Affiliate Programs that Earn a Profit

This information may be helpful for everyone, regardless of how long you have been in the affiliate business, or even if you are just getting started.

First, a good affiliate program can be hard to come by. It needs to offer decent commissions, accurately track sales, and most importantly, pay their affiliates in a timely manner.

Many webmasters and internet gurus are doing very well with only a handful of affiliate programs. Once you find a good one, you kind of seem to get stuck on it until you are positive you are making every penny possible.

Before spending a lot of time and money marketing an affiliate program, always check it out first. There are a number of ways to do this.

1. Search through an affiliate directory online and look for ratings or comments. I have my Affiliate Directory setup so people can rate programs, which helps everyone.

2. Ask them how many affiliate they have, and what the top earners are making, as well as the average affiliate.

3. Give the program a trial run – just enough to make a few sales that will allow you to recieve a payment from them. This will ensure they pay as offered.

4. Keep records.

To see my affiliate program directory, please visit the Affiliate Program Directory.

To learn more about becoming an affiliate, or to join a great affiliate program, check out Make Money Online.

Source : J. Ratliff

Six Weeks to Sustained Self-Promotion

Writers write.

Want more money? Then memorize this phrase: “Writers promote.”

Think you don’t have time to organize a marketing plan for yourself, your books, your website? Try this six-week plan to a sustained program of self-promotion and you, too, will find new friends who will help you, editors who approach you, and readers who will follow you throughout your writing career.

Week One: Focus on online message boards and lists. Yahoo, MSN, Topica and Smartgroups all have online discussion lists that you can search by topic. Sign up, read past messages, then decide whether you’ll stay with the list or move on. Some lists have nothing but spam messages; others are packed with information. Register with message boards that focus on writing. Do the same with these as you did the lists. Choose at least five to participate in. Choose two days a week, at a minimum, on which you will send messages to the lists. Be aware than many of the same writers will be on more than one list so don’t just write a canned message and send it to all. Show that you’ve read previous messages – answer a question, ask a question, share a valuable link. Once in a while you can mention a favorable review or a “Hurray, I got the assignment” message.

Week Two: Keep up your week one efforts. Study local newspapers, both daily and weekly. Investigate any magazines published for local readers. Keep a running list of local media contacts. Some of the things you should note: who is writing about food, what type of stories are turned into juicy features, what kinds of announcements run in the business section, how many food articles are syndicated from another source? This list of media contacts will save you time when you have an article you want to write or you are seeking an article to be written about you, your business or your book.

Week Three: Weeks one and two plus a trip to an office supply store. Buy some great paper – matte, two-sided coated paper, color or white. Write a brochure for yourself. Don’t feel it’s appropriate for what you are writing about? Then design a business card and print it up. Or ask a graphic designer to create a unique look for your business card. I was at a business fair, manning the table for my employer at the time (a college), and I realized that I could have networked my own writing business if I’d only had a business card to hand over to the advertising and web design businesses. Get some business cards.

Week Four: This is the week when you take your writing business on the road. Go to the local Chamber of Commerce’s Business After Hours event. Chat with people, and hand over a brochure or business card when you meet someone who can hire you, or who can connect you with a publisher or editor. Keep posting on those message boards and lists; have fun with them.

Week Five: Write a press release about your recent success. Did you publish an article, finish a workshop, win an award, or open for business? Write your press release in third person as if you are writing an article. Send it to someone – your discussion list buddies for a critique, a local weekly that runs news releases unedited to fill in the news holes, post it on your website (don’t have a website – that’s what you can do on week seven). Need help? Visit prwire.com for advice on writing press releases.

Week Six: Two tasks this week: This is the week you make contact with three new editors. Call the local food editor or features editor and take him or her out to lunch. Email a magazine editor with an article pitch. Contact an online newsletter editor and see if you can trade ad space for an article you’d love to write for him. Your second task is to subscribe to online newsletters for writers – www.writesuccess.com, and www.fundsforwriters.com are only two that consistently provide essential information for writers.

