Showing posts with label Blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blog. Show all posts

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Why Affiliate Marketing Is So Successful

Affiliate marketing is the mainstay of internet business. It accounts for billions of dollars every single year. The main reason that affiliate marketing is so successful and so many people are jumping on the affiliate bandwagon, is because it actually works. You have heard of companies like AffiliateBot, PayPal, Chitika and others that are all helping the affiliate marketing business to boom.

The main reason that it works is the magic figure of 99 percent. The figure 99 percent is so important because this represents the amount of people that are coming to your website that will never buy your product or service.

It’s a proven fact that only one percent of people visiting a website will actually buy that websites product or service directly. This means the other 99 percent of visitors will never buy.

The vast majority of website owners out there who are trying to do business online are not actually seizing this opportunity. They are focusing on creating sales letters and optimizing their website to sell to people in the one percent. This is a big mistake as the other 99 percent of visitors won’t buy your product. That’s where affiliate marketing comes in.

Affiliate marketing basically means selling other peoples stuff or getting other people to sell your stuff. With the 99 percent of visitors that won’t buy your product, what you need to do is get them to buy other peoples products. You need to get out of this mind trap of just focusing on selling your product or service.

If you own a hotel, for example, what you can do is you can sell other peoples product. You could promote tourist attractions. You could promote leisure facilities or sporting activities related to your hotel. When you make a sale these other companies would give you a commission. That, in essence, is what affiliate marketing is all about.

Now there are some great places where you can actually find new affiliates that will be willing to not only promote your product, but also have their own products which you can sell. It’s a lot easier to become an affiliate than you would think.

You should really only choose an affiliate program that gives you around 30 percent or more. There are some affiliate programs that will pay you 50 percent, 60 percent and more. It’s a great way to get supplemental income because, don’t forget, you are making money from visitors that are costing you and not giving you any revenue.

Good luck with your affiliate marketing efforts.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Keys to Financial Success

Although making resolutions to improve your financial situation is a good thing to do at any time of year, many people find it easier at the beginning of a new year. Regardless of when you begin, the basics remain the same. Here are my top ten keys to getting ahead financially.

1. Get Paid What You're Worth and Spend Less Than You Earn
It sounds simplistic, but many people struggle with this first basic rule. Make sure you know what your job is worth in the marketplace, by conducting an evaluation of your skills, productivity, job tasks, contribution to the company, and the going rate, both inside and outside the company, for what you do. Being underpaid even a thousand dollars a year can have a significant cumulative effect over the course of your working life.
No matter how much or how little you're paid, you'll never get ahead if you spend more than you earn. Often it's easier to spend less than it is to earn more, and a little cost-cutting effort in a number of areas can result in big savings. It doesn't always have to involve making big sacrifices.

2. Stick to a Budget
One of my favorite subjects: budgeting. It's not a four-letter word. How can you know where your money is going if you don't budget? How can you set spending and saving goals if you don't know where your money is going? You need a budget whether you make thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

3. Pay Off Credit Card Debt
Credit card debt is the number one obstacle to getting ahead financially. Those little pieces of plastic are so easy to use, and it's so easy to forget that it's real money we're dealing with when we whip them out to pay for a purchase, large or small. Despite our good resolves to pay the balance off quickly, the reality is that we often don't, and end up paying far more for things than we would have paid if we had used cash.

4. Contribute to a Retirement Plan
If your employer has a 401(k) plan and you don't contribute to it, you're walking away from one of the best deals out there. Ask your employer if they have a 401(k) plan (or similar plan), and sign up today. If you're already contributing, try to increase your contribution. If your employer doesn't offer a retirement plan, consider an IRA.

5. Have a Savings Plan
You've heard it before: Pay yourself first! If you wait until you've met all your other financial obligations before seeing what's left over for saving, chances are you'll never have a healthy savings account or investments. Resolve to set aside a minimum of 5% to 10% of your salary for savings BEFORE you start paying your bills. Better yet, have money automatically deducted from your paycheck and deposited into a separate account.

6. Invest!
If you're contributing to a retirement plan and a savings account and you can still manage to put some money into other investments, all the better.

7. Maximize Your Employment Benefits
Employment benefits like a 401(k) plan, flexible spending accounts, medical and dental insurance, etc., are worth big bucks. Make sure you're maximizing yours and taking advantage of the ones that can save you money by reducing taxes or out-of-pocket expenses.

8. Review Your Insurance Coverages
Too many people are talked into paying too much for life and disability insurance, whether it's by adding these coverages to car loans, buying whole-life insurance policies when term-life makes more sense, or buying life insurance when you have no dependents. On the other hand, it's important that you have enough insurance to protect your dependents and your income in the case of death or disability.

9. Keep Good Records
If you don't keep good records, you're probably not claiming all your allowable income tax deductions and credits. Set up a system now and use it all year. It's much easier than scrambling to find everything at tax time, only to miss items that might have saved you money.