Tips for Affiliate Marketers to Survive and Thrive in the Online Business World

Affiliate marketers are always on the lookout for profitable markets - the ones that result in the biggest paychecks. Sometimes they think (and desperately hope) that there is a magic formula to be discovered just around the next corner. Of course, it is a bit more complicated than that because in business, whether off-line or online, we need to use good marketing practices that have proved their worth over time.

Fortunately, there some are tactics that have a history of having worked in online marketing generally and continue to work in online affiliate marketing in particular.

I will outline three major marketing areas that you need to understand and use in order to increase sales so that you thrive in your online affiliate marketing venture.

1. Use a unique website to promote each individual product that you are marketing. Do not simply put them all together in one site in order to save money on buying domain names and webhosting. That is false economy. As a beginner affiliate, it is better to have one small site per product that you are promoting. However, if it is your intention is to build an authority review site, then of course you will have many products in a particular niche together in one big website.

• Always include product reviews on the website so that your visitors will understand the specific feaures of the product and what it can do for you if you buy it.

• Testimonials from users who have already tried the product are also powerful because they let potential buyers know that both you and your product are trustworthyand need to be included in your site. Check that these customers will allow you to use their names and photos on the site of the specific product you are promoting.
• You can also write articles describing the product and its uses. Be sure to include them on the website on their own page. Make the pages of your site compelling and include calls to action at strategic points. Headlines are crucial and need to rouse the reader's interest and stimulate their desire to buy. Highlight important points. In other words, make it easy for your readers to scan the text quickly and find all the most important information about the product to stimulate a sale or an opt-in.

2. Offer free reports to your readers. If possible position the offer in an opt-in box near the top of your page where it will immediately catch the visitor's attention. If the page is long, include another opt-in box at the end of the page. Many readers hate having to scroll back to the beginning of the page again and you may miss out on collecting contact information of the ones who navigate away because they already have forgotten about signing up for the free report.

• Use an autoresponder to collect the sign in information as well as to create messages that are emailed to the visitors who opted in to receive the free report. This is how you will build your list - and as they always say in the business "the money is in the list"! The names on your list are your prospects for future sales on products you are selling. According to current research, a sale is usually closed on about the seventh contact with a prospect.

Only two things can possibly happen when someone visits your web page: a sale is closed sale immediately or the prospect navigates away, never to return again. By collecting a list of names and email addresses you broaden that scenario. Now you can email your prospects directly with information and offers and you can remind them of the product they thought they wanted.

• For the emails you write for your list, focus on things like how the product can make life easier and more enjoyable. As far as possible, avoid using the word free because there are still some spam filters around that filter out those kinds of content classifying them as 'junk mail'. You need to convince those who signed up for your free report that they would be missing out if they do not buy your products and services.

3. Target traffic that is interested in your product. A person who has no interest in your product is not going to spend any time or money at your website. They will simply navigate away immediately. Targeted traffic, on the otherhand, will spend time - a little or a lot depending on whether what you say interests them at all.

• To bring interested people to your website, write articles and reviews about the product and publish them in ezines and article directories. They will be directed to these ezine articles after doing a search for information on the topic in one of the search engines such as Google or Yahoo. Be sure to include a link to your website in your article, so that anyone interested in following up on what they have read will be able to reach your site and buy from you.
• 
  Two articles per week of between 300-600 words in length is something to aim for. By writing and submitting articles, it is possible to get as many as 100 targeted visitors to your site in a day. The more targeted visitors you have visiting your site, the more sales you are likely to make over time.

Once you have worked out what works best for you as an affiliate marketer, you can simply duplicate those processes with any number of products and websites and end up making a very good living.

It's Crucial to Set Goals in Life and in Business

To be successful in life and in business, you need to set clear goals. Goal setting is a vital factor in determining your path to success. Success is measured by the goals you have reached.

Here are five tips on how you can set clear achievable goals:

• Brainstorm your personal and business goals and then put them into writing listing them in order of importance.This will activate the process of committing yourself to your goals. Studies have shown that goals that have been put into writing are more motivating than those that you simply think. When formulating your goals be sure to include both a time frame ( short-term and long-term goals) and a plan of action to help and guide you on your way.

