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I have talked many times about my accountability partner Angie Newton.  We have been partners for quite a while now.  It has been a partnership that has helped me build and advance my business.  While Angie and I were at the NAMS 3 workshop in January, we were approached by several people asking all sorts of questions about accountability partnerships.

The questions about being accountability partners continues.

Since we have returned we still continue to get questions.  Here are some examples: How do you find an accountability partner?  What do you do when you meet?  How often do you meet? There are also many other questions.  During a recent call between Angie and I we discussed these questions and decided to address them by writing a report.

All your questions will be answered!  Now we need you questions!  Please comment in this post and share what you want to know about accountability partners!

Now think, think, think!  Also please pass this on to a friend and have them think too!  Now what are you waiting for go leave a comment!

Thanks,

Continuing in the affiliate marketing series this is a follow up to my post a few days ago – What is Affiliate Marketing? Today we are going to cover some of the advantages of affiliate marketing.  In other words the why?!  I have four kids and every one of them have gone through the “why?” stage.  It always drove me crazy and I often had the desire to say “Just because!”.  Just as with kids it is important to ask and answer Why?!

What are the Advantages of Affiliate Marketing for the companies?

Have you ever wondered about a new Mexican restaurant that you saw a commercial for?  The restaurant looks really good but how much does it cost?  Does the food taste just like Taco Bell or is it good traditional Mexican food? One day you are talking to the neighbor and she mentions that her family went to this restaurant last night.  You are so excited and you ask her all the questions.  It turns out it is a fabulous restaurant and even accommodate children really well!  So the next night you plan to take your family to the restaurant.

In this example the neighbor is not getting paid for her recommendation of the Mexican restaurant but she willingly gives it.  The restaurant benefits from this greatly!  Companies would rather have personal recommendations given they pay the high costs of advertising.  People look at commercials skeptically but when someone you know recommends it you are very likely to use a product or service.  As an encouragement companies will pay people to recommend their stuff! It ends up being a win-win situation. Read more »

When it comes to finances I am not a wizard! I even convinced my school counselor in High School that I didn’t need anymore math.  I only took a semester of Geometry and no Algebra.  So when it came time to budgeting and balancing a check book I wasn’t great.  About eight years ago I got a free copy of Quicken with my Turbo Tax.  I downloaded it and found that it would balance everything for me.  I later bought Quicken Home and Business. This helped me keep track of all the business expenses and income that I received as well as my family finances!

Why buy Quicken Home and Business?

Are you wondering why I am sharing this with you?  I am getting to a point.  My accountability partner Angie Newton and I were talking a few weeks ago.  She shared with me how behind she is in balancing her check book.  This was such a burden on her.  As we talked I could feel the weight on her shoulders to get it done.  I told her about Quicken.  These are some of the things I shared with her:

• With Quicken I don’t have to worry about putting in every receipt because it is connected to my Credit Union.  I press a button and Quicken Home and Business will update all the recent transactions.  Then all I need to do is match them up with what I have already recorded.
• I can keep track of when my bills need to be paid.  I also can include all your bills, such as: utilities, cable, internet, mortgage, insurance, etc.  When it is close to the date these are due I will get a reminder within Quicken.  I can even set up a reminder on my desktop. Read more »

If you have followed me in my journey to find a business I love you know that I have decided to focus on affiliate marketing. When I talk about it do you ever wonder, what in the heck is affiliate marketing?  Maybe you don’t but I want to help those that don’t get it.

In the last few months I have been talking to people that I know, but don’t know what I do.  When I tell them I work at home doing affiliate marketing I always, back that statement up by asking them if they know what that is.  Most of the time they say “No”.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

By definition from Websters Online Dictionary and affiliate is: “A subordinate or subsidiary associate; a person who is affiliated with another or with an organization.”  This is absolutely true an affiliate is someone who has associated with a retail company or someone selling a product.  Now affiliate marketing is marketing for that company or person.

You become an affiliate by applying to an affiliate program.  You can go to affiliate networks such as Commission Junction, Click bank or Pepper Jam Network. These networks have many companies and products that you can become affiliates for. In other words sell their products and get paid for it.  Each company and program will offer a different percentage of commission for products that are sold through your link. You can also find a company or product you want to be an affiliate for and contact them to see if they have an affiliate program. The Super Affiliate Handbook goes into great detail about this.

How do you market a product or program?

Okay, so you have picked out one product or service and are now their affiliate.  What do you do now? You can market a product or program in many, many different ways.  The key is to have someone to talk to that would be interested in what you have to offer.  A few ways you can promote a product is with a blog, a mailing (e-mail) list, forums, an e-book, all of these things and others!

How in the world do I get paid for affiliate marketing?

When you sign up for an affiliate program you are given your own unique URL or website link.  When you are promoting this product or service to your market you use that link in your blog post, Facebook message, Twitter message, etc.  For example say my niche is Barbie dolls.  I sign up for Mattel as an affiliate.  I have a link that looks like this: http://mattel.com/aid=12349.  Now that number at the end is my member identification or affiliate number.  When I am talking about Barbie dolls on my blog, the Barbie Doll Collector, I would hyper link an image and/or the word Barbie dolls to the my affiliate link: http://mattel.com/aid=12349.

So far, so good right? Now if someone clicks on that link and buys something from Mattel you will get the 4% commission on whatever they buy.  So if they buy a collectors doll for $100 you will get paid $4.

Get the idea?  Now if you have a list of moms who want to work at home or maybe want to have their own blog you can offer them a start up guide that is free and include links to GoDaddy for the domain, Hostgator for hosting, maybe Aweber for a list management system and maybe a mom mastermind forum like Mom Masterminds.

How do you make a lot of money doing this?

Great question!  You create multiple product pages or posts on your blog, reports, e-books, articles, Squidoo lenses.  Cover all of the social media sites with great content free and paid when you do, include your affiliate links.  Make sure you follow the rules on forums and other social media sites when you do this but there are so many things you can do with affiliate links!  At NAMS we talked about strategies for social marketing.  This is a great way to get yourself out there and also an opportunity to share your affiliate links.

I hope this answers the question: what is affiliate marketing. If you have any other questions let me know!  If you want to see someone who has been very successful in affiliate marketing check out this interview of Lynn Terry. This is a PDF transcript of an interview Nicole Dean did of Lynn Terry.  This was my very first introduction to Lynn and as you know I am a huge fan!

Best,

PS. If you are going to take a serious look at doing affiliate marketing as a business make sure you get the Super Affiliate Handbook by Rosalind Gardner.  She gives you a clear picture as to what it is affiliate marketing is and how to be successful!

photo credit: ElizabethHudy