Affiliate Business Trends

Archive for July, 2009

I’ve named todays post, Tuesday Trivia.  All week I tell you about different affiliate business opportunities available to the home entrepreneur.  So I thought in order to mix it up a bit and have a little fun, Tuesdays would be a day of trivia.

Today I  have a fun little story that my friend sent to me in an email.  Since there are a lot of work at home moms, I thought they might like this.

It’s titled   “Just a Mom”.

A woman, renewing her driver’s license at the County Clerk’s office, was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation.

She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.  “What I mean is”, explained the recorder, “do you have a job or are you just a ….?”

“Of course I have a job” snapped the woman.  “I’m a Mom”

“We don’t list MOM as an occupation, Housewife covers it” said the recorder emphatically.

I had forgotten all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall.

The clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of a high sounding title like, “Official Interrogator” or “Town Registrar”.

“What is you occupation?” she probed.

What made me say it?  I do not know.  The words simply popped out…  “I’m a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.”

The clerk paused, ball point pen frozen in midair and looked up as though she had not heard right.  I repeated the title slowly emphasizing the most significant words.  Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written, in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.

“Might I ask”, said the clerk with new interest, “just what you do in your field”?

Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, “I have a continuing program of research, (what mother doesn’t), in the laboratory, and in the field,” (normally I would have said indoors and out).

“I’m working for my Masters, (first the Lord and then the whole family) and already have four credits” (all daughters).  “Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities,” (any mother care to disagree?) “and I often work 14 hours a day,” (24 is more like it).  ”The job is more challenging that most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather that just the money.”

There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk’s voice as she completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door.

As I drove into our driveway, bouyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants – ages 13, 7, and 3.  Upstairs, I could hear our new experimental model, (a 6 month old baby) in the child development program, testing out a new vocal pattern.

I felt like I had scored a beat on bureaucracy!  And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than “Just another Mom”.

Motherhood!  What a glorious career!  Especially when there’s a title on the door.

Does this make grandmothers “Senior Research Associates in the field of Child Development and Human Relations”?

And Greatgrandmothers, “Executive Senior Research Associates”?  I think so.

I also think it makes Aunts, “Associate Research Assistants”.*

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.  Maybe I enjoyed it so much because I was a stay at home mom until my son and daughter were in 8th and 9th grades.  Back when all my friends were busy career women or doing the “working  career mom”, and I was “Just a Mom”.

I’ll be back tomarrow with more news on Affiliate Business Trends.

*author unknown.

Well my trip yesterday went very well and thankfully, since I was flying, uneventful.   I flew to Kansas City to pick up my 5 year old granddaughter.  We are having so much fun.  Did I mention I absolutely love having an online business?

Well, while I was flying I was working on my blog.  I came back with so many ideas.   Over the next several weeks I’ll be sharing them with you right here.

Since Iwas up for 20 hours yesterday, with 4 hours of sleep, this is going to be a very short entry.

Stop back tomarrow for a regular post.

By the time you  read this, I will be on a flight from Pittsburgh, to Kansas City to pick up my 5 year old granddaughter and we will be flying back to Pittsburgh together.  She is coming to stay with “Granny and Grandad” for the next 3 weeks.  As you can probably guess I am extremely excited.

I loved being a mom, but nothing compares with being a grandmother.  That is the one thing I love about my Internet Marketing business.  I can pick up and leave to fly to Kansas and not have to ask my boss if it’s okay to take the day off. 

Today we’re going to talk about list building.  I don’t know about you, but this is one of the area’s of my business that I struggled with.  So I have a surprise for you.  I have one of  THE guys who practically invented online list building.    Jimmy D. Brown .  Jimmy has agreed to let me post an excerpt of his  List Profit System to share with you all, while I’m busy flapping my wings. 

In this course Jimmy teaches the difference between having a list and having a profitable list.  This is a fantastic course for beginners, and in my opinion should be recommended reading for anyone starting an online business. 

Ater you read this excerpt, make sure you go grab Jimmy’s FREE report “Six Steps To Six Figures With List Marketing” at this site .

But first here’s a few pages of the actual paid course:

—–

Excerpt from List PROFIT System
by Jimmy D. Brown

PART 3: Seven Opt-in Triggers That Get Subscribers Like Crazy

You can have all the right “ingredients” to an opt-in page (the things we just talked about in the previous section) and still not get great results. It’s how you put everything together that counts.

So, that’s what I want to share with you now.

You’re about to get the benefit of results from more than five years of tweaking and testing (and tweaking and testing some more!) the opt-in process. I don’t know if there’s anyone who’s been doing THIS longer than I have. I was using a mini-site to get subscribers since back in 1999 – back when list-building pretty much meant having a link on your site that said, “To join my list, click here.”

While there are a gazillion variations and distinctions, there are some basic “triggers” that I’ve found really do dramatically improve your opt-in rate.

There are seven of them…

Note: The first three are very basic, but I’ll be revealing some ideas that you’ve probably not considered before…so read them anyway. The final four are more “advanced” in nature. You’ll find that only those “in the know” are using them. Add your name to the list.

1. Offer Real Perceived Value. Years ago I went to the late Corey Rudl’s web site and he was giving away a free subscription (like everyone else) to his newsletter. What made his different than the rest? It had a simple notice near the subscription form reading, “$197.00 value”.

Instant perceived value at the time. (That’s not the case now with everyone putting inflated “values” on their free offers).

The point is this…you can CREATE perceived value. Here’s how.

- UNIQUENESS. One way to do this is through your own “unique” approach to your free offer. You can say the same thing as someone else in a totally different way and see a marked difference in responses.

