By Shannon Herod
How to Effectively Plan an Affiliate Site Copyright 2005 byShannon Herod
I was running out of patience and the hatred of it all wassetting in. Whirling around the net searching for that one pieceof gold that was going to set everything in motion and bring awindfall of cash was just a big waste of time. Thousands ofdollars wasted and countless hours wasted with not one singlereturn of investment.
That was the way that I started my business. As you can imagineI was getting nowhere fast. Setting up running and profitingfrom an Internet business takes more than just a web site, ane-mail account, and a computer. You need a plan of action, whatdirection are you going to go with your web site, what productswill you promote, what other sources of revenue will you have,and many other factors will determine your success.
Affiliate Game Plan
I can give you a quick glimpse or taste of a simple plan thatyou can put in effect. This plane is going to focus on affiliatemarketing in the arena of Internet marketing.
OK, here is a simple little plan but at least it's a plan.
The first thing you need to consider is the products orservices that you will be promoting. There is a ton of differentproducts and services available for you to promote. Finding theright one that pays is the most important part. When consideringwhat you will promote you need to look at a few different areas.
1. What percentage does that product pay 2. How well does thesales page convert 3. Does the sales page have cookies and howlong does the cookie last 4. What is the minimum payout and howoften do they pay 5. How long has the Company been in business6. What type of reputation and customer service does the companyhave
These are a few things that I consider when looking at a productto promote. Always try and test a product before you put yourname on a recommendation for that product. Just as this you aregoing to open a brick and mortar business your reputation isvery important.
Web Site and Hosting
Next you need to consider the type of site you will build andthe hosting company you will use. Your web site will be yourvirtual real estate and you need to assure that is in a goodlocation. You can find many hosting options by just going toGoogle and doing a search for hosting company. When choosing ahosting company here is a few things that I consider.
1. How much bandwidth do they offer 2. How much disk space dothey offer 3. How many mysql databases do they offer 4. Can Ihost multiple web sites from one account
As a beginner those four things should be the only things youreally need to worry about. As you become more experienced andbuilding web sites and programming there'll be a few otheroptions you will consider, but for now I think that should do.
The type of web site you build is going to be very important.Don't worry if you are a complete moron when it comes to HTMLthere are plenty of what you see is what you get (wysiwyg) website builders available just go to Google and search for website builders.
A simple direct response web site should be your goal. You donot need to worry about building a fancy web site with a ton ofgraphics and fancy navigation bars. That piece of informationalone should take your fear out of trying to build a site.Remember keep it simple stupid.
A direct response web site is just what it sounds like. Yourmain goal should be to capture your visitors’ name and e-mailaddress. You can do this by giving away a free report that youproduced or by getting a report that has giveaway rights.
Build a List
You are going to want to build an opt in e-mail list so you cankeep in constant contact with all of your leads. To do this youwill need an autoresponder to make your life a whole easier.
Your goal with your opt in e-mail list should be to build arelationship so you can offer products that you recommend. Onceyou have a list that trust you making money is very simple.
The Process of Profit Maximization
Now there is a process you are going to want to take yourvisitors through in order to maximize your profits, here it isin a short description.
From your opt in page you will want to lead your visitor to athank you page that should offer some sort of up sell. Yourthank you page should exit to the product sales page. Even willneed to follow up with your new lead on consistent basis andoffer information to help your new customer and occasionallyrecommend a product that you believe in.
That is a short version because I'm not trying to make this bookjust a quick little plan for you to follow.
That is a real quick plan of action that definitely need somemore consideration, but hopefully it will get your wheelsturning so you can expand on this idea to fit your business.There are many different things to consider like trafficgeneration and support but that is a whole new subject.
Do some research and try to expand on the ideas listed above.Your business should have goals and your goal should have plansof action. Put your mind to work, work up plan, and work yourplan and success will be right around the corner.
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