Free Information - The New Age Work at Home Plan.

New Age Work At Home Plan - Is it for you?

I received an email a few days ago concerning Jim Daniels of JDD Publishing and a new book, a special report really, that he was giving away to his subscribers. This new book is 41 pages of information on how to get out of the rat race. It is an internet-based work at home plan for financial independence in 10 simple steps.

Apparently it has been on the market for a whopping $97, but he has provided a few readers with the free copy and I'm going to let you know now how to get one. If you want a copy, just go to The New Age Work at Home Plan and click the GOLD KEY to go directly to the download page.

After you click on that link above, you will be sent to a page that advertises how great this book is. Well, if you don't want to read all of that. If you just want the book and that's it, then the information about the special report is all the way at the bottom.

You will see a section that asks if you are ready to grab the special report. On the side or somewhere near that question is the GOLD KEY. Click on that key and you will be able to download the information for free.

After you click on the GOLD KEY, you will also be offered other products, but the purchase of these products is optional. You will still get the "special report" for free. Again, it is 41 pages of free information on how to get out of the rat race. If you think you've read this all before, then think again.

Do you know the ten myths that are keeping millions of people from making money online? Will you be one of the around 5% who achieve a comfortable retirement or one of the 95% of "well-intentioned, hard working people who worked their fingers to the bone, now rely on social security, inadequate pensions or family assistance?"

Think about it, then click on that link and get that FREE special report.

On a commercial note:

Orlando realtor company, orlando-buyersagent.com, put out a recent web release that shared some interesting facts about Orlando, Florida's ever increasing billion dollar tourism industry. If you are looking to spend some well earned online cash in the real estate market, Orlando may be the spot for you.

Did you know that "today, Orlando welcomes more visitors each year than the population of California - over 43.3 million (2000 statistics), which makes Orlando the number one tourist destination in the world...Orlando continues to be one of the fastest growing communities in Florida as well as the United States."

Technorati Tags: internet-based+work, internet, work, work+at+home, work+online, make+money+online

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A Review - Blogitive - Make Money Blogging!

Blogitive.com Offers Bloggers Cash!

I have read reviews about Blogitive.com and have personally signed up as a member who can happily say that I have been paid. This site promises a $5 payment for each link they ask you to place in your Blog. It also has a manual referral program in place that pays the referrer $5 for each person one refers.

When Blogitive first started out, they would give you a link and the keywords that they wanted you to attach to the link. Then you would place that link strategically in your blog either by trying to fit it into your content or in its own separate paragraph somewhere in your latest blog entry.

Now Blogitive requires that you refer to the specific company's latest web release and company name along with the link. I believe this to be a more legitimate way to advertise and less "tricky" in terms of search engine requirements. (See Dave Taylor's comments below)

Is this a lot of work for $5? I say not at all! It really only takes about 5 minutes to do this. However, if you consider the cost of advertising for the average business, the company is getting an awesome deal for $5.

One blog says that it is an extremely low fee for advertising. Dave Taylor has reviewed Blogitive and this is what he says:

The price is outrageously low for even the most trivial and uninteresting of weblogs, but more importantly, this is a potentially dangerous game for Blogitive and all of its advertisers and publishers, because what they're really doing here is gaming the search engines. The words that you use to link to another site are considered very important for calculating search results...

While I'm not saying it will happen, I think it's worth being aware that for a payment of $5.00 you are potentially risking your own search engine ranking by participating in this program. If Google somehow caught you, for example, it could theoretically ban your own weblog from the search engine results, or certainly penalize your site, causing you to get less traffic, the exact opposite of what any blogger seeks.

So that's the scoop. Blogitive is an interesting idea, but with terrible payouts and an (admittedly small) potential to get you in trouble for gaming or scamming the search engines, it's not a program that I would recommend to anyone.

When I first joined this company back in, I believe, February, and then read this review, I was should I say a little fearful of the almighty Google banning my blog site; forget about the fact that $5 is quite low as an advertising fee.

I remember this review being the talk about in blog and writing forums when it first came out. Some reacted to Dave Taylor's comments by saying, "Oh what the heck, it's $5 a pop and I'm staying with the company." Others decided against joining or even letting their membership in the program go.

Today I went to the owner of Blogitive.com's blog, USWeb, and read their February post about their mission in terms of advertisers and bloggers coming together. This is what they had to say:

Make Money Blogging with Blogitive

...USWeb is proud to announce a marketplace for bloggers to earn money, Blogitive.

