If you’re confused about why you would do this, think about the content that gets the most comments and traffic on the web. It is usually items that are very interesting and are slightly controversial. These types of topics tend to bring out all kinds of opinions and get people emotional and actively fired up.

If you are able to post this kind of “link bait” content on your blog or website, you will most likely find that your traffic starts to skyrocket! People may publish what you’ve said on niche forums, on their own blogs, and on social networking sites. They post links to your content because they are very interested in it. Perhaps they completely disagree with you, or perhaps they think you are making good points. No matter what, this controversial content will definitely get you some attention — and possibly many more sales!

Think about the standard content you might post to your website. You may get some comments here and there, but the controversial topics get the most comments of all. Now, you will need to have pretty thick skin because along with controversy often comes anger and disagreement. People may think that you’re completely nuts and will have no issues telling you that!

At the same time, these people will be interested in the other things you have to say and recommend. The chances are good that if you have a good link bait piece that you will gain several new followers. They will be interested in what you have to say in the future and will come back time and time again. As your traffic increases, you will probably make more affiliate sales as well!

You will probably find that people start to link to you all around the web. The chances are good that your rankings in the search engine will rise as well. This creates a cycle of even more traffic to your blog, which can help you build your list to make more affiliate sales.

How controversial you should be depends on your personality and the niche you are in. Examine the niche blogs written by others and see what has gotten the most comments on their blog. This can give you some good ideas so you can take advantage of this method on your own.

There’s definitely something to be said for being controversial — especially on the web where news travels fast!

If you’re trying to research and get to know the people in your niche, you will want to join the most popular forums. Be sure to browse the top threads in the forum, as well as the recent ones that are getting a lot of responses. Immerse yourself into this niche several times per week so you are able to become a better affiliate marketer in this niche.

As you start to gain your confidence, you may want to start posting and answering questions as well. Since you’ve been doing so much research and work in this niche, the chances are good that you can answer at least the most basic of questions. This serves a good purpose because you’ll be able to start establishing yourself as an expert in the niche. The more people get to know you, the more comfortable they will be seeing what else you have to offer.

That is when you want to start offering something in your signature file. Be very careful to pay close attention to the rules of the forum you are participating in. Some of them allow you to use blatant affiliate links, others only allow you to link to personal websites, still others restrict commercial advertisement of any sort. Pay attention to how the other members act and what they do and position yourself accordingly.

Also, be sure to insert your site’s information in your profile link for that website. As people start to see you posting more with high-quality posts, they will want to learn more about you. When they visit your profile, information should be ready and waiting for them to hop on over to your website to join your list or read what you have to offer.

Note that there is usually more than one popular forum per niche. You don’t need to spend a lot of time on these forums, but you do want to expand your reach as much as possible. By joining all the most popular forms you will really be covering all of your bases.

Your list will grow larger, you can do some awesome research, you can establish yourself as an expert, you can drive traffic to your website, get backlinks to your website, and make more affiliate sales all around! The forums are definitely a great option for you as an affiliate marketer.

The way you do this will depend on your plans for your autoresponder. If you’re using the method where you have one content-based e-mail, one slightly promotional e-mail, then one fully promotional e-mail, the way you write each e-mail will differ.

In the first type of e-mail you may not put any links at all. With the second type, you’ll likely have a lot of content with a brief mention of a product that can help towards the end. That doesn’t mean that you won’t expect to get any sales from this type of e-mail!

You still need to pay attention to how you insert the link and what you say to get people to click through. It can really help you structure the e-mail in a way that captures their attention, stirs up some emotion, and leaves them to realize that you have found a solution to their problem. Then, you can insert the link where they can find out more information. Have a strong call to action to get a very high click-through rate. When you structure your e-mail in this way, it is very natural for people to click to see what else you have to offer.

