The whole process of affiliate marketing/article syndication/building a list. Is this right?

12 years ago

Sounds perfect except for one thing. I would do the keyword research first. Here is why.

It takes less work to make money if you can find a niche that has enough search volume but low competition.

I have not yet found a profitable niche that I could not find several places to get products, services and/or information to sell to these people.

Other than that, you have it down. Good luck. :-)

And yes, you can build up an ongoing scalable income doing this in mulitple niches while staying in contact with your other lists.

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TopKat22

12 years ago

oh, one more thing I just thought of. I always set up a squeeze page first and send people to that and set up the blog later.

Squeeze pages work better to build a list than a blog. Then I use the blog as a secondary way to get people to the squeeze page.

So the main page is domainname.com and the blog is domainname.com/"keyword"blog

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fin

12 years ago

Thanks Topkat.

I don't know about finding low competition niches as I was going to try jumping into hot markets.

I thought using article syndication would bypass the 'big dogs' at the top of google, although I thought I could rank for low comp 100 search keywords etc.

I can't make up my mind whether it's better to go for hot niches like depression, break ups etc, or go for smaller ones like growing your own veg etc which will obviously have less people interested.

Thanks

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Jayson Masters

12 years ago

Originally Posted by fin

I figured I could start a few Clickbank sites and add a few articles per week, just incase my main site i'm doing doesn't take off.

Ok, I've read every thread on article syndication, list building and choosing the right product etc. In fact, I kinda know what to do but i'm not 100% sure, so if anyone could tell me this is right i'd be very grateful.

Step 1 - Choose product on clickbank. (example = anorexia-bulimia ebook, commission $19)

Step 2 - Buy a domain name. (example = beatanorexia.com)

Step 3 - Set up wordpress blog. Add plugins, header, just make nice etc.

Step 4 - Do keyword research and find 10 decent keywords easy to rank.

Step 5 - Write 10 articles, like:

It's not your fault, understand the disease.
Take it one step at a time.
Speak to your family for comfort. etc etc

Step 6 - Write a article reviewing the ebook.

Step 7 - Submit articles to article directories; eza, articlebase etc

Step 8 - Add opt-in with free ebook to build list. Set up a sequence of 10 messages set out over X amount of days. Try to sell in something like email 4/5, with an upsell on 9/10. Great advice in the rest.

Step 9 - Find out who has syndicated your article - ask them if they want more. (keep repeating this process for articles you submit)

Step 10 - Do some SEO to rank some easy keywords. Do social bookmarking, social media, web 2.0 etc etc

Step 11 - Keep writing articles X time per week and repeating the process.

Step 12 - Add more auto responder messages with more great advice + upsells.

Does that all sound OK or I'm I missing something? If you could add some missing steps it would be great.

If you hit a good one and happening to make some sales, can this process build up a regular income if you keep adding articles, getting them syndicated and maybe doing a little SEO/Social stuff?

Cheers
fin

It looks just about right

As you start making money, you might want to expand your reach as article marketing can only bring you so many unique hits

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Lilach

12 years ago

Your list look fine. I agree though, you need to do your keyword research first to find the right niche.

Best of luck

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Alexa Smith

Banned 12 years ago

Some little observations, in case they help ...

If you're building a business based on article syndication, keyword research should be more or less an afterthought.

The attraction of this business model is that it doesn't depend on Google for its traffic.

In my opinion, you're right to mention keyword research only briefly, and late on your list.

Remember that you're writing your articles not for Google but for publishers to say to themselves "Oh, wow, yes - I definitely want to share this one with my readers". Never lose sight of that, otherwise the whole thing falls apart.

Put your main keyword at the start of the titles, by all means, to make it easy for people to find them when they search in EZA.

Your aim with this model of article is to attract publishers searching for content inside EZA, not so much people looking on Google.

Don't confuse it with "article directory marketing" (as I suspect one or two people commenting above may have done, if they'll forgive my saying so).

Writing for search engines is a totally different business from writing for syndication. Many of the considerations involved in the two different sorts of articles are directly conflicting.

Originally Posted by fin

Step 1 - Choose product on clickbank.

Take great care with this step, because if you get it wrong, then however well you do everything else on the list, it won't help much. If it helps, my little 10-point checklist for identifying products to promote as an affiliate is in this post.

Originally Posted by fin

Step 5 - Write 10 articles

Ensuring, of course, that you write specifically for syndication.