Throughout these weeks, you should also be writing, researching markets for publication, and submitting your work. Keep up with the list discussions. A great one for information and markets is workforwriters@yahoogroups.com.

Keep up the good work – network with writers online and potential clients and editors in person to sell yourself and your writing.

Source : Pamela White

Know Money to Make Money

The experts are always telling us that getting paid for what you know is one of the most effective, least time-intensive ways to make a buck. Well, if you know anything about money (and you don’t need to be a financial whiz), writing articles for financial websites can be a very lucrative way to get paid for what you know.

We all understand that demand for your product is essential in any business. Well, how’s this for demand: EVERYONE is interested in money. We want to know how we can earn it, save it, and grow it. After all, isn’t making money your basic motivation for reading this article or subscribing to this newsletter? If you do want to make money, and you have any insight or even anecdotes about things like investing, business, family finances, taxes, or even being flat broke, there is a huge online demand for what you have to say. And surprisingly, you don’t have to be a professional writer to get in the game.

There are many different types of financial businesses that are always looking for articles (yes, even your articles) to use on their websites. Stock brokers need technical articles, as well as articles on how families like yours invest, and what they think about stocks and mutual funds. Even banks, insurance companies, and mutual fund companies are always looking for human interest stories about how money, or the lack thereof, can affect families and individuals just like you, from all walks of life.

You’ve probably heard a dozen times that the best selling product on the Internet is information. Well, for you and your articles, this can clearly be the case. Financial websites are willing to pay you for your articles, because their customers and people visiting the sites are HUNGRY for the information. Providing the information people want makes these firms look good, making people want to do business with them. If you can help their business with your articles, they are often willing to pay you handsomely for your assistance.

In all seasons, and at specific times of year, there are articles needed on issues like retirement planning, education funding, savings, tax filing and brackets, insurance, estate planning, family finances, and more.

But what if you don’t know anything about any of these topics? If you’re willing to do some research and learn a few things, you’ll not only be armed with the knowledge you’ve gained, but you will also be poised to make some great money. Try going to a search engine like Google, and you will find thousands of articles on money, investments, and all types of insurance. Spend some time learning the ropes and your study could pay off big time.

In fact, many websites even hold contests to promote themselves and build a crop of writers. These sites are looking for interesting articles that teach, entertain, and inform on money,finances, investments, and insurance. The major prizes can be worth thousands to the writer, making a few hours of research and time spent writing well worth it. As sites build a list of writers, they will typically increase the number of writing contests they hold, making it easier and easier to get in on the action.

Source : Ivon T. Hughes

6 Konsep Berbisnis Lewat Twitter

Media jejaring online semakin berkembang dengan pengikut puluhan hingga ratusan juta orang pengguna internet. Setelah Friendster, kemudian muncul Facebook, Twitter dan kini mulai merebak Google Buzz.

Banyak manfaat yang diperoleh dari media jejaring sosial tersebut. Selain menemukan kembali teman lama, ajang bersosialisasi, belakangan fungsinya pun menyebar. Tak sedikit orang yang memanfaatkan jasa Facebook untuk berbisnis. Bahkan, bukan cuma Facebook, ajang bisnis juga merambah ke Twitter.

Bahkan, ini mungkin menjadi media efektif untuk berbisnis secara online. Tak sedikit yang menjadikan Twitter sebagai media perusahaan untuk berinteraksi dengan konsumen. Itu bisa berupa informasi produk, update perkembangan berita dan harga saham, hingga komunikasi dengan konsumennya.

Berikut adalah 6 konsep berbisnis lewat Twitter :

1. Riset Pasar
Riset pasar merupakan satu poin penting, khususnya untuk mengetahui bagaimana respons pelanggan tentang bisnis, baik berupa nama perusahaan, bidang, industri, brand, atau produk sebagai kata kunci di Twitter search yang terletak di halaman home akun Twitter-mu.