If you have a strongly promotional e-mail, things will be set up slightly differently. You still want to stir up that emotion and guide them to the fact that you have a solution. The hope is that you have warmed them up by this point with your other content from the previous parts of the autoresponder. You might want to insert your link more than one time if it makes sense to do so in the copy. As further enticement, you may want to specify that you have given a full review or special bonus following the link you want them to click.

No matter what you do, it’s key to capture people’s attention. As was mentioned in another lesson, you need to examine what other marketers do successfully and model your techniques after them. Everything from the subject line of your e-mail to the closing sentence needs to be carefully prepared to maximize click through rates. Remember — if people don’t open your e-mail in the first place, the rest of what you write doesn’t matter.

The great thing is that after you’ve written your follow up sequence and start to get more and more people on your list, the sales will start to come in in a hands-off way for you!

One of the biggest reasons why you’ll want to do that is because it will improve your bottom line. Not only that, but you’ll be giving a lot of value to your subscribers. It really is a good feeling to have done so, and it will help to establish your expertise in the marketplace.

First impressions are always very important. They should feel like they are getting a lot of value from the time they enter their name and e-mail address into your opt-tin box. That is part of the reason why giving away a valuable free report is such an effective technique

There are differences of opinion when it comes to how many marketing messages you should send out versus how many sales type e-mails. You will definitely want to test and track what works best for you, but many people find that that a ratio of content, content with light promotion, and promotion works well.

When you do it this way, you are gradually steering them in the direction you want them to go in — making a purchase! The people are your list won’t feel like you are just trying to make a buck with them. It’s a great ratio if you want to build a relationship, offer a lot of value, and make some great sales at the same time.

You can also repurpose content you have written for other avenues. The people on your list will appreciate seeing this content if they have not had a chance to before. This can cut down on the amount of work you have to do, but it will be much appreciated.

Remember to have your own style and personality as a list owner. You want them to not only love your content, but to love you. When they think of getting information and product recommendations in your niche, you want to be the first person that comes to mind for them. If you go about building a relationship in the right way, this will not be an issue for you at all.

The chances are very good that you are on a few autoresponder lists yourself. Do yourself a favor, and start to monitor the messages you receive yourself as they come in. Which ones do you find yourself opening, and why? Which ones do you delete right away and why? If you’ve made a purchase based on an e-mail you’ve received, why did you end up making that purchase?

Asking yourself these questions is one of the best ways to ramp up your list marketing efforts and to gain your footing as you start to develop a great relationship with your list.

The first thing you need to make sure of is that you give people many opportunities to subscribe to your list. This goes beyond just having a squeeze page — you need to have an opt in box on your blog or website. You might even want to test having more than one opt-in box per page, such as having one pop up as a person starts to leave your site.

Remember, you always want to give people good reason to join. They are not going to join out of the goodness of their hearts! The most basic thing you can do is give away a free report or another type of free gift in exchange for their name and e-mail address.

Another thing you can do is enter your free product into a giveaway site. These are win-win situations for everyone. They are basically collections of freebies in a certain niche (most commonly in the internet marketing niche). You put your product up for download in exchange for an opt-in, and you can get a lot of exposure as many people promote the giveaway. Look for one of these in your niche, and you’re sure to find that you get an incredible response.

If you’ve set up a blog, you can also get people to sign up for your RSS feed. That way, they will receive notification every time you post something on your blog. You can make use of this for sure! Whether they are on your main autoresponder list or not, your RSS feed can keep you on the top of their mind. You can make some great affiliate sales as people visit your interesting and highly targeted posts.

You can also have people refer friends that might be interested in your newsletter. This works best if your newsletter is highly informative and has a lot of value. People will WANT to pass your content along then! It’s a great way to expand your reach and get more people to join your list.

Make it clear that your content can be passed along. Don’t be afraid to ask people for a referral if they think their friends would enjoy getting your information. Make it as easy as possible for people to pass along your content, and you’ve got it made as far as list building.

Selling low end products is another good way to get people on your list. As you start to establish a buying relationship with people in your niche, the chances are good that they will like to hear from you again with product updates, new recommendations, and other information. This will fill your list with buyers rather than freebie seekers.