Originally Posted by fin

Step 7 - Submit articles to article directories; eza, articlebase etc

... but only after publishing the articles on your own site first and having them indexed there.

Originally Posted by fin

Step 9 - Find out who has syndicated your article

This is passive syndication only. The main part of article syndication is active syndication, don't forget (I know you know this, really - I'm just including it for others reading). It's a mistake to depend solely on passive syndication. Yes, you can build your business from it to some extent (and I got started that way, myself), but compared with other forms of syndication it's slow-moving, variable and not as reliable or consistent as one would like. In other words, it's a little bit of the jam, sometimes, but don't let it be the bread and butter, too, otherwise you may go hungry for a while.

Originally Posted by fin

If you could add some missing steps it would be great.

I send more emails than you're proposing to. Once I have them on a list, I've done all the difficult parts and want to make the most of it. I send them email on days 1, 3, 6, 10 and 15 and thereafter at 5-day intervals for ever. It doesn't really cost anything, and to a large extent you can re-use material that you're using anyway for additional articles, so it isn't even as time-consuming as it sounds.

It's a very good and reliable system, overall.

It has a lot of "steps", of course, but if/when you get them all right, you can make a very good living from it. Good luck!

Edited to add: PS - you didn't specifically mention resource boxes, but don't forget to be low-key and discreet. Nobody wants someone else's sales article on their site. The standard "resource-box advice" everyone gives and receives for the "writing for clicks" model of article marketing (i.e. to encourage as high a CTR as possible) is exactly what you need to avoid, in order to get widely syndicated: you're not trying to rank your website for the words "click here" as some EZA authors seem to imagine (or indeed primarily trying to rank it for anything!).

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stong

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Alexa Smith

Edited to add: PS - you didn't specifically mention resource boxes, but don't forget to be low-key and discreet. Nobody wants someone else's sales article on their site. The standard "resource-box advice" everyone gives and receives for the "writing for clicks" model of article marketing (i.e. to encourage as high a CTR as possible) is exactly what you need to avoid, in order to get widely syndicated: you're not trying to rank your website for the words "click here" as some EZA authors seem to imagine (or indeed primarily trying to rank it for anything!).

Actually Alexa, I'd like to know more about what you mean by having a 'low-key and discreet' resource box. I'm sure that actively promoting affiliate links to a product isn't the way to go, but do you mean that we shouldn't be too aggressive in pointing them towards our landing pages?

I guess what I really want to know is how that resource box should be done so that I get syndicated *and* clicks at the same time.

Forgive me if I'm too dense to grasp the concept...

Thanks
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Alexa Smith

Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by stong

Actually Alexa, I'd like to know more about what you mean by having a 'low-key and discreet' resource box. I'm sure that actively promoting affiliate links to a product isn't the way to go, but do you mean that we shouldn't be too aggressive in pointing them towards our landing pages?

Yes, kind of ...

I've made a few comments about "resource-boxes" which I think/hope will, between them, answer (and give an example or two) ... I've linked directly to the specific posts, below.

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post4310603

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post3188316

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post4626616

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post3894015

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jbsmith 12 years ago

Any way you slice it, keyword research is important - do it early whether SEO, advertising or syndication. The reason is that certain keywords that draw people to your content pre-dispose them to buying what you have to offer versus other keywords that they may enjoy reading about but do not directly bring in people related to your product.

For example, if you have an ebook about Bluegrass music, you write an article about music in general that gets tons of synidication and reviews may bring you next to no traffic and make you no sales because of how tight your niche is.

One of the most important things that we must learn as part of IM is how to match a product's positioning/USP with keywords that attract those people who have a high desire for your product and not just to read the article.

Ideally you have both - a killer article that also has a killer relationship to your product, but to know what keywords result in sales, that takes keyword research, otherwise you could be writing a TON of content before you see any results and even then, you may not know exactly what in the content that works is actually hitting your market between the eyes to get you the sales.

Jeff
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fin

12 years ago

Thanks Alexa.

Do you mind sharing what day you send out the first affiliate offer on the auto responder?

I love this buisness model so I hope it works. It was actually from all your posts + a few others that got me interested in the model.

Thanks
2 replies

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Alexa Smith

Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by fin

Thanks Alexa.

Do you mind sharing what day you send out the first affiliate offer on the auto responder?

Usually, I put my first one in the third email, which is about the 5th/6th day. I sometimes wonder if I should do it a little earlier. (I certainly wouldn't do it later).

