Tony's Pizza Give-Away

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Tony’s Pizza. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love pizza. To grow up in a New York city neighborhood meant enjoying a thin crust, hand-tossed, plain slice (or two ) of triangular shaped Italian goodness. This was and continues to be a staple of Brooklynite life.

I’m in Florida now, but I still try to regularly enjoy a good Pizza. In fact, on Friday nights, it’s almost a ritual – dinner and a movie: usually pizza, wings & a DVD of a recent release. The pizza can be carry-out, hand made or store bought (i.e: frozen).

Why do I enjoy pizza so much? Honestly I don’t know. Perhaps eating it now takes me back to a simpler time. Or maybe it’s the fact that’s its a quick, pleasantly delicious and fun food choice. Or, maybe it’s because it might be a guilt-free pleasure. It’s been said that, in moderation, pizza may be GOOD for you: A typical slice of cheese pizza gets only 30% of its calories from fat and the tomato sauce contains lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that may help prevent cancer. Experts recommend eating pizza with plenty of vegetable toppings, especially bell peppers because they retain their vitamin C.

Whatever the reason, I luv it, and eat it I do. So I was excited when Tony’s Pizza sent us some coupons to enjoy and share their offerings.

I’m more of a cheese pizza kinda guy, while my son also enjoys the pepperoni topping. And I got to tell you, these flavorful crispy crusted delights are pleasantly affordable – under $1.75 – and quick to make – 400 degrees for 12 minutes – and for all you mommies (and daddies) out there who are watching what your kids eat, the list of ingredients on these tasty treats are agreeable to those looking for the quick food without all the quick junk.

Our friends at Tony’s want you to enjoy their Crisby Crust pizza for FREE! They sent me some extra coupons to give away to my pizza loving readers. So if you want one, leave a comment as to why and I’ll send you one.

I only have a few so be quick and enjoy!!!!!!!!

Persuasive Copy How-To

So you found an awesome offer. It seems to be converting well for others and you want it to promote it. You created a nice, unique landing page design and are ready to create your compelling content. But, will it be persuasive enough to lead to conversions? How do you get your copy to be persuasive? Here’s how:

1) Remember the reader: Who’s your targeted demo? What’s in it for them? Promise them something early on so they keep reading. Give them a reason why they are there. Be specific and leave the BS to the farmers.

2) Give them proof: Quote third party references or statistics or use testimonials to solidify your position as an authority in the space
and restate the hook that got readers engaged in the first place.

3) Make them an offer. Buyers don’t “buy”, they choose to own what is being offered to them. Be bold and firm when you present your offer, and relieve the reader’s risk of acceptance by standing behind what you say.

Try these tips when creating your offer letter and you’ll be writing pretty persuasive copy.

5 Affiliate Marketing Product Mistakes

Many affiliate marketers today are facing the problem of not knowing which particular affiliate products to promote because of the deluge of products available. Here are 5 mistakes to avoid:

1. Focusing on the affiliate program not on the product

It really important for you to remember you will be marketing a product and not an affiliate program. Don’t overlook a program because many affiliates are working it. Thats actually a good thing – it means it converts well.

2. Failing to invest in getting the word out

Use PPC wisely, feel free to experiment with Adwords and Adsense, leverage your email list. Pay attention to your response rate to see which specific marketing channels are more appropriate for the offer.

3. Ignoring the Search Engine Optimization Process

Sure you got your thin sites for the quick programs, and PPC works well for these. But for your special offers, focus on creating an authoritative destination and work on getting these to rank well. Ranking high organically provides free traffic (sort of).

4. Focusing on the product not on the site

Build a good landing page. Provide a relevant title and a clear call to action. More on landing pages in a future post.

5. Failing to keep up with latest news in the industry of your chosen products

Stay informed – in tune with the market, and stay ahead of the competition.

Small BIG things

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Print24. All opinions are 100% mine.

So I was recently approached about doing a post about Business Cards. Traditionally these small, rectangular-sized printed media pieces have been the networking tool that kept your business-contact list growing. But fast forward to today. Are business cards still needed in the digital age?

The answer is – Absolutely Yes! Although it may be true that many of us interact less with people face to face, especially on the Affiliate Marketing side of things, business cards are still a great marketing tool for one reason – Networking.