Be creative! There are many different ways to grow the size of your list. Remember, it is important to have a balance between great content and marketing messages that will dramatically increase the money you earn.

Hopefully, you have been spending time building your niche list. You can use this list as an enticement for product owners to JV with you. You have something they want — a fresh, targeted audience that can lead to many more sales.

You might be wondering what the difference between a joint venture and regular affiliate marketing is. Sometimes there is a fine line, but JV’s are usually arrangements made specifically between you and the product owner. You will generally get first access to promoting the product as well as increased commissions. It can be a very lucrative deal!

There are many different avenues where you might find the opportunity to JV. The best way to do this is to make contacts in your niche. Make it known that you have a list in this niche and that you are a “heavy hitter.” That way, people will think to come to you when they want to promote a new product. There are also certain forums set up with the sole purpose of connecting joint venture partners together. These are particularly prevalent in the internet marketing niche.

You might even find that as your expertise and reach in a niche is established, that people regularly seek you out to promote their products as a special JV partner. Be sure to be very organized about what you do and do not promote. Remember that you want the people in your niche to trust and buy from you, so you need to evaluate each product you will be recommending.

Keep in mind that the JV is all about the relationship! You want your relationship with other product owners and affiliate marketers to be good — especially if they have a far reach in your niche. That’s because you may want to have them promote your own product in the future. If you have already promoted one of theirs successfully, the chances of even the busiest marketers promoting your product will be greatly increased.

The world of Joint Venture partnerships can be very exciting. Whereas your own affiliate marketing efforts through the standard network might be quite powerful, imagine what will happen when you are able to strike up special partnerships with the most respected people in your niche!

There are a variety of different ways you can survey your audience. Most logically, you can set up an actual survey! SurveyMonkey.com is very commonly used. You set up your own survey to ask your audience questions about what they are going through, and what would help them. Ask them what they are passionate about and why.

You want to get as deeply into their minds as possible — you want to find out where their pain is so you can market to emotions and offer them the solutions they are desperate for. This works best if you already have a steady stream of traffic coming into your website. Alternatively, you can set up a Pay Per Click campaign that entices people to take your survey after they click through to your site.

Of course, you have to consider that people are very busy these days. You can thank people for their time in a variety of ways. For example, giving them a free gift upon completion.

After you have a large enough pool of people you have surveyed, you can examine the date and make changes to your marketing from there. This works well for creating a product because you’ll be able to match the product with everything your survey revealed and more!

You can also do less formal surveys through market research. For instance, you can browse through niche forums where people in your niche regularly hang out. Take notes on what drives them. Examine what language they use to talk to one another and as they talk about their hobby, passion, or problem. Go deeply into their minds by examining topics that frequently come up (you can usually sort forums by threads that are most read or most replied to).

While this is not a “survey” per se, it’s still a good option for getting to the heart of the people in your niche if you don’t have the desire or time to set up a formal survey right now. Researching on forums is an awesome way to improve your affiliate sales or sales of your own product because it can give you a wealth of ideas and insight into the people of your niche in a way that you would not be able to get otherwise.

It’s very important that you start to survey your audience as soon as possible, because it can give you some insights you would never have gotten otherwise.

The reasons for this are simple. When you are the product owner or creator, you have all of the control. You set the price, quality, and all other aspects of the product. Most importantly, YOU are now the one who can have affiliates.

Instead of only getting a percentage of the money based on your individual marketing efforts, you now to get to sit back and relax as affiliates work for you. The difference here is that you do the work to initially create the product (or get it created for you through a ghostwriter). Then, you set up digital delivery and your affiliate program, and sit back as others earn money for you!

There are other reasons you might want to create your own product as well. In a previous lesson, the importance of becoming an expert in your niche was stressed. When your name is on a product (usually speaking about a digital, downloadable product), then you will definitely be seen as an authority. Self-publishing on the web is very easy to do, and it’s impressive to many people!

