audience created every day. There will be new people searching for what you have to offer in future.

4.       You’ll PISS PEOPLE OFF…

I read a tweet once from Bishop Noel Jones, and it read as follows: “if you have no haters you are not that gifted!!!!”. For a second, I thought to myself: OUCH! But then I read this again and it made perfect sense. Call them haters or people you piss off every now and again, the fact remains you need them! Where there is competition, you are bound to piss people off and it’s cool. Go ahead and do it because it will re-affirm that you are well on track.

5.       It will force you to be DIFFERENT…

Competition will force you to be different! What on earth are you offering that everyone else isn’t?  I always try to differentiate myself by offering simple solutions. Every time I write or come up with an idea, I always ask: “Will this make my audience’s life simpler?” If not, I’m likely to scrap it. Also try to bring your personality into your blog. What kind of a person are you and how can you add a different flavour to your audience? All these small, yet important aspects will help you to be different.

6.       You will always have CONTENT to write about…

Content is key! When there is competition, you can follow the blogs of those leaders, participate on forums, etc. On these various platforms, people chat and share their experiences and frustrations. Take note of these and come up with content that will help them address those frustrations. Without competition, you are likely to write content that you think is relevant, when in fact it isn’t.

7.       You can MARKET yourself pretty easily every day…

To build a popular blog, you need to market yourself. Doing something daily that will help you achieve this. Check my article titled: “Blog The Smart Way: Have A Blogging Schedule That Works”.

8.       You’ll become an ETHICAL marketer…

Online Marketing is huge. As much as it is huge, there are tons of unethical marketers. Most of them do it in a very subtle way. Others are very blatant and couldn’t care less. They are just out there to make a quick buck. You don’t want to be seen as unethical. Yes, at times there is a thin line. I reckon you can do it if the intention is there. In a large, competitive market you’ll soon pick up what is ethical and what isn’t. You can then start building your business long term by being ethical. Don’t opt for short cuts!

9.       Successful competitors will burn you to PRODUCTIVITY…

Good competition will let you know when they have either done well or are doing well. Don’t you just jump to action when you see a headline such as this: ”How I made $27 000 in the previous month”. Now that you know someone is doing it, you are bound to get your butt to work (that’s if you are serious about life!). Over and above your own objectives, you need that reality check that will keep you burning with desire and help you along.

10.   You’ll become HUMBLE…

This is one that will get you through your lows and highs. The reality is that we all have our own strengths and weaknesses. God has gifted each one of us in a completely different way. Competition will teach you one thing: “Success does not come from competing with your competitors, but rather appreciating them for who they are and leveraging off it”. Your competitors are not really your competitors. They are there to humble you enough to appreciate that they also have a very valuable role to play in the niche that you operate in.

In conclusion, I have to say that I value my competitors. They are my mentors, mirror of reflection, motivation, reality check, etc. I could never survive without them. I would really like to urge you to start appreciating your competitors and viewing them in a positive light.

I really hope you’ve found value from this article. If you have, please feel free to share it.

I’d also like you to give me feedback. In your feedback, please consider the following:

  1. Do you think you are in a healthy profitable market?
  2. Have you identified competitors who are market leaders in your niche?
  3. How often do you go and check your competition out?
  4. Do you think you have a key differentiator?
  5. Does making money sometimes tempt you to do unethical stuff?

If you have enjoyed reading this post and have not subscribed to my regular updates, you can:

Sign Up To claim your FREE report on the “Affiliate Marketing Money Formula” plus e-mail updates whenever I publish

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Apr
13

Blog the Smart Way: Have a Daily Blogging Schedule That Works

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What really separates the successful bloggers from the failures?

One simple word called CONSISTENCY!

Consistency is the glue that sticks all your dreams, plan and actions to results.

I’d like to ask you an important question:

If you don’t have a dream nor a plan, you are going to find it very difficult to be consistent. Initially, as a newbie marketer, the only thing that keeps you going is HOPE!

You aren’t making a single dime early on. So you can’t say the money keeps you going…

You aren’t known for anything. So you can’t say other people’s comments on your great posts keep you going…

At times, not even your spouse, friends and family can figure out what you are trying to achieve exactly. So that can’t keep you going either.

ALL you ever have is HOPE. And all that hope lies in a few dreams in your head and an articulation of your dreams in few written words known as a plan.