Networking affords us the ability to create and maintain relationships. Take my esteemed colleague, local Orlando blogger Ashley Edwards. By leveraging his local relationships, he gets invited to many cool venues (for FREE) and therefore has 1st dibs on what’s happening in the Orlando area. By having the inside scoop, he’s 1st to break the story on his hip blog about things to do in Orlando: “Pulse of Central Florida”.

Recently Ashley mentioned a venue he was attending and was in need of new business cards. So we hopped on the interwebs and landed at our sponsor Print24. We played around with some templates (he’s a real simple, down to earth guy), picked a simple one he liked, added info and had them delivered in a few days (see pic). He loves his new cards and they will serve him well.

Regardless of the size of your enterprise, business cards tell people who you are and what you do. So instead of asking others to write down your contact info (which is a lame time-suck BTW), give’em your card! It will leave a better 1st impression as well as get you noticed. And remember, although you personally made the initial contact, it’s your business card that may get you the sale/job/promo, etc. later on.

Need new cards? Head over to Print24 and make your own. Yes, some small things come in small packages, but can pay BIG dividends.

Go Viral Marketing

So we all understand the concept of ‘going viral’, right’? Remember the “getting the flu” analogy? It all starts with one member of the family getting infected by a friend or a relative. He brings the virus home and pretty soon the entire family gets hit… but not before the ‘carrier’ passes it to others too!

Just like that, viral marketing is leveraging tools to drive traffic to your website and profits. A good way to go viral is with an eProduct. The ebook could be yours or someone elses. If allowed, you can place advertisements strategically in the back of an ebook (under Recommended Resources). These can be ebooks with resell rights (any form that allows the product to be easily passed to another – master resell rights, unrestricted PLR rights, rebranding rights or giveaway rights – more on these in a moment).

But how do your find the ‘carrier’? Obviously a suitable carrier could be a niche-targeted eProduct. Those like-minded individuals, who have a passion for the topic of the ebook, will ingest, and spread it, generating targeted traffic to your sales letter page. Some specific eProduct examples could be:

• Unrestricted PLR ebooks or special reports. The easier it is for people to get their hands on your book, the better the traffic! Do not worry about people altering your ads – people are usually too lazy to alter the book. They will promote your links for you! The most appealing thing about unrestricted PLR is that people can SELL the PLR rights to others making it highly valuable!

• E-books or special reports with Master resell rights. The same applies as unrestricted PLR. Resellers can resell your books, bundle your books together as a package or into a fire sale or offer them as a bonus. You can watch as your books (and your links) fall into the hands of readers all over the world!

• Products with giveaway rights. If you have excellent content, people are more than willing to give away your book to others and the virus spreads. Although it carries less perceived value compared to a ‘paid’ product, nevertheless, it still has it usefulness if your content is good.

You can create as many viral campaigns as you can for your website. Once they are all setup, all you need to do is tweak your sales pages or landing pages to maximize your profits. And who said viruses are bad for you????

Audience Engagement part 1

The key to maximizing your earnings is engaging your readers. Unlike traditional ads where you are paid for impressions or clicks, affiliates are only paid when/if a specific action is performed. The action might be a purchase or signing up for a newsletter, but regardless, you are not paid until you’ve compelled your readers to act.

With that in mind, here are the Top 5 attributes of an engaging affiliate marketing initiative:

1. Know Your Audience
The most successful way to use affiliate programs is to anticipate and meet the needs of your readers. Consider why they are coming to your site. What are you providing that they are looking for? Make sure the affiliate products you are promoting provide a solution to your audience’s problems.

If you are writing about sports, don’t put up affiliate ads for printer toner just because everyone has a printer and those programs have a high payout. The people who are coming to read commentary or get stats for their favorite teams aren’t thinking about those things when they’re on your site.

The more relevant the ads are to your readers, the more likely they will use them.

2. Be Trustworthy
Readers are savvy. They know an affiliate link when they see one. If you break their trust by promoting a product you don’t believe in or take advantage of their visit with too many ads, they will leave and never come back.

It is your repeat visitors that will drive traffic. They are the ones who will give you linkbacks, spread the word, and recommend your site as the go-to place for valuable content. You need to build a relationship based on genuine content.

If your visitors don’t think you’re being honest, they won’t read anything else you have to say.

3. Be Helpful
Think of affiliate ads as additional resources that complement your content. Give value to your content by making it helpful, useful, and informative.

