Doug Hart asked:


Good day,

Today I’d like to discuss the deadliest sins – of an affiliate marketer. I’m sure you have heard the stories about the “super affiliate” marketers that are raking in $20K, $30K and more per month selling everything from diet products to ring-tones and even home improvement products. Don’t get me wrong these guys really do exist! The problem is, too many internet marketers don’t have success right out of the gate and quit before making a dime.

That doesn’t have to happen to you! I’m here to discuss the most prevalent mistakes, also known as the “deadliest sins” of the unsuccessful internet marketers. I’ve seen these happen many times, so here is my list:

1) Choosing the wrong product. One of the main problems is people choose a product that just isn’t right for them, either because they know nothing about it or it is has no large market to support the proper sales. Think about it, if only about one-hundred thousand people are the type that love to study butterflies (just an example!) then you have problems finding enough of them that want to buy your butterfly products. I know it’s been said many times that you have to find a product that you know something about and have a passion for, but the market still has to be there.

2) Promoting too many products at once. I know you are anxious to be one of “super affiliates” yourself, but you have to walk before you can run. Make sure you are comfortable with the basics and are actually making some consistent money selling your first product before jumping onto something else. There are too many band-wagons to jump on as it is, and new products seem to get hot on a regular basis. But that doesn’t mean the product you have is a loser, does it? Many times you can spend what seems like a lot of time and money promoting something, tweaking your keywords, testing different ads, changing your sales copy on the website, and nothing is working. Then one day you wake up and have several sales! Like magic, it all comes together. Be patient if you know you have a good product.

3) Not using free methods for promotion. Although many people are very successful at making money using PPC, most of the internet marketers I know of also use at least a few free methods as well. Besides, unless you have unlimited funds to play with until you “get it right”, you may run out of money before starting to see any return on your promotions. Use all of the free marketing you can – start and maintain several blogs, write as many articles as you can every day and post to ezine sites, setup a bunch of Squidoo lenses and use Twitter and Facebook to let people know every time you make an update. There’s a thousand more free ways to get traffic, use as many as you can! After all, your labor is worth something, it will pay off in the long run. The best part about the free traffic is that in most cases it lasts longer (much longer!) than the paid kind. And it builds page rank, too.

4) Don’t ever give up. This is just my way of saying you really can’t lose unless you quit. If someone else can make money online, you can too! But remember, they didn’t figure it out overnight either. Nobody does. It takes time to build an online marketing machine, to make lots of money online, but you can do it. Just keep your goals in mind, and no matter what happens keep a positive outlook. What’s that old saying? Winners never quit and quitters never win…

Hope you enjoyed these little tips of mine, the reason I do this is that I need to be reminded almost daily myself! Never stop learning, and never give up, and you will become one of the super affiliate marketers yourself, happily making money online every day.



Glenda

David Humphries asked:


 

40 days to transform your life? Wild claim or the latest best self-help book on the net?

The Butterfly Plan is the latest fad in the anti-ageing and weight loss arena. It does have some excellent advice but its author tends to pull the focus away from the message with her outrageous appearance. Leda Fox sports a fairly awful purple wig and refers to herself as The Purple Guru. She is an outspoken, forty-something, mother of five children from 4 years to 22 years. I wonder if she wears that hideous wig around the house. It must scare the children.

The Butterfly Plan was written by Fox in 2008 and has seen record internet sales as it is currently only available as an e-book. It claims to be a model for life transformation. It has certainly transformed Leda Fox’s life. She was a fat, broke, alcoholic, suffering from post-natal depression. She now looks rather gorgeous (despite the wig) and has been giving advice to the rich and famous (one rumour has linked her with Nicole Kidman).

The book focuses on ‘balance’ rather than diet and exercise and emphasises the inclusion of purple food in every meal. This practice is supported by science and promotes a healthy weight and slowing of the ageing process by flooding the system with the compound – anthocyanin – the super antioxidant found in blueberries, plums, purple grapes, onions and cabbage.

 

The book suggests that generosity can heal depression; it offers a ‘George Costanza’ approach to beating addictions and even asserts that ****** is better than any diet pill!

 

Th eight key behaviours for which The Plan offers guidance are -

Moving, Eating, Sensing, Loving, Flying, Daring, Thinking and Giving.

She suggests a daily diet high in protein with purple on the side, gentle walking, meditation, lots of cuddles, swapping bad habits for good, challenging fear, neurobics (brain workouts) and generosity to self and others. 

My wife and I followed the plan and we did lose a substantial amount of weight and looked much brighter. I certainly felt pretty good afterwards.

 

Leda Fox claims to donate about ten percent of her proceeds to charities such as World Vision, Amnesty Intrernational and the Red Cross. This is part of her plan for prosperity. The more you give the more you get!

What I found most beneficial about the book and what made it different from others that make the same claims, was that Leda includes about one hundred pages from her own journal, documenting her transformation. The author really does take us inside her life. Most of it was very inspirational although I really did not need to know about the more intimate details of her marriage. Fox is very real, very earthy and ‘no nonsense’. She is also extremely funny. 

The most valuable advice contained in the book relates to relationships. It has some really touching stuff about parenthood. It helps you to see your parents in a different light and liberate you from some of the more negative aspects of “need for approval”. I found it very useful as both a son and a father.

 

The book is very much oriented toward a female audience and I did find a lot of it far too girly for my liking but it still ’speaks’ to men. If nothing else – I think I understand my wife a little better for having read it. 

 

If you’re feeling like a caterpillar – The Butterfly Plan might be your forty day metamorphis.  



Milton