But bear these points in mind, too ...

(i) It depends on the niche ("threatened house foreclosure emergency" is pretty different from "cauliflower soup recipes" for all the obvious reasons and then some);

(ii) I've already sent them a "free report" (or whatever it's called) for opting in, and that had a product promotion (or at least a product "mention") in it (just one very small one, near the end. I don't want it to look like that was the purpose of the thing, but I do want to get a product-promotion into it as an afterthought, as well as plenty of links to specific non-salesy pages of my site as more than an afterthought, because people do circulate those "free reports" and I get something back from it, that way);

(iii) They've already seen my website when they opt in, and if they've looked at anything more than "above the fold" of the landing-page, they already know that I'm an affiliate and I'm promoting stuff, and I never conceal that.

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Kecia

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Alexa Smith

as well as plenty of links to specific non-salesy pages of my site as more than an afterthought, because people do circulate those "free reports" and I get something back from it, that way

So do you wait to start building your list until you have already established your blog/site a bit?

Also, Alexa, something I've been meaning to ask you: Do you ever use squeeze pages, or do you always just use an opt-in form in the sidebar of your site?

Thanks
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Alexa Smith

Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Kecia

So do you wait to start building your list until you have already established your blog/site a bit?

A bit, yes; but my "bit" is very little, really: a product review, some general information about the niche in the form of 3 or 4 articles, and that's enough for me to start. (My articles are meaty, controversial and typically 1,000 - 1,200 words). If I'm not too busy with other things, I can easily get it all done in a couple of days. And then I'll get those first few articles syndicated, which is when the traffic will start arriving (I hope!).

(And some sort of suitable "free report" - whatever one calls it - to give away in exchange for the opt-in, of course, and the first 1 or 2 autoresponder emails written).

I start off with almost no thought or attention to SEO. And no backlinking at all. The people who syndicate my articles will produce relevant backlinks for me. I do choose a keyword-optimised domain-name, though - that doesn't hurt. (Optimised for the niche, of course, not for any specific product which - for all I know - I may no longer be selling a few months later).

Originally Posted by Kecia

Also, Alexa, something I've been meaning to ask you: Do you ever use squeeze pages, or do you always just use an opt-in form in the sidebar of your site?

I've split-tested them (in only 4 of my 8 main niches): findings and conclusion here, and here.

Originally Posted by fin

I have one other question, if you, Alexa or any others wouldn't mind answering, in regards to domain names and article syndication.

Does it matter if it's a .com when using this method?

Given a choice, it's a shame not to buy the .com extension for your domain-name (even if only to make sure nobody else does).

Personally, I use a lot of .info domain-names because my subscribers and customers prefer them. (They're all the same, for SEO). Marketers like .com's, generally. Some customers think that ".info" looks better, for an "informational" type of site (which is what I like to present), whereas ".com" can come across as "just somebody selling something".

This is what they tell me, when I ask, anyway.

So I do buy the .com but I typically just redirect it to the .info I'm using.

Originally Posted by fin

Also, should I try to choose a name with the keywords or some cool name that I can put in my auther box?

I always like a domain-name that starts with a major keyword. It can't hurt. (The people who say that in future this will probably gradually become less important and relatively devalued by Google's algorithms may be right, I suspect, but this is controversial and uncertain.)

Without wanting a long-winded SEO discussion about it, I'm firmly convinced for many reasons that "anorexiahelpxyz" is a far better domain-name than "myanorexiahelp" or whatever. If in doubt at all, err on the side of starting the url with the major keyword.

I can't see anything wrong, in purely SEO terms, with anorexiacureforyou.com, though I don't, myself, like the word "cure" in domain-names for healthcare niches, and for anorexia, in particular, "cure" really wouldn't be the way I'd want to go, for a niche site. The last thing many anorexia patients want to do is "start feasting", surely? I admit that for that niche, I might perhaps be tempted by domain-names like "thegildedcage.com" or "thegoldencage.com", planning to start writing articles about anorexia nervosa being a metaphorical "golden cage", but that probably comes across as (a) somewhat fanciful and (b) probably unhelpful for SEO anyway. Perhaps just as well this isn't my sort of niche, really.

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JohnMcCabe

12 years ago

Originally Posted by fin

Do you mind sharing what day you send out the first affiliate offer on the auto responder?

fin, I'm a believer in 'training' subscribers to get out of their email inboxes and back on whatever site I recommend. So every email, starting with #1, has something to click on - blog post, article, video, download, affiliate product

, freebie, etc.