Don’t put up a list of your favorite books, hoping people will click on the affiliate link, purchase the books (just because you listed them), so you can cash in on a sale. Take some time to write a detailed review, and use affiliate ads to point them in the right direction if they decide to act on your information. That’s what affiliate ads are for. If you write a great review recommending a book and readers buy the book because of it, you should get something for that.

But just throwing out links to products with no rhyme or reason will result in a quick exit by visitors.

4. Be Transparent
Always disclose your affiliations. Your readers will appreciate your honesty, and will feel better about contributing to your earnings. If they sense that you are being less than honest about your affiliations, they are savvy enough to bypass your link and go directly to the vendor just to avoid giving you referral credit.

Honesty and full disclosure is a necessary part to building a loyal reader base. They know they are supporting you by using your referral links. Make them happy and eager to do so.

5. Select Carefully
Take the time to go through all the different options for products or services available through the programs. Put some thought into which products or services your readers may need or like. Also, change the ads around often, try different ones, and use different graphics and text to see which are the most effective.

Hmm, there’s actually more to share here, but I’ll share more in a future post, soon – I promise………

Pie In The Sky Claims?

A new year is among us. How will you fare in 2010? Will you be setting some Super Affiliate New Year Resolutions?Something to be careful about is this: Throughout the Affiliate Marketing landscape, no doubt you’ve come across a ton of reports, blog/forum posts and information products where the person has claimed to be making huge dollars as an affiliate, aka a super affiliate; leaving you green with envy.

Treat all such reports with a grain of salt; particularly if you’re an affiliate marketing newbie. Why?

Often, it’s just total lies – there’s really no other way to put it. It’s often just a hook to sucker you into whatever is being touted, or grooming you for purchasing a product in the future. Often sales pages for a product stating “let me show you how I make a thousand bucks a day from affiliate marketing” are owned by people who have bought the product and site from the guy who actually made the thousand dollars a day – mostly by selling the product and site. You’ll find tens of thousands of these get rich quick sites scattered throughout the Internet.

Don’t rely on scans of commission checks either as proof of income or revenue generated. These are easily falsified.

Consider there may be a large sum of money the person has outlaid in order to make that cash. For example, Dude A claims he made 100k, but what he doesn’t tell you is that he spent 60k to make it on promoting the product. Dude B makes 55k but only spent 5k. While Dude A might seem to be the high flyer, Dude B is the more successful affiliate when it comes down to it as his ROI (Return On Investment) is far higher.

Some affiliates aim for quality over quantity. It’s not uncommon in PPC (pay per click) for instance for some affiliate marketers to spend 7 bucks in clicks in order to make 10. That’s not really profitable unless you’re doing volume, and it’s this sort of approach that’s also helped to contribute to high PPC prices today.

Something else to bear in mind is time – two guys make a thousand bucks, one spends 40 hours to make it, another spends 20. The first guy crows about the thousand bucks, the second keeps quiet. I’d rather learn from the second person myself – but so many of these guys fly under the radar; which is really a smart thing to do when you think about it.

The other issue is that some of these self styled super affiliate have been in the game for a very long time. They’ve spent years honing their approaches – thousands upon thousands of dollars; and likely lost a lot of time and money in the process. This is pretty normal as part of the learning curve, regardless of how many “secret reports” you buy. Some of this information may shorten the process to profitability, but be prepared for the pathway to success to be a lengthy one.

Often what the super affiliates and marketing gurus who sell information products won’t tell you about is what some call the “inner circle strategy”. It works on the principle of networking with their affiliate buddies and wealth building on wealth. There’s big dollars to be made using it, but you need to be semi-successful as an affiliate first before you’ll get an opportunity to even get a foot in the door of these little clubs – learn more about the inner circle strategy.

The real secret

Most of the information you need to make a decent income from affiliate marketing can be found for free. Affiliate forums are also a great place to gain insight. While there are some high flying super affiliates out there who are highly successful in their own right and have the midas touch; remember all that glitters is not gold and sometimes the gold has to be mined using a lot of blood, sweat and tears – and that’s what you should be counting on as a newbie in the world of affiliate marketing. My approach has always been – think content before profit.