If you don’t have either, read through the following to get an idea of what I mean.

Your dreams and plans will keep you going initially. As you grow, and start making money – enhanced, larger dreams will keep you going in future.

Once you have your dreams and a plan, how on earth do you EXECUTE on a consistent basis?

In this article, I want to take you through a Daily Blogging Activity List that will make you consistent.

Without consistency, I don’t care how smart you are, you will fail.

Most people that achieve great results are not geniuses. They are just ordinary Joe Sopes like you and I BUT They have simply mastered the art of being CONSISTENT.

This activity list will work for the newbie, the part time and full time affiliate. It works for all because it is based on principles.

  1. Be TEACHABLE: Read at least 1 article EVERYDAY from leading bloggers in your niche and other related niches. 
  2. Show APPRECIATION: Give your comments on the articles that you read. Most people lack appreciation. It doesn’t take much to give your thoughts. In fact, most bloggers will give you guidance on exactly what they would like you comment on. Do it!
  3. MARKET yourself: register on leading forums in your niche and other related niches. Get on there, read what others have to say, give your comments and socialise with them
  4. SHARE the articles you’ve read on social media (provided they have value add): Most blogs make this process very easy for you. Do it! Most bloggers will appreciate this because you are helping them reach a wider audience and most people will appreciate this because you are adding value to them.
  5. RESEARCH your article content: spend time thinking about the articles you read, people’s comments on other blogs, people’s comments on forums and build your article topics around that. Let that be the basis of your research and writing. Supplement that with research on Google
  6. RESPOND to ALL your Blog Comments and E-mails: when people make the effort to comment, the least you can do is acknowledge by responding to their ‘thank yous’ or even questions
  7. Spend LESS time writing: sounds weird. But, writing tons of articles everyday for your blog is not the smart way to go about it. In fact, you will burn out if you write everyday! It gets monotonous and boring. Running a blogging career should never be boring! With all the other activities that you are doing (as mentioned above), you will struggle to write every day. Write an average of 1 – 2 articles per week. Rather spend more time on being Teachable, showing Appreciation, Marketing yourself, Sharing, Research and Responding to people who comment on your blog.

How long does all of this take?

Honestly, there isn’t a clear cut answer. But to read an article, show appreciation by posting a comment or 2 and sharing that article will take you no longer than 15 minutes (max).

Visiting forums, reading people’s comments and responding should take you no longer than 30 mins to an hour.

Researching article content and writing articles varies. It depends on a number of factors (the topic, your experience, etc.)

Responding to blog comments and e-mails does not take long for most bloggers purely because their blogs aren’t that popular initially. Yes, this can become a very welcome head-ache when your blog becomes popular and your audience begins to grow.

So, all in all, this is a very workable DAILY schedule. It can take anything from 1 – 4 hours per day. 1 hour for a part-time blogger to 4 hours for someone like myself that does it full-time. You’ve simply got to dedicate some time and get it done.

I hope you’ve found value in this article. Do give me some of your feedback regarding the following:

  1. Do you have dreams centred around your blog that you have written down?
  2. Do you have a daily work schedule?
  3. Do you believe you can dedicate a minimum of 1 hour everyday to achieve your blogging dreams?
  4. In that time (min of 1 hour), do you think you can achieve all the aspects that I have covered above?

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Apr
09

How To Make Keywords Your Pay Cheque

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Making money online has a direct correlation to the amount of traffic you generate. But traffic means nothing if you don’t intentionally figure out a plan of the type of traffic you want. Right from the start, you need to understand that the money you will make will be a direct reflection of your plan. Nothing is going to happen by fluke or osmosis.

In this article I am going to give you insight into how you can drive relevant traffic to your blog.

To do this, you need a traffic generation plan that will:

  • Help you get relevant traffic from other referral websites
  • Get search engines searching for you in an effective way

So, in simple I’m saying at the end of this article, you need to come out with keywords that will help you to start making your presence felt in referral website and on search engines and perhaps social media as well.

Now this is not going to be some overnight plan. If you are looking for a miracle plan, then this is not it. This is sure to help a newbie affiliate marketer or an affiliate marketer who is willing to work smartly and consistently.

I’m going to share 3 key aspects that simply highlight that keywords are the ingredients to our pay cheque.