2. Feedback
Gunakan Twitter sebagai cara menerima umpan balik dari pelanggan. Misalnya meminta pendapat follower tentang suatu program bisnis. Contohnya, bagaimana pendapat follower tentang diskon tarif sebuah maskapai penerbangan.

3. Membangun Jaringan
Lewat Twitter, kita bisa membangun jaringan dengan mencari dan mengikuti orang-orang yang memiliki minat serupa. Misalnya, bisa menghimpun jaringan melalui profesi yang sama, sekolah yang sama hingga wilayah yang sama.

4. Nge-link Konten dari Blog atau Website
Twitter juga dimanfaatkan dengan cara nge-link konten dari blog atau website. Ini bisa juga dimanfaatkan untuk memasarkan blog dan website bisnis kita.

5. Berkomunikasi dengan Tim
Twitter bisa dimanfaatkan untuk berkomunikasi antar karyawan di suatu perusahaan. Group Update semacam ini biasanya di-set privat untuk masalah keamanan.

6. Notifikasi
Gunakan Twitter untuk notifikasi produk baru atau produk bestseller kepada konsumen dan mengabarkan event yang akan diselenggarakan perusahaan.

Semoga bermanfaat.

Cara Investasi Online Dengan Modal Sedikit Hasil Menggiurkan

Sudah capek dengan investasi online Anda yang tak kunjung membuahkan hasil?

Berapa banyak modal bisnis yang Anda keluarkan namun hasilnya jauh dari kata memuaskan?

Jika masih jauh dari apa yang Anda harapkan, kini saatnya Anda rubah bagaimana cara investasi yang aman modal ringan namun hasil gemilang.

Mungkin Anda selama ini berfikir untuk mendapatkan ikan kakap maka umpan yang dibutuhkan harus sesuai dengan makanannya. Tidak salah sih, dan memang benar adanya.

Namun jika modal besar yang Anda keluarkan hanya numpang lewat saja, alias tidak seperti yang Anda perkirakan, maka solusi terbaik adalah mengevaluasi ulang dan bila dirasa banyak merugikan, maka jalan terakhir adalah berhenti dari investasi tersebut.

Nah, kalau Anda berada dalam kondisi seperti ini, kenapa Anda tidak memilih cara investasi yang lain saja dengan modal ringan namun hasilnya jauh lebih menguntungkan serta aman pula.

Salah satu yang saya rekomendasikan di sini adalah dengan investasi membuat website atau blog. Ini adalah salah satu invesatsi online yang tidak begitu banyak membutuhkan modal bahkan bisa dikatakan ringan namun potensi yang akan dihasilkan bisa sangat besar.

Perlu diingat adalah setiap bisnis itu mempunyai resiko, termasuk juga bisnis online yang memang modalnya ringan. Namun yang saya tekankan di sini adalah bagaimana meminimalisir resiko bisnis itu pun demikian halnya dengan bisnis online.

Cara investasi online dengan membuat website atau blog ini merupakan cara investasi yang membutuhkan modal ringan namun resiko yang yang ada bisa sangat minim dan bagus untuk jangka panjang apabila web tersebut benar-benar dirawat.

Sekarang ini biaya untuk membuat web atau blog sekitar 100.000- 200.000/tahun. Sebenarnya tergantung dari jenis web itu sendiri, tapi memang kalau ukuran blog standart biaya seperti itu sudah sangat cukup untuk dijadikan modal investasi online dengan potensi yang sangat besar.

Jadi target Anda dalam 1 tahun untuk mengembalikan modal hanya sebesar biaya di atas, selebihnya adalah profit yang bisa Anda nikmati hasilnya. Coba sekarang bayangkan, masak dengan modal investasi 200.000 saja Anda tidak bisa setidak-tidaknya balik modal.

Semoga bermanfaat.