In any affiliate program, it’s the top couple of percent who generate the most sales – over 90% will make next to nothing. It’s very much like any other aspect of life where only a comparative few achieve excellence. In affiliate marketing, you just need to find a niche that gives you the best chance of being in that top couple of percent; so that’s where having a genuine passion in a given area can work to your advantage.

Love cars? Focus on that. Are you passionate about pets? Develop sites around your favorite pet breed; create original useful and informative content, build up a mailing list, keep in touch with your subscribers with RSS feeds and email newsletters; follow some basic social media and search engine optimization principles and the traffic will come. Then hook into the affiliate side of things; running offers relevant to your topic.

It is easy on the face of it, but there is an investment of time – but it’s a lot lower risk and very rewarding as you’ll be working in an area you actually care about. Once you have a handle on that, other forms of affiliate marketing will be a lot easier to generate from.

Money is important in life and business, but so is time – equally, if not more so; so ensure your time is being spent effectively and not being wasted soaking up spin from furus (fake gurus )

Super Affiliate New Year Resolutions

When the new year arrives, many people will be making resolutions about getting in better shape, going back to school, starting a new career (I hear affiliate marketing is great!), finding that special someone, or a variety of other self-improvement goals for 2010. What goals can affiliates set?

First and foremost, affiliates should be thinking about testing a variety of resolution related offers in the weeks ahead. But, what kind of resolutions can affiliates make? Here are a handful of ideas to kick your New Year off with some goals to help grow your business.

Test new offers early and often in 2010. Don’t sit around until your top performing offer starts to fall off and then look for something new to promote. Be proactive and come up with a plan that allows you to constantly test new offers.

Stay on top of all your affiliate managers. Don’t wait for them to reach out to you with recommendations on new hot offers. Hit them up for new ideas and offers that will work for your audience.

Attend at least one industry conference this year. Whether you make the trek to Vegas for Affiliate Summit, the East Coast for LeadsCon or some other locale for ad:tech, be sure to attend one big industry event in 2010. This especially goes for those affiliates who have never checked out a show before. Find out what you have been missing.

Monitor and analyze your campaign performance more closely than ever before. It’s amazing how many marketers start running a campaign and then don’t monitor it regularly. Even if you are already keeping regular tabs on everything you run, find ways to dig deeper into the numbers. Check results by day of the week, time of the day, geography, or other variable. Then use that data to optimize your programs.

Keep up to date on what’s going on in the industry. Whether that means reading a number of quality blogs or newsletters each day or sitting in on some good conference sessions, do what it takes to stay informed.

Bring on the new year!!

British Airways Fare Sale!

My job has me traveling to different marketing events, be it for Social Media or the SEM/SEO verticals. Last month, it was San Diego, CA. Last week, Las Vegas, NV. I might need to go to Austin, TX before years end. I flew to London some months ago for SES, which BTW is coming up again: February 16-19, 2010. I enjoyed London – well, except for the cold – but I definitely would not mind going again. Which brings me to British Airways.

For all you travel gurus, British Airways has a super ‘World Sale’ going on, good through November 19th. If I book now for the SES conference in London, flying from Orlando to London is only $289 each way that week – NOT BAD!!!!! And it’s not just London that’s on sale but Asia, the Middle East and Africa too!

My recent travels reminded me how the economy has affected even the airlines – the only complimentary offerings the airlines provided during my recent flights was something to drink (which consisted of either water or juice or soda). Anything else is extra.

What’s cool about British Airways is that they provide you an “upgraded” experience: 200+ On-Demand Entertainment Options, ergonomically designed seats (complete with lumbar support, adjustable headrest and recline ), eyeshades, flight socks and of course complimentary food and cocktails on all flights. Yeah!

Too bad I can’t fly them to Texas…

Just Got Back From Pubcon

Last week I was away in Las Vegas, manning a booth for our illustrious ‘Sponsored Conversation’ marketing company. Had a great time. Saw some old friends, made new ones, had some delicious enchiladas at the Hard Rock Hotel (Pink Taco restaurant) and got to see some sites – well, we walked down the strip (shrug).

The show was smaller than expected, way smaller than the DMA tradeshow from a few weeks earlier in San Diego, but my colleague and I got to meet some great people in the SEM/SEO space and hopefully garner some lasting business relationships with them.

I met some key Super Affiliate Marketers as well which will help define the path this blog will be following in 2010. Stay tuned for details…

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