7 Deadly Sins When Choosing A Free Online Affiliate Program

You have just come across an outstanding product, and you can’t wait to use it! At the bottom of the screen there is a link for ‘online affiliates’ and you’re curious. The link takes you to a page that offers YOU the opportunity to sell this one of a kind widget. What luck! Promises of huge commissions right off the bat and you’ll be in fat city! Only you find out after becoming an affiliate there is no additional training, their marketing materials are questionable and you have no idea what to do to make this work… Sound familiar?

There are a lot of online affiliate programs out there, most of them can get you conversions, but only if you already have a background in affiliate marketing. I’ve outlined the 7 deadly sins to avoid below, along with my suggestions of 3 of the best candidates to help you get started.

7 Deadly Sins of affiliate marketing companies

1. Excessive Hype. It’s understandable that a new product or service is going to be hyped. Advertising and marketing must be promoted to spread the word. However hype can backfire when the product simply doesn’t live up to the mythical aura created to promote it.

2. Outrageous Claims. Can you make a million dollars without lifting a finger? Unless your name is Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, don’t count on it. Free online affiliate programs often will claim that what they have to offer is going to get you rich within hours of signing up. I’ll tell you what, you find that program then email me at and I’ll be joining you shortly! The truth is, you can be looking at between 30 to 90 days to get a good steady income flowing through you. Be realistic, if you only put 20 minutes a week into this, you will most likely not find your pot ‘o’ gold.

3. Poor products. Sometimes the product just doesn’t deliver. Unless you’re testing out every product that you happen to promote (a good idea, but sometimes impractical to accomplish), you’re going to run across products that simply don’t perform the way either you or the customer expects. If you can’t try the product yourself, locate unbiased reviews before you begin a campaign that could cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars in wasted advertising fees.

4. No demand. Everything looks right: the PPC campaign has t
1000
he right keywords, the product is fantastic, and the sales letter is smokin’. But there’s a problem: no one actually wants to buy! Make sure you fully understand the market before you get in too deep with a free online affiliate program. Just because it says “free” doesn’t mean you won’t lose any money if things go unexpectedly wrong.

5. Marginal profits. Free online affiliate programs usually don’t have the problem of offering low commissions. However, you’ll occasionally encounter a product that seems great, but the cost of promoting it nearly outweighs the profit potential. Doing a thorough cost/benefit analysis in your initial planning stages can save you a lot of time and money.

6. Shoddy copywriting. Nothing kills a good product like bad salesmanship. The free online affiliate program you select should have a sales letter that sings. If it doesn’t, no matter how well you promote it, the product may not sell. If you think there are problems with the sales page, ask an affiliate manager directly if it can be updated – or if your campaign can link directly to the checkout page.

7. Vague wording. Sometimes free online affiliate programs make promises to consumers and affiliates alike about various aspects of their product or affiliate program. Make sure you understand exactly what you’re getting into before you start promoting something. Nothing will sting worse than sales you lose because you failed to understand an unclear passage in the terms and conditions.

The ray of light is you are signing up for free affiliate sites and have the opportunity to look over most of the 7 deadly sins before you get started. When you follow these tips, you’ll find yourself involved with the best free online affiliate programs out there. As I said at the top of the page, here are my top 3 picks for any new (or experienced) online affiliate marketing programs (you will make money here). Thanks for reading!

Cheers!

By: Michael Kearn

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Michael is a writer and affiliate for FreeSiteSignup, a site that allows you to have your own affiliate website – free! Get your own free entrepreneur money making website (valued at $2,079) where you make money promoting the best entrepreneur related products, and earn 75% commissions following our proven marketing plan. To find out more about how to make money as an free online affiliate program for music products, visit FreeSiteSignup today

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5 Secret Tips to Effective Pay Per Click Advertising
 by: Jan Peterson

Yes, pay per click advertising will cost you but if you do it right, it should make you money. If you are running pay per click advertising campaign and more money is going out than coming in, something is not right. Here are 5 steps to targeting the right keywords and minimizing costs.

Are your keywords too broad?

Let’s just say you have developed an amazing diet drink that is safe, effective, tasty and will guarantee that people will lose 15 lbs in 30 days. You know you have a product that is a winner and are excited about marketing it on the World Wide Web. However, you are relatively new to the Web and pick keywords that are too general and expensive like ‘dieting’ or ‘weight loss’. Not only are you perhaps disappointed by your PPC advertising results but it will likely be draining your bank account. This is why niche keywords are so important. Look at bidding on keywords such as ‘weight loss supplement’ or ‘weight loss drink’. Go to Overture or Word Tracker and find keywords that are more niche oriented and not so competitive.

Is your ad dull or attention getting?

It is worthwhile to spend some time learning about effective copy writing. It could be the difference between mediocrity and success. You want to know how to get someone’s attention. Unfortunately saying “I have the best diet drink on the planet” doesn’t work. You have to motivate and inspire people to take their time to look at what you have to offer. And, in pay per click advertising you have to do it in very few words. This can be a challenge. Learn the words that sell or attract or grab someone’s attention like “Must see”, “Quick results”, “New…”, “The truth…”, “Groundbreaking…”, “Instant…”

Double Check your URL!

Sounds like a no-brainer but many times people either misspell their URL or send someone to their home page instead of the page that directly relates to their question. In other words, you may have a website that is dedicated to weight loss but in your pay per click advertising, you want to direct them specifically to your diet drink. So, you would want your URL to read . There is nothing more frustrating to the website visitor than having to go hunting for the information. Your job is to make it easy to find and informative. If they have to look long, they will leave. These are dollars lost to you.

What is your competition doing?

It is likely that your competitors who have a high PR (page rank) and continue to advertise, are doing something right. Learn from those who are successful. While the differences may seem subtle to you, in the World of PPC advertising a word or sentence can discourage or invite a potential website visitor.

What should my title be for my PPC ad ?

Plain and simple use the keyword that is being searched on. Don’t get fancy or creative here. If someone is looking for diet drink then your ad title is ‘diet drink’. Give the website visitor what they want.

The bidding war is on

Try your best not to get caught in the bidding war game. There are plenty of ways to drive traffic to your site without spending a fortune. General keywords will always have high prices like ‘dieting.’ Don’t fall for the trap. Most refined keywords will have lower priced bids but are excellent because they will target your traffic. A Website visitor may only be looking for diet recipes and dislike diet drinks. They are not your customer. Same for the website visitor who may want to tone-up while they are dieting. The more specific you can target your market, the better you will do.

Two other tips: If all the bids are around 25 cents and the lead bid is at $5.00, you know someone is trying to own the number 1 position. If you want to have fun bid $4.99 and they will get nailed $5.00 for every click and you will only pay 26 cents if they click on your ad. Warning though: if you want to play this game, keep an eye out so they don’t drop their bid. I sometimes do this as a temporary measure to bring someone back to fair playing grounds.

Secondly, keep any eye on all of your bids. People do change what they are willing to bid on any given keyword or search term. I do an overview every few days.

The test results are back

One last key to good pay per click advertising is testing your ads. You can set up two different campaigns and rotate them for the same period of time. What you might learn could surprise you and benefit your bank account!

About The Author

Jan Peterson founder of http://www.goldstarreview.com researches and reviews business opportunities Over 400 FREE reports available. Successful e-book with reprint rights also available.

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