For the most part, it's pretty low key. Sometimes just a Columbo-esque "oh, by the way" in a PS. But it's there.

I think some people make a mistake and train people to expect all the goodies right in the email. Then, when they do make an offer, their subscribers get a disconnect and don't know what to do, or they react negatively.

Add a few of the tweaks suggested above, and you have a pretty solid plan...

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AC683

12 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

fin, I'm a believer in 'training' subscribers to get out of their email inboxes and back on whatever site I recommend. So every email, starting with #1, has something to click on - blog post, article, video, download, affiliate product

, freebie, etc.

For the most part, it's pretty low key. Sometimes just a Columbo-esque "oh, by the way" in a PS. But it's there.

I think some people make a mistake and train people to expect all the goodies right in the email. Then, when they do make an offer, their subscribers get a disconnect and don't know what to do, or they react negatively.

Add a few of the tweaks suggested above, and you have a pretty solid plan...

I agree. You also want to train them to expect recommendations from you. They should realize early on that your emails are going to help them accomplish whatever it is that they are striving to achieve. One way of helping them is pointing them to products that they could use to get what they want faster and easier.

It is good to do that as soon as you can. They are at the height of excitement when they first get on your list. So help them by making them aware of products and services that they may not already be aware of.

But mix it in though. Use a mix of 80% information-20% marketing products.

I used to bombard them with information emails for 2 weeks and then make offers to them, but it rarely ever worked. I got alot of unsubscribes. Things changed for me when I started sending emails with offers in them earlier in the sequence.

Information helps them, but so do tools, services and products. If it something that is going to assist with solving their problem then you are doing them a favor by recommending it. Plus you get paid.

"You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want." ~ Zig Ziglar

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fin

12 years ago

Thanks John.

There's been some great answers in this thread, yours included, and I'm pretty confident going forward now.

I have one other question, if you, Alexa or any others wouldn't mind answering, in regards to domain names and article syndication.

Does it matter if it's a .com when using this method? Also, should I try to choose a name with the keywords or some cool name that I can put in my auther box?

As an example, something like: anorexiacureforyou.com or startfeasting.com

Just random examples, but one more serious and one more fun.

Cheers
fin

Thanks
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JohnMcCabe

12 years ago

Originally Posted by fin

Does it matter if it's a .com when using this method? Also, should I try to choose a name with the keywords or some cool name that I can put in my auther box?

As an example, something like: anorexiacureforyou.com or startfeasting.com

Just random examples, but one more serious and one more fun.

Cheers
fin

I tend to use .coms, but I freely admit that it's more of a prejudice acquired back in the days when .com meant commercial, .net meant network and .org was only for non-profits. Nowadays, I don't think it matters much.

If the only thing your site is going to be about is one narrow niche, a keyword domain can help with branding. Depending on the niche, I'd be very careful about trying to be fun and clever.

Too many people can be hypersensitive about people seeming to mock them, and that's definitely not the reaction you want when you want someone to publish your content, click your links, join your list or buy your product. This is particularly true of niches like anorexia, where those with the condition can carry a social stigma.

Other niches can benefit from a bit of whimsy, as the author of the golf book "A Good Walk Spoiled" can tell you...

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zamzung

12 years ago

In general, that's it... but there is much more to that list... I can see you prefer articles, that's good but what about videos, audios, social networking, as well as some other ways of generating traffic, visitors and sales?

I want to say, people are often sticking to something while forgetting about many other things they could do to increase their traffic and sales... for me, the most important advice is: think outside the box as much as possible... and try to use as many resources as possible...

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Kal Sallam

12 years ago

Originally Posted by fin

I figured I could start a few Clickbank sites and add a few articles per week, just incase my main site i'm doing doesn't take off.

Ok, I've read every thread on article syndication, list building and choosing the right product etc. In fact, I kinda know what to do but i'm not 100% sure, so if anyone could tell me this is right i'd be very grateful.

Step 1 - Choose product on clickbank. (example = anorexia-bulimia ebook, commission $19)

Step 2 - Buy a domain name. (example = beatanorexia.com)

Step 3 - Set up wordpress blog. Add plugins, header, just make nice etc.

Step 4 - Do keyword research and find 10 decent keywords easy to rank.

Step 5 - Write 10 articles, like:

It's not your fault, understand the disease.
Take it one step at a time.
Speak to your family for comfort. etc etc

Step 6 - Write a article reviewing the ebook.

