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SPI 030 : Pat’s Top 30 Tips for Successful Affiliate Marketing

The Smart Passive Income Podcast

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In this session of the Smart Passive Income Podcast, I go over my top 30 tips for successful affiliate marketing, which involve a wide range of topics – all the way from the approach and mindset of affiliate marketing, to the little details of where links should be placed and how often.

As many of you know, especially if you’ve recently glanced at my monthly income reports, affiliate marketing has become a major portion of my earnings over the past year, which is why I wanted to end the year with a hold-nothing-back type of session that will definitely help you and your online business one way or another – whether you already promote products as an affiliate or not.

There are 30 different tips here – all based on my own experience – so I hope you enjoy!

Oh, and you’ll notice that during the session, my voice starts to “go away” or change a bit. The reason is because I’ve been sick the last few days and I guess my vocal chords were just not ready for an hour long recording session yet. All good though – I got through it and the information is there for you.

If you’re at work and can’t listen to audio or you just aren’t into podcasts, I recommend you open up the transcript at the bottom of this post so you can read through the tips instead. The transcript is already available for you.

Right click here to download the MP3

Items mentioned in this podcast include:

Please let me know what you think of session #30, and if you enjoyed this episode, please share it!

Thank you all for making the SPI podcast such a major success. It’s just a few downloads away from 1,000,000 downloads since session #1 and the response from you has just been incredible. I couldn’t ask for anything more. :)

2011 was amazing, but 2012 is going to be even better!

Happy New Year, and look out for a lot more from me in the new year!

Cheers!

:)

Please subscribe below to the podcast to get automatic updates:

Transcript:

Click Here to Download the Transcript for Session 30 (PDF)

Author : Pat | Posted on : December 28th, 2011
130

An Insider Look: My Affiliate Links and Exactly Where They Convert

In the Details of my Affiliate Link ConversionsI received an interesting email from an SPI reader over the weekend:

“I don’t get it Pat. You make all this affiliate income (your June income report was off the hook!) and you have never come across as being pushy or aggressive with your promotions. I read your blog and am subscribed to your newsletter and you have never sent me anything but content, and somehow you’re earning a CEO’s income. I hope this isn’t rude, and it’s not that I don’t believe you, but how exactly are you doing this?”

To answer this question I can break it down into 4 key concepts:

  1. Provide massive value.
  2. Earn massive trust.
  3. Learn and understand the needs and wants of your followers.
  4. Lead and teach by example.

Combining these 4 concepts together allow me to share products (some of which I am an affiliate for) without being hawkish, and instead of worrying about losing readers, subscribers and potential customers, I’m actually strengthening the relationships I have with them.

For many of you, this isn’t groundbreaking news – and some of you are already putting these concepts into practice, which is fantastic.

Today, however, I wanted to provide you with a more detailed and concrete example of how I earn an income from affiliate programs, specifically illustrating where on my site (and “off site”) sales are coming from. Click Here to Read The Details About My Affiliate Commissions

Author : Pat | Posted on : July 25th, 2011
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SPI 022 : Affiliate Marketing Strategies, Tips and Techniques From Real Life Experiences with Chris Guthrie

The Smart Passive Income Podcast

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In this session of the Smart Passive Income Podcast, special guest Chris Guthrie and I discuss several affiliate marketing strategies, tips and techniques drawing from real life examples from our own websites and experiences.

Affiliate marketing has been huge for me lately. Last month, I earned $18,638.24 from affiliate marketing and Chris has pushed over 1.5 million dollars in product sales from Amazon.com alone, which is out of this world.

You may remember Chris from Session #10 of the SPI Podcast, which was more of an interview style type podcast. This time around we do more of a “round-table” type discussion about affiliate marketing and throw tips back and forth that have worked for us in the past. There’s a lot of little golden nuggets in this session, so whether you’re just getting started with affiliate marketing, or you’re already experienced with it and want to increase your conversions, there should be something here for you.