• Review your goals weekly. Assess where you are in terms of how you are progressing and make changes to your goals if you find that you need to refine them in any way. Things to think about are: how am I doing in my short -term objectives? Am I still on course towards reaching my bigger, long-term goals? Do I need to make any changes to my goals based on what I have achieved so far? How am I doing generally? [Don't forget to acknowledge any and all progress you have made no matter how small it is in relation to the bigger picture and be sure to pat yourself on the back, too!]

• Take action. A goal remains a fantasy if you do not do something concrete to accomplish it. Based on your assessment, you can either continue or change your present plan of action, that is, be flexible and creative if one plan was not delivering in the way you hoped, then find other ways to do what is necessary to achieve those goals.

• Be motivated and stay focused. You may want to share your goals with your family or close friends. It will help you to remain focused and inspired - there's nothing like talking about your plans and actions to people who care about you to re-fire your enthusiasm. They could also help you and even remind you if you begin to stray off course.

• Be determined and committed. With strong determination and commitment, you can be confident that you can and will achieve the goals that you have set. A word of caution though, remember to set realistic, achievable goals with a reasonable time frame because you do not want to set yourself up for frustration and failure.

Good Luck!

5 Powerful Mind Strategies For Business Success

Building a business is both a wonderful and a
challenging experience.
You can wake up exhilarated with great enthusiasm
to start your day and then end the day feeling frustrated
and not just a little overwhelmed.

The key to success is to maintain a positive,
'yes-you-can-do-it', mindset.

That's easier said than done, right?

Here are 5 ways to help you create and sustain a
positive frame of mind so that you can reach the
heights of success you so desire.

1. Surround yourself with successful and
positive people and avoid those people who have
a negative or destructive attitude to life.
People influence our own personal energy and
their moods and attitudes impact on us. A simple
smile from a stranger can make to your day; just
magnify the effect of a stranger's smile a
thousand times to demonstrate the power of
positive and successful friends, family and
associates. When you have people around you who
inspire you, have faith in you and want you to
succeed, there is little room for doubt to over
-whelm you and, even when they creep up on you,
they are quickly swept away by the encouragement
of the people around you.

2. Say a mantra or an affirmation which embodies
your mission statement - what you intend to
achieve. Repeating positive affirmations has
been shown to get people through tough times and
to actually help them stay positive and not give
in to self-doubt.

Many highly respected and wildly successful
business professionals have used this kind of
affirmation strategy to help them stay on track.
To find the right affirmations for you is not too
difficult - just make a quick list of your doubts,
insecurities and complaints and then turn them
into positive affirmations.
For example, if you write that you always feel
disorganized, then your affirmation would be
something like this:

"I am organized and in control. It is easy for me
to be organized and in control"

Repeat your affirmations several times
a day and feel the power of positive thinking
begin to change you for the better.

3. Stop negative thoughts and feelings in their
tracks.
We all have negative thoughts and
emotions from time to time, however, they can
knock us off course and stop us from achieving
all we desire. Of course catching those
negative thoughts takes practice and
persistence. When you find yourself filled with
negative thoughts and emotions, find something,
a trigger, that can help you turn them around, reframe
them into something positive and helpful.

Other ways tried and trusted ways to improve your mood are:

• Listening or singing your favorite song
• taking a walk outside in the fresh air
• doing a little exercise are tried

4. Set goals and intentions. Be clear on what you

want and regard getting it as part of a
process. If you can 'enjoy the journey' as they
say and focus on the process and not only on the
end result, then you put yourself into the right
frame of mind to succeed because then you don't
become desperate to see the final goal,but
rather just what the next step is along the way.
A certain amount of faith in yourself and in
your power to stick with it is necessary. Give
it a try.

5. Be grateful - grateful for what you have
achieved so far and for the end result which you
expect to be reached in time.

When you are grateful for all the wonderful things and people
in your life the challenges you face seem
significantly less daunting and are more easily
dealt with.
Keeping a gratitude journal and getting into the
habit of writing in it daily is an excellent
method to help you stay focused and in touch
with all the positives in your day and life.
Also when you are facing a challenge being able
to remind yourself of all the wonderful things
in your life will make you feel that you could
tackle anything.

Success is really within your reach and with the
right attitude you can accomplish all that you
set your sights on. Embrace these five powerful
mind success strategies and you will build a
better business and live a happier, more
satisfying life.