Blogitive.com is a marketplace for bloggers to connect with clients looking for brand exposure and writing talent. Blogitive will launch with three product offerings for bloggers. The first is our cost per posting (CPP) model. This service allows bloggers to earn money for the simple mention of a client. Similar to the cost per click advertisers, except the blogger gets to write the ad, and the blogger is paid for the posting, not on a per click.

The second service is based around our Ghost Blogger offering. Many companies wish to maintain a blog specific to their industry, but do not have the time to dedicate to maintaining fresh postings. Blogitive provides an opportunity for bloggers to earn money for posting fresh content to a company’s blog.

The third service from Blogitive is Comment Moderation. Obviously with the increase of comment and feedback spam, it has become very important to keep diligent on moderating the comments left on a blog. Once again, some companies do not have the resources needed to keep up with feedback moderation in real time. Blogitive provides the opportunity for bloggers to make money by moderating comments and filter out feedback spam.

Many more services are on the way to Blogitive, and will be rolled out over the next 3 months. If you’re interested in making money to blog, check out Blogitive and start earning a living from what you love doing.

After reading their planned offerings, I'm actually excited to see how this will all work out for them as a company. I do believe like Dave Taylor that this is an "interesting idea" even a GREAT idea even if the fee is "outrageously low." Most bloggers will blog for free; why not get paid to do it. Yes, advertising is quite expensive for businesses and the Internet offers many opportunities to advertise for quite a lot more money.

However, bloggers can use this as a platform for eventually making bigger money out in the freelance writing world. I truthfully never thought to get paid for my writing skills. I have always loved writing, but never thought to offer a service that included among other things putting together intelligent thoughts in a unique way for advertising and actually getting paid for it.

So, yes, I think $5 is a "very low fee" for businesses to pay for advertising. In fact, it's quite a steal! On the other hand, for a blogger just starting out and especially for one who never thought to get paid for his/her writng, it really is nice to see that little chunk of change coming to them every week.

Please tell me your thoughts. I'd love to hear from you.

On a side note, here's a fun fact for you and an example of how easy it is to work for Blogitive: In their latest web release, Best Furniture Online talked a little bit about the history of furniture. Have you ever owned a bean bags? I know some of you out there still use them, but I had one back in the 80s. Well, did you know that "the 1960s produced new forms of chairs including: the butterfly chair, Bean bags, the egg or pod chair." How long do you think stackable chairs have been around? I know, weird question - lol!

Technorati Tags: blogitive.com, blogitive, make+money+blogging, advertising, writing, freelance+writing, writing, skills, blogger, Blog, USWeb, weblog

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adCenter - Microsoft's Pay Per Click

Do You Use adCenter for Pay Per Click Advertising?

If you are into serious Internet Marketing, you are familiar with pay per click (PPC) advertising. Overture.com has one of the biggest PPC sites. In fact, I believe it is the biggest. It had been doing so well that Yahoo decided to just buy the company, so now it is "a Yahoo Company." If you use Overture.com for pay per click advertising, you are promised a discovery of how "search marketing products can drive targeted traffic to your business."

Google also has a PPC product called Google AdWords. The idea behind pay per click advertising is for buyers to find what you are selling. On Google AdWords "Welcome" page this is their pitch to you:

Google AdWords ads connect you with new customers at the precise moment when they're looking for your products or services. The Google Network reaches more than 80% of Internet users.*

With Google AdWords you create your own ads, choose keywords to help us match your ads to your audience and pay only when someone clicks on them.

Now, Microsoft has joined the gang. They have a pay per click site called Microsoft adCenter. On their home page, here is what they have focussed on:

Your ideal audience is among the millions. We find them for you.

MSN reaches nearly 2 out of 3 web users, and MSN Search reaches over 40 million a month1. Reach the right customers with search ads targeted at the audience you want.

How does search advertising work?

* Pay only when people click your ads.
* Set your own price per click.
* See when your clicks lead to sales.
* Target your ads to the times, places, and customers you want the most.
* Use built-in tools to get keyword ideas, audience information, and detailed reports on your ads.

The interesting and probably unfortunate aspect about Microsoft's adCenter is that they do not support Mozilla Firefox (gasp!!!). Neglecting Firefox users is definitely a way to push customers away.

