Mining For Gold With The Best Affiliate Programs And Hitting Pay Dirt
by Colin McDougall
Colin tinkered around with affiliate programs earning a few dollars, nothing much to write home about, even had his own e-commerce site, known as the man’s mall. In theory that site was supposed to offer all sorts of gadgets for guys. Colin created the site with the concept “build it they will come” but in reality no one did. Like so many dot.com ventures, it was a huge disappointment, lots of hard work and no pay off. Colin says, “The man’s mall failed because I started the
venture blindly, I didn’t have a clue how the search engines worked or
how to make money with affiliate programs. Without an action plan and a map
on how to get the gold it was all pointless. But not anymore, I hit the
internet gold mine, a virtual moneymaking machine.” Read on to learn the facts about affiliate marketing and how Colin went
from failing on the Internet to making serious money with affiliate
marketing. Affiliate marketing is paying off for retailers 2003 online sales are bucking the retail trend. With traditional retail
sales down, retailers are forced to do more with less. They’ve shifted
budgets away from expensive portal deals to performance-based affiliate
marketing and search engine marketing and it’s paying off. (Source:
Forrester Research) It’s no surprise that traditional advertisers such as American
Express, National Geographic, Toshiba and even Disney are flocking to the
emerging affiliate marketing model. Advertisers have a very low risk with
affiliate marketing; they simply pay a commission for actual sales. No
sales, no commission. Affiliates love it too Affiliates who understand the affiliate marketing business are earning
huge incomes, even those who are doing it as a hobby, in many cases, are
earning a few hundred to a few thousand extra dollars each month. Jeff Pullen, President of
, a third party provider of infrastructure and tracking told the
crowd at a recent conference held in Santa Barbara that, “Commissions
are up 80% over the previous year”. According to the Affiliate Summit,
held in early November 2003 in New York City, affiliate marketing is already
a $14 billion industry. (Source: Marketing Sherpa) Online shopping is booming – the future is bright Affiliate marketing works because the pay for performance model makes
sense. Plus, people are flocking to the Internet in droves to shop online.
According to Forrester Research, a Massachusetts-based research firm,
nationally online sales are expected to total $96 billion this year and
climb to $229 billion by 2008. Affiliate marketing in a nutshell An affiliate program is a business relationship where one website owner
(a “merchant”) agrees to pay another website owner (an
“affiliate”) a commission simply for referring customers. Merchants typically manage their affiliate program by joining a
commission network such as Commission Junction or LinkShare who provide
third-party tracking and infrastructure or by purchasing and installing
specialized tracking software on their own server. See Commission Junction and LinkShare.com for a list of merchants who are looking for affiliates to promote their products and services. How Colin got involved with affiliate marketing Colin says: “I found the treasure map; the Affiliate Marketers Handbook
written by James
Martell,” an entrepreneur and successful affiliate marketer. The first
time Colin read the Affiliate Marketers Handbook he mentions, that it was
like looking at the horizon through binoculars; he could see where he was
headed. The second time reading the book Colin, it was like looking at a
road map and seeing how to reach the riches on the horizon. Colin says, “With the book, you learn how to get organized, plan
the site, run the business, and focus on the riches along the
horizon.” Colin learned firsthand, with the man’s mall, that without
understanding the search engines, your business is dead in the water. The
“build it they will come” mind set, just doesn’t cut
it. As Colin says: “The book’s system for using keywords really
makes sense, after my prior experience it’s like this light bulb went
off…so that’s how I’m going to attract visitors and making
money. In my old business, I was set up to fail, with the handbook I’m
set up to win.” Got Dot: How did you go from failing at the Internet to make money? Colin explains, “By reading James’ handbook. His book is
real, it’s not the stuff of Internet legends, but it’s an
honest, to goodness road map. James really shares what works. I’ve
followed his 8-step system™ and now have a bigger house, a bigger car
and financial independence. At first, I was amazed at how much the book gives away, but that’s
James. He really wants everybody to succeed, he’s got things all laid
out in his book. If you follow it the money’s there, it’s up to
the reader to go for the gold.” Got Dot: What was it like getting started? Colin says, “In the beginning I was skeptical, making money with
affiliate marketing, just seemed unreal. After attending James’
original class in Vancouver, at the prodding of a friend Chuck Anderson, and
actually meeting with other people, earning lots of money with affiliate
marketing, the whole process really resonated. I knew I could do it, if they
could.” Got Dot: Why was that so hard to grasp? Colin: “As a system tech I was working 50% harder for a measly 5%
raise, all of $250/month. It was awful. In the class all these people were
making a lot more money than me, working just a few hours a day. What a wake
up call. I felt like a dummy slaving away at 60 hours a week, with
practically nothing to show for it.” Colin adds, “The hard part for me was getting over my past,
removing the skepticism, and just running. My disbelief held me back four
months. So I started off small spending one hour a day doing affiliate
marketing. The beginning search engine traffic and commission checks…just blew
me away, talk about a real eye-opener. Nothing like numbers to get a techie
excited.” Got Dot: What’s the money like? Colin: “When I first started I earned $400 a month, nearly double
my raise as a system tech. By the end of the year I hoped to make $5k a
month (my system tech salary). I hit that mark in six months. Within 9
months I earned $120K. The day job is now history. The money’s
astounding, it just keeps growing.” Got Dot: What is your product niche? Colin says, “In the beginning, I went after the big paycheck, like
credit cards. My newer sites feature things I want to learn more about or
hobbies.” Colin follows the same methods for web site construction developed by
James Martell. These principals are incorporated into Colin’s
successful sites featuring: lighting fixtures
, hockey
equipment
and credit card applications
. Got Dot: What is a typical day like?
Colin says, “Its ideal. How many fathers can say they have time to
play Barbie’s with their daughter? Everyday I work for two hours and
spend an afternoon in the park with the family, then another hour or two of
work and its dinner time, what a day!”
Got Dot: What tips do have for someone starting out?
Colin says: “Buy the Affiliate Marketers Handbook, follow it
step-by-step. Don’t jump ahead. Devote one hour a day to affiliate
marketing, when you get home from work. Make the sacrifice. The short term
pain is worth the long term gain. Don’t settle for fool’s gold,
searching through the “best affiliate programs”, find the real
gold, James Martell’s 8-step system™, it’s within your
grasp. Go for the gold.”
Colin McDougall followed a simple 8-step-system™ for affiliate
marketing created by James Martell, entrepreneur, successful affiliate
marketer, and developer of over 70 specialty shopping sites with topics that
range from motorized scooters
to treadmill comparisons
; and also educates people who want
to start a homebased business using affiliate programs and the Internet!
| DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
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