Here’s what I will share with you;

  1. How to search for keywords using free tools
  2. How to fine tune your keywords to get profitable keywords
  3. How to apply your keywords to get free traffic

How to search for keywords using free tools

I’m always big on sharing some information on how you can get free tools to build your business. I do it primarily because I know that many people online run on a strict and thin budget initially. I went through it and I know very well that it is a frustrating reality for many people online. So, I just like making their life a little bit easier (not easy!) because I know exactly how frustrating it can get when you want to get things done but you simply can’t afford to do them.

But, I don’t believe you can build a strong, sustainable business using free tools only. At some point, you just have to buy tools that will help you.

So, I’ll share some information on tools you can use that aren’t free but are definitely worth the purchase if you want to be more effective, efficient and stand out.

Google Free Keyword Tool

The Google Keyword Tool enables you to search on multiple phrases. You simply enter the phrase you want to search and it returns a large list of related keywords, with the following information on each of those keywords:

  • Indication of advertiser competition
  • Estimated search volumes per month

List your keywords…

Google’s keyword tool is a really powerful tool. So, put together a list of all the possible keywords you think your web visitors might type when searching. Make your list as long as possible.

Lengthen your list…

The next thing is to lengthen your list. Take a list of all the ‘related keywords’ under Google for all the keywords that you have typed in. Jot these additional keywords down and include them in your list of keywords. This is easy because Google has already done the work for you.

Now you’ve exhausted all the keywords from a search engine perspective. But there are many keywords that people may type in that aren’t necessarily related but are important.

If you are planning on starting a ‘weight loss’ blog, I think you can agree that ‘weight loss’ and ‘Skinny Fiber’ are not related to one another. As a result Google would probably not give you these under its related keywords if you were type any one of them.

But, I can tell you that ‘Skinny Fiber’ is a weight loss programme that a lot of people actively search for.

As you can clearly see above, Skinny Fiber has tons of monthly searches, all of which are LOW competition. But under 'weight loss', Skinny Fiber would not be given to you as one of the related keywords.

The question is this: If the Google Keyword tool will not give it to you, where will you find it?

Answer: on forums. Yep, you need to find the top ranking forums for a few of your keywords (say 10 -20). You simply type in the keyword on google and type ‘forum’ at the end. Once agin, if you are looking for a ‘weight loss’ forum, simply type in ‘weight loss forum’ and Google will give you the top ranking forums.

Do this for 10 – 20 of your keywords. In the end, you’ll end up with 10 – 20 forums that you need to register on and join. Get on those forums, start reading what people have to say and start giving your comments. Forums will give you insight into top keywords and they will give you great, current topics for your content.

All the above is FREE! Yep, you don’t need to spend a single dime. Just your time and dedication really.

I did mention that there are some great tools that you can use. But, they cost money. Personally, I sue TrafficTravis. You can go ahead and check out their fantastic Keyword Tool software by Clicking Here.

How to fine tune your keywords to get profitable keywords

Now that you’ve got a LONG list of all your keywords, you need to fine tune them to get the profitable ones.

I am not saying you need to drop the rest. You need to still have the other ones, but what we are doing in this section is targeting profitable keywords. Profitable keywords are ‘buying mode’ keywords that convert highly.

if you look at the keywords under 'Skinny Fiber' in the example above, there are over 30 keywords! But, there is one particular 'buying mode' keyword that is sure to make you some money if you have a weight loss blog and the keyword is 'buy skinny fiber'. Trust me, a person that types in 'buy skinny fiber' into a search engine is already in buying mode. Now, Google tells me that there are 210 who type that in every month! Plus it is a Low competition market.

If that's not easy money, I don't know what is. Go ahead and make some cash and you can thank me later... :-)

Now, to prove that this works, I am going to start a skinny fiber blog today (9th of April 2012 and give you results over time). That's my personal challenge and I am sure going to enjoy it. I'll keep you posted

Say, you land up with 10 profitable keywords, this doesn’t mean you drop the other keywords. The other keywords will still drive traffic to your website but they won’t convert as well as your profitable keywords.

Here is list of profitable keywords:

1. Product name, product creator and ‘buy’ keyword phrases

These are the highest converting keywords. It’s pretty simple to understand. If someone types in the name of a product or the creator of that product and they land on your page which has an affiliate link related to that product, chances are VERY high that you will convert.

