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Affiliate Marketing for Beginners
How To Become a Successful Affiliate; if I Can, Why Not You? About two years ago, I convinced myself (totally taken in by the hype of some slick marketers) that forex trading was a way to earn easy money from the internet. I started to make thousands of dollars, but only on paper with demo accounts. Feeling superbly confident, but with no spare cash, I managed to talk a friend into lending me $500 to open a 'mini' account with a forex broker. I blew all $500 in less than a month, mainly because I didn't really have a clue what I was doing. In spite of learning a lot since then, I have stayed away from live trading. Plenty of people make money from it but for me it's too complicated and I don't like the risk involved. More importantly I found a much easier, better and more exciting way of earning much more than I was ever likely to by actually trading. After one year I was making a good living as an online marketing affiliate, mainly from promoting quality forex and stock trading courses and services. But I didn't stop there because there's a whole world of products to sell, and you don't have to create (or buy) them yourself! I've never looked back. How does Affiliate Marketing work and how am I paid? Generally as an affiliate you don't need to know that much about what you're promoting. Once you start affiliate marketing you will see the same principles apply to all markets. Some are less competitive than others. Some appear to be saturated (but it's not true). The idea is to find a few 'niches', learn what you need to and start making money. Affiliate selling is simple in concept. There is no product to buy, stock or deliver. There is no personal contact between the affiliate and the purchaser who is often unaware that a 'middle-man' is involved. No product support. Sales transactions (order, payment, delivery, even returns) are all handled by the publisher usually through an independent third party 'shopping cart' and affiliate program management system. This automatically allocates affiliate sales commissions at the stated rate and terms. You can monitor this process. Depending on the program, regular payments are made by check, ACH direct deposit or wire transfer to your bank or PayPal account. Here's a brand new way to 'dip your toes' into internet marketing 'waters' - for just $2.95:
'Spreading the word' to potential customers Your own sales marketing campaigns can be as simple as sending emails to friends or other contacts who have a possible interest in whatever it is you want to promote. In my case it was initially market trading products. However, having your own blog or web site allows greater exposure to potential customers. Sites can be free if necessary, but there are better alternatives that don't cost an arm and a leg and there are valid reasons for choosing them. It's also a good idea to build up a mailing list from visitors to your web pages, by offering them something such as a report or other item at low cost or even for free. This is the quickest way to build a list of prospective customers, who, if you treat them right will begin to trust and purchase from you. And they come back for more! Using a managed service like AWeber, you can monitor exactly how your subscribers respond to your marketing emails. Why not take a free test drive?
You can also use PPC programs like Google AdWords to drive traffic to your own site or direct to the publishers' sales pages. However, you need to know what you're doing because you pay for that (see below). There are cheaper ways too, such as blogs and social networking sites, article sites, review sites, ezines, classified ads in digital or printed newspapers and magazines, leaflets, flyers, even the notice board at your local supermarket! If you want to start with forex or stock trading products, check out some of the recommended publishers with affiliate programs. Get as much information and free resources offered by those publishers both to their potential customers and their affiliates. Look for independent product reviews, forum comment and users' opinions. Forums and user groups are sources of potential new business for you too. Preferably write your own reviews, or at least modify others' texts enough to make yours look original! Publish information on your website or through emails to your contact or subscriber lists. But never spam! Where did I begin my affiliate education? Admittedly, the easiest part of being an affiliate is the sign-up process. Actually making some money needs a bit more effort on your part! If it didn't, every internet marketing affiliate would be rich and most are not. Just like market traders! It usually takes time too, especially if you're a beginner. Most people simply do not know where to start or how to promote their new affiliate marketing business. Unlike forex trading though, while it may take a while to learn to make money, you are not risking any either. You always have full control of your spending and there's no need to take any risk you can't afford. Nobody, in spite of promises, guarantees etc. is going to have a successful business by spending no money at all. It's just not possible unless you have unlimited time at your disposal, and even then you will struggle. You need a few dollars; even $2.95 is enough to start (if you're quick). Find, beg, borrow (but don't steal!) it from a sympathetic friend or relative if necessary.
Banking my earnings, then getting them as cash Affiliate marketing is a truly global business and can be based anywhere there is an internet connection. Here's a typical example: I'm British but I am based in Asia; I've just made $700 selling a $2,000 USA product to someone from Sweden living in Spain. We have had no direct contact. The money is automatically paid into my US bank account. I can get the cash using my ATM VISA card. Note that US citizens could have tax liabilities. Others, like me, do not. It depends on your nationality and country of residence. There's nothing stopping you from moving somewhere else, though! Good affiliate programs (there are some scams too) pay either by PayPal, check, direct deposit or wire transfer to a bank account. You can use PayPal money to make online purchases but if you want your earnings as cash you will need a bank account somewhere, preferably with an ATM card. If your country allows PayPal accounts to be linked to a bank account, getting your cash is easier especially if you have an ATM cash or Visa/MasterCard which is usable internationally. Unfortunately some potential affiliate marketers live in countries where this is not possible and international money transfer is difficult or not allowed. Certain countries allow PayPal accounts to be opened but cannot be linked to a bank account where the money can be withdrawn as cash. One alternative many have found invaluable is a USA bank account for non residents. This has a Visa card which can be used in ATM cash machines all over the world. The account is free to open and there are no bank charges or other fees for the first year. After that there are ways of keeping it free indefinitely. Get more details on my US Non Resident Bank Account report. I normally charge $8.95 for it, but I will give it to you free on request if you join any of the Affiliate Programs I recommend. Email me and let me know which one(s) you have joined (see below). Why am I happy to give you this report free you may ask? Because there's another aspect to affiliate marketing and that's 'second tier' commissions. Basically if someone joins an affiliate program through your link, any sales they make (for which they will get the full commission) a percentage will come your way too. So when you choose programs like these, you automatically add another 'stream' to your income - without actually doing anything! I wrote the banking report myself, so giving it to you as a 'thank you' for becoming my sub-affiliate really costs nothing and I may enjoy some extra commission from the programs I'm recommending if you're successful. Everyone wins, and the publishers are more than happy to increase their affiliate numbers! Remember that all administration and commission payments are managed securely and automatically by the publishers and affiliate programs. You don't have to do (or pay) anything except monitor your performance statistics and earnings to see how much you are due to be paid. There's nothing sweeter than waking up each morning and checking to see what you made while you were asleep or partying the night before! Start earning residual income and if you are a stockmarket or forex trader you can offset your trading losses with virtually no outlay. Just a little effort can make you hundreds (even thousands) of extra dollars within weeks – there's no upper limit. What should you do now? Get a head start on affiliate marketing with an expert coach with hundreds of satisfied trainees. Some of the testimonials are from internet marketers now famous themselves. Personally, I don't seek 'fame' but 'fortune' sure comes in handy! You could be up and running with your own online business in 48 hours...
You'll find a lot of instructions, explanations and tools on the Google AdWords site, but be aware they are more concerned with their own shareholders' earnings than yours; it's easy to spend a lot of money on AdWords yet make little or nothing from it! Download Google AdWords Made Easy, an 85-page guide from marketing guru Brad Callen which shows you how to get the best out of your AdWords campaigns. There's more to this report than meets the eye, as you will learn.
HOT NEWS FOR AFFILIATES (June/July)
The main advantage is that if you join now, you can begin promoting your own rep page and immediately start building a 'downline' of pre-launch referrals; the potential for earning residual income is unlimited. Learn more here first: http://www.wireless-affiliate.com, then sign up!
Become a Forex and Stock Trading Affiliate
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