Imagine if you could get companies to handle all the orders, all the deliveries, all theorder taking...all you have to do is drive people to your Web Site and get them to buy.

That's what this online training system is all about. Many of your affiliate competitorsare committing online marketing insanity; they are setting up Internet flea markets, sellingeverything from Beanie Babies to UFO books, and then they wonder why people don't buy. You willavoid their mistakes and learn the secrets of what works by applying tested, proven formulas to take advantage of one ofthe most promising Internet marketing opportunities.

In this system you will learn how to simply, quickly, and effectively build your affiliate business.You will discover how to save 6-12 months of time and countless dollars. Best of all, you are plugging into the only affiliate-based network in the ActiveMarketplace. This sitewas designed to help your efforts, to show you how to market and sell, and give you access tothe best resources.

Let's jump in now, and I invite you to participate by emailing meat declan@linkstosales.com.

Peace,
Declan Dunn

How many times have you picked up a newspaper and seen other people making tons of cash from their Web Site?

Thousands are profiting with affiliate programs, people who are no smarter than you are, no more experienced, but who seem to know exactly what to do. If your Internet business isn't generating significant income (and I mean at least $2,000 a month), here's the reason why.

You are about to discover how to do this. The money being generated by the Internet is staggering, and experts point out that it will only grow even more dramatically in the next 5 years:

"By 2002, 25 percent of the expected $37.5 billion in Internet retail sales, not including autos, will have originated on affiliate sites"
-- Nicole Vanderbilt, Jupiter Communications

The Internet is obviously one of the great economic revolutions: the real key to success is to copy what is already working, and put it into action for yourself. The fastest, risk free way to get your share of the Internet fortune is to take advantage of affiliate programs.

Earning Potential

Imagine if you were selling a product and making $20 per sale. No inventory, no credit card processing or customer service, simply marketing and making $20, free and clear. Here's the kind of income you could be looking at:

Now anyone can open up a Web Site and join an affiliate program, just like anyone can open a store. The real secret is in making money with a tested, proven process that can build your business for the long run without risking your earnings, time, or sanity.

The best part is, most of the affiliates out there are making the same mistakes. They are wasting time and money on online marketing insanity that simply will not succeed.

In this book, you will tap into the strategies that do work, by focusing your efforts like the affiliates we are about to explore such as:

1. The Web Site dedicated to helping children learn and paying its way by selling books;
2. The engineer who sells toys and videos about robots as a profitable side business;
3. A journalist in Australia who writes, while on the beach, to an international audience of over 5,000 people who regularly buy affiliate products and services from him;
4. A software entrepreneur who sells his competitor’s product and makes up to $1500 each month with absolutely no extra effort; and
5. An Ohio couple who set up their own network and in a few short months expect to generate millions with an approach so innovative, so simple, it boggles the mind.

The key is to pick a few good products and test which ones sell best. Build your business for the long haul, because it will be worth it: Most of all, generate enough traffic to make sales.

"Online Media is entering what we believe will be the most rewarding period in its development... We believe that the prevailing forecasts for online advertising expenditures will be comfortably exceeded in the coming years, and that the leading firms in the sector will be powerfully profitable in the longer term."
-- Online Media Rules, Salmon Smith Barney, August 1998

What you will discover in this book is the true secret of success; enjoy what you are doing and sell only those products you know, enjoy, and feel comfortable offering. Here’s how:

1. Create an automated system that pays you to just market. Let them handle all the headaches.
2. Generate visitors and put your Internet sales system on autopilot.
3. Offer products that people are buying. Sounds simple, but few people are doing it!
4. Offer products that are easy to sell to your target audience.
5. Instead of creating mediocrity, why not copy genius.

Let’s begin by showing you a few of the geniuses putting affiliate programs into profitable action. To some, paying their hosting fees and helping children learn are the riches. To others, it may be a full time business that allows them to quit their jobs and be their own boss.

Whatever your goals, remember these business models. What they have discovered is no secret; the best way to sell products and services online is to sell a few items and sell them very well. Forget about Internet flea markets, and focus, focus, focus…Now!

"Specialty retailers will embrace syndicated selling -- distributed points-of-sale -- within smaller, but more targeted communities…where high levels of trust will yield conversion rates in excess of 10%."
-- On-line Retail Strategies, The Forrester Report, May 1998

Overview: The Cybrary is an educational site (http://remember.org) set up since 1995 to educate students from sixth grade to early college. The visitors to this site are mostly teachers and students from throughout the world who come for the free information. The site has a long growth curve to its current steady traffic of 500,000 visitors a year, with 10-20,000 in slow months and over 100,000 on its two peak months, generating over a million hits.

How This Site is Marketed

The Cybrary built its traffic through word of mouth advertising; since it is an educational site, many newspapers and online awards have helped promote their efforts for free. Combined with strategic positioning on the search engines, this site has developed a loyal following. Niche markets like this, with a passionate audience, grow by announcing themselves to the newsgroups, mailing lists, and Web Sites where the audience goes. No monthly marketing is involved.

With just one week of effort searching Amazon.com, this site set up its own bookstore. Books are a natural market for these visitors. Since it only took a week to set up this book store, with no changes in two years, the time factor is limited. Now this book store pays the hosting fees for this site for an entire year, not much but enough to keep it going. Let's break this down to see the value.

They generated about $250 in sales for Amazon.com and make $10 a week., a little less than 5% margin on average (many of the books bought here are hard to find items). Let's estimate the value of this small affiliate over a year, with these as an average sent through Amazon.com:

For no effort, the Cybrary pays its own way. Riches here cannot be measured in money alone. Not bad for a week's worth of work; this site it totally on autopilot.

Carlo Bertocchini is an engineer who loves robots. His site is a natural extension of his own interest, applied in a very specific and profitable way. Here's an interview with Carlo.

Overview: "I work full time as a mechanical designer. I have been involved with robotics (mostly as a hobby) since about 1993. I have built several robots for robotic competitions. I won the heavyweight division of Robot Wars in 1996 and 1997. My robotic Sumo wrestling robot has won the annual competition at the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco every year since 1994. RobotBooks.com is the first web site that I have put together (except for a site about one of my robots on one of the free web page services).

I noticed Amazon's affiliate program one day while I was shopping for books. It sounded like a great idea, so I reserved the RobotBooks.com URL that same day."

"I have contacted over 700 robot related web site owners and asked for a link. My first email does not offer a reciprocal link, but I give one to most of the sites that ask for one. This is important not just for the traffic that you will get from the links, it is also important because some search engines take into consideration the number of other sites that link to yours when they decide how high to rank your page in their search results.

I have submitted my web site to over 100 search engines and directories. There are many businesses that will do this for you for a fee. Here is a free one: http://www.selfpromotion.com/.Most of your search engine traffic is going to come from the big ones (Yahoo, Alta Vista, Excite, InfoSeek, Lycos, Hotbot, and a few others). You want to come up on the first page of the search results. It's not that easy, and there is a whole cottage industry devoted to raising search rankings. We have pretty poor rankings right now. I have a lot more work to do in this area, but that is where much of our growth will come from.

I wrote two articles for the magazine "Robot Science & Technology". Almost all the readers of this magazine are hobbyists. In exchange for writing the articles, I get six months of advertising and some cash. I'll use that cash to buy small ads in other magazines.

I have announced my site on several news groups, and I started an on-line forum on robotics at www.delphi.com. Delphi provides the forum for free in exchange for the right to post advertising banners on it. This forum is now getting about 100 unique visitors per day, and each of them sees my advertisement every time they log on.

I had a service send out a press release to about 1300 newspapers and magazines. This cost $225, and I have gotten two calls from reporters so far. I don't know yet if this will pay off.

Banner adds probably won't work for a product that such a tiny percentage of the population is interested in, but I might look into one of those pay-per-click banner add services for bringing in more traffic."

"We sell books, toys, kits, movies, and magazines that have something to do with robotics. The market I am going after is the hobbyist market. Each item that we sell has a picture and a short description. All the order taking, money collecting, and order fulfillment is done by the companiesthat I am affiliated with. My plan is to never touch the merchandise myself. I spend all my time on content development and promotion.

Our first full month was September '98. We averaged 50 visitors per day, and we earned about $100 in commissions. In October we averaged about 140 visitors per day, and we earned about $250. It is now near the end of November, and we are on track for an average of 275 visitors per day and earnings of about $500.

Our book vendor is Books.com. They offer 12% commission on all sales, which is the best deal I have seen for books. I actually started with Amazon, and I was looking forward to those 15% commissions they offer, but it turns out that most of the books that I wanted to sell did not qualifyfor their 15% plan. They would only pay 5%.

Our toys vendor is eToys.com. They offer 25% commission to serious sites that have their own domain names, and 12.5% to smaller sites.

Most of our sales are books. Toys are doing pretty well, but magazines and videos are not moving. I will keep offering them though because it adds content and rounds out the site. They may also help bring some people to the site."

"To be successful with affiliate programs on the web you have to bring several things together. First of all you need to have a product that people want. If you choose a popular product like computers, you have the potential to make lots of sales, but many businesses are selling computers,and you will probably have to spend some big bucks to get their shoppers away from them. I chose to go with a niche product.

Robots aren't as popular as computers, but selling them has some advantages. The robot hobbyists are easy to find. Alta Vista returns almost 700,000 hits on the word "robot". The interest in robots is growing rapidly, and very few web sites offer as large a selection of robotics products as we do. In fact, when it comes to robot books with reviews, we are the biggest.

You need a good web site that is easy to navigate. The user should also be able to get something of value from it without spending any money. We have a "Robot News" page on which we post a new press release or article every week, and a links page where we link to over 20 robot clubs, and 25 robot competitions around the world.

GoTo.com, one of the smaller search engines, allows you to pay for better rankings. I reserved top position for about 25 key words and phrases and most of those only cost me 1 penny each. For example, at the time of this writing, I have top position for the phrase "robot toys". If the surferclicks on the link to my site, I pay GoTo one penny. This is a great bargain. But if your keyword is "computers", be prepared to pay almost 30 cents for top position. I don't know if GoTo is going to make it with this mode of doing business, but I hope they do because we get almost 10% of ourtraffic from them. This will probably go down to 2-3% when we get our rankings up in the other search engines.

"Visit http://www.associateprograms.com for lots of info on affiliate programs.

Notice the high commission levels of most of my vendors. Most operators of affiliate programs offer much lower commissions. Don't waste your time with them. If all you are getting is 5%, you really can't afford to pay for any advertising. Even the few pennies you pay at GoTo.com will startto eat into your profits.

This isn't easy. It takes a lot of work to put together a decent web site. Once you have done that, your real work begins. Marketing is the best name for your new job if you decide to try to earn a living with affiliate programs.

I reserved several other domain names, and once I get RobotBooks.com going pretty good, I plan to do the same thing with GourmetBooks.com, VideoGameBooks.com, NutritionBooks.com, and several others. It should be a lot easier the second time around.

How can our readers contact you for more information?

Visit us for an introduction to an interesting and fun new hobby!
http://www.RobotBooks.com or email Webmaster@RobotBooks.com

Associate Programs is an excellent resource forassociate/affiliate programs (just ask Carlo!); the uniqueapproach of its creator, Allan Gardyne, incorporates actual,personal involvement with affiliate programs along with acommunity sharing feedback. He offers discussion boards andinsights into this market, as well as recommending his Top 10programs. This is an excellent site to get a personal view ofaffiliate programs; the key strength is Allan's email list ofover 5,000 subscribers. A list like that will keep you inbusiness for a long time. Let Allan show you how he makes a goodliving with affiliate programs himself.

"I'm Allan Gardyne. I live with my wife Joanna in a pole houseamong gum trees and jacarandas by the beach at Tuan, a tinyfishing village without a shop, in sub-tropical Queensland,Australia. I wasn't born here - I just got here as fast as Icould. Three days a week I work as a sub-editor for a dailynewspaper and Joanna usually works one day as a reporter. Thesedays, I spend just about every other hour I can manage workingon AssociatePrograms.com."

"I run a directory of associate programs - the AssociatePrograms Directory, at http://www.AssociatePrograms.com. I began it because I had joined Jim Daniels' associate programfor his introduction to marketing on the Internet, "InsiderInternet Marketing". (It's http://www.bizweb2000.com/d2080.htm) I loved the way commissions arrived regularly in the mail - Iwas making money while I was walking on the beach - so I searchedfor more companies offering similar programs.