‘Buy’ keywords or ‘purchase, order, etc’ are also high converting keywords. If a person is already typing buy into the keyword, then you can bet they are in buying mode.

2. Desperate keywords

These are the type of keywords that people type in when they are desperate for help. If you are in a ‘Save Marriage’ niche, the following keywords would fall under the category of desperate: ‘stop divorce’. A person looking to stop divorce is desperate and is likely to spend money on a product that can provide information to stop divorce.

3. General keywords

These are keywords where people are not really sure what they are looking for. A good example would be ‘Affiliate Marketing Products’.

Like really, what exactly are you looking when you type such?

But, this doesn’t mean you ignore such keywords. But they are not the best converting keywords.

The fine tuning process is really a case of prioritizing your efforts by focusing on good return on investment keywords. You need to know where to pay particular focus as you continue developing a traffic generation plan.

How to apply your keywords to get free traffic

Now that we’ve got a list of all these keywords and we’ve prioritised them according to profitability, what’s next?

There’s a couple of things...

  1. Follow blogs or people that rank highly in your ‘profitable keywords’
  2. Follow blogs that are not your direct competitors but are related to you. If you are running a 'weight loss' blog, someone running a 'muscle building' blog is not your direct competitor but they are related to you. Building backlinks with them is worth your while
  3. Read their articles regularly (every time they post) and make comments on their articles
  4. Create a list of all the blogs that you follow and try to do guest posts on sites that allow guest posts (but build a relationship with the author of the blog first – say about 2 months – in that time you need to read their articles and comment and add value to them first before you start asking them if you can guest post)
  5. Build backlinks with ALL the blogs that are listed in the your niche and other related niches (but not competitors).

All the above are FREE strategies that you can start applying immediately. Start applying the above, be consistent at it and be patient.

I repeat, the above are not over-night, miracle strategies. These are for people who are serious about building a solid career online in the long term.

As I’ve always said, I love to write articles with the newbie affiliate marketer in mind. I really hope that this article will help both the newbie and the marketer who is struggling to get their blog off the ground.

If you have read this article and found it to add value, I’d like you to give me your comments in the 'comments section' below regarding the following:

  1. Did you know about free tools that can help you with keyword research?
  2. Have you ever put together a keyword strategy?
  3. Have you ever prioritised your keywords according to profitability?
  4. Do you follow other people’s blogs and comment on them regularly?
  5. Do you guest post?
  6. Do you actively build backlinks?

Once again, I want to thank you for reading this article. Feel free to share it

If you have enjoyed reading this post, you can:

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Apr
04

Why I Highly Suggest Clickbank As An Affiliate Network

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Choosing the right Affiliate Network is one of the most important things you can do for yourself as an affiliate marketer.

There are tons of affiliate networks out there and trying to choose the best one can be a tideous exercise. Personally, I have not gone out and looked for the best. I’ve simply looked for an affiliate network that will make my job as easy and effective as possible. There are many great networks out there. What you need to do is take into consideration a number of key factors before you choose one.

What are those considerations?

This article, titled: “10 Critical Aspects To Consider When Joining An Affiliate Network” should shed some light. Click Here to read more about it.

In this article though, I want to take you through the finer details of why I highly suggest Clickbank.

In doing so, I’ll take you through the following:

  • Why the newbie affiliate marketer has to choose Clickbank
  • Important Pre Sale Statistics that you should focus on
  • Gravity – the key component to Clickbank success

Why the newbie affiliate marketer has to choose Clickbank

As a newbie affiliate marketer, you want to minimise the confusion. It is so important to understand where you need to focus. In addition, you want a system that can help you identify and monitor all the areas of your focus. Clickbank is an incredible place to find all of this under one umbrella.

On Clickbank, you will find the following features that are essential to your success:

  • Marketplace: once you have chosen your niche, you need to be able to search for products you can promote at the click of a button. With tons of niches to choose from, Clickbank makes this an easy process.
  • Initial Pre-Sale Stats (Product Identifiers): In the Marketplace, products are ranked by their “productivity score”. This score entails a number of factors that I’ll take you through shortly.

These two factors are reason enough for any newbie affiliate marketer to get started with Clickbank and get started quickly.

Important Pre Sale Statistics that you should focus on

For anyone who isn’t a newbie, there are some very important ‘Pre-Sale’ statics that need your attention.

