Starting Out - Advice Needed

Hi Sefuss,

Since you mentioned affiliate marketing as your chosen method for earning income from an online business, then let's take a look at the different affiliate products that you can promote to earn commissions per sale:

• Physical/Tangible Products - Promoting affiliate products in Amazon is mostly what others are doing, and there's a lot of them promoting a wide variety of affiliate products in a diverse set of niches through product review websites. Commissions are relatively low (relative to product price), competitiveness is quite high (considering the number of Amazon affiliates promoting a wide variety of physical products in a diverse set of niches), keyword competitiveness is quite high (a lot of affiliates have resources for paid PPC/PPM/PPV and private advertising campaigns), Google rankings for relevant search terms could most likely take time, almost nobody could be interested in reading 1000++ words of review content about a toaster or a gas grill or a microwave oven and thirty 1000++-word review posts or more about different makes and models of bread toasters, gas grills and microwave ovens, content syndication and guest posting results for mailing list building campaigns can quickly use up your resources (especially if you don't have time or the skills and expertise to write content) and can take some time...

• Digital Info Products (Ebooks, Video Tutorials/Guides, Online Courses) - Affiliate products in Clickbank are mostly what many affiliates are promoting on their niche sites. Commissions are relatively high, affiliate digital info products in Clickbank with recurring commissions are quite few, niche and keyword competitiveness is quite high (considering the number of affiliates promoting Clickbank digital info products, their resources for PPC/PPV/PPM and private advertising campaigns, their knowledge and expertise in Google SEO and SEM, social media marketing, mailing list building, etc.), top Google SE rankings for relevant search terms can take time, content syndication and guest posting campaigns can take time before substantial results can be achieved (especially if you don't have experience in writing content for syndication, content syndication and guest posting), and mailing list building campaigns can take time before you get substantial results (considering you need to build friendly, professional relationships with your subscribers before you can recommend affiliate products which can give them the benefits they want)...

• Software Products - Applications that serve as quick and easy solutions for technical problems and data privacy and security issues mostly encountered by many users of computers, digital devices and electronic appliances can be promoted by affiliates for commissions per sale, and they do this using their niche sites with content offering manual how to guides, step by step written and video how to use tutorials, descriptions including causes and effects of problems and issues, descriptions including list of features and real life benefits offered by such features of specific makes and models of computers, digital devices and electronic appliances, and comparison charts/tables with point by point comparisons of features, real life benefits and other details of the affiliate software applications they're promoting. Relatively, there is lower competitiveness in relevant niches, because there are less people who can write and develop (video content) useful content about technology-based topics than those who can write about non-technology subject areas. Many users of these computers, digital devices and electronic appliances go to the Internet to look for solutions for these problems and issues, and most of them use the specific makes and models of their computers, digital devices and electronic appliances, appended with their specific problems or issues and the specific version of their OS. This lowers down the competitiveness of these keywords. Most of these affiliate software products have high recurring monthly or annual commissions. Most of these prospect buyers search for quick and easy solutions (software) because they can't follow the step by step manual methods shared by others in Web forums, social networks and private sites/blogs for solving these problems and issues, and most prospect buyers think and feel these are "hair on fire" problems and issues that need quick and easy solutions as soon as possible. Many developers of these applications have their own extensive annual online and offline marketing campaigns for their newly launched products, thereby widening the exposure of these products to their target markets, and affiliates benefit from these campaigns...

I for one on the other hand recommend, based on my experience and the results of our many clients, for you to develop and sell your own digital info products or software applications or services or physical products (if you have resources for a production plant, supplies and logistic capabilities for shipping and delivery among others) and get affiliates to help you promote your products. This in my opinion is a more sustainable business model, especially if you treat your business as something with an overall financial portfolio of its own (its own income, asavings, assets, sub investments and network and credit resources) that's separate from your own personal overall financial portfolio...

I like you are new to IM and like lilblackdress says would learn how to do things yourself before you start to outsource.

Good Luck all the best

Great you're just starting out so I would NOT get into the whole SEO game.

It's a long term gameplan. You're not going to be making money for a while because SEO by its nature takes time PLUS you have a learning curve to go through.

If you really want to stick with the SEO plan then remember to go for building a real authority site offering a ton of value.

There is no point in building a site that doesn't offer any real value (i.e. a purely "review" site) and then trying to rank it in Google because:

1) That's just another job. You're going to constantly be trying to build backlinks, fend off competition from hundreds more review sites, etc.

2) At the end of the day, you're basically trying to "game" Google.

Google is looking for quality, original content. A small and simple site with just reviews is not exactly quality content.

So Google wouldn't go about its way to rank you. The only way you'll rank is by "tricking" Google with complicated backlinks strategies, etc.

But let's be honest, that's a losing battle.

Google can release another update and thousands more review sites will tank in rankings. They don't care. (Happened to me)

Instead of building sites and trying to get them ranking I'd build a squeeze page and start building a list in your respective market.

Good luck!

P.S. Feel free to PM me if you need help

Affiliate marketing is a great way to get started but as you
get started people are going to analyze and judge you. It's
just human nature.

So, as one of my mentors taught me, you want to exercise
control over the things that you easily can.

So my first advice to you is to start typing using a combination
of upper and lower case rather than all lower case. It may take
you a little long, but it's easier to read, and it makes you look
more professional.

You may at this point be inclined no to care about little things
like that, but people see that you are unprofessional or slopping
in one area of your business activity,and wonder how you are
in other areas.

I also recommend using your real name since people buy from
and do business with other people that they know.

Not really being critical so much as pointing out a few things
that will help you to get off to a better start.

Willie