The first thing you’re going to have to do is examine your market. If you’ve been an affiliate in a certain niche for a while, the chances are good that you already have a lot of data to pull from. You know exactly what the people in this niche need and want! All you need to do is create a product that stands out from the rest — something the people in your niche will clamor to get their hands on.

You can either create the product yourself (remember the information about repurposing your content? This works well for a base for your own product!) or hire someone to create it for you. What you choose to do will come down to whether you enjoy writing or creating or you would rather pay the money to have someone else do it. You also have to think about the time you have to dedicate to creating the product.

In addition to writing a product (such as an ebook), you can create products in other formats instead. An example might be a video product, an e-course, or an audio product. You can even create a mixture of these to make something of incredibly high value.

Do not be scared or intimidated to create your own product! It is a logical next step for someone who has found a certain affiliate promotion or niche to be successful. As a product owner, you are truly in control of your own business, which is a wonderful place to be.

For one thing, you want to make as much money as possible. This will help to ensure your stability and make it so that you never have to work for anyone else again. If you are unorganized, you’re sadly destined for failure, in most cases.

That’s because you won’t be keeping proper track of your promotions, conversions, etc. You might even become overwhelmed with your business because you can’t figure out what you’ve already done and what you still have yet to do. It’s like that old saying goes; “failing to plan is planning to fail.”

Getting and staying organized is a huge part of becoming a more successful Internet marketer. The first step in doing this is to create file of each of your campaigns on your computer. Save every piece of information you can in these individual file folders. That includes all of the information for your hosting, domain names, affiliate networks and campaigns, as well as your promotional efforts. Keep note of where your backlinking efforts are coming from and save copies of every article you write — all in the individual promotion folders.

It’s also very important that you regularly back up your websites and other information. Having a backup outside of your computer is essential. They have web based versions these days that can make your life a lot easier.

By organizing this information, you are insuring your business, in a way. If anything happens (say, your hosting company goes kaput or an article directory suddenly loses all of your articles), you’re not out much because you can get up and running again nearly right away.

You are also going to be able to make more money if you stay organized! That’s because you can investigate your numbers more easily and know which pages, sites, or campaigns you need to promote more heavily in order to make sales. You’ll know where these sales are coming from so you can make even more of them!

Different types of organizational methods work for different people. You’ll be good to go as long as you have some kind of system in place. Develop a business plan and way of keeping track of all the data and files associated with your affiliate marketing, and you’ll find that you can become a lot more successful.

You’ll find these telling numbers in a variety of places. Your basic web stats can be found in your cPanel and in the backend of the affiliate network you are promoting. Find Awstats in your cPanel. This will tell you what search terms you are being found for in the search engines. You’ll also be able to see how many visitors you are getting per day and per month. It will also tell you how often the search engines are visiting your site — a telling sign that can affect rankings.

If you want more detailed stats, you’ll do well to join a service like Google Analytics. This is completely free, and will give you access to many numbers that tell you how well your site is doing in the search engines. It will also clue you in to various aspects of your visitors’ behavior. All of this data can help you build up your website and focus on what is working for you.

In addition to knowing information about your visitors, you’ll want to pay careful attention to your conversion data as well. This number tells you how many people take the desired action (usually, making a purchase) versus how many people land on your website. You can find some generally detailed information in the backend of your affiliate network, in most cases. The biggest affiliate networks like Clickbank, Amazon, eBay, and others give you many numbers to work with in regards to improving your campaigns.

As was mentioned earlier, you can add tracking tags to your affiliate links to drill down into what pages and types of promotions are making the most sales. Use this information to ramp up your efforts in certain areas, and lessen your efforts in others areas.

The reason for doing all of this is simple — if you don’t pay attention to the numbers, then you’ll never know how well you are really doing! It’s not enough to just slap some affiliate links up on a website, you need to track them to know how well your efforts are going. You need to know your traffic numbers as well. All of this information put together will help to make you a better marketer all around.