Should Paid Directories Be Used?
So I was recently checking out Zacjohnson.com a super affiliates blog and he wrote a good article on the importance of paid directories. I can remember a few years ago when I was really just getting started writing blogs I took advantage of directories as a good way to get some backlinks. I have read a lot about this lately and I am seeing a lot of people talking that Google and Yahoo do not weigh these as heavy as they used to.
While you will still get a backlink from a directory submission it is now a matter of is it worth the money. Directories range from either free to up to $299 for a listing in yahoo or Business. com. This biggest thing I can say about this is look and see what sites you are competing with and see if they have placed a ink in the top directories.
If you have read my blog at all you know that I work mostly with SEO sites and less with PPC. This being said I do not deal with directories anymore but I did find a list in Website magazine on recommended submission sites.
So what are your thoughts on paid directories?
What Is Holding You Back From Making Thousands In Affiliate Marketing?
Since you’re sitting here reading my blog you are probably wanting to figure out what you need to do to actually see the paychecks start rolling in, right? Well that is exactly where I was not too long ago. I would sit here at the computer and struggle to figure out why I kept seeing everyone post screenshots of the checks they were receiving and I wondered to myself why can’t I do this.
So what is holding you back? Is it the lack of money to start? Are you afraid to actually put the money to use because you thing you might fail? I was scared when I first started because I didn’t want to lose money. Then I realized the common saying you can’t make money without spending money.
Start out by developing a landing page that will sell something. This is the most important thing to remember. You can write the worlds best ad copy on Adwords and bid on just the right keywords but if you page looks like it was designed by a 3 year old you want sell anything.
The biggest thing you need is confidence in yourself. If you don;t have that you will always question the things you produce.
Just Returned From Vacation
So some of you have probably noticed that I have not been making any blog posts for the past month. Well want to know the reason? My wife and I have been traveling through Europe for the past four weeks and we just got back to town last night. We had the time of our lives but with all that fun meant a down 4 weeks in affiliate marketing. While I had internet in most of the hotels we stayed at I only did the bare minimum of work on a few of my sites.
A couple months ago I wrote a post about the importance of taking a break from work for awhile and taking a vacation, but this is another good example of what not to do. Even though I didn’t have a whole lot of time to do work while gone I have let this week and absolute mess because I have so much to catch up on.
Oh one other thing from when I was gone. I have just started running a Email Submit campaign before I left and I checked on it probably 5 days after being gone because I thought it was pretty much running on auto-pilot. Well guess what, the advertiser decided things were not converting well enough for them so they blocked me. Oh yes, I was still running adwords for it however so I lost a pretty penny.
Well thats all for tonight. I will have some good info for all of you tomorrow though. :-)
Vacations From Affiliate Marketing Or Work In General
So I am a firm believer in always giving yourself a vacation from whatever you do. You can be a working professional or just a student. You always need a break. Thats why I am out of Chicago right now and in warm and sunny Florida for a weeks vacation.
I Know for myself I work so many hours and I put so much pressure on myself that I need to take some time off every once in awhile. It could just be a day off but it needs to be something. I just happen to be taking a full week now but I am still doing a little bit of work while I am down here.
I will be heading off to Europe for a month to go backpacking with my lovely wife here in the middle of March so my work will be a little less then. Just going to have things on autopilot and do the basic updating as need be. Tomorrow I will write a more informative post for you all but until then I am going to go enjoy the rest of the days sun and another Corona 
Where To Start When Making Money Online
So a lot of you are probably sitting there right now wondering to yourself, “How can I make money online like everyone else?” Am I right? I know it’s a hard thing to try and understand. When I first started I knew absolutely nothing about building a website or even about affiliate marketing. What I did know was general marketing from all my business classes in college. What should this say to you? Well how about that anyone can do it. I had a lot of help from a former co-worker of mine who kind of took me under his wing and taught me a lot of what I know today. Other than that I did a lot of reading on forums and other super affiliate blogs.
So the biggest things to think about when you start doing this type of work is DON’T WORRY ABOUT LOSING MONEY. We all do it. You will have days that you might lose a little bit of cash and there might be days where you lose a lot of money. This really should happen more when you are testing an offer than when you have a good one going full force. Bottom line is if your making a profit your doing something right.
There are two ways in which I like to promote products. First one is just via a blog. Whether this be a blog that I already have going or one that I specifically make to use for a niche. The second way I like to promote a product is via a review site. This is a great way to give the consumer more than one option but also try and focus on selling them. I love to give my visitors options.
Let me back track a little bit the very first thing you need to plan out is what you are going to market also known as what niche do you want to get into. Some of the big ones over the past couple of years have been ringtones, dating, weight loss and any financial niche. My suggestion is unless you get into these early don’t try them if you are a beginner. learn on something that has a little less competition and then when you are raking in the big bucks you can try something else.
Well thats about all on the beginning of a campaign. I will go more in depth next time.