Interestingly Clickbank has this secret ‘productivity score’. They claim it is kept secret so as to preserve the integrity of the system (I must be honest this baffles me a bit). Although they don’t publish the formula for the score, or the score itself, but we can say that it is a function of these factors:

  1. $Earned/Sale: Average net amount earned per affiliate per referred sale. Note that this is the net earned per actual sale, and so it is impacted by refunds, chargebacks, and sales taxes. Unfunded sales, such as returned checks, do not impact this number.
  2. Future $: Average total rebill revenue earned by the affiliate due to sales from a site. Generally this equates to the average sum of all rebills.
  3. Total $: The sum of all initial sales and rebills divided by the number of initial sales. It is the average total $ per sale, including all rebills that may come from that sale.
  4. %Earned/Sale: Average percentage commission earned per affiliate per referred sale. This number should only vary if the vendor has changed their payout percentage over time.
  5. %Referred: Fraction of vendor’s total sales that are referred by affiliates.
  6. Gravity: Number of distinct affiliates who earned a commission by referring a paying customer to the vendor’s products. This is a weighted sum and not an actual total. For each affiliate paid in any 8 week period to the date you actually search for the product on the Marketplace, Clickbank adds an amount between 0.1 and 1.0 to the total. The more recent the last referral, the higher the value added. (Confused? Don’t stress, I’ll elaborate later on)

Now this is the important part for us as affiliate marketers: all factors are combined, and adjusted such that more recent sales activity is given greater weight.

Right there is reference to products that are CURRENTLY selling. You want to sell products that are selling already! Going for dead products is going to frustrate you.

Gravity – the key component to Clickbank success

Because Clickbank doesn’t publish the ‘productivity score’, which statistic do you then use to assess recent activity?

It has to be ‘Gravity’ because the definition tells us that a vendor’s gravity represents a number of affiliates who have sold the vendor’s products in the last 8 weeks.

Fortunately Clickbank gives you a figure for gravity.

Some key questions you should be asking yourself:

  • Do I KNOW how Gravity is calculated?
  • Do I UNDERSTAND Gravity?
  • Do I know how to APPLY it?

If you’ve answered ‘no’ to any of the above, hopefully by the end of this article you’ll get some clarity.

Gravity calculation…

It seems to us, Antone Roundy’s assumptions about the ClickBank gravity calculation are correct. He guesses that:

  • ClickBank recalculates Gravity every day
  • Any vendor’s gravity is a sum of scores of distinct affiliates who have sold this vendor’s products in the last 12 weeks
  • An affiliate’s score can be:
    • “1″: if he/she sold at least one copy of the vendor’s product yesterday
    • “0,96″: if this affiliate’s last sale was the day before yesterday
    • 3 days ago: 0,96^2 = 0,9216
    • 4 days ago: 0,96^3 = 0,884736
    • n days ago: 0,96^(n-1)

So, if you have 4 affiliates promoting a product and their sales figures reflect as follows:

  • 1st Affiliate: sold 2 products yesterday
  • 2nd and 3rd Affiliate each sold 4 products the day before yesterday
  • 4th affiliate sold 5 products 3 days ago

The gravity score will be 3.84, calculated as follows:

  • 1st Affiliate: 1
  • 2nd Affiliate: 0.96
  • 3rd Affiliate: 0.96
  • 4th Affiliate: 0.9216

Understanding gravity…

Now that we’ve had a look at the definition and calculation, let’s have a look at an example to help you understand it better:

Let’s say you come across a product with a Gravity of 75. Things might look appealing at first sight because you can assume that approximately 75 affiliates have sold the product in the past 8 weeks.

Not quite! And this is where you need to be careful.

Suppose the gravity score 5 weeks ago was 250. Do you realise that in the past 5 weeks, the gravity score has dropped by a whopping 175?

So, in the period leading to 5 weeks ago, there was great activity. However, in the past 5 weeks, very few affiliates have earned commission promoting the product. In addition, you could even find that a lot of clients who purchase the product asked for refunds (a definite turn off!).

From the above, it’s evident that you need to take one very important aspect into consideration when analysing the Gravity:

  • Is the product new (less than 2 months old)? If so, then the gravity could be skewed because of the ‘excitement’ of a new product.

It might sound tricky or even complicated, but you’ll soon realise that all of this is logic really.