Step 7 - Submit articles to article directories; eza, articlebase etc

Step 8 - Add opt-in with free ebook to build list. Set up a sequence of 10 messages set out over X amount of days. Try to sell in something like email 4/5, with an upsell on 9/10. Great advice in the rest.

Step 9 - Find out who has syndicated your article - ask them if they want more. (keep repeating this process for articles you submit)

Step 10 - Do some SEO to rank some easy keywords. Do social bookmarking, social media, web 2.0 etc etc

Step 11 - Keep writing articles X time per week and repeating the process.

Step 12 - Add more auto responder messages with more great advice + upsells.

Does that all sound OK or I'm I missing something? If you could add some missing steps it would be great.

If you hit a good one and happening to make some sales, can this process build up a regular income if you keep adding articles, getting them syndicated and maybe doing a little SEO/Social stuff?

Cheers
fin

How About This Major SHORTCUT!

Step 1:

Niche Research anything within------>>( Health-Wealth-or Self-Help)

Step 2:

Create A Killer Squeeze Page Promoting a Killer FREE Offer.--->(Aff.links included and a possible OTO for instant profits!)

Step 3:

Set a bunch of Good auto-responder massages---(includes promos & pitches)

Step 4 : You are already making money!

BUY Laser Targeted Traffic for Instant Income...and Bam! Build Your List.

For Cheap/effective targeted traffic: Banner Buys, Forum ads..Solo-Ads

Step 5:

ummm mission complete you have successfully created your money making machine.

Thanks

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Kal Sallam

12 years ago

How About This Major SHORTCUT!

Step 1:

Niche Research anything within------>>( Health-Wealth-or Self-Help)

Step 2:

Create A Killer Squeeze Page Promoting a Killer FREE Offer.--->(Aff.links included and a possible OTO for instant profits!)

Step 3:

Set a bunch of Good auto-responder massages---(includes promos & pitches)

Step 4 : You are already making money!

BUY Laser Targeted Traffic for Instant Income...and Bam! Build Your List.

For Cheap/effective targeted traffic: Banner Buys, Forum ads..Solo-Ads

Step 5:

ummm mission complete you have successfully created your money making machine.

Thanks

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celente

12 years ago

I would say its all about leverage.

All the big marketer friends I have make 6 figure incomes from not one article.

The use massive list building and leverage off other people bigger responsive lists

Now dont get me wrong, articles work, and I use them....but our big results come from leveraging off other big marketers lists, and their heavy traffic vehicles.

To get more sales and more people into your sales funnel, you just have to work smarter, not harder, and pump out 400 articles a day. Articles do work, but like I said the millionair marketers are not really doing this. They network and leverage off other peoples work. John Reese did this for his Million Dollar day, and if you go and look at the case study you too can see how having your own million dollar lauch can happpen. Hard work! Ummmm yes. But well worth it......well....ummmmm who doesnt want $1 million dollars.

Thanks
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Ian Jackson

12 years ago

Originally Posted by TopKat22

oh, one more thing I just thought of. I always set up a squeeze page first and send people to that and set up the blog later.

Squeeze pages work better to build a list than a blog. Then I use the blog as a secondary way to get people to the squeeze page.

So the main page is domainname.com and the blog is domainname.com/"keyword"blog

I send EZA & syndicated visitors/traffic to my squeeze first, but I do use the same opt-in script on my blog too, just to cover both bases. As article-genius Alexa says, I always post articles to my domain (blog) first.

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

I tend to use .coms, but I freely admit that it's more of a prejudice acquired back in the days when .com meant commercial, .net meant network and .org was only for non-profits. Nowadays, I don't think it matters much.

If the only thing your site is going to be about is one narrow niche, a keyword domain can help with branding. Depending on the niche, I'd be very careful about trying to be fun and clever.

Too many people can be hypersensitive about people seeming to mock them, and that's definitely not the reaction you want when you want someone to publish your content, click your links, join your list or buy your product. This is particularly true of niches like anorexia, where those with the condition can carry a social stigma.

Other niches can benefit from a bit of whimsy, as the author of the golf book "A Good Walk Spoiled" can tell you...

If you intend to ever sell your site, then .com is the way to go if poss, but if not then try for .net .org or maybe .info

hth

Thanks

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The whole process of affiliate marketing/article syndication/building a list. Is this right?

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