I have been in Spring Cleaning mode here.  Up until yesterday we enjoyed seventy degree weather for a few weeks.  It was wonderful!  I have basically reorganized and purged most of my home!  This week my husband and started a Square Foot Garden.  SFG is container gardening.  We have not yet planted anything because it  is too cold still.  The day after my husband build the box and put in the soil it snowed!!  As I was thinking about the seeds we are going to plant and the harvest we will receive in several weeks, I started thinking about business!

What kinds of seeds are you planting?

As you know with any plant there has to be a growing period.  You have to nourish that seed.  You need to protect that plant.  Then harvest at the right time!  So what seeds are you planting.  In other words what do you want to harvest?  When I was at NAMS in January Mark Hendricks talked about how you need to have the end in mind.  This is the same idea! Do you want to build a list?  Have an increase in traffic?  Or do you just want an increase in income?

What will you do to nourish that seed?

So the seed has been planted in your mind as to what you would like  to harvest, now what?  It is time to go to work.  With a garden you have to consistently weed and water.  So how do you nourish your seed?  To build a list you need to get the word out, provide an incentive and maybe do a Telesummit or guest blogging.  To increase traffic do link building, guest blogging, consistent blogging on your blog, maybe some pay-per-click or advertising some other way.

The nourishing of this seed needs to be consistent.  This will be every day work or at least several times a week work.  It will be work where sometimes you get really dirty.  This is essentially the work you will do to make the harvest all worth while.  If you forget to water for a week your work will be a loss, so don’t let things slide! Read more »

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 »

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