Applying Gravity…

Now that we’ve spoken about Clickbank’s secret productivity score and their scientific gravity score, the big question is how on earth do you apply all of this so that you can earn income?

  • Try by all means to stay away from products with a gravity of less than 5. That low a gravity score simply means very few affiliates are promoting the product and there must be good reasons for that (unless it’s a new product and the gravity is on its way up)
  • When you see a product with gravity 5 – 20, you should check its activation date. If it is a new product, start to look after it. Such product can become popular very soon.
  • Products with a gravity of between 20 and 100 are generallythe best products to promote.
  • When promoting such products, do some research:
    • On the person/company selling the product (make sure they are reputable)
    • If the product is a ‘recurring billing product, check at the Average Rebill Total to check customer satisfaction (compare this figure to the Initial Sale figure to get a multiple of how often the average customer gets rebilled). Example: if the Average Rebill Total is $600 and the Initial Sale figure is $50, the multiple here is 12. Now, you would agree that no client would allow to re-billed 12 times if they were not satisfied with the product
    • Again, you’d rather stay away from products with a Gravity of more than 100 because the competition is simply too much. If you are running a PPC campaign, and have the budget to do it, it can work quite well.

Ultimately, the above are my preferences, for the niche that I operate in. There are tons of other niches that I don’t promote in. So, I’m not saying that the tips above are the only strategy you can use. Bear in mind that Gravity ranges from 0 – 800! So, you could very well prefer to play in the 100 – 300 region in a different niche. You will eventually find what works BEST for you when you start applying the tips.

However,  If you’ve never understood gravity, apply the tips I’ve given you. Get a feel for what works and do give me some of your feedback in the comments section below.

Can you please give me feedback regarding the following:

  1. Do you use Clickbank as an Affiliate Network?
  2. Did you know about all the statistics, especially Gravity as tool of assessing your products?
  3. What parameters do you use as a basis of choosing the products you promote?

I really hope you have enjoyed this post and found value in it. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments and if you found value in this article, please feel free to share it.

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Mar
29

The Affiliate Marketing Money Formula FREE Report

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 Click Here To Download Your Free Report

 

 

Best regards,

 

Peteni Kuzwayo
Online Marketing Coach
Wealthy Mindset – “Wealth begins with your Mindset”
tel.:27 71 519 6331
skype: peteni.kuzwayo
petenikuz@yahoo.com

 

 

 

 

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Mar
26

How the Number Of Transactions Fit Into The Affiliate Marketing Money Formula

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If you are an Affiliate Marketer, it’s important to understand the components that drive your Pay Cheque.

The Affiliate Marketing Money Formula is a formula that you need to know like the back of your hand. In this article, I am going to take you through the third component. To help you read this article with perspective, I highly suggest that you read the following 3 articles:

In this post, I want us to tackle the 3rd component: Number of Transactions per client.

The most effective way of achieving this is ensuring that you enhance your communication with clients.

So the question is simple: how do you communicate effectively?

The answer is simply this: E-mail Marketing.

E-mail marketing is the process by which you collect data and communicate to your web visitors.

You use what is known as opt-in forms to collect data. Ideally, you want to offer your visitors something of value for FREE! Here, your visitors will trade their information (usually their Name & E-mail address) for any FREE offer that you will provide to them.

I use a piece of software called Pop Up Domination to collect data. It’s an incredible software that has increased my audience at an alarming rate. To find out more about Pop Up Domination, you can Click Here.

Popup DominationIn addition, I highly suggest that you read the following article:

Once you’ve collected the information, you then start to communicate with your web visitors using e-mail marketing software. I use GetResponse to communicate with my audience. Another incredible piece of software to use for e-mail communication is Aweber. To find out all about GetResponse, you can Click Here.

I also suggest you read the following article:

Communication does two things for you:

  1. It increases the chances of you making a sale
  2. It increases your chances of making secondary sales in future

Making a sale…

Most web visitors will buy a product from you after you have made contact with them a number of times. In that time, they will either research you, the product or both.

Making secondary sales in future…

This is where the number of transactions in your Affiliate Marketing Formula kicks in. If a client has bought a product you have suggested and they are satisfied and happy with the purchase, chances are good that they will buy from you again in future provided you keep healthy communication.

The great aspect about e-mail communication is that you can automate the entire process through auto-responder e-mail messages.

