We've all heard stories of people making easy money online with auction sites like Clickbank, or by writing a blog, or by using Google AdSense, and quite a few other methods. Is it truly that easy? If you're a newbie, then the answer is "no". When you discover a proven system however, then it truly is feasible to make easy money online. My favourite approach for accomplishing this is with affiliate marketing. You must work hard if you want to achieve success and you will also have to apply certain tools in order to earn money.
Affiliate Marketing
It is a fact that affiliate marketing is among the simplest and most efficient ways to generate income online. However, you will have to make an effort right until you can generate income from your affiliate business.
So how do you succeed as an affiliate marketer?
First, you should identify a product niche that you’re knowledgeable about, and then write an article related to that topic. At the end of the article, you can add a ‘resource box.’ Typically, this is a couple of sentences about you and what you have to offer, followed by a link to your website, where you can then direct people to useful products in that niche.
The trick here is to use those sentences to entice people to click on your link. An easy way to accomplish this is to offer a free report or other freebie related to your niche market.
Next, you’ll submit that article (for free) to various article directories on the web.
The two main directories to start with are:
www.ezinearticles.com and www.goarticles.com
To find more, just do a Google search for ‘article directory’ or ‘article directories.’
Please note that one of the conditions of publishing your article in these directories is that you allow other people to republish your articles as long as they don’t change the content and leave your name and the resource box at the end of the article intact.
Don’t worry; this is a good thing, as it will lead to more traffic for you! There are two main ways this practice will get you additional traffic.
1) Getting Published
Website owners in the niche market you are writing about will come to these directories looking for suitable articles they can use as content on their websites or ezines.
If they pick your article to publish on their site, their visitors will see your website link in the resource box at the end of your article, which could generate extra traffic for you with no additional effort or expense on your part.
2) Search Engine Rankings
Article directories can rank highly in the search engine results, so your article may get a good search engine listing by being on some of these sites. This is especially the case if other websites link to your article.
To try to get a good search engine ranking, you should target specific keyword phrases you want to rank for and make sure to include them in your article. The less competitive the keyword, the better the chance your article will rank well in the search engines.
A note of caution-don’t overdo your keyword targeting by stuffing loads of keywords into the article. If you do this, many people won’t want to read your article or click on your link, and the search engines may punish you for writing “spammy” content. This completely defeats the purpose of article marketing, which is to provide useful information that gets people to take the action you want them to take.
Instead of repeating your keyword dozens of times, just get your main keyword in there a few times, and start the article title with your keyword if you can. Your best bet is to strike a balance between having your keyword in your article enough to get noticed by search engines and keeping it readable, informative, and enjoyable for actual humans. After all, it doesn’t matter how many visitors see your article if it doesn’t convince anyone to click on your link!
In addition to getting your articles ranked in the search engines, you can also increase your own website’s search engine rankings by linking to it from your articles. With each article you submit, the more links you’ll have to your site, and the better your rankings will be.
That’s article marketing in a nutshell. Give it a try, and be aware that it may take some time and effort before you start seeing results. The best article marketers put a lot of time and effort into improving their work, just like any author, but since it’s a free and simple way to generate traffic and sales, it’s well worth the time you invest!
You can also discover the top secrets and methods made by one of the top successful affiliate marketers (Matt Keenan), that will take you on a step by step guide and discover how to generate big revenues using nothing but free traffic. (The Auto Wealth Maker)
by Matt Keenan - Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Affiliate Marketer