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • The first experiences that both Chris and I had with affiliate marketing.
  • How to find the perfect products to sell as an affiliate on your site.
  • Our thoughts on promoting a product that you haven’t used yourself yet.
  • How to get products for free from companies to review and promote on your site.
  • Rules for long-term success with affiliate marketing – especially if you have an existing audience or following.
  • The best tips for affiliate marketing if you have a product-based niche site.
  • Detailed information about one of Chris’s niche sites that he recently sold for a lot of money.
  • The mindset that you need to really crush it with affiliate marketing.
  • The most important factor that determines your success with niche site affiliate marketing.
  • Why and when you should become a “sales rep” for a specific product.
  • Interesting and unique places to add affiliate links to increase sales and conversions.
  • Specific types of posts that work best for affiliate marketing.
  • Websites that we built that totally failed, and why.
  • How podcasts, videos and webinars can be the best way to promote products as an affiliate.
  • Where the affiliate links on your blog or website should really be.
  • Plus a lot more… Click to continue…
Author : Pat | Posted on : June 29th, 2011
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SPI 015 : Types of Passive Income Generated Online and What to Expect From Each – Part 1

The Smart Passive Income Podcast

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In this session of the Smart Passive Income Podcast, I investigate the different types of passive income streams that can be generated online, and what you can expect from each.

When I say “what you can expect”, I mean:

  • the costs that are involved
  • how one might get started
  • what kind of results are typical; and
  • how long it might take to see those results

A lot of people have been emailing me and sending me message that this blog doesn’t have a good starting point for newcomers.

Well – they’re right.

I don’t.

This podcast session, along with the other parts that go with it, will become that starting point – a place to give you an idea about what you can do and how you can begin to work towards earning a passive income online.

During this particular segment of this series, I talk about:

  • What I believe is the fastest and easiest way to make money online. You might be surprised!
  • An example of a totally passive, 100% hands-off income stream that continues to grow.
  • How I totally failed in my first experience with affiliate marketing.
  • Why affiliates are important and why 99% of the work is already done for you.
  • What you can do to get started, even if you don’t have any money at all.

Right click here to download the MP3

Items Mentioned in this Session:

As I mention at the end of this session, Cliff Ravenscraft from PodcastAnswerMan.com, a dear friend and frequent guest on my podcast, will be dedicating the entire month of March to helping a group of students create a successful podcast too. He’s helped me so much, I feel that he and his Podcasting from A to Z course definitely deserves a mention. It’s the least I can do for all of his help.

If you’re interested in Podcasting the right way, learn from the best. Check out Cliff’s How to Podcast from A to Z Course by Clicking Here. (This is an affiliate link)

As always, thank you for your support, and I wish you all the best. Cheers!

Transcript:

Click Here to Download the Transcript (PDF)

Author : Pat | Posted on : February 21st, 2011
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How You Can Make Money From Shoppers Right Now

This is a guest post by Chris Guthrie who was recently featured in Session 10 of the Smart Passive Income Podcast. His interview about how he sold nearly $1,000,000 in product from niche sites specifically for the Amazon.com affiliate program has generated a lot of buzz, and he was kind enough to offer some additional advice about how all of us can cash in on the biggest shopping day of the year – Black Friday.

Black Friday is nearly upon us and for those of you with websites now is the time to make some money.

I’ve earned over $60k in profit from Amazon’s affiliate program in the past 12 months, thousands more from other physical product based affiliate programs and last year over $20k came from the last two months of the year (Check out my podcast session with Pat Flynn for even more details on how I do it). Click to continue…

Author : Pat | Posted on : November 24th, 2010
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SPI 010 : Crushing It With Amazon Affiliate Sales With Chris Guthrie of MakeMoneyOnTheInternet.com

The Smart Passive Income Podcast

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In this session (the 10th session!) of the Smart Passive Income Podcast, I interview Chris Guthrie of Make Money On The Internet, who is making a killing as an affiliate for products from Amazon.com.

Out of all the places to sign up as an affiliate and earn a commission from the products you can sell, Amazon was my least favorite of all – that is until asking Chris a load of questions about why he chose to sell products specifically from Amazon and how he does it.

Last year, he sold almost $1,000,000.00 in products from Amazon and earned a full time income as a result, all from niche sites that he’s built and set virtually on autopilot. He’s also got a very interesting story about how he got into this business, thanks to a little video game called Halo.

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • How to maximize your conversions for products that you sell from niche sites (and your blog too).
  • What linking techniques have the best click-through rates for Amazon products, and which ones are the worst (backed up by hard numbers).
  • The one thing that most people building product niche sites tend to forget.
  • What you can do to maximize your search engine rankings right from the start.
  • How picking a less searched for keyword can increase your income.