For example: “$600 cash back” is NOT the same as “A year’s worth of free gas” to someone about to buy a car. (Especially today with gas prices rocketing skyward in leaps and bounds!) “A year’s worth of free gas” has a much higher “perceived” value even though its monetary value is the same.

What makes your list unique?

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I hope you enjoyed this excerpt of Jimmy’s List Profit System  .  I’ll be back tomarrow, one tired but happy granny, with more insights into Affiliate Marketing. 

Be sure to grab your copy of Jimmy’s Free Report “Six Steps To Six Figures With List Marketing“.  You’ll be very glad you did.

Stay tuned there will be a bunch more freebies coming your way shortly. 

Today I’m sharing a short product review.   In my opinion if you are starting or thinking about starting or have already started an Affiliate Program, you need to consider this product.

 Name of the Product: Sales Army Secrets by Jimmy D. Brown

Where you can Buy it:  Click Here

Product Description: This course illustrates how to increase site traffic and income by creating affiliate programs.

This is a complete course including audio and transcripts as well as a bunch of great bonuses to help you either get an affiliate program up and running or greatly improve your current program. Jimmy shares some of his best ideas and techniques that have helped him attract affiliates and keep them motivated and promoting his products.

In a step-by-step process, Jimmy shares how you can get an affiliate program set up within a matter of hours, what tools you should provide your affiliates, and what you can do on an ongoing basis to support your affiliates and get them selling for you each and every month.

The product also includes a great interview with Jimmy’s own affiliate manager – Nicole Dean – who answers questions on how to find a great affiliate manager, why you need one in the first place and what to look for if you are thinking of hiring someone to take care of your affiliate center.

Who This Product is Intended For: 

Anyone that wants to:
• Start an affiliate program
• Improve an existing affiliate program
• Hire an affiliate manager
• Become an affiliate manager
• Learn more about affiliate marketing

Uses: This course teaches the reader how to build, market and run a profitable affiliate program. 

Pros: Sales Army Secrets gives step-by-step instructions- complete with examples -to creating, implementing and improving an affiliate program.  Additionally, it explains why, as well as how, to hire an affiliate manger.  It also shares ideas to help your affiliates make more money while increasing your income, too.

Cons: I don’t really have any criticism of the product. It’s just too bad Jimmy is not sharing his affiliate manager.

Personal Opinion:

I like how “step-by-step” this product is. While it is great for a beginner who doesn’t have an affiliate program in place yet, it also contains plenty of advanced ideas and strategies that helped improve my current affiliate program. After going through the audio and transcript for the first time, I came up with 2 pages of ideas and changes that I am currently working on implementing.

I also have a better understanding of the role an affiliate manager plays in the process. 

I highly recommend this course to anyone considering an infoproduct business online.

Click Here to see just exactly what I’m talking about!

I want to start out today by telling you about a work from home course that tells you exactly how to get your home office and yourself organized for optimum productivity.  Let me tellyou, you are seriously going to love this.

Did you ever wish that  you could be a fly on the wall of one of the big kahuna gurus’ to see how they have their office set up?  Watch them set up their schedule and then tell you how this whole “Work at Home” thing goes down?

Well Jimmy D. Brown, one of the “Serious Kahunas”, and my favorite mentor, has done just that with his Homepreneur Habits course.  It even has a picture of him working at his desk in his PJ’s.

I learned so much from this course that I asked Jimmy if I could put an excerpt from it on my blog.  He said yes, so check it out :

Hello, this is Jimmy D. Brown, author of the SR Zone™ Reports.

One of the questions that I get a lot from members of List And Traffic (as well as from my other customers and even subscribers) is this -

What does your home office look like?

There is a lot of interest in learning about the equipment I use, the setup of my office, my daily routine, etc. So, I’ve decided to create this report that I’m entitling, “Homepreneur Habits: How To Run A Successful Home Business”.

My goal for this series is to teach you some basic setup and operations for establishing and maintaining your own home business office, which, ultimately, will translate into more efficiency, productivity and … profitability!

Whether you are a complete beginner or a seasoned pro, I think some of the insights that I’ll be giving you into how my own office and business is organized and operated will be beneficial to you in your own pursuits.

And, YES, just so you know, I really do work in my pajamas! In fact, as I’m writing this article I’m sitting here in my Ralph Lauren Polo pajamas and a white t-shirt. My wife snapped this picture just a couple of minutes ago…

(Warning: This is Jimmy in the morning in his pajamas … not for the faint at heart

Continue on at your own risk.

No lifeguards on duty.

Turn back, turn back, turn back.

Okay, you were warned…

(picture removed — only for customers)

You really can operate your own business in your pajamas. Or anything else for that matter. But, please, no file-sharing. I’ll take you at your word when you tell me you work in the same pair of holey underwear from college just to remind you of where you came from.

Okay, back to the point. I’ve got this series divided into three parts…

Homepreneur Habits:  How To Run A Successful Home Business

Lesson #1: The PRINCIPLES Of A Successful Homepreneur

Lesson #2: The PARAPHERNALIA Of A Successful Homepreneur

Lesson #3: The PRACTICES Of A Successful Homepreneur

In our first lesson we’ll look at some guidelines or “rules” that I go by in organizing and operating my home office. Lesson two will cover specific equipment that I use in my daily operations. And in lesson three I’ll share how to organize your schedule for increased productivity and results.

I’ll be sharing lots of visuals as you’ll be given an “all access” tour of my own home office.

All of this begins in our next lesson.

—–

If you’d like to read the whole 64 page report, just go to Homepreneur Habits and get your copy while it’s still such a bargain.

With what I learned from this report, my productivity went up exponencially, and a lot of Jimmy’s other loyal customers say that this couse is their favorite yet.

Go take a look for yourself here