I was amazed that apparently no one had started a directory ofsuch programs, or if one existed I couldn't find it. So Idecided to start my own. At first it was just a one-pageAssociate Programs Guide, but it quickly expanded into theAssociate Programs Directory and I got my own domain name inMarch, 1998."

"My directory of associate programs is different from mostdirectories. It allows companies running programs to list them,but also allows other people to recommend programs. I alsopublish an associate's special URL or ID number, so in some casesthey can earn commissions from those links. I also allow them toinclude their own web site's URL, giving them free publicity.

This gives people a strong incentive to send me listings, sothe directory grows fast."

"Traffic to AssociatePrograms.com has grown quickly, from 4227unique visitors to the main page in April, 1998, to 12,305 inAugust. The Associate Programs Newsletter has gone from nowhereto more than 3000 subscribers in just over five months. I lovegetting e-mail from people thanking me and telling me how helpfulthe newsletter has been. It's fun, making money by helping peoplemake money."

"I tell people which programs have made money for me and forother people, and also give marketing advice. I took CoreyRudl's advice and after buying his marketing course, I wrote apersonal recommendation for it, instead of just posting banners.My sales soared from $195 (US) to $845 for a month. I use advicefrom Corey's manuals to market his course and have now achievedmore than $1100 in sales for a month - just for course alone;it's at http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/7134/"

"The Internet is growing an a phenomenal pace and so there arealways new people seeking products and services. For example,I've found that there are a lot of new businesses looking for aneasy way to accept credit cards online, so associates of acompany such as Thomas Harpointner's AIS Merchant Servicesshould do extremely well. It offers an amazingly generous $175commission per sale, and also has a second-tier commission of$50. It's at http://www.aismedia.com/x/cc.cfm?AG45xDUNN

(Note the nifty trick in the URL. AIS allows an associate tochange the last part of the URL, so if any sales are made becauseof this publication I will know. All programs should include thatexcellent feature.)

Beware of thinly disguised pyramid schemes. I'm extremelysuspicious of businesses which excitedly emphasize how much moneyyou can make, instead of telling you about a wonderful product orservice.

Brian Clark heads Radiation, a software company offeringLinkTrakker software. Drawing on a strong technologicalbackground, and offering his products to WebMasters and WebDevelopment companies, he taps into a natural and huge market onthe Internet; offering software. He has an affiliate program heruns, as well as participating in his "competitor's" program.Here's how he approaches the affiliate market.

"We've been doing CGI web development since 1994, mostly fromthe entertainment industry. We needed to be able to trackpromotionally what was working and what wasn't. We really wantto be able to see the results coming from search engines, links,banner banners, and get a feel for how our techniques wereworking online.

We decided to build the tools because we need them ourselves.LinkTrakker has been around since March 1995 with 16 pointversion upgrades since then. Now it is the centerpiece of ourwell tested, well deployed products under the Radiationbrand.

In my mind, the most beautiful affiliate's system requires theaffiliate to do the minimum amount of special things. Amazon andBarnes & Noble use their cgi program, making you link to aparticular book, which is not the easiest thing to do for anaffiliate.

In the ideal world, the affiliate would just make a link, andit would count towards their sales, friction-less. It is notabout managing the sign up process of affiliates, calculating thepercentage they should be paid, and setting up all thesesystems. Affiliate programs have extreme customization needs onthe front end and the back end. On the front end, what info doyou want to collect, and how much do you want them to track realtime?

Linktrakker fills the middle, connecting each visitor to theWeb Site with the outside Web Site that led them in from lead tosale, just by reading a cookie on a browser. It's simple tocustomize shopping carts to read that cookie and store it as anextra field of the order.

Our affiliate program for LinkTrakker has allowed us todedicate support resources to everyone who's installing beforethey bought. Affiliate programs are becoming accepted and freeup resources for support, for customer service. We launched ouraffiliate program 3 months ago and have over 220 affiliatesalready, providing them the technology without requiring having adirect relationship with their clients; we are thinking like anoutsourcer."

"I discovered WebPosition software, which is a great match forRankThis's services, so close that a business person who is morenarrow minded might see them as competition. I signed up fortheir affiliates program, and dedicated 40 CPM of banners forWebPosition, generating $1500 in commissions a month. I get$37.50 per CPM for my banner advertising with this affiliateprogram, measured in commissions.

Compare that to my other options; if I sell the banner ads,the book rate is $15 CPM. If I can't sell the banner bars viathat method, and put that into the hands of a broker, I earnabout $1.40 to $5 CPM...compare that to the money ($37.50) fromWebPosition. Plus I don't have to convince WebPosition to buyadvertising every month, like I would if I was simply sellingbanner ads at my Web Site.

The problem with banner ad CPM is that it doesn't provideenough accountability to advertisers. Clickthrough doesn'tprovide enough accountability to publishers. Affiliate programsprotect both."

Brian looks to the SellThrough, instead of the clickthrough. He finds that certain sites related to his product line generatemuch more sales than others through his affiliate program.

This amazing story, inspired from the interview in Inc.Magazine Tech 1998 No. 3 issue, shows how two entrepreneurs tookthe idea of affiliate programs to create a full time business. They have built their own affiliate program by following theAmazon.com model and putting in their own, unique approach. Theyhave provided a middle ground between the companies offeringproducts and the non-profits they have targeted to help.

Rudy Socha and Carolyn Darrow thought of the idea for thisonline Gift Store in 1997. By March 1998 they opened their ownstore online. Socha had learned about Amazon.com's model and theamazing amount of affiliates they had.

Instead of copying Amazon, he invented his own approach,targeting non-profits. By May 1998 they had signed up theirfirst, affiliated non-profit: the ASPCA (American Society forthe Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). The ASPCA gets acustomized entry page to their gift store. This is a model theyhave extended by working with just a select few non-profits,instead of managing the headache of many affiliates.

They provide products as the retailer of a variety of dolphinand whale related items (isn't retailer another name foraffiliate?). They then sign up non-profits like the ASPCA, whogets paid 10% per transaction. The non-profit gains a source ofongoing income as an affiliate, while the gift store is able tofocus strictly on doing something that matters to them, helpingnon-profits.

They do not actively promote their Web Site. They do notcollect emails or customer information, because they feel it justisn't the right thing to do. Despite what appears to be thewrong thing to do, they are profiting by working through hightraffic, non-profit sites, mostly wildlife organizations. Theirmarketing cost is the 10% they pay on every transaction. That isit. Donations are also accepted and routed to thenon-profits.

By following their own passion and taking the high ground inbusiness, they have developed core relationships withnon-profits. Socha has estimated $7 million in earnings theirfirst year, all for doing something they love, with little or nomarketing, and helping non-profits survive.

Making money for yourself is the goal of any business. Imagine if you could help others, giving back money to thecommunity while profiting yourself. Unlike the previous story,the following is a site based on giving more than on selling aspecific line of products. Its success is an inspiration foranyone seeking to really use the power of the Internet to helpthemselves, and their community.

The goal of iGive.com is for the shopper to give back to thecommunity. A wide selection of products are available frommerchants such as:

• eToys
• Beyond.com
• software
• Music Boulevard
• Avon
• Reel.com
• J.Crew

Notice that the profit margins for most of these are in theupper ranks; this gives the site an ability to generate profits. This profit margin is split equally, half going to thenon-profit of the shopper's choice and half to keepingiGive.com's efforts going.

iGive.com earns its money by matching shoppers to the selectedmerchants. It creates cause related marketing, donated amatching fund for each purchase. In essence, the good will ofthe shopper is encouraged and the non-profit gets half the netprofits.

iGive.com opened in 1997 and in its first year estimates tohave generated over $180,000 for 43 non-profits ("Organizationsmake it easy to donate time, money online", Jamie Beckett, SanFrancisco Chronicle, December 24, 1998, p. D3). Remember thatsince they split the profits, they also earned $180,000. Totalearnings is over $350,000 for the first year, while helpingnon-profits and the community. No inventory, no burdens of orderprocessing or delivery; simple, direct cause related marketing. Where else but the Internet could this happen?

Now that you have read some amazing stories of how others are achieving their dreams, it's time to get focused on the results you can generate.

You will notice something common among all the success stories; every one of them intensely enjoys what they are doing. The first thing that leads to most affiliate's failure is the lack of real interest, passion, or love for what they are doing.

In fact, most people assume that they should just sign up for every program and chase customers down. They set up sites with hundreds of programs on it, putting up banner after banner on their site.

In the following chapters, we'll show you how to set up your Web Site and marketing. For now, remember the most important lessons the success stories have taught us all:

1. Measure your success in your own terms. For the Cybrary, it may be paying its hosting fees and breaking even. For others, it may be money. But if you look closely at those success stories, every one has an extreme joy in helping others achieve their goals.

2. This joy is part of their success; if you do not enjoy what you are doing, eventually you will get cynical and give up. Your customers will pick up on it, even if you don't think you are being negative. As the saying goes, "Life is a state of mind." Prepare yourself with a positive attitude.

3. Begin with the end in mind; determine what is important to you, set realistic goals, and pursue your goals. Test your efforts cheaply and when you find what works, then you can sink your money into it. You want to find the best affiliates programs for you; target ones that you can sell a product a day, and make $20 of off each sale. These are the ones that can build your business.

4. Remember that none of these stories happened overnight; promises of instant success is not what this book is about. Focus on your long term efforts and building an Internet business that fits into your life and doesn't make you work too hard.

5. You only have so much time in life; enjoy what you have. Let the Internet help you further that enjoyment. If you find yourself complaining instead of doing something to solve the problem, you have missed the point.

6. Abraham Lincoln put it so well: "The pessimist sees the difficulty in opportunity.
   The optimist sees the opportunity in difficulty."

No achievement comes without its challenges -- and that's where the real fun comes in. Ask any successful person about the most enjoyable, alive time of their lives and it inevitably comes down to when they were just starting their idea. These really are the good days.

Time: 10 minutes

Goal: Make a list of the following:

• Every job you may have had
• Every hobby you may have, or would like to have
• Every personal interest, hobby, related topic, business, or special interests you may have

High profit ideas can be found with a little fishing. Don't think too hard, just write it down. And limit yourself to 10 minutes. You are looking for those subjects, interests, and related products and services that you can offer.

Imagine yourself 5 years from today, the day you made a decision to change your entire life, and you will look back on this moment as the time you took the next step. Picture yourself doing what you would like to do; what sort of people would you like to meet? How much vacation time would you like to take?

Take some time to take your dreams and put them together with what you are thinking now. What can you realistically achieve and within what time frame?

Time: 10 Minutes

Goal: Take each item from Phase 1 and ask:

1. What are the major problems facing people interested in this subject?

2. What are the important goals that people interested in this subject would like to achieve?

Do this as quickly as possible, 10 minutes only. Remember not to think too hard; if you cannot list them quickly, it is likely your target customers cannot as well.

Think of yourself traveling up in an elevator with one other person; this person will get off on the next floor. You have 30-60 seconds to describe exactly what you do and make it so interesting, that they do not want to get off.

Don't worry if this doesn't come too quick; in fact, you should work on your elevator speech throughout your business. It will change and adapt as you do. What is important is to focus your efforts on being able to exactly and quickly explain what you do in the time it takes to ride up an elevator.

Let's start judging what you wrote. Which ideas are worth your time and which are wasted time?

Go back through your list from Phase 1. Ask two questions of each:

1. Can I write about the solutions or goals these people want to achieve?

   People who write about something based on their own experience put out more interesting materials than "experts". Don't think of yourself as an expert, can you simply write their goals and solutions from experience? If you can, customers will pay for it. The real challenge is to provide a new twist to the subject that no one else has.

2. Can I provide products/services to supply my customers? Is anyone else doing what I'm doing?

   This question is usually assumed by most businesses; if no one is selling what you are, you have to create a market. If too many people are selling what you are offering, your competition may hinder your results. Be honest and don't use your own opinion only; get feedback from others. It is often easier to take part of an existing market than creating your own.

Phases 1 and 2 are for letting your ideas go. Use Phase 3 to sort your ideas, check them out. Do this for yourself and work with a partner. Make sure you are honest in Phase 3 and take only those ideas that are workable, and throw out the rest.

Remember that competition is not necessarily bad; it has been proven that in a town with a McDonald's burger restaurant, that opening up another McDonald's in the same area can actually improve sales in both stores. People want more of a good thing, but be sure you don't pick out a business with an 800 lb. Gorilla that owns the market.

For example, it would be silly to create a Personal Computer software system to compete with Windows. But if you could sell something that Windows users would want, you gain part of a natural market. What you are looking for is your natural market, things that you understand and can easily explain, and offer, your target customers with affiliate programs.

The first step was brainstorming exactly what it is you are selling:

1. A solution to the problems your customer has.

2. Supplies to help them solve the problem.

Now that you have an idea of what it is you would like to offer via the Internet, apply this to what is actually selling online. Certain products move better than others; for example, most online shoppers would not buy an expensive suit, because the expense and need for personal assistance are not available.

Yet these same people would buy apparel from a catalog like L.L. Bean or Habitat, Inc, the kind of apparel that is not priced too high, that you can look at a picture and decide whether or not you want to buy it. At the end of this chapter is a long list of Web Sites you can visit to discover exactly what it is that people are buying,

Apply this to what you want to sell via affiliate programs and use the following criteria to measure whether or not you select an affiliate program to work with.

You should be able to:

1. Open an online store, ie, Web Site, as your primary business or additional revenue stream and immediately begin selling products.

2. Take advantage of online customer service, automated order processing and delivery, and the ease of having a business that virtually runs itself with no overhead.

3. Drive people to the door and help them decide what to buy, wherever they are.

4. Use your highly trafficked Web Site to attract traffic and generate residual income.

5. Increase your profits by putting an automated system in place that works for you.

Most of all, you do not need to be an expert. The affiliate store and staff are set up to answer questions and fulfill the orders. Your job is to simply get people into your store..

All you have to do is market and cash your percentage of net profits your store generates, hopefully doing something you enjoy. Sound good? Let's look at what is selling online:

1. Computers: If you want to prosper during this Internet economic revolution, then you need to offer the products that people want to buy, quickly and easily.

   Today, they want computers. Lots of them.

   They want faster computers and modems, better monitors, and more software. Most people who visit your Web Site are using computers. Our whole Information Age is powered by computers.Here is a conservative estimate of what the future holds for Online Computer Hardware and Software Sales:

   1996: 140 million
   1997: 323 million
   1998: 701 million
   1999: 1,228,000,000
   2000: 2,105,000,000
   Source: Forrester Research
   

   While computers are an excellent item to sell, the affiliate programs are even better. The challenge is in selling such a wide variety of products. If you choose to sell computers, make it one of your core focuses and make sure that you know what you are doing.

   Once again, don't worry about being an expert. I had a computer salesperson in my staff in San Francisco who had never sold computers. He simply read trade journals, one hour a day for a period of 3 months. By the end of that period he was the best salesperson in our office.

   Computers have and will be a major part of this market.

2. Books are the next biggest item sold online by most estimates. You have a broad selection of affiliate programs to choose from, including Amazon.com's famous affiliate program.

   Barnes and Noble, Books.com, and many other book stores await you. Measure these stores on the profit margins you can gain from them. Remember in our success stories about the engineer who started with Amazon.com, but found out that most of the books he sold went at just a 5% profit margin.

   He opted to go with Books.com, which gave him 12%. Another Web Site, targeted towards a niche market of Pets online, generated over half a million visitors a month and ran into a similar decision. This Pet Web Site owner was selling many books for Amazon.com and negotiated with them to get 15% of everything he sold.

   Then he called the distributor of books (this affiliate was selling many, many books) and asked if he could sell directly from the distributor and by pass Amazon.com. Because of the high volume of books he was selling, the distributor allowed him to become a direct reseller.

   Books are an excellent product to sell as an introduction to your customer base. Keep in mind that even at 15% per sale, you are most likely selling a product in the $20-$30 range. That's only $3.50 to $4.50 in profit per book sold, not even close to our $20 a product item outlined at the beginning of this book.

   Yet books can help you get your customers used to buying from you, and they obviously like to buy them online. It is estimated that 23% of the people online buy books (Iconocast, October 1998). Look around at any of the bigger Web Sites and you see the are all offering books.

3. Travel is a huge market online and one of the most lucrative. From Web Sites like Travelocity to Microsoft's Expedia, the ability to book cheap travel online is powerful. Travel will continue to be a major portion of Internet sales. There are some affiliate programs with these travel opportunities, but don't just think about selling plane tickets.

   You may find people want to travel to a certain destination, which may result in a significant market. For example, Hawaii is a highly searched for vacation spot online. You may be able to sell apparel, travel, vacation rentals, and other Hawaiian related products. Just look in a search engine and you will find a battle for the top spots for this heavily searched for term. Keep an open mind if you are thinking about travel, because there is much more than the flight involved. People also like to remember where they have been with clothing, souvenirs, and videos.

4. Music is one of the biggest markets online as well. From music CD's, to personalized CD recording where you pick your own songs to make your own records, the market is vast. People like to buy music, but like books it comes with a lower profit margin than most other items.

   Even if an estimated 10% of people online buy music, you have to be sure that your target customer base is interested in buying this from you. Two great affiliate programs are Music Boulevard and CDNow; both offer decent profit margins, but this is again a commodity product.

5. Apparel and clothing are just starting to catch on the Internet, as people see the traditional catalogs make an online play. In 1997, American Online found that apparel was its biggest seller during the Christmas season.

   Apparel and clothing can be a seasonal play, as most buying happens during the December holidays, Valentines Day, and Mother's Day online. These patterns may change as more people shop online, but for now the apparel game is wide open.

6. Toys are also big online, with affiliate programs running with good profit margins. This is most often a seasonal play as well. Etoys is the biggest player in this market, but look for a wide variety of companies as this market develops.

   Also consider that toys shouldn't be limited to Christmas-type gear; if you count computer and Nintendo/Sega type games, this market is very big.

7. Flowers and Greeting Cards are an obvious fit for the Internet. If you can pick up a phone and make a transaction easily, the Internet can facilitate this commerce.

   From companies like 1800Flowers to ProFlowers.com, these sites have networked florists nationwide and offer decent profit margins. Products like this would again move in according to certain holidays; Mother's Day in the United States is one of the biggest days for sending flowers, as is Valentine's Day.

8. Outdoor gear and sporting goods are also a good target. In particular, fishing is a very popular sport online. Most of the major sports like football, baseball, and basketball are dominated by the bigger sites, many of which do not use affiliate programs. Still you can look around for what is available. Outdoor gear for hiking, fishing, for extreme sports like rock climbing or mountain climbing may move well, along with vacations that relate to this gear.

   Here is where you could combine the travel with the actual sales of outdoor gear. Imagine a site selling fly fishing rods and travel to select areas to fly fish around the world. If you worked through our 30 second brainstorm and found fishing as your passion, you have an active market with many possibilities.

9. Vitamins and health food are really just beginning to make their niche on the Internet. From affiliate program providers like GreenTree.com and MotherNature.com to many, small suppliers of vitamins and health supplies, this is another growing market.

   In a recent study, the one thing people didn't mind hearing about often were health related items. If people are continually concerned about staying fit and healthy, this kind of product line makes sense. It encourages repeat business and is likely a good, long term play.

10. Personals online are very popular. One and Only is the most famous singles program, which run the gamut from dating services to just about anything you can imagine. Some of these personals tend to run into adult services, so be sure it is something you are interested in before you get started. Research what the product line is and look for subscription based services, which can be very lucrative.

    Many Personals services have monthly subscriptions; you get paid each month the person stays as a subscriber. Look into these programs for long term revenue.

11. (Bonus) Credit cards and merchant card services are an excellent market online as well. The business to business market for services is very big, and there are some great profit margins to be made on moving people to merchant card services. Some credit card companies are offering bounties, or payment per customer, for referrals, but they don't tend to add up to much. Still this market obviously has a major market online.

This is a simple overview of the best selling products on the Internet; subjects like pets, investing, and career development are major categories that we have not touched on. Look for more growth in these industries as affiliates programs spread.

In the next chapter we will cover the places to go and find your affiliate programs; for now use the following list to keep up with the latest trends in the market.

Remember these sites, because they keep up to date continually with the growth of the Internet. This is an important tool in determining what affiliate programs to offer.

One last word of caution; don't expect to stay with all your affiliate programs for a long time. Test them and move to the ones that give you the most sales. Be flexible and set your goals so that you can gauge whether or not it is worth your pursuing for a long time.

Charts and Graphs re: Sales Projections on the Internet and types of product purchases:
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-1998-04/reports/1998-04-Netshop2.html

Spending by location (USA, Europe, etc.), gender, experience, and age group:
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-1998-04/graphs/shopping/q49.htm

Web vendor to traditional vendor comparison, suggesting that the web has certain positive attributes and credit safety is not an issue:
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-1998-04/graphs/shopping/q6.htm

Opinions on Providing Credit Card Information:
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-1998-04/graphs/shopping/q4.htm

Which of the following features are MOST IMPORTANT to you personally, when shopping, or considering shopping, on the Web:
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-1998-04/graphs/shopping/q66.htm

How often do you use the web for shopping for personal reasons? (including gathering product/service/vendor information, placing orders, making purchases, and/or customer support)
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-1998-04/graphs/shopping/q80.htm

How often do you use the web for shopping for professional reasons?
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-1998-04/graphs/shopping/q81.htm

Listed below are some of the alternative manners in which you might purchase from Web vendors. For each scenario, please indicate how likely you are to buy a competitively priced product/service that you really wanted. (In each case assume that you are providing the needed information, and receiving the product/service directly from the vendor.)
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-1998-04/graphs/shopping/q5.htm

How often do you make a decision to purchase (or not to purchase) a product/service based primarily on information that you have gathered on the web whether or not you use the web to make the purchase?
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-1998-04/graphs/shopping/personal/q99.htm

Growth Projections of the Internet:
http://www.c-i-a.com/199809iu.htm

Forrester Estimates Worldwide Internet Commerce Will Reach As High As $3.2 Trillion In 2003:
http://www.forrester.com/press/pressrel/981105.htm

A statistical snapshot of the net today, and a glimpse of where its going tomorrow:
http://www.emarketer.com/estats/welcome.html

How many are online throughout the world?
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/how_many_online/index.html

The old saying in marketing applies to affiliateprograms; there are two important keys to any business:

1. Making the right offer, so that it clearlyoutlines the benefits tothe customer

2. Making that offer to the right list, the peoplewho are interested in the product or service.

In this workbook you have identified what you would liketo do and the best selling products online. Now is the time toput these two together and select the affiliate programs youwould like to offer at your Web Site.

If you are looking to select affiliate programs, thereare numerous sites popping up all over the Internet. Many greatdirectories are out there in a market that is fast becomingcrowded. Two of the oldest and most reliable Web Sites to lookfor affiliate programs are:

1. Refer-It, http://www.refer-it.com; they judge thetop affiliate programs and rank them.

2. AssociatePrograms,http://www.associateprograms.com, which is run by Allan Gardyne and is a rich resource of information onthe subject.

   Before we begin, remember that there are two ways for youto affiliate with these programs:

   A. At your own Web Site, which you updateperiodically to reflect changes in your product line and marketing;

   B. Via your email/ezine list, which can operatewithout a Web Site.

You would be surprised how much more effective a goodezine/email list is than a Web Site. Web Sites are important butdon't expect your visitors to be so energetic that they seek youout. If you have a Web Site, be sure to capture email addressesof your visitors and remind them to come back.

You will hear this theme throughout this book for areason; the companies that do well have great email lists. Their customers don't mind hearing from them. Amazon.com has anemail mailing list, including sending out to its own affiliates.Xoom.com has built its entire business on email contact, followup, and sales.

Most affiliate program providers seem to be in love onlywith banner advertising at your Web Site, which is notnecessarily the best way to go. Banner ads get a small amount oftraffic and sales generated (see the next chapter for details). Consider this when you are choosing an affiliate program.

 Here are the rules to follow when selecting an affiliateprogram:

1. Get paid well for whatever you do. Make sure thatyou have a good selection of products to choose from. If you areselecting more than one affiliate program, make sure they fit togetherlogically, ie, don't sell flowers and hunting gear.

2. Select your affiliate program based on your targetaudience and your ability to contact them. Be wary of signing up forevery program under the sun and hoping that a few will work out. Even thoughmost of them are free, the cost in your time and lost customers is tremendous. Confusing people by posting as many affiliate programs as possible will notwork.

3. Make sure that the sign up procedure is easy tofill out. If you find it complicated to begin with, you may find it hardto work with the affiliate provider long term. Also be careful not topick up an extra workload with an affiliate program. Amazon.com, forinstance, insisted that people only promote recommended books at their WebSites. While the logic is good (an endorsement is much more powerful than simplyposting a banner ad at a site), the delivery was flawed. Affiliates wanted aneasy way to send traffic to Amazon, even if they got paid less. Theresult was a growth of this program to include raw links and searches fromother Web Sites at a reduced commission.

4. In keeping with this workbook, take time to findthe products you would like to offer. Don't sell anything you don'treally believe in, or from a company that is not reliable. One bad experience canruin your customer's opinion of you, even if it is the affiliate companythat is the source.

5. Check the way the affiliate program tracks andrecords your orders. Do they offer you statistics, email notification, andare they good about paying on time? Read about the rules and the systemthey have set up. Do they offer a third party auditing service? Have peoplecomplained about this service?

6. Do they give you the marketing tools to help yousell more? Look for banner ads, free reports, text ads that you can use inan ezine or classified advertisement. The more you have to create, the biggerthe burden on you.

   But also keep in mind that if you are really sellingwell with a company, you should look for innovative ways to incorporate thisinto your business. Are they willing to go along with your innovation?

7. Finally, make sure that you have some way togenerate long term revenue. Few affiliate programs can afford to generatetraffic back to your Web Site. Do your best to capture information aboutyour visitors and your buyers. If you find that someone bought via your WebSite, send them a thank you note as well. If you let the affiliate provider doall the work, you will lose a long term customer. Make sure you build yourcustomer list.

Here's a checklist from Refer-It to help guide you alongthe way.

You can find this updated CheckList at Refer-It,http://www.refer-it.com, the leading search engine forAssociate/Affiliate Programs

1. Does the Program allow only certain sites to join(e.g., specific demographics, minimum website traffic, and focus of the site)?

2. How long has the Program been in place?

3. What sites are currently in the Program?

4. What form of compensation is offered - actual cash oronly store credit for their product or service?

5. What are the financial terms of the agreement -- apercentage of the transaction or a flat fee? Does it stay the same, or change with theamount of volume you send them?

6. Is there a set-up fee, either in terms of dollars ortraffic?

7. How will the referral be tracked? Will a third-partyaudit it?

8. How is reporting of actual activity done? How often ispayment made?

9. Do you get paid on only the first purchase or on everypurchase? What if your lead returns to their site later - do you still get paid a fee?

10. How long is the agreement in effect? What is the"out" for both parties?

11. What is your responsibility to promote their producton your site (banners, buttons, links)?

12. Will your visitors find these advertisements valuableor annoying?

13. Are you sure you want to give revenue away to anothersite? Perhaps you should do your own merchandising. Visit http://www.refer-it.com formore information on setting up your own program.

If you understand all the elements of setting up an affiliateprogram, a natural question will arise:

How do I get enough traffic to my Web Site to generate sales?

The key to getting traffic is to put your energies in what willbring you back the most value. It's like deciding where to putyour efforts so you'll get the most return.

Choosing how to generate traffic means understanding that youhave to adapt your efforts to see which is working best. Thinkof it like the choices you make for your house; if you had tochoose between putting in a bathroom, which returns most of thevalue of your investment, versus putting in a pool, which is morefun but returns nothing on your investment, what would you do?

Most affiliates, unfortunately, choose to put in the equivalentof a pool at their Web Site. They focus on short term marketingthat brings them little return and demands enormous expenditures.

Make your marketing time and money go further by focusing on thefollowing 5 techniques. These will cut your time, costs, andheadaches down, and help to boost your sales.

1. Ezines

2. Search Engines

3. . Banner Ads

4. . Press Releases

5. Internetworking: Strategic Linking Strategies

E-Zines

The e-zine is just a fancy way of saying an article orcollection of articles published online. Most of these come inthe form of "newsletters" and consist of various information thatwill hopefully be of value to those subscribers and visitors. The focus and purpose of the Ezine is to attract attention toother sites and services or products that will be available topurchase at a profit for the company offering it. Information isalways of value and is the best way to get the interest of theperson. You must offer some idea or concept that they cannotfind anywhere else, or at least give that impression. Then,after giving a taste, build the desire to form that mental needfor more.

To properly measure the success of an ezine is to record theresponses from the replies of the customers. If you arepromoting the website of a friend by sponsoring his informationin your newsletter, perhaps an open dialogue with that friendwill enable you to track your success through his response, andthis may up the value of your newsletter to him and others,opening other opportunities.

1. Always offer something for free to spark interest in theEzine.

2. Publish or Swap Articles in other Ezines if possible.

3. Focus on Ezines that are related to your product orservice.

4. Build Business to Business relationships with publishers

5. . Gain access to ezine recipient list and offer yours.

6. Use ideas from others in tailoring your offer.

7. Search out for different and new Ezines and evaluate them. Did they have important information, are they sponsored by a company orand individual, what is their method of delivery, their topics, is it worthpursuing and contact owner to see how we can be published as well.
   You can use search engines to find access to ezines or youcan go directly to related subjects columns and find a wealth ofpublishers, companies and individuals who are eager to provide thisinformation. There is email, fax, and mail access available from most publishers.

8. Sites to go to include:

   http://www.dominis.com

   http://www.bestezines.com

9. Most of all, be sure to develop your ezine list. If yousend out messages regularly to your list, you forge loyalty with them. The next time you make an offer, they may remember you. Without an ezine, youwill be sending out messages to people who don't know you. Even worst,you may spend all your time marketing to strangers, a less than 5% game ofsales...more like 1%. More on that later...

Search Engines

Search engines are the simplest solution. Sometimes too simple. People just believe in these things, and I don't know why. It'snot like you find anything half the time you are looking in. I've never been through so many dead ends to get where I'm going.

Search engines perform a function of cataloging the Internet, butI use them for finding niche markets. Once I go there, there isno point in searching any more. Here's the criteria Ideveloped:

1. If you can name your product or service in four words orless, search engines are something to consider.

2. If you can afford to always focus on them and stay on top,they can be a powerful tool. Be prepared to fight this battle every weekthough; if your keyword is one lots of people want, beware!

3. It is better to pay someone on a monthly basis, or a perclick through (per lead) basis to test these out. Services run from $100 to$1,000, with clickthroughs costing anywhere from 5 cents to a dollar. Twentyfive cents seems to be a norm.

4. Places to visit are a good reason to use search engines asa form of advertising.

Here's some good ideas for getting to the top of the searchengines. Please understand that every search engine has its ownunique way of looking at things. It is worth it to invest in oneof the many excellent subscriptions for search enginepositioning, such as Planet Ocean Communication's book athttp://www.searchenginehelp.com

Some tips for getting one top:

1. Do not waste your time posting to hundreds of searchengines; post only to the top 7 including Yahoo, Lycos, Infoseek, AltaVista,WebCrawler, Excite, and Hotbot. This is where 90% of your traffic will come from,and it is best to focus your energies getting on top of those.

2. Create doorway, or portal, pages to your site for eachindividual product you sell. Search engines used to frown on this, but as long asyou don't play too many games, this is a great way to get on top. The logic issimple; create one page featuring one product and word it well enoughthat it passes rank at the top search engines. Use this for all your affiliateprograms and even when you market, drive people to that single page.

3. Understand how the search engines look at what thekeywords you are submitting:

   • Many look for how early on a page you put a keyword,especially after the first tag.

   • How many times a word appears on a page; don't take this tomean you should just repeat words. The search engines have improved theirtechnology and incorporate standard English rules. Repeating words is not aneffective way for getting on top any more.

   • How many other Web Sites link to yours. Infoseek is wellknown for using this as a criteria, and like all things with search engines, itmay change. But it isn't a bad idea to get many links.

   • The ratio of keywords to total words is also judged. Ifthey read too many keywords to total words, meaning that you are simply repeatingagain, it can work against you, so be careful.

   • How close keywords appear together on a page; this is againto target those simply repeating key words and phrases.

   • Where the keywords are located; some search engines rankhighly if they are in the title. Only a few now look in what are called "META"tags, which appear at the top of the page. Some also look for words aslinks, in headers and rank this as important. Again this variesfrom search engine to search engine.

   • Grammar; believe it or not, some try to check your grammarto see if you are cheating.

   • There are specific places search engines look for keywords,including::

     Title

     Meta Tags (Description and Keywords)

     Headline tags like H1, H2, and H3

     Within links

     In the actual copy on your page

     In "ALT" tags, which are used to describe graphics and sometimesa good

     place to hide keywords

     In comments tags like this: <!-- my comments here -->

     Some even look at words in your domain name to judge you.

Maximize Your Banner Ad Results

Banner ads are a common tool for generating leads, but one thatis often used ineffectively. Instead of relying on randomimpulses, banner ads should lead to a contact point, a specificoffer, and a way to follow up with a customer. After all,impulse buys are just one small part of the entire game; if theycome to your Web Site, your online storefront, you want tocapture email information so you can quickly and effectivelyinvite them back to consider buying again. Here's ten tips onimproving results online with banner ads:

1. Don't use Fancy Graphics

   Banner ads work when they immediately deliver a message and loadquickly. Keep them as small as possible, 5-10K tops (that is filesize). Forget using photographs or actual pictures. Focus ontext, your headline, and keep the colors as simple as possible.

   Use four colors: Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow. Use black type andhave your main headline, or main words, stand out in a differentcolor. These four colors will allow you to save your images inthe smallest format possible.

2. Make it familiar

   Make it familiar and keep it small. Many banner ads are limitedto small sizes -- 400X50, 480X60 (that's width versus height,measured in pixels...your average computer screen is 640 X 480pixels). Your banner ad should be the size it is allowed to be,and the sizes listed here are fairly standard. Don't stray toofar from these; the most successful banner ads follow thesestandards.

3. Use the Windows Interface

   The most successful banner ads emulate a familiar computerbehavior. If you visit the link at Smart Clicks, you'll noticethat the top banner ads look like the Windows interface. Pulldown menus, OK/Cancel buttons, scrollable text, and check boxesdominate.

   Please understand that none of these actually work in the window,you are just supposed to click on them. What they do is makepeople take an action they are familiar with. Since over 90% ofyour visitors use Windows PC's, they are used to clicking onthese.

4. Use underlined words that look like links.

   If you want to really increase response, under your headlinewords in blue. This makes them appear to be links. Links appearon your Web Pages, and people know to click on them.

5. Have a person staring out at you, make it personal

   It is an old advertising trick to have a person, usually a woman,staring out from the banner ad (or print ad). Ever notice how acomputer companies who want you to order via phone have anoperator staring out at you?

   The goal is to make it live, as if a living human being with areal identity is on the other end.

6. Use Click Here, OK buttons, and action words

   The goal of a banner ad is to get them to act. Always includesome action for them to do, like "Click Here". OK buttons workwell, as do action words; Act Now, If you Want to Win, ClickHere...you have to ask them to act.

7. Use "You" in your headline

   The headline trick works in banner ads as well. For example, aYahoo white paper measured banner ad results. The most successfulones used headlines with the word You or Your. Address yoursurfer directly to get them to click.

8. Use small animation

   A small mouse moving over a banner ad, a blinking cursor, ablinking "Click here" button, and many small animations haveproven to elicit clicks. Remember that the human eyes noticesmovement on a screen. Just make sure the movement is repeated alimited number of times, and let it stop. Don't let youranimations keep going, it will get people queasy.

9. Send them to a Portal Page

   Your banner ad should send the person who clicked to a specificpage that has to do with that banner. Keep it limited to oneproduct, and one offer. Remember that banner ads just createclick throughs; it's a good idea to try and grab email addressesinstead of selling people from banner ads.

10. Keep it Simple!

    Create a banner ad that delivers an immediate result. If you aregiving them something for free, or a discount or coupon, get themto fill in some basic information and reward them. Follow up toturn your banner ads into lead generators.

Banner Ad Resources

http://www.wilsonweb.com/articles/bannerad.htm

Excellent resource for banner advertising information for thenewbie

http://www.markwelch.com/bannerad/]

Banner advertising consulting

http://www.wprc.com/wwpc/consulting_banners.shtml

Banner Ad Placement Study

http://www.webreference.com/dev/banners/research.html

http://www.whitepalm.com/fourcorners/bannerdesign.shtml

Conclusion: Based on 2.1% average click-through move to ActiveBanners

www.activebanner.com

Sites to advertise on and why

Good explanation of the "big boys" services and what you get

http://iaswww.com/iashome/promotion/bannerplace.html

Directory of banner ad placement services

http://advertising.utexas.edu/world/WebMedia.html

Design Firms to use

www.adnetintl.com

www.animation.com

Press Releases

Press releases are one of the most effective ways to get yourname in print. There is a whole unique approach to using pressreleases. Remember that an editor or "decision maker" isbasically sitting at a fax or email, looking for good stories.

There goal is to get readers interested and sell moreadvertising. So don't just send out a glorified press releasebragging about your product or service. Focus your efforts onpromoting the newspapers and magazines to interview you as anexpert about a subject.

Here's how to get a press release going, followed by a sample:

1. Put all your efforts into writing a good headline. Yourheadline and first sentence are what drives the whole process.

2. Be sure to put your contact name and phone on the upperright hand corner of the page, and for immediate release in the upper left handcorner.

3. Lead with short sentences and prepare a quotation fromwhomever is the expert to be interviewed, likely you. Make it newsworthy so youcan help the editor do the job they get paid for. Your job is to getinterviewed.

4. Don't expect consumers to read this until you get inpress.

5. Email is not always the best way to submit press releases; fax still works well for most print publications.

6. Target specific publications within your industry; don'tjust send out your message to anyone you think might be interested. Saveyourself some money and don't waste the editor's time; they will not like itif you come back after doing this.

7. Visit these sites for some more information on how tocreate and distribute press releases:

   Paul Hartunian is a master of press releases and has greatinformation online at:

   http://www.netrageousresults.com/pr/

   NewsBureau is an excellent service (with an affiliate programitself) at: http://www.newsbureau.com

Let's look at a sample press release for a company; notice theformula, the way it is written, and how it drives the editor tointerview the expert. This one press release resulted in over150 visits to a Web Page, not bad for a very limited run of anextremely exclusive, niche product.

For Immediate Release     

Contact: Scott Cathcart
(415) 292-5390

Date: Thursday, November 12, 1998

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.

For Immediate Release

What was once a secret tool of the elite has just been releasedfor the first time to the public.

First Security Capital (FSC) announced today the release of afinancial tool that previously has only been available to selecthigh-net-worth individuals -- the 90% Stock LoanSM. Their Website, http://www.firstsecuritycapital.com, allows investors tomanage their portfolios like the elite. This innovative strategyempowers them to avoid taxes and protect their liquidity withlittle risk exposure.

"This loan product gives investors 90% of the value of theirstocks in cash without taxes and allows them to remain invested-- and sleep at night -- even if the market drops 1000 pointslike it did earlier this year," says Dr. Charles Cathcart, President of FSC and a nationally recognized financial authority.

Dr.Cathcart was one of the early contributors to the financialtools now know as "derivatives." In 1987, he led a team atCitibanks's New York Headquarters that introduced a new form of"commodity derivatives" -- now a multi-billion dollar business inthe financial world.

This new stock loan has previously received critical acclaim fromWall Street Journal, Forbes, Barron's and Investor's BusinessDaily. Today's open release of the 90% Stock LoanSM is anexciting development for investors, giving alternatives to highrisk portfolios and capital gains taxes.

Dr. Cathcart is an excellent interview who gives a fascinatingoutlook on the future of investments, based on his success assenior executive and consultant to many large multi-nationalfirms including Citibank, Chase Manhattan Bank, W.R. Grace, andSumitomo Bank.

To schedule an interview with Dr. Cathcart, call 415-292-5390 oremail info@firstsecuritycapital.com.

Internetworking: Getting Other Sites to Link With You, As WellAs Targeting Sites To Generate Traffic in Your Direction

While this is the subject of our final chapter, the term"Internetworking" means running out a strategic linking strategy. You target the Web Sites that are related, as well as drawingyour target customer base. Here's some criteria to use as yousurf the search engines and directories for sites.

Why is a website worth looking at, what to look for whenselecting a site for research and marketing possibilities:

1. Search for related topics and words that deal directlywith the item or subject you want.

2. See that a site is professionally created and look forlinks that go to other credible sites. You are looking for the few players, thecircles of influence, that have developed for a specific subject.

3. Look at the main pages by shortening the URL to theminimum, review it and add to favorites if it looks good enough to save and is related.

4. Does the site offer banners and deal with the same generalsubject.

5. Look to see if they have an active directory and if it isone that would be viewed by your potential customers, then see what it takes tobe listed on that site e.g., free, barter, or fee/commission.

6. Review site and directory and see if noted people havebeen listed; this would be a good tip that the directory is worth being listed in.

7. See if discussion boards are listed on site and reviewthem if possible.

8. Notice if there are offers to promote your business in thesite.

9. See if sites ask for exchanges of information andbartering.

10. . Notice if the format is similar to the one you have, thesame ideas etc.

The most important part of your Web Site is a clear and focusedoffer. Many Web Sites try to be everything to everyone, which isimpossible.

Whatever you offer, focus on the word "Just". "Just emailmarketing". "Just Generating Leads". "Just selling books"(Amazon.com is an example of this; will they succeed by alsoselling music CD's?). The following section will show you howto position your offers at your Web site; consider any offer anaffiliate program that you are working with.

What's the point of your site? Focus on what you deliver best,and deliver "just" that.

1. Establish as Many Points of Contact Possible on Your HomePage

   Never expect a visitor to return to your Web Site. Use your homepage as a place to generate emails, phone calls, faxes, andinquiries. Use your autoresponders wisely; get them set up toanswer a basic guestbook (tell us why you visited), surveys,sales letters, mailing lists, and contests. Gathering emailaddresses is really the name of the game.

2. Where to Place Your Affiliate Offer So They Will Notice

   A Web Site has a few hot spots which will literally triple yourresponse rates if you use it right. The screen a visitor looksat is wider than it is tall. If you want a hint, take a look atthe computer interfaces on the two most popular machines, Windowsand Macintosh. Most of the places to click on are located on thetop and bottom of the screen; the left hand margin in particularis a favorite place to put your initial offers on a Web Site.

   Both place all the action points, the points for people to click,in the frame of the screen. The hottest spot to put your wordsis the upper left hand corner. People who read English read leftto right. Their eye naturally drops on the upper left handcorner.

   Place your first point of contact in the upper left hand corner. Develop your important sections down the left hand side. Use thebottom of your screen as well, especially the lower right handcorner. This is where their eyes scan.

3. How To Use Web Pages as Optional Entry Points, or PortalPages, for Affiliate Programs

   You can use more than your home page to get people exploring. Ifyou want to promote a specific product, you can direct them tothat Web page. Then give them a place to contact you and make itclear how they can explore further. Give them one choice; itreally works. Remember the search engine strategy we suggested? It keeps coming back; give them one choice.

Summing Up

The reason most Web Sites fail is that they fall in love with anidea, and never think of what their customers want. Be sure youfocus on:

1. Researching your customer base and finding those selectplaces they go for information and entertainment. Find a way to drive them to yoursite.

2. Study your competition continuously. Always be on the lookout for people to partner with. As one Silicon Valley exec puts it, partner withas many people as possible, because you do not know which ones will succeed.

3. Commit to increasing sales AND decreasing costs. A salesonly approach means you miss half the value of the Internet. Create a Web marketingplan and apply it, step by step. Evaluate your cash flow monthly, find out whichpromotions work, then sink your money into the one or two best places to generate leadsand sales for your specific niche.

4. Focus on a few affiliate programs and sell their products. Do not overload your visitors with too many choices, or affiliate programs. Find3-4 that generate revenues and stick with them; try to generate more sales fromfewer affiliate programs.

Five Keys of a Great Web Site

Key 1. Save Time and you Save Money:

Time is the Most Precious Commodity

You have 30 seconds to make a sale at your Web Site. Make surethat your home page text and graphics do not add up to more thana total of 40K (just look on your computer at the file sizes). That will take about 15 seconds to open up, which means you haveto hit them with your message immediately.

Think of your site as having three reasons for your customer tovisit. Focus on those three reasons and answer them quickly withheadlines that link to specific pages. There is an old rule ofdesign called the "Rules of 7"; never give them more than 7perceived choices to make, or you will confuse them.

Keep it simple, and minimize your links. You can embellish onyour other Web Pages, but at your front door, your Home Page,orient and:

A. Focus your customer on exactly what you offer, your affiliateprograms, and why it will benefit them. Everything else is just commentary.

B. Show why they should believe what you are offering. Back upwhat you say with testimonials, what other people say about you. Have a page whereyou introduce the owner, with a picture, or show the track record of the business. If you are new and have no testimonials, focus on success stories and show why youfollow the same model.

C. Make your site believable. Credibility is 50% of the reasonanyone will stay at your site. Prove you can do what you say, and show theresults. Put it in percentages, dollars saved or earned, leads, and compare it toyour industry. Make the examples so concrete that there are no questions left. If youare beginning, partner with others so you can benefit from their experience as well. After all, every business began some time; don't let this stand in your way.

D. Get them to contact you immediately. Put your free reporton an autoresponder, and get them to fill in a small form on your homepage immediately. Do not create a home page without such a simple form.

Key 2. Color

The Web brings color printing to anyone; this is a scaryproposition. People put so many colors up, it distracts. Adaptthe following rules and you'll be safe:

1. Use just a few colors on your Web Page. One trick I use isto focus on the color blue for my links, dark blue for a new link, and then alighter blue after they have clicked on it.

   Try to use just 3 colors on your page; after all, computerscreens are based on an RGB (red, green, blue) model for a reason. These three colorsare the most reliable ones for looking the same on most screens Too much color justturns people off.

2. No more than 20 percent of your Web Page should be in color. Use white backgrounds, black text, one color for links, and keep yourcolors simple. Avoid fancy patterns or gradients, because while it may look good on yourcomputer, it can look awful on others. Use color for your left hand border.

3. Use simple color lines at the top or bottom of the page toseparate sections.

   If you use text as a graphic, make it a different color toseparate sections of your Web Page.

4. Use your color to accent what you are doing, for key pointsof action, links, and places you want people to go to immediately. Have one maincolor for your page, and use the other two sparingly.

5. Color affects people psychologically, for example:
   1. Yellow promotes optimism, but too much makes people uneasy.

   2. White is associated with truth.

   3. Orange is associated with fun, while red promotes appetite.

   4. Black is the most dramatic color for backgrounds.

   5. Blue implies authority, financial responsibility, and security.

   6. Green means health and tranquillity.

   7. Blue is the most popular color.

   Key 3. Consistency

   The style of your Web site should be consistent from page topage. Select a background and colors, then stick with them.

   Web pages comes in one, two, or three columns. Ninety percent ofthe time, a two column format works best. Make your Web Pagesabout 600 pixels wide, with 20% (120 pixels) for a left handborder. This is where you put your table of contents, orlistings. Use the rest to put your text, headlines, banner ads,and key offers.

   Most of all, don't change your formatting from page to page. Usethe same colors and standard look so people don't think aboutwhere things are. It should be easy to get around your site.

   Key 4. Ad Copy and Testing

   Like every other medium (print, radio, and television), it allcomes down to your ad copy. Words are what make people respondand react.

   Spend your time with your ad copy and test what works. See whichheadlines pull at your Web Site, and via email. Test and changethese most of all, especially on your home page. Don't think ofupdating, think of testing your ad copy.

   Key 5. Design

   A Web Site should be easy to navigate, which simply meansbreaking down your offer into its own logical structure. Try tomake everything accessible with one or two clicks of a mouse.

   Write an outline of your ideas, then for each of your majorsubjects, write the name on a piece of paper. Put these on thefloor in front of you, and circle them around your home page. Ifyou find yourself branching out so much that there is littlefloor space, try to reorganize it.

   The further you get from the home page, the more you need toedit. If you can make everything available in one or two clicks,you will make it easy for your visitor to quickly get throughyour site.

   Make your files names descriptive as well, so people know whatthey are looking at. If you focus on writing a site simply, youwill find that most sites break down into:

   1. The Home Page, i.e. Table of Contents, to center everythingaround

   2. Content that shows what you are doing, and that you know whatyou are doing;

   3. Credibility building pages, like resumes, testimonials, andcompany information

   4. Places to contact the business for emails, faxes, inquires,and phone calls

   5. Points of Sales, where they decide to buy or not

   6. Products/Service pages, to outline what you offer, thebenefits, and the costs.
   7 Warning Signs of an Unprofitable Web Site
   1. Selling To Everyone Means You Sell to No One

      If you do not target your offer, it will confuse your customers. People are not patient. In a recent survey, 73% of peopleclaimed to be "insanely busy". If you do not develop a targetcustomer profile and appeal directly to them, you will losecustomers. And they will never come back to your site again.

   2. Web Flea Market: Buy a Web Site or Get a Grocery Coupon

      People are selling Web Sites, classified advertising, pre-paidlegal services, long distance phone cards, and reminder servicesvia affiliate programs...All on the same Web Page!

      Think about this the next time you go to your grocery store. Dothey offer to sell you a Web Site with your pickles? Fleamarkets diminish the value of what you are selling. Most peoplewho own these sites tell me they depend on selling a high volumeof low price items. How do I know this is a doomed approach? Visit their sites and see if there is any life there.

      

   3. Huge graphics that make your site take 30 seconds to open,which is all the time you have to sell your customer on staying.

      The worst thing about computers is that they enable us to dothings we just should not be doing. Graphic design is a skill; most people get some Paint program and have absolutely no senseof size, or what the graphic makes them look like. If you want toSCREAM AT YOUR AUDIENCE AND BE OBNOXIOUS, then use big graphics.

      The average screen is about 600 wide X 440 high (pixels). Keepyour graphics down to less than 25% of this screen at most,150X110 as a general guideline. You can make them wider, justbeware of making them too tall. At some sites, all you see onthe first screen is a huge company logo.

   4. This site has XXXX number of visitors (How many bought?)

      Does it really matter to anyone how many people visit yourstore? The sure sign that a store is visited often is thesuccess and profits of the owner. All the rest is emptybragging.

   5. Explaining what technology you use, frames, etc.

      To this day it amazes me how people explain the technical designof their Web Page. If you use any reference to technology, youare distracting your customer. Keep it simple.

   6. Download the following plug-ins to get this site working.

      No one will spend ten minutes downloading the plug-in to see yourcutesy message. Avoid plug-ins, with the possible exception ofRealAudio.

   7. No place to send an email, or gain a free report.

      After spending all this time to create a site, most people forgetto ask for inquiries. They just think people will work hard tocontact them. Assume that a person will visit your site once,and never return....unless you remind them to via email.

   How to Double or Triple Your Profits:
   New and Easy Ways To Get Customers For Life

   Develop your Lead Product, Back End Product, and Other RelatedProducts and Services

   

   Direct response online marketing is based on eliciting a responsefrom your visitors. That response could be an email they sendyou, exploring your Web Site, or an actual purchase.

   Think through your affiliate program and forge your long termrelationship with your customer by building a sales process thattakes them from first contact to close, then follow up with moreproducts and services - more reasons to visit your Web Site andbuy. It all begins with considering your product line, and thefirst product you introduce them to when visiting from youraffiliates' sites.

   A. Your Lead Product

   A lead product is the first thing you offer a customer to buy. Think of when you first are introduced to a person, or abusiness. You have never worked with them, and even if anaffiliate has given your site a glowing recommendation, the proofis in the actual product.

   The fact is, you are qualifying your customers, and they arequalifying you. Think about why they would not buy what youoffer on first contact and see if you can find a way around thisobjection to start the sales process.

   Your lead product should be a low cost entry point to workingwith your business; for example, statistics at a leadingInternet commerce center found that 90% of customers purchasedproducts under $100, and of those almost 80% bought productsunder $40. This shows that there is little or no priceresistance below $40 for these retail products, a good startingpoint if you were to build your customer base.

   Your lead product should not provide a barrier to entry to yourbusiness; for example, if you are selling a piece of softwarefor $450, you can offer them a free download. Even better, youcan offer a simple how to training manual on how to use thispiece of software, with simple screen captures showing them howthis product actually works. If you give this away for free,then you get customers who have not qualified themselves. But ifthey are really interested in buying a $450 piece of software, agood training system that shows the value of what this softwaredoes would be worth testing. Offer it for less than $40, thenfollow up once they buy.

   A buying customer is a more qualified lead than someone you givesomething to, so be careful of offering things for free justbecause you think that's what your customer wants. Just makesure that you show the value of what your software does; forinstance, if you are selling a statistical software that showshow many visitors come to a Web Site, create a training productthat shows them how to use this information. You might even beable to offer a book from Amazon.com, or join another affiliateprogram that offers such a product that fits your customer's needon first contact.

   B. Your Back End Product

   If your customer purchased a $39 training program to learn how totake advantage of statistics for their Web Site, then the actualsoftware itself could be your back end product, the next thingyou offer them. Your affiliate site has sent you a prospect whois interested in Web Site statistics and tracking; you sell themthe training product so they begin the purchase decision,understanding why they should invest their money in the software.

   Face it, a $39 decision is much easier to make than a $450decision. The more expensive the product, the longer the salescycle is the general rule. There are exceptions, like peoplebuying plane tickets; we know what plane tickets cost and manypeople know that travel online is the best way to save money, soprice resistance is less. But if you sell an expensive product,especially more than $500, there is more to consider. Why notoffer your first time customers a lead product that trains them,and build your back end product as the more expensive choice?

   Many times affiliate programs fail because they force someone tomake an expensive decision. Get your customer to understand thevalue of that decision with a good lead product, then follow upwith your back end product. You may find that what youoriginally wanted to offer sells more when it is a back endproduct, than if it is a lead product.

   Don't believe this? Go out and shop for an expensive item, likea hot tub. Unless you have the disposable income to afford thiseasily, you will likely take time to make the decision. Whichbrings up another key point to your back end product; if yourcustomer base can afford it and price is not an object, then leadwith the item and offer them accessories to go with theirpurchase as the back end.

   If your customer base can afford the hot tub, give it tothem on first contact. Then you can create a back end productthat compliments their purchase. If they need to think aboutbuying it, find out what they are comfortable spending and makeyour lead product reflect that price.

   How do you do this? Test, test, and test again. Research yourmarket, and your customer base. Find out what is too little tospend, what is too much to spend, and what is just right. Allmarketing is based on testing, not on your assumptions.

   C. Related Products and Services, Your Affiliate Opportunity

   Let's say you have an excellent SellThrough ratio, and your backend products move as well. Your customers have just bought twicefrom you. It is proven (see next Key for more) that people whobuy more than once from a business are significantly bettercustomers than one time buyers. The logic is simple; buyingyour product is a sign of trust. Buying twice is a sign of greattrust.

   Honor this trust by finding related products and services to whatyou offer, and find a way to get these to your customers. Youcould affiliate with other Web Sites to give your customers theseproducts and services. Let's say your lead product was a "HowTo", Fly Fishing video. Your back end product was a fly fishingreel you were offering. A related service to this would be flyfishing vacations; you could find an affiliate program offeringthese vacations and give more value to your customer.

   By doing this, you develop a long term relationship and developyour business as the resource for their specific interest; inthis case, fly fishing. When you do this, you will discover thelong term value of your customer is the first purchase (let's saya $19 video), followed by the back end (your fly fishing rod,$400), and then followed by the next logical purchase (avacation, upwards of $500).

   Take this logic out further and you can find related products andservices like camping gear, fishing lures, books on fly fishing,clothing to fish in like waders, and the list goes on. From onesimple product - your fly fishing rod - you may be able todeliver products for a whole specific niche by not onlymaximizing the value of your affiliate program, but by usingother affiliate programs to maximize the value of your customerbase. After all, if they don't buy this from you, they will goelsewhere; good, loyal customers are what will keep you inbusiness today, and five years from today.

   The Complete, Online Marketing Action Plan

   If you plant a tomato, and it does not grow, you do not blame thetomato.

   You explore why it is not growing; does it need more sun, water,and/or better soil? What can you do to help that tomato grow?

   Funny how this simple logic escapes people online. They planttheir business, spend all their efforts on a Web Site, and dolittle if anything to market it. Then when the Web Site returnsnothing, they blame the Web Site.

   Even worst, they blame the Internet. They justify their failureby comparing themselves to Time Magazine (which recently claimedit has no clue on how to make money online), or Microsoft'sshutting down of its entertainment sites.

   They embrace the problem, instead of finding the solution.Meanwhile, they could be searching for the water (customers), thesun (an online marketing plan based on generating results) andthe right soil (the Web Site) to grow their business.

   While the corporations fumble, you can step up to the plate. Commit to a tested, proven sales process based on one factor: what your customers want. Let's explore how to do that rightnow.

   Getting Closer to the Water:
   How To Target Your Customers

   No plant or human can survive without water. Your businesscannot survive without customers. Target your customers by usingthe following strategies.

   Search Engine Strategy

   Most people try only to fool search engines, hoping that theircustomer will find them on top of the heap. In reality, thesearch engines are a better research/marketing tool for you thanyour customers.

   Have you ever been to a search engine and found it frustrating? Why not absorb the frustration and use the search engines tolead you to your customer base.

   Directories: The Power of Yahoo (www.yahoo.com)

   Yahoo is the most heavily trafficked site on the Internet,because it took all these millions of sites and created anorganized directory. It is a great place to start your search.

   As you click through the various subjects, you will findgroupings of businesses. You will also find related businesses,networks, and professionals that work together. Yahoo also haslocal directories; you can enter by zip code or search by stateand find listings of local businesses.

   You can click on any directory to go to a deeper level, or to goback up a level. Check out the words that appear here and writethem down. This will help you collect keywords and categoriesfor your specific customer base.

   Also look for Web Sites that act as directories, or guides, for aspecific subject. One guide is worth its weight in gold. Forexample, if you search for local businesses in Indianapolis , youwill find a site called www.indylinks.com which acts as a localdirectory.

   What better way to market locally then to discover who ismarketing, and where? This is an excellent way to begin targetingcustomers whether you know who you are looking for or not.

   Use Yahoo to help establish the meeting places your customers aregoing to. Look for small directories that specialize in a nicheand harvest them for leads, networking, and researching what yourcompetition is doing.

   Concept Based Advertising:

   Excite (www.excite.com) and WebCrawler (www.webcrawler.com)

   Directories and listings will give you a good overview. Take thekeywords and concepts you find and visit Excite. WebCrawler willsoon become much more like Excite, with channels and specialinterests listed.

   Excite organizes its pages by themes or terms; enter yourkeywords and you will see more related words suggested for you tolook into. You can develop the keywords that your customer baseis looking for with this approach.

   See what sites appear as well; how are they grouped?: Check outthe top 10 sites; why do you think they appear on top? Emulatewhat they do to improve your listing online.

   Once you find what you are looking for, you will be within aclick of related businesses and sites. Excite also reviews sitesonline, to give you an idea of which ones are best.

   Newsgroups: Visit Deja News, www.dejanews.com and Lizst,www.lizst.com

   A few years ago, newsgroups were the place to market. Todaythere over 50,000 newsgroups, with an estimated 900,000 posts aday, according to Deja News.

   That's the good news; the bad news is that over 50% of theseposts are spam. Newsgroups have run amok with wild claims andcrazy advertising. You may still find your customers, but it isa headache.

   Use Deja News to research, and use newsgroups to find out the WebSites, meeting places, and areas where your customers are going. Since over half the posts are advertising, it may not be thatgreat a place for you to actively promote yourself. But it isnot a bad place to ask questions and research. Some times youcan just check the FAQs for the newsgroup and find the best sitesfor that specific interest group. Finally, you can "spam thespammer", and sell to all those people selling.

   After all, what better customer than someone out there trying tomarket their products and services?

   One final idea is to visit Amazon.com, www.amazon.com, the onlinebook store. Enter your keywords and see what comes up. You willhave more information on the products and services related towhat you are offering. More importantly, you will know where youcustomers are, and how to contact them. The only cost is yourtime.

   As you start to search for your customers, make a list of:

   1. Keywords related to your business; use long and short formsof each word. For example, if you are looking for consultants, use thewords "consult" and "consultant" and "advisor" and "consulting" , andso on.

      Microsoft Word has a Thesaurus that will suggest related wordsfor you as well.

   2. Web Sites that act as directories for your specific audience. For example, if you are targeting local customers in the Indianapolisarea, find

      local directories, listings of their addresses, and professionalassociations.

   3. Email addresses and names of sites you visit. It is muchmore powerful to name the owner of a site, and the name of their site,in your contact than to send out spam to millions of Web Sites. Personalize your direct email campaign by focusing on hundreds of Web Sites,instead of millions of addresses.

   4. Be sure to visit http://www.lizst.com for many mailinglists you can sign up for and at least do some market research.
   The Most Powerful Secret Weapon Every Affiliate Must Have

   If you look over this book, you will see that setting up abusiness online is not something that happens instantly. Youhave to plant the seeds and help grow your garden of customers.

   The most powerful weapon you have is email; it is also one of themost misunderstood. The people who built the Internet, thetechies, absolutely hate anything to do with email because theyconsider it spam.

   Spam is a term for sending an email without thinking who it isgoing to; it is so simple to send out hundreds of thousands ofmessages, that people forget to care about who is getting what.Yet if it is not done as a free for all, but as a targetedapproach, direct email can work very well.

   Here's why; your initial advertising will likely only sell 1-5%(tops) of people who come to your Web Site. Most people acceptthat and delude themselves into thinking that people will beenergetic and keep coming back to their Web site.

   Nothing could be further from the truth. What these affiliatesare doing is digging their own grave, because they do not make iteasy for the customer to work with them. If you decide right nowthat your customers are incredibly valuable, then you will doeverything in your power to make sure they always come back toyour site.

   The best way to do this is to create your opt-in list, gainingtheir permission to email them.

   What Would You Do If Your Business Ended Today?

   The Power of a List

   I have a friend who is one of the most successful marketersonline, Stephan Mahaney of Planet Ocean Communications. He isalways teaching me about the importance of the list, or as helikes to say: if my business was to end today, if they came andtook my computer and shut me down, I could simply take mydatabase of names -- my list -- and open up for business the next day.

   If he didn't have a list, he couldn't do this. If he didn't havea list, he wouldn't have a thriving business. That is the mostpowerful weapon any business can have, because it is not a listthey build randomly. It is a list of satisfied customers,familiar with you, and happy to hear from you.

   This kind of list is the real gold of business; now surf theInternet and look at what your affiliate competition is doing. They are trying to suck money out of banner ads, which are anightmare to get your investment back on. They are runningaround to newsgroups and posting messages hoping someone willnotice them.

   Meanwhile you go to their site and no one notices you; no oneinvites you to submit your name and email in return for a freegift, coupon, or discount. They just expect you to work hard tovisit them, and won't do a thing to make it easy for you.

   The real secret weapon is in making a busy person's life easierby giving them what they want. Affiliate programs are anexcellent way to do this. Your ultimate success, like anybusiness, is built on the repeat business you generate.

   Direct Email and Fax Is How You Do This

   Direct email and fax are two ways to contact your customerswithout intruding. The key is to target your audience and tailoryour message to what they want. Many people focus their ad copyon price only; success is generated from your service andbenefits you deliver, more than your price or "knowledge".

   First contact is a place to introduce yourself. Don't get into aheavy sales pitch; drive them to a Web page for that. Evenbetter, invite them to hear from you again. Remember not tospam, stripping masses of addresses in hope that a few willrespond. The time you spend targeting your customers will morethan compensate for waste of time, money, and effort you get byrandomly emailing customers who may or may not be interested inyour offer.

   Promote safe, secured email with a protection of privacy. Whatever you do, don't apologize. So many people are frightenedby the dangerous nature of spam, they forget that a living personis reading their ad copy.

   Those who want to attack you will with or without this message. Those who want to buy will wonder why you are so paranoid aboutcontacting them.

   Compare the first lines of these two messages:

   Example A.

   Headline: How You Can Turn $100 Into A Fortune.

   The benefit of this headline is compelling, but is it believable? Fortune is a vague word, if you turned this into "How You CanTurn $100 into $50,000", the terms are more concrete...but stillexaggerated. Get rich quick headlines are weak, but not as badas the following introduction to the sales letter.

   Content Notice

   ===========================================================

   Thank you for the information you have provided for us and/orothers to see on the Internet, and thank you for making youremail location available in the process so we can interact withyou. The following offer is in response to accessing your webpage/publicly accessible posting or information published on theInternet. Or it is in response to email you have sent to one ofour accounts, that caught our attention because of theinformation it contained. We believe our research indicates itis a response that may be of benefit and interest to you.

   If we were mistaken in thinking you posted this information inorder for people/us to see and respond to it and exchangeinformation with you, this is notice that you should not read thebelow contents of the email. It is not our intention to emailthose who do not want a response or to offend you in any way. Just accept our thanks for your contribution to the Internet,which got our attention.

   ===========================================================

   This politeness is phony...and exhausting. Try this next ad,which tells you why you should read it...and is not ashamed ofselling.

   Example B.

   Headline: ADV: A Personal Message....

   I think the headline stinks, and I don't like the ADV intro. This stands for advertising, done to protect the sender. Goodadvertising is never thought of as an ad, if it is targeted anddelivers benefits. Why remind them of this? Also, a personalmessage is delivered from their CEO. Why not mention this? "APersonal Message From The CEO.."

   Why I Liked This Ad: The Intro Ad Copy

   "We placed an ad in one small area of the Internet. And when thedust started to settle we had over six thousand responses in tendays."

   Compare this to the one above; instead of apologizing, they showyou an immediate benefit of what they actually did. This is asuccess story, with a result that is not beyond the reach of mostpeople. That's because they put a real number, a concretefigure, on their claim to make it believable and real.

   Even better, the ad copy develops to show how they converted theleads into customers. The power of such simple ad copy cannot bestressed too much. The results are tangible, easily understood,and invite you to read more.

   If you take a professional approach to direct email, you willfind that less resistance. Spam is a term for unsolicitedemail; the real goal is to use your first contact as a way tosolicit their input, and start communicating.

   Take the following approach with professional, direct email:

   1. Realize that a real person exists on the other end, one withlimited time. People only complain about advertising that gives themlittle or nothing. If you have researched your customer base, hit thebenefits that your offer brings to your customer.

   2. Write your ad copy to focus on a short headline. Personalizeit with their name and email address, to show how you reached them. Itis good to include the name of their business as well, to show that youactually know what they offer. If you have done the steps in the searchengines, this is easy.

   3. Get a database program and focus on it. You can use yourdatabase to export names and addresses to your email program, personalizingyour message to a broad customer base. It is easy to do, and databaseprograms are often less than $200. ACT, Microsoft Access, and MyMailingList arethree Windows databases. I use FileMaker for Windows. It also allows me tocustomize my invoices, sales letters, and personalize campaigns via directmail, direct email, as well as providing customer tracking.

   4. Do not forget the power of different media. Faxes are cheapand a good way to reach someone in print. One site I visit contactsyou via email, then follows up via fax with a guarantee to get you one contractas a consultant within a year of joining them.

   Paper is still a good way to reach people, and fax is notintrusive. Just make sure that you have earned the right tocontact them, and don't intrude on anyone who does not want tohear from you.

   Networking and Advertising Online

   Business to business selling is one of the best markets on theInternet. Many people get into competitive stances online, likethey are competing for a local market.

   The irony is that in the "real" world, networking is a centralelement of business. Take the real estate industry, for example. Real estate agents, lenders, accountants, appraisers,construction, painters, title companies, escrow companies, andmany others have a referral based system.

   I know one appraiser in San Diego that gets half of his workreferred by out of state lenders. A professional network existsin real estate, one based on referral instead of advertising.

   Now go and visit real estate sites online and see how few areapplying this model. Everyone is trying to sell their one pieceof the pie, when the customer wants to buy the whole package.

   This will not last for long. Intuit, the makers of Quickensoftware, have taken their stronghold in computer based bankingand stretched it to the real estate market. They have created amortgage site (http://mortgage.quicken.com) where you can applyfor a loan online, pre-qualify, and get a choice of six lendersfor your loan.

   Soon Intuit will be a broker itself, and will do what everymortgage company basically does. Everyone shops from the samebanks to give you a loan. Intuit is using its software as a leadgenerating mechanism, a referral, for all these real estateprofessionals. They are also targeting accountants, generatinginquiries for these professionals and selling a subscriptionbasis to their lead generating mechanism.

   Remember this model of professional networking, and apply it inthe following ways:

   1. Does a network exist for referrals in your market? Invitepeople and businesses to network with you. Use your links page as areferral mechanism, and build a select circle of influence to profit from.

   2. Think in terms of appointments and actual sales instead ofreferral fees. You can arrange a professional referral system byforwarding work, more than putting a money figure on it at first.

      If you generate enough leads, you'll be able to charge for them. Use your network to enhance your own reputation, and make sure thatwhoever you work with backs up what they do in action. Make sure thatwhoever you work with is as good as you. And backs up what they offer with greatcustomer service.

   3. Banner Ads as a networking tool. Banner ads will not makeyou money, unless you are Yahoo or Netscape. Invite selected businesses topost banner ads in your network, in exchange for showing your ad on theirsite. Also use Link Exchange, www.linkexchange.com, to target customers forbanner ads as well. For a little extra, you can specify who will see what youare offering.

      Finally, there is a site called the Web Ring (www.webring.org)that helps people create networks of links. Each person puts the code ontheir home page, and members are added easily. You just need one person tomaintain it, and the benefits can be tremendous.

   4. Qualify anyone in your network; do not link for the sake of linking. Get your network to be as professional and responsibleas you would be in the real world. One bad piece of your network can bringeveryone down.

      Make sure that you ask the right questions and take the time tofind good partners, not just links.

   5. Sponsorships are a great way to work closely with othersites. At the Forbes Web Site, Fidelity sponsors a specific section. Theirarticles and advertising are the only ones you will find in this section.

      Use these sponsorships to your advantage. Place content atother's sites, and use sponsorships as an ultimate form of networking. Work your way up to this via experience and the ability to mutually generateleads for each other.

   The most powerful weapon of all is a good network; it allbegins, and continues, with safe, direct email sent to peoplewith permission you have earned. Here's how to write the ad copythat makes them stop, think, consider, and hopefully open uptheir wallets for you.

   How To Write Effective Direct Email Pieces

   Rule 1. Direct email generates leads, not sales. Plan to followup.

   Rule 2. Be wary of lists you buy.

   Any list you buy is either an informal opt-in, where people haveallowed themselves to be emailed advertising. Usually thismeans they receive free information, or reports, from thebusiness who owns the list.

   The second list is one step from spam, lists that have beenharvested and hopefully targeted. I say hopefully because manyare just the second step in a bulk email mailing.

   A good list that does not mind being mailed to and generatessales is what you want.

   You can buy millions of addresses for practically nothing, butthese lists are not worth it. You will likely get shut down, gettons of duplicates, and acquire a giant headache.

   Think in terms of hundreds of customers, not millions of emails ´quality, not quantity.

   Rule 3. Create Impact in Three Words If You Can

   People are busy. They are looking at tons of emails. Why shouldthey open yours immediately?

   Your goal is the three word headline; you may need to use moreor less. If you cannot sum up your pitch in one sentence, keepworking on it until you do.

   The Subject Line is the headline of your email; this is whatthey will look at. If it does not make them want to act, theywill hit delete immediately. No one wants to spend time figuringout what you are offering.

   Forget tricks; do not use cute phrases or dollar signs. Bedirect.

   Which approach creates the most leads? Use what works, not whatyou like, or hope will work.

   Rule 4. Personalize the message. Address your customer directlyas "you". Keep it brief.

   Calling your customers by name in an email should be required ofall businesses. If you are not doing it yet, start now.

   There are so many database/email programs that will allow you topersonalize your email. Use them. NetContact is one; manydatabases allow you to export and merge for print letters. MailMerge is possible for many email programs, and will become soincreasingly in the future.

   Rule 5. Write in bullets; in the information overload, theperson with the easiest copy to read wins.

   Sum up your main ideas in 5 bullets.

   After you write each one, read it out loud. Ask yourself whywhat you said is important. Does it increase, boost, save,discover, explore, intrigue, and all together focus on the wordyou? Cut out the riff raff and select the bullets that generatethe most response.

   Rule 6. Write short copy, with an invitation to get more.

   Your introductory sales letter should be short and to the point,two or three paragraphs at most. Invite them to get the wholestory. Then send them to your Web Site (preferred),autoresponder, and telephone/fax. Expect to generate leads andgive them autoresponders that are 8-10 pages long at most.

   If you have a sophisticated sale, ask them to fill in a briefquestionnaire at your Web Site in exchange for your sales letter. Try and follow up with a personal phone call.

   Experiment with posting the sales letter at your site, andincluding it as an autoresponder.

   Rule 7. Never expect them to buy on first contact. (How oftendo you?)

   Rule 8. Write so anyone can read your direct email.

   Write your ad copy in a word processor and check the readinglevel of what you are writing. I use Word's Grammar Checker,located under the Tools menu. You can run sentences,paragraphs, and whole documents to find out what grade level youare writing for.

   For example, I ran the word SimpleText through the checker. The trick is to run the entire check; this report appears at theend.

   I ignore everything except the Flesch Grade Level; notice howthe word SimpleText is at the sixth grade reading level. That iswhy Apple used that word, because it is easy to remember and say.

   If you use this tool on your sales letters, you will be amazed. I was writing at an 11th grade to early college level. It wasgreat for academic research, but the death of a sales letter. Ijust shortened my words into two or three syllables. I stoppedusing contractions if possible. My words became simpler. Mysales increased.

   Most word processors should include this feature; if not, thereare many third party grammar checkers. Just look for the FleschReading Level and you should be fine.

   9. Amaze them With an Immediate, Surprise Bonus

   Many people give away free reports, newsletters, and bonuses tostart the direct response process. Giving away for free is good,but only if you make an impact. When you write a direct email,you need to direct the visitor to check out a Web Page/sitededicated only to what you are selling.

   Forget driving them to your home page, with all those choices. Give them one choice, and give them their free bonuses immediately. Autoresponders are themost common way.

   Bonuses in Action: Astrology.Net

   Astrology.net sells astrological readings. They have about 10 orso packages to choose from. But when you visit their site, youare asked to join up and to get your free report.

   The process begins with a listing of all the possible readingsyou can purchase. The free one is in the upper, left hand cornerof the form, where all important information should be. This iswhere the eye first rests, then reads left to right. You scanthrough their choices and get to the bottom of the form,submitting for your free report.

   You enter your name, birthday, and time of birth. Time of birthis very important and not all of us know this one. They give youthe option to include the time or not. You trade themdemographic information for the report.

   The information product is created as you fill in three forms. The result is a 3-5 page report and a personalized graphic of thestars alignment at the time of your birth, posted at their WebSite.

   You receive an email telling you the Web Site address. You alsolearn that this report will be taken off-line in a few days, soyou visit immediately. They get your email address, and using astatistical program can check to see if you even bothered tovisit.

   What a great way to qualify your leads; they buy the demo, thenhave to visit your Web Site to pick it up. You could do thiswith a password protected area as well, with informationdelivered as a text file (.txt), a Word file (.doc, Save As "Wordfor Windows 2" will allow whatever you create to be opened onmost word processors), or even Acrobat PDF files for those of youwith an Internet savvy customer.

   Delivering your bonuses immediately is critical to onlinemarketing. And it does not have to be complicated. Fromautoresponders to automated reports, the trend is clear; getthem thinking, participating, and requesting information. Delivered online, your distribution costs are virtually zero.

   Use this information to qualify your leads. Then close withthose interested customers, and follow up with the rest asprospects. Unleash your Web Business through leads and directmarketing.

   Internetworking Your Way To Success
   The Networking Parallel between the Cyber World and the Real World by Bob Burg, from his book "Endless Referrals"

   Just as our intent in the real world of networking and prospecting is to find the right people, meet them, and then win them over through effective follow-up and follow through, the same is true in the virtual world of sales and marketing. According to Patrick Anderson and Michael Henderson of ADNet International of Atlanta, a company specializing in Internet design and marketing, "The Internet is a big world and rather confusing at first. However, once the methods of prospecting are understood, you'll be in a position to increase your profits substantially."

   Make a Good System Even Better

   If, as part of your overall sales and marketing plan, you already utilize referral-based marketing, direct response advertising, outbound calling and telemarketing, introductory sales letters and brochures, and/or any of the principles and techniques discussed throughout this book, the Internet will provide a wealth of new prospecting leads, networking contacts and strategic alliance partners. In this chapter, we'll cover various Internet techniques to use with each of these strategies.

   From a technical perspective, the Internet is an interrelated network of computers. From a business perspective, it is a way to interact with people who share similar interests. When the principles of this book are applied to the online world, it becomes, according to Anderson and Henderson, "Inter-Net-Working."

   So, Who Is Online?

   By and large, people use the Internet when they are alone at their computers and have set aside time to explore, communicate, research, or relax. This is a very opportune time to connect with them. Whatever is on their minds at this very moment is what they will search for. Whatever intrigues them or interests them in the next moment is where they will go to next. They will remain in, and return to, the areas which interest them the most.

   As Henderson and Anderson point out, "Look at what your fellow business people are doing on the Internet. They are spending time and money creating Web sites that tell us who they are and what they are interested in. They are leaving notes and comments in public discussion areas. They are telling us something about themselves and their needs and then they are asking the Netpreneur, or seller, to get in touch with them!" And the general online consumer is actively searching for what interests them as well.

   Because of this, the Internet allows us to do something truly unique. It allows us to target and prequalify our prospects in a very different way - not by demographics, but by actions! In other words, as an online marketer, we are able to target our audience by finding people who, by their very actions, have already demonstrated that they are interested in our products and services.

   This leads to a very interesting observation made by Anderson and Henderson: "By looking through someone's Web site, and/or listening in (observation through public chat rooms) on their online conversations, you can learn quite a bit about them. People will reveal several things about themselves and their business or wants that make it easy to predict their level of interest in what you have to offer. You can read their personal stories, look for things you both have in common, and quickly strike up a mutually interesting conversation. This doesn't happen in any other medium. Don't ignore it! Anyone who catches on to this idea will never have to make a cold call again!"

   The Principles Remain the Same

   Know you, like you, and trust you becomes more critical than ever while establishing yourself on this new medium. After all, there is still lots of uncertainty by the general populace over who can be trusted on the Internet. The media fuels the fear of Big Brother practically every day with stories of credit card thieves, hackers, and viruses all somehow invading our computers and getting access to our personal information. However, such an extreme amount of unverified information sometimes makes it difficult to determine which sources can be relied on. For these reasons, mistrust is the single most important obstacle to overcome in order to establish an opening dialog with a new prospect.

   And that's okay, because those who can overcome this challenge will profit greatly. And Anderson and Henderson explain that it is actually very easy to set yourself apart from the crowd. They describe this as the biggest secret to Internet success, and it is simply, "Don't act like a computer! That's all. Interact with people on a "personal level." The two explain that although it seems obvious, most people try to rely on automatic ways to contact people "en masse," and it makes their prospects suspicious. "Remember," says Anderson, "that they are alone at their computer, willing to visit with another human - but not another machine."

   How to Work Any (Virtual) Crowd

   Many people who begin marketing online are anxious to jump right into the various newsgroups, chat rooms, and listservs in order to promote their various products and services. Not only will that strategy prove ineffective, it would rank right up there with Spamming when it comes to irritating, if not downright offending, the very people they want to have as customers.

   Newsgroups and chat rooms are basically just a crowd of like-minded people. A group of people like any other group. Try not to see the Internet as one large network of computers but instead as several different communities, ongoing conversations, and meeting places for people with similar interests.

   The good news is that, just as in the real world, within these cyber groups are centers of influence. These people can be determined by the fact that they are very vocal (lots of posts) and, more important, they receive lots of responses. This indicates they are respected by others.

   Many experts suggest that, when researching a particular market, finding its related newsgroups and chat rooms and "lurking" is a good idea. This way you can monitor the conversations and gain a deeper understanding of the wants, needs, likes, dislikes, etc., of their participants before jumping in. It's a good form of recognizance, and that is an excellent start. Let's take it even a step further:

   Let's set a goal to identify the centers of influence within those groups and then propel the relationships with those people using the information in Chapter 3 - how to work any crowd. Also, refer back to the section in this chapter on linking.

   A Great Example

   Patrick Anderson noticed in one of the local Atlanta newsgroups that three people seemed to fit the category of center of influence. One was an artist. Patrick checked this person's Web site, really enjoyed what he saw, and felt there might be some way he could use his work for his own Web site, as well as referring him to others. So he called the artist, whose name is Joe, on the telephone (note that he didn't e-mail him, he called him!) to introduce himself. He then related to Joe his thoughts about the artist's work.

   Understandably, Joe was delighted, and right away suggested someone who could use Patrick's Web site design and marketing services as well. Another 250-person or more sphere of influence was now part of Patrick's life, and Joe's as well. We can only imagine how far this new network beginning with Patrick and Joe will extend and how many lives and businesses will be affected and influenced positively.

   Now let's talk a bit about "time leveraging." The typical newsgroup prospector, in order to attain a large number of valid leads, must basically become a newsgroup junkie. The fact is, most of us don't have that kind of time to devote to this one avenue of prospecting. As Patrick points out, however, "when you make a great Inter-Net-working connection with someone who is, in fact, a newsgroup junkie, she can become your personal walking ambassador to the news room community. You are then benefiting as though you've invested the time there yourself."

   Here's a great example illustrating this point: Michael and Patrick were able to generate over 2 million hits for the Country Music Association Award's webcast with just ten days to promote! One person commented to them afterward, "I can understand how you pulled that off, I saw your promotions regarding the event all over the newsgroups." What's so amazing about this is that I personally know Patrick and Michael never posted one message to any of the newsgroups ,themselves. Not one! They simply enlisted the help of several of the centers of influence they had cultivated prior to the promotion, and those persons' natural cyber conversations and fantastic "third-party" endorsements resulted in a simply outstanding cyber turnout.

   When prospecting through newsgroups and such, Michael Henderson advises that the rules of the game are clearly outlined. Unfortunately, some individuals will ignore that and try to push their way into the process. He says that it is much more effective to ask questions of those in the know, in a very humble, unassuming manner. "You'll find the newsgroup veterans who will be only too glad to help."

   When it comes to establishing mutually beneficial relationships, the rules that apply to real-world organizations basically apply to the virtual world as well. That's why I suggest that before you begin to prospect via the Internet that you again review and internalize the information in Chapters 2 and 3.

   One more important point: Although this particular section really focused on newsgroups, please do not overlook the fact that the exact same approaches and techniques will work just as well in chat rooms, discussion forums, and listservs.

   Conclusion
   Scientific Internet Advertising: Internetworking Your Business

   If you have read this book, you know what it takes to set up an affiliate program that makes money for you..

   As with any other business efforts, one rule applies:

   "There are two types of businesses; those who test and those who lose money."

   Affiliate programs are an excellent example of people falling in love with an idea and then failing to test it. Just because you can sign up 200 affiliate programs doesn't mean you are making sales; those affiliations have value only if you empower them to succeed.

   Now let's show you how to put that into action in even more detail by sharing the aspects of what has been coined "Internetworking"; creating an online sales network of affiliate programs that deliver results your business.

   The key is to keep evaluating and testing your sales channel, honing it so that you get optimal value, as do your affiliates.

   Select just 3-4 affiliate programs and test them out; sell those very well.

   The first questions you must ask are:

   1. What are the primary goals of your business in terms of time and money?

   2. What will you do to achieve your results quickly?

   3. How can I adapt and test this?

   The journey begins with the first step, which you have just taken. I invite you in to explore some more, find out what programs work for you, and keep in touch.

   I thank you for your feedback and hope this book answers a few more of your questions.

   Peace,
   Declan Dunn

   Click here for the entire book...

   Winning the Affiliate Game:
   Copyright Notices
   

   Copyright 1998, 1999 by Declan Dunn. All Rights Reserved.

   No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electric, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission or more information should be sent to The Write Thing, 6960 Ridgeway, Magalia, California 95954.

   Published by Declan Dunn and The Write Thing.
   6960 Ridgeway
   Magalia, CA. 95954
   (530) 873-3637 Fax: (530) 873-0192
   email: dunn@webletter.net
   

   Created, e-printed, and distributed in the United States of America.

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