Chris is an awesome, down to earth guy who I became really good friends with at Blog World Expo last month. What impresses me most about him is not how he’s making a full time income from Amazon.com, but how he’s so willing to help others.

I hope you enjoy, and just like Chris says in the interview, if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I’m sure he’ll be around to answer them from time to time.

Cheers!

Right click here to download the MP3

Items Mentioned in this Session:

Transcript:

Click Here to Download the Transcript (PDF)

Author : Pat | Posted on : November 15th, 2010
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SPI 003 : Affiliate and Niche Site Strategies Revealed with Glen Allsop

The Smart Passive Income Podcast

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In this session of The Smart Passive Income Podcast, I’m very excited to chat with Glen Allsop of Viperchill.com as we get into crazy detail about exactly how he makes money online. If there is one session to take notes on, this is the one because Glen reveals a ton of information about his 5 step process for making money with affiliate and niche sites.

You can learn more about Glen by visiting his high ranking blog at Viperchill.com.

Enjoy!

Right click here to download the MP3

Items Mentioned in this Session:

Action Items:

Transcript:

Author : Pat | Posted on : August 11th, 2010
54

Multiple Strategies I Use For Affiliate Marketing – Where To Put Affiliate Links

internet-marketing-triple-threatI’m a big believer of creating your own products to sell online. Whether it’s something like an eBook, a membership website, or software of some kind, building your own products can yield the highest profits, as well give you a fantastic foundation to live a passive income lifestyle.

However, I know that not everyone is cut out to create their own products.  Some people simply don’t have the time, while others don’t think they have information to make a worthwhile product. Sadly, some people know they have the information, but are just lazy.

Whatever the reason may be for not wanting to create your own product, I’m sure most of you know that you have the option of simply skipping that step and selling other people’s products as an affiliate instead, earning a commission for each sale that you drive. Heck – sometimes you don’t even have to create a sales page or worry about closing the deal, you just have to drive traffic to a certain page, and it takes care of the rest.

On top of that, there’s no need to worry about customer service, which is the one thing that can take some time away from an entirely passive income lifestyle if you’re earning money with your own products. I speak from experience.

Although I do sell products of my own online, I’m also an affiliate for various products in multiple niches as well. I’m actually seeing quite a lot of success too, as you can read in my latest income report.

I use multiple strategies to build up my affiliate income. Here is a majority of them, which I’m happy to share with you in case you were looking at some new and creative ways to boost your affiliate income. Click to continue…

Author : Pat | Posted on : May 10th, 2010
70

8 Principles for Effective Affiliate Marketing on a Blog

principles-marketingIn a little over a year, this blog alone has earned me $6,931.97.

Compared to my other online businesses, that’s not very much at all – but considering I don’t sell anything on this blog and have only 4 125×125 ads (below the fold) in the sidebar, I’d say that’s pretty darn good. My point here is that you don’t have to aggressively sell or advertise to your audience in order to earn some decent cash on your blog. You can do it by being honest and smart with your affiliate links.

Some critics might say that I probably could have earned more. Maybe if I placed Google adsense within my posts. Maybe if I had more advertisements in the sidebar. Maybe if I had text link ads. Maybe if I did product review posts.

I disagree.

All of those things take away from the main focus of this blog (which is the main focus that ALL blogs should have) – the content. If you write excellent content – things that get people excited, things that people haven’t seen before, things that make people want more – you’ll have the potential (and more importantly, the foundation) to make money online. Click to continue…

Author : Pat | Posted on : January 11th, 2010
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3 Types of Affiliate Marketing Explained, And The One I Profit From

affiliate marketing explainedIn my latest monthly income report, you may have noticed that my affiliate income had surpassed my direct income from the electronic products that I sell online. I received a lot of comments, asking me to explain more about where my affiliate income comes from and how it works.

Instead of just breaking down where it all came from – how much this, and how much that – I decided to turn this post into something a little bit more useful that would do more than just tell you how much I earned. Again, I’m not here to show you the money I make online, I’m here to show you how I make money online, and what I’ve learned along the way.

When thinking specifically about affiliate income, I determined that I could divide how people earn money as an affiliate into three primary categories: Unattached, Related, and Involved. I’m speaking in terms of how we are associated with the product or products we may be an affiliate for. Click to continue…

Author : Pat | Posted on : December 14th, 2009