My Blog Readers have Earned Over ONE MILLION with Neverblue

Over the past decