Learn Internet Marketing: The Truth Behind Affiliate Sales

I have been an entrepreneur for many years, but my greatest success has come since learning internet marketing. In the time I have been working my internet business, I have found the quickest way to make money is through affiliate sales.

Before you discount this as a good option, let me outline a simple way to approach this idea. From my experience, you can begin generating cash flow this week so that you can afford domain names and outsourcing some of the details of your business. For example, you could outsource email, article marketing, and webinar setup just to name a few.

The first key is to find something to recommend. It should be something inexpensive that you can comfortably recommend to others. You don't want to recommend a big ticket item right away, but instead start out small and build up to it. You want your list to trust you and rely on your recommendations. Look at the sales page for that product, and you will be able to tell whether or not it is appealing.

The second key is to know what issues your list is looking to be solved. What I am trying to say is to figure out the problems your readers are dealing with and how you can help them. For the answers, I usually go to niche-related sites, forums, or even social networking sites to see if I can find the answer. When I am willing to do this extra bit of research, I end up with more sales because I understand where my readers are coming from.

The third key to affiliate sales is to write a recommendation. Let me give you a sample outline. When you write a recommendation for an affiliate product, be sure to include the following: what does it do, how does it benefit the reader, how does it compare with similar products, what did you like about it, what did you not like about it, and what is your overall ranking? You can then post your review on your blog or other website, but the whole point is to make sure it is on your site with your affiliate link and then drive traffic to your review.

The fourth key is to tell people about your recommendation. For this you will use your own website or blog. Wordpress and blogger are two great places to get a blog if you do not already have one. Also, you can use your email contacts as your "list," and send out your recommendation to them.

The fifth key to affiliate sales is to supercharge the whole process with search engine optimization (SEO). You want to rank in Google for keywords people would use if they were about to buy. These are different than general keywords. When you use "buyer" keywords, you can optimize your recommendation post or web pages by using them in the post.

Without a doubt, affiliate sales can be a quick way to begin earning money. If you work diligently on these steps, you will see cash flow this week.

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Copyright Stephen Beck, 2010

You have permission to reprint this article as long as you don't make any changes and include the bio below.

Would you like to learn internet marketing 101? Stephen Beck is an expert, and he can show you how to make your first $1000 online. Go get a FREE link to his webinar replay, where he explains everything you should do: http://www.YourOnlineBasics.com.

Five Fabulous Features Of Online Web Conferencing

An online web conference provides you with a number of options at your disposal that you cannot get in any other type of presentation type. Here are some of the options that are available to you when you use webinar trainings to sell the products and services your company offers.

1. Question boxes
This is useful to allow any participant who is connected to the webinar to be able to type a question for you to answer. You can choose to address the question immediately or address it at a later point on the webinar. Sometimes I will open up the webinar at the end of the presentation for questions from the participants. You cannot do this on a teleseminar. In fact, it is difficult to do this in any other format.

2. Make the most of your presentation
You can really get your PowerPoint presentation to work for you with webinars. A webinar is so much more powerful than a teleseminar in that your listeners are not just listening along with you, but are also watching along with you as you go through your interactive PowerPoint presentation. This really helps them visually get a feel for what you are talking about and increase their understanding of your message.

3. Utilize an exit survey
An online web conference also gives you the ability to conduct an exit survey. This is very valuable. A survey reveals to you what the participants like and did not like about your webinar. This information can help you to make more sales. If you know who liked the webinar, you now know who may be the best prospects to follow up with. An exit survey can also give you comments to use for testimonials.

4. Involve your listeners with multiple senses
Webinars really involve the participants. They serve as a great way to engage your audience. They tap into multiple forms of sense. They tap into the hearing, the sight and they also allow for interaction. What this does as a result is makes it a presentation that has a higher value than a traditional presentation. It is more effective than a voice only presentation. It is better than reading words on a screen. It communicates your points more effectively.

5. Allows you to involve their emotions
An online web conference gives you the ability to show as well as tell. If you sell software, you can demonstrate how it works. If you have pictures of your product you can show those. For instance, on a webinar I hosted, I showed the participants pictures that I took on trip to Ireland. This is far superior to just trying to describe these pictures in verbal or written words alone.

Other items you can show are websites, membership websites and virtually anything that will help you to make sales. If you have a retail store, you can show the products that you sell there. Business webinars do a fantastic job at getting the sale. The power is found in the ability to stir up the emotions of the participants and get them to interact with you, which drives the sales process. I am not saying that you should never use other selling strategies. I use them as well. I have just found that an online web conference works very well and I do them continuously as a result.


Copyright Stephen Beck 2009

Feel free to share this article on your website, blog, or newsletter as long as you include the following resource box and you don’t make any changes to the article.

Stephen Beck enjoys helping families make money online through online web conferencing. Go get his free online business information at http://www.wildlywealthywebinars.com so you can start today.

Dealing With Free vs. Paid Information Products In A Home Internet Business

I help people market information products in their home internet business for a living. One of the most common questions that I get all the time is whether someone should be concerned if they are selling an information product about a topic for which there is free information available. They believe that the presence of the free product eliminates demand for the paid product.

While some people believe free eliminates demand for paid, I have found the opposite to be true, especially in situations where the free product fails to cover as much depth as the paid product. You should be excited when you see a free product because that shows there is interest in your target market.