Here is how I found that out. I personally decided to try out the Microsoft's adCenter. I almost solely use Mozilla for it's efficiency and security. So anyway, I tried to go to the sign up page and I received this notice.

"Microsoft adCenter does not currently support the web browser you are using. Please sign in using Internet Explorer 6+."

So, what do you think about adCenter? Do you like it as much as the other PPC products out there? I can't wait to hear from you!

Changing the subject briefly, yesterday I posted a brief off topic note about Monex.com's web release concerning buying gold bars. They say that "in today's uncertain political and economic environment, there are many (and very sound) reasons to consider investing in precious metals now." Monex has been helping investors since 1967. I'm curious. Would you venture into precious metals? Have you done so in the past? Would you recommend it?

Tags: Overture.com, Google, AdWords, Microsoft, adCenter, Pay+Per+Click, Pay+Per+Click+Advertising, advertising, internet, marketing, internet+marketing, Mozilla, Firefox

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Subscribe To Me Button.

Feedblitz.com's Subscribe To Me Button:

One of the nicest things about a "subscribe to me" button in your blog is that it allows others to receive email notification everytime you update your blog. The service I use is a free standard service by a company called Feedblitz. It turns blogs and feeds into emails to those who choose to subscribe.

According to Feedblitz's FAQ section, readers do not have to register with FeedBlitz to get updates. They just use the signup form on your web site or blog by accessing a custom link to FeedBlitz's free hosted sign up form. You can see the customized form for this blog in my sidebar.

Once a person decides to subscribe to your feed, they fill out that form and this generates a random password for their account. After the subscriber confirms their request for the subscription via an email generated by this subscription service, they are all set to receive the subscription.

So how do you register as a publisher and get your own customized code? Go to Feedblitz.com and set up your very own username and password. Just follow the directions and you'll be good to go.

Off topic: Have you ever thought to buy gold bars as part of your investment portfolio, you know, sort of as a "multiple stream of income?" Well, today I was reading in Monex's web release that this type of investment is something to think about seriously in terms of making money. After reading, I found out just how much gold holds its value. Here is an interesting fact from the web release for you to think about:

"Remember when gas was only 25-cents a gallon? You could take a dollar down to the gas station and buy four gallons for a buck! At that time our dollar was backed by REAL money, real silver. Guess what? That same amount of silver still buys four gallons of gas! That just shows that real money like gold and silver holds its value and it is the green paper money that is now worth a lot less."

Did you know that? I didn't.

Technorati Tags: Feedblitz.com, Feed, Subscribe+to+me+button, Subscribe+to+me, make+money, money, gold, buy+gold, investment

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Google Sitemaps - Have You Used This Free Google Feature?

Another Newbie Experiment with Google Sitemaps.

Google Sitemaps promises to be a fresher approach to submitting your URLs to Google and getting viewers to find your web pages/blog pages more easily.

Google explains that it is "an easy way for you to submit all your URLs to the Google index and get detailed reports about the visibility of your pages on Google."

When I read this next point, it reminded me of pinging. Google goes on to explain that "with Google Sitemaps you can automatically keep us informed of all your web pages, and when you make changes to these pages." Again, this promises to improve your coverage and visibility of your URLs in the Google crawl.

With Google Sitemaps, you are given access to "detailed reports to learn more about how Google directs traffic to your site and how the Googlebot sees your pages."

For more detailed information on Google Sitemaps, you can look here:
Google Sitemaps.

After reviewing this information, it would seem that this product of Google is a tool that you who wish to make money blogging would do well to take advantage of. I understand that it is so much more easy for a blog or website to get noticed in MSN and Yahoo, but Google is the ever changing mystery when it comes to "getting noticed."

The question is, does this tool work? I'm not sure, but I intend to perform a little experiment and from a newbie's perspective I will let you know.

If you have already experienced this product, please feel free to comment here and inform me.

Now, off topic, but equally important, I just wanted to share with you that I was reading CarInsurance.com's web release today regarding getting an auto insurance quote and came across 10 pointers on how to avoid having your car targeted for theft. They were all equally important, but the two that stood out to me were numbers 6 and 7 and here they are for your benefit:

6) Beware of the "bump-and-rob" technique. Carjackers bump your car from the rear, then steal it when you get out to look for damage. When stopped at a traffic light, leave room to maneuver around the vehicle ahead if you need to. If another car bumps yours and you feel threatened, drive to a populated area. If you have a cell phone, call the police for assistance.

7) Do not leave registration or title in the car. Too often a car thief is pulled over and gets away from the police because he or she can produce the auto registration. If multiple drivers use the vehicle, the best suggestion would be to hide the registration in a secret location that only the owners know.

O.K. I hope those are some helpful reminders for some of you and regarding Google Sitemaps, I do look forward to hearing your experiences.

Technorati Tags: Google, Google+Sitemaps, Sitemaps, Blog, Site, Web, Site, website, make, money, blogging,

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Have You Joined a Forum Lately?

Don't Miss Out on this Internet Marketing Tool!

Have you joined a forum lately? More and more, I have learned that marketing isn't just about being in the right place like when you buy a home, location, location, location. It is so many techiniques combined. Of course, the most obvious being advertise, advertise, advertise.

For example, optimizing your page for search engines. This involves not just content, but from the very beginning when you are in the planning stages of building your site, deciding on a title with the use of keywords, deciding on a URL also with the use of keywords, deciding what your keywords are going to be in the first place, etc. That is just one internet marketing techinique.

And as you know, there are so many more.

Well, back in March, I spoke about an awesome Internet Marketing Tool that I thought was extremely recommendable, joining forums. This doesn't mean that you should join any forum you come across, but ones that pertain to your particular blog, topic, subject, website.

There are an unbelievable amount of forums in the world wide web, so you have to choose carefully. Being part of a forum is fun, educational and can be extremely time consuming, so if you are trying to use being a part of a forum as an internet marketing technique, you have to be particular, especially considering there are only so many hours in the day.

Many of the forums that you join will allow you to advertise your blogs or websites within your signature after you make a comment or a post, so don't forget when you are joining to get those links to your blogs in the signature part of the sign up form. This is FREE advertising. You'd be surprised how it works to generate website traffic.

Here are some forums that I have joined that you may find particularly useful for you:

http://www.wahm.com/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=104&PN=1
http://www.webproworld.com
WAHMZone.com
http://www.mommyjobs.com/boards/

Two that I plan to join are:

http://www.athomeresources.com
http://www.mombizdirectoryboards.com

So, will I see you there?

Off Topic Fun Fact: Have you ever been to Hawaii? If you are planning on going, I was reading a web release published by Gebhart Properties who recently launched a new website featuring premier Hawaii resort and ocean front vacation homes for rent.

I read that one of the best places to visit is a Maui Vacation Rental located in the Kaanapali Resort. This resort, the only property in Kaanapali that runs parallel to the ocean, is located a mere thirty feet back from the beach!

Sounds delicious, doesn't it?

After you've made all that internet money using the great internet marketing techniques you find in this blog, guess what you can spend it on! :-)

Technorati Tags: forum, internet, marketing, internet+marketing+technique, internet+marketing, webproworld, wahm.com, search, engine, optimization, search+engine+optimization

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Google vs. Microsoft.

Is the No. 2 Search Engine, Yahoo, Going to be Replaced?

I have been receiving emails from WebProNews and I read one today that I thought was worth posting here. What do you think about Microsoft trying to replace Yahoo in the Number 2 spot as the largest search engine in the world?

Here is some of the article written by David Utter initially quoting Steve Ballmer of Microsoft:

"We'd like to be No. 2 and then No. 1 in advertising," Ballmer said of Microsoft's goals. That would mean displacing Yahoo from the number 2 spot as quickly as possible. Should that happen, maybe Yahoo CEO Terry Semel will think more of Microsoft's interest in Yahoo Search.

Ballmer noted Microsoft would pour $1.1 billion into research and development into MSN, and part of that cash would go toward adCenter. He also allowed that getting Microsoft to the dominant place in online advertising could take five years.

Microsoft's CEO also cited some of the strategic thinking behind adCenter:

"In creating AdCenter, we think of it as an eBay for advertising. How do you bring buyers and sellers of advertising together? How do you do it in a way that creates value for both of those?" Ballmer said. "We think we have a lot of ideas around that topic, but in a sense we're a Johnny come lately. The guys that came first were Overture, then Google, and we're late to the game, but we get what's going on."

Whether Microsoft has its efforts aimed at the market with Google in mind or not doesn't matter. By focusing on Internet advertising, Microsoft and Google will start trading elbows in force sooner rather than later.

I have to say that after reading this article it made me think about the fact that I just accepted the reality that search engines existed, that Yahoo and Google are out there and that I use them. I also thought that Microsoft has supper software programs and that Bill Gates is very rich. So, that he was late to the game of developing a top search engine to compete with Yahoo and Google is o.k. in my humble opinion.

Life has limits and there are limits to business too, even if we don't want to accept that. A person only has so much time in their life to develop and grow a product like Microsoft has and like Google and Yahoo have. Do we really need another Google? Is it absolutely necessary for Microsoft to compete in the search engine arena?

Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't think the competition in the search engine arena, just like in retail and other types of businesses that are saturated competition wise, etc. is not good for the economy, blah blah blah, but......

Well, tell me - What do you think?

Technorati Tags: Yahoo, Google, Search, Search+Engine, Microsoft, WebProNews

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Vertical Portals - More Details.

How do you find vertical portals? And how do you join?

On this topic, I have yet to try this out for myself, but I went to an internet marketing workshop and joining vertical portals was a high priority on the list of must dos for internet marketing techniques. I will be trying this technique out in the next few weeks, so I will keep you apprised of my progress. On that note, I wanted to get this information out to you right away, so here it is.

As discussed in the previous post, vertical portals are category specific directories or search engines.

Finding vertical portals is a pretty simple process. Here are some of the more popular places to look:

www.isedb.com (The "Internet Search Engine Database") - First you go to SEARCH, then you type in a keyword phrase and then select directory. Go to every directory you can. If you find one that doesn’t apply to your keywords, then don’t list your link there.

You can also go to www.searchengineguide.com – At the top is a link that says “Internet Search Engines” and then there is a categories list for vertical portals. Click on categories or subcategories and then find portals related to your keywords.

Also, www.incominglinks.com – On the front page you will see a links directory of directories. Click on any of the categories that relate to your keywords and find a list of vertical portals.

Another option is to go right to the top search engines like Google and Yahoo and search for vertical portals there.

The process to list your link is usually to find a "sign up page" link at the particular directory. Click on said link and provide whatever information is asked for on the sign up page. Usually you will be asked for a Title, Description and URL and then you have to choose whatever category on their website you belong in.

When generating initial traffic to your websites, you won’t have a lot of visitors at first, so only submit your URL to the free vertical portals. If there is a charge, skip over that one and move on to free ones.

If you feel you are ready for the next step in this process, you can even go into subcategories too in order to find additional vertical portals.

Imagine how much traffic you can generate by listing your link with all of these "Category Specific" directories. This sounds a bit tedious, but if you take one or two afternoons to do this or set aside a block or two of time, you will not regret your efforts.

I am looking forward to letting you know what my results will be once I get going.

Here's an interesting off topic fact for contact lens users: Did you know that "the CDC and FDA have warned about a high rate of Fusarium infections among users of ReNu with MositurLoc." This is an infection which can lead to blindness! In their latest web release, Renu lawyer firm, Parker & Waichman, LLP, shared that "on April 13, 2006, Bausch & Lomb, Inc. advised consumers to switch to another lens care solution and asked all retailers to remove ReNu with MoistureLoc(tm) from their shelves." If you are using this product, please stop, throw it away and purchase a different contact lens solution.

Technorati Tags: internet, marketing, internet+marketing+technique, vertical+portal, vertical+portals, link, directory, directories

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Vertical Portals - Another Internet Marketing Technique

What is a Vertical Portal and Why Should You Know?

According to SearchCIO.com a vertical portal is defined this way:

Vortal is also short for voice portal.

On the Web, a vertical portal (sometimes called a vortal) is a Web site that provides a gateway or portal to information related to a particular industry such as health care, insurance, automobiles, or food manufacturing. (A vertical industry is one that is focused on a relatively narrow range of goods and services, whereas a horizontal industry is one that aims to produce a wide range of goods and services. Because most industry tends to specialize, most industry tends to be vertical.) A term that might also be used is interest community Web site since any vertical industry brings together people sharing an interest in buying, selling, or exchanging information about that particular industry. Vertical portals are also seen as likely business-to-business communities - for example, small business people with home offices might be attracted to a comprehensive vertical portal that provided ideas and product information related to setting up and maintaining the home office.

This is important to know in relation to marketing your blogs because this is only one more way to reach a select group of people interested in what you are trying to sell, whether that be information, products or services. You not only want to market to the world wide web, but you want to strategize your marketing techniques by focussing on those who truly are interested in your products. Doesn't this make sense!

How do you find vertical portals? And how do you join?

These will be the topics of my next post.

Technorati Tags: vertical+portal, portal, internet, marketing, internet+marketing, marketing+techniques, internet+marketing+strategy

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How To Make Internet Money Blog - My Experience

Can You Make Money Blogging?

I have been researching this question for the last three months and I have to say, it has not been easy. You have to not only have a really good niche topic, you have to have the time to dedicate to properly marketing your blog.

Included in the ways you should try to generate money blogging are:

• Visiting and participating in forums related to your topic
• Commenting on others blogs
• Optimizing your blog for search engines
• Educating yourself for a continuous content stream
• Updating and cleaning your templates regularly
• Submitting Articles to ezines
• Pinging your blog regularly
• Link Exchanging
  
• Affiliating with different companies and then using your affiliate links

Oh yeah, Affiliate Links - For example, is it just me or are you like this too? I have this feeling that if I am promoting an ebook that I want to sell on my site, I should have read it or at least know someone else who has.

I don't even know how to pretend that I read it just to get sales. Do you feel that way too? I don't want to say it's a moral problem, but I am just clueless when it comes to marketing something I haven't personally used in one way or another.

Well, I do know that there are many ways to earn an income by blogging, but the most efficient way I have learned is through affiliate marketing. You really should look into this. I know many bloggers who have learned the art of affiliate marketing. I'm not there yet, but I am beginning to really get the hang of it.

After you have learned how to get others to your site through pinging, forum involvement, leaving genuine comments on others blogs, etc., you just have to get them to buy your products, or in the case of affiliate marketing, you just have to get them to click on your links and sign up for or buy the products you are advertising.

I have also learned that really focussing on one affiliate link at a time can get you a lot of referrals, sign ups, purchases (depending on your link). I did that with just one link for the last two months and have generated more referrals than I ever would have if I hadn't focussed on just that link.

Just remember that it takes time. You have to be persistant. What you should do is set a goal for yourself. You should say to yourself, "This is what I expect to make blogging by the end of next month." Keep a good log of your earnings. Affiliate with companies like Amazon.com, LinkShare, Commission Junction, BestBuy. There are so many affiliate programs out there.

Then start advertising, advertising, advertising!

Remember too that the key to advertising is research! Get out your research tools like Overture's keyword tool and see what people are looking for when it comes to your links. Then use that research to drive traffic to your site. Go to forums that support your keywords, comment on blogs that support your focus, use your keywords efficiently in your content.

Truly these are some of the ways I have learned you should go if you want to make money blogging.

Not quite off topic, but somewhat, today I have made money by blogging about BuyAutoTruckAccessories.com who just published a web release on truck racks. They encourage contractors to really look at the cost efficiency that they provide in transforming a regular "grocery hauler" into a "powerful working tool."

What will you be doing today to make money blogging? Please leave a comment! I'd like to hear from you!

Technorati Tags: make+money+blogging, blog, affiliate, affiliate+marketing, marketing, ebooks, e-books, overture, keyword+tools, keywords, pinging, ping

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Clickbank - Affiliate Program.

My first experience with Clickbank's Affiliate Program.

Recently I wrote an article about Affiliate Programs and the benefit of having multiple streams of income. Well there is a company that I affiliated with back in March called Clickbank.

I understand that this company is very popular in the affiliate marketing world and so I'm happy to say that it is one of my options for affiliate links. Back in March, I also purchased a book called Blogging to the Bank by Rob Benwell, which was the whole reason I joined Clickbank to begin with.

I was so excited when almost immediately after I read this ebook, I followed Rob Benwell's suggestion about joining Clickbank's affiliate program and I actually sold one of his books!!! It's a great book so I had no trouble advertising for it.

Well, the money I made on that one sale is still sitting in my account. The default for payout with this program is set at $100, but you are allowed to manage your account and change that to as low as $25. Isn't that super, especially for first timers like myself.

Unfortunately, the catch for first time payouts is this. A few days ago, I sent an email requesting status on my payout from March. I was wondering why even after setting my payout to $25, I was not paid. This is the reply I received:

"Please be aware that ClickBank will withhold the first check to be issued from your account until the payable balance contains sales to customers in four or more distinct countries or four "postal regions" in the US, Canada, or Australia within the last year (for more information please see the Customer Distribution Requirement on the following page http://www.clickbank.com/paychecks.html)."

And so I am stuck with money in an account that I can't get to until I sell "in four or more distinct countries" or "postal regions." Did you know that? I had no idea, but as you can see there is a link to the Customer Distribution Requirement page that talks all about this. Oh well, I guess I'll be working harder to get paid by Clickbank.

I share this information with you so you are not surprised by this like I was.

Off topic, but an interesting fact: I was reading a web release today published by Zephyrpaintball.com about Paintball guns and I found it very interesting that this sports product had its start in the forestry and farming industry. Did you know that?

Technorati Tags: clickbank, affiliate, affiliate+program, affiliate+marketing, marketing, Blogging+to+the+Bank, ebook

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Link Poaching - An Internet Marketing Strategy?

Is This A Possible Internet Marketing Strategy?

In relation to the article I wrote the other day on how to properly trade links with others as an Internet marketing strategy, this article is going to briefly discuss link poaching and then show you where to get more information on how to do it properly (strictly with regards to marketing your blogs/services/products/websites).

It seems as though there are two schools of thought out there about what link poaching is, or it may be that I have only just come across two and that there are actually more.

At any rate, the first school of thought I came across is sort of on the negative end of the spectrum. In this case, a poacher finds a really great article (not their own) with reference links in it. Then they take just the referenced link or links, re-write the article to suit their needs and post it without giving credit to the blog source for the borrowed link(s).

This type of link poaching has been done all across the blogosphere in one way or another, sometimes intentionally and sometimes without the poacher even realizing that they were actually poaching.

This IS NOT the type of link poaching that I am talking about! In fact, the type of link poaching I am referring to has been suggested by at least three internet marketing gurus who I have had the pleasure of meeting in one way or another over the past few weeks. This type of link poaching is an internet marketing technique.

After reading what this is, if you still decide it is not for you, that is totally o.k. Obviously, you make the final decision in all matters pertaining to your blogs. However, again, this is a suggested internet marketing technique.

Tekmeds.com wrote a very nice description of the type of link poaching I am talking about in providing tips to their marketers. Here is the definition they used for link poaching and a link to the full article for your detailed reading:

Link Poaching- A strategy for finding link trade partners. Link Poaching involves using a variety of techniques (listed below) for finding which websites are trading with your competitors and requesting link trades with them. The theory here is that since they are already trading links with your competitor they are probably very likely to be willing to trade with you too.

Here is the list that they provided among other suggestions:

Finding Potential Link Trade Partners

There are countless other who are interested in trading links. Finding them is not hard, but does take some time and effort. Below are several techniques for finding good link trade partners.

• Surf- This is very straight forward. Go to Yahoo or your favorite directory, and start looking for relevant sites.
• Competitor Link Pages- Go to the link pages of your competitors and look at the sites they are trading links with. If they are linking with your competitors, they are probably willing to trade links with you.
• Do a competitor "link" check on Google- if you type in "link: yourcompetitor.com" in google (remember the space between the colon and the url) and do a search, it will give you a list of websites that link with your competitor. If they will trade with a competitor, they are likely to trade with you too.
• Use Link Trade Directories- There are a handful of directories of websites willing to trade links on the Internet. (Read Link Trade Vertical Portals). These include: www.links4trade.com, www.linkpartners.com, www.reciprocallink.com.
• Advertise- Use some leverage strategies to promote your desire to trade links with other relevant websites. Advertise your link trade request in the Usenet and free classifieds. Use your permission marketing mailings to mention that you would like to trade links with other relevant websites. Trade newsletter ads with other relevant newsletters and use that space to mention link trading. There are lots of possibilities here.

The suggestion was also given as follows:

Continual Promotion Process

This is a continual ongoing promotion program. With literally millions and millions of web sites on the Internet, the possibilities for reciprocal link exchanges are endless. Never be content to stop after sending an initial batch of link exchange proposals. The more links you trade the more traffic you get, and the higher your link popularity goes.

The complete article is located here: Link Trading.

So is it wrong to go poaching your competitor's link page? Please tell me your thoughts on this in the comment section below. I'd love to hear from you.

Happy link exchanging, trading, poaching - Whatever you call it! :-)

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