Below, I just want o give you some tips on how to increase the number of transactions:

  • Provide good content going forward
  • Have a call to action with the content that you send out (include subtle links to some of your other affiliate products)
  • Include some hard sells occasionally. This is where you will sell one of you affiliate products directly. Nothing subtle. Include benefits and go all out to sell
  • Have an auto-responder series that lasts a minimum of 2 months.
  • Communicate you latest blog posts

All this communication creates a relationship with you and the client. In the process you are able to add value to the client an ideally place you in a position that will allow you continuously sell without being an irritation.

We’ve come to the end of this post. I really hope you have enjoyed this post and found value in it. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments and if you found value in this article, please feel free to share it.

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Mar
22

How Conversion Rates determine your Affiliate Pay Cheques

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As an Affiliate Marketer, you need to understand the components that drive your Pay Cheque.

As a result, it is important that you know what the Affiliate Marketing Money Formula is and all the components it entails. If you don’t, I highly suggest that you read the following articles:

These 2 articles will give you some background information that will help you to read this article with perspective.

In this article, I want us to tackle Conversion Rates, the 2nd component of the formula

Conversion has got a lot to do with relevance. Whilst traffic is important, you need to start asking yourself this question:

How relevant am I to my site visitors?

The most obvious place to start once again is your statistics. Once you’ve installed Google Analytics, you’ll start receiving a lot of information, including:

  • Number of visitors
  • A split between new and return visitors
  • Number of pageviews
  • Average time each visitor spends
  • Country they come from
  • Source of visitors (do they come from search engines, other referral sites, etc)
  • Keywords that they used to get to your site

The last bit of information is the most important. Keywords that your visitors use to get to your site are the cornerstone of your conversion rate and subsequent success. Now this should make sense.

If a person typed: “Affiliate Marketing Tips” and got to a dog training blog, the chances of going through the content, let alone buying any products being advertised by that blog are zero! So keywords are the most important aspect with regards to relevance.

At times, the lack of relevance is subtle. If someone typed “Affiliate Marketing Tips” and they landed on a blog that does Affiliate Marketing Product Reviews only, do you realise that the chances are high that the visitor will not be interested?

Spend time thinking about the relevance of your site and ensuring that you meet your visitor’s needs.

Google Analytics is a FREE Tool. Free tools are great but as you can well appreciate, they have their limitations. If you have some budget constraints, you can continue using Google Analytics.

However, if you don’t have budget constraints and want to turbo-boost your ability to increase relevance and your conversion rates, I highly suggest that you start using a Search Engine Optimization software known as Traffic Travis. Traffic Travis offers the following benefits:

  • Enables you to outsmart your competitors by helping find out why competitors outrank you
  • Enables you to uncover simple mistakes on your website and helps you to fix them
  • Helps you to build quality links so you can save time and money

Click Here to find out a whole lot more!

Alternatively, you can CLICK HERE to watch the video for a simple walk through:

Does relevance equate to conversion?

Absolutely not! As an affiliate marketer, you are referring people to products being sold by various merchants. The most important aspect you need to consider when promoting a product is its ability to convert leads. Whilst relevance is your job as an affiliate marketer, converting leads to sales isjob of the merchant. That is why it’s important to join the right affiliate networks and programmes.

You need to have a look at the statistics prior to joining that programme. The only question you need to ask is this: how is the product doing currently or how are affiliates promoting that product doing currently?

This combines a number of factors;

  • Sales copy of the product (does the merchant do a good job of selling the product)
  • Follow up strategy of the merchant (does the merchant try to collect data of potential clients so that they can do follow up sales pitches)
  • Credibility of merchant
  • Value of product in relation to price
  • Confidence of merchant in their product (does merchant offer trial periods to client so they can test the product)

Affiliate networks such as Clickbank will give you indicators that will inform you whether the product is doing well or not.

In addition, they give your reports that help you analyse what happens at different stages of the marketing process until the sale takes place.

Ultimately, if you want to start increasing your conversion rates, you have to start with what you can control. You have 100% control over the aspect of relevance. You are the one that decides on a traffic generation.  You are also the one that decides on the keywords you will target when building your traffic generation strategy. Where the merchant is concerned, if they are not converting your leads to sales, you can always choose another product or products to sell.

I really hope you have enjoyed this post and found value in it. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments and if you found value in this article, please feel free to share it.

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