Keep in mind that there are several topics that you can locate information on at no cost. The challenge is that it would take a significant amount of time to locate the information. Convenience is worth spending money on. It is more convenient to find information in one location. The average person does not want to search on a bunch of websites and put the information together. They want it right now and in your home internet business you can provide it to them.

Think about all the situations where people spend money to save time. Think about all the situations where people pay more for higher quality, especially if the quality of the free products is low. This is exactly what you are doing when you create a product to sell on the internet.

That being said, you should offer a free mini-course to get a person in your marketing funnel. If they are satisfied with your free course, they will want to know more about what you have to offer from your paid resources. They also believe that the paid resources are better and more valuable. Paying for something creates value. Therefore, by consolidating good information you will have the opportunity to make money even if you compete with free resources.

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Copyright Stephen Beck, 2009
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.

Stephen Beck shows families how to sell information online. Go get his 3 free videos at http://www.8weekstoprofits.com so you can begin today.

How Can You Be Sure To Be Paid When You Sell Information Products?

An important part to the process when you sell information products is receiving the payment. You can either go with a company that allows you to receive payments for both physical and digital products or a company that allows you to accept only one type of product, which is the option I recommend for newcomers.

Clickbank is the best option if you are just getting started and are selling digital products only. What is great about them is that they do not charge monthly fees. Another benefit is you do not have to personally review credit card transaction details. You cannot use Clickbank for physical products but there is another option for you if you sell physical and digital products.

What happens if you want to sell information products that are in physical format? You have two options, either option #1 where you provide the physical product as a bonus to the digital item or option #2 where you use a different payment processing company to handle the physical product.

1ShoppingCart is another payment processing company you can use. One of the advantages to their service is that they allow you to do digital and physical products. The downside is that they charge a monthly fee to use their services, unlike Clickbank. As a result, it is only worth it if you are making enough in sales to justify the monthly cost.

Another option that you can use is PayPal or MouseECommerce. A PayPal account is free to set up. PayPal is good for situations where you want to sell digital and physical products because you can use Clickbank for the digital and PayPal for the physical product. Suppose you wanted to sell an ebook and also sell an audio CD that complements the ebook, you can have them buy the ebook using Clickbank and then offer the audio CD on the download page with a mini-sales letter and a PayPal Buy It Now button. The sales letter should have an additional offer to buy the physical CD?s and then process and ship using PayPal.

This gives you some options to choose from for handling product sales online. 1ShoppingCart is a great option if you sell both types of products and you have the budget for it. Clickbank is great for digital products only and PayPal is great for physical products and you can always combine the two services using the strategy above when you sell information products.

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Copyright Stephen Beck, 2009
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.

Stephen Beck helps people how to start their own coaching business. Go grab his 3 free videos at http://www.8weekstoprofits.com so your family can begin now.

Ricky Nelson and Your Home Internet Business

by Stephen Beck  

I am not the type of guy that thinks before I act. I follow the "shoot first and ask questions later" philosophy. This is great if you take criticism and rejection well. Unfortunately I am not that type of person.  

I am also not the type of person who likes to get in other peoples business. If they want to know what I think about something, I will let them know. If they need my advice on something, I will tell them but I do not give it unsolicited.  

In the home internet business world you will encounter a lot of people who are more than willing to share their opinion with you. They will tell you everything you are doing wrong in your internet marketing business. Many times it will seem like they criticize your every move.  

There are plenty of critics for you as an owner of a home internet business to point out your flaws. They know every mistake you make practically as soon as you make it and are quick to tell you about it. Some of them even make accusations against you based upon what they perceive to be your hidden motive behind the business decisions you make.  

It is hilarious to read an email that is 2-3 pages long from a stranger as to why I am doing what I am doing. The type of insight that these people must have is truly amazing that they can read my mind. I wish I could read minds like that!  

It all reminds me of a song that I enjoyed when I was a kid by Ricky Nelson. Ricky was the son of Ozzie and Harriet. For most of his career he wrote a lot of malt shop 50's type songs, but in the 70's he made a shift in his music. One time in October of 71, he performed at a Rock n Roll concert that was held at Madison Square Garden. He had a completely different hairstyle, different clothes and his music was different as well.  

In the middle of the show he got booed by the audience. Surprised and discouraged, Ricky left the stage. Later on he shared his thoughts:  

"I went to a Garden Party, to reminisce with my old friends, a chance to share some memories, and play our songs again.  

When I got to the Garden Party, they all knew my name, but no one heard the music- I didn't look the same.  

But it's all right now. I learned my lesson well. You see you can't please everyone so you gotta please yourself."  

This became the song "Garden Party" and it made Ricky a fortune, going gold and selling over a million copies. The album cover features Ricky in a black and white tux, holding a guitar in defiance and confidence.  

Ricky correctly pointed out "you can't please everyone, so you gotta please yourself." I also believe you should add to this "you gotta please the Lord."  

The key lesson that I learned from Ricky Nelson is to be true to yourself. After all, if the critics knew what they were talking about, they would be building their own home internet business instead of criticizing yours!

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Copyright Stephen Beck, 2009

You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don't make any changes and include the bio below.

Stephen Beck shows entrepreneurs how to start a home internet business. Go grab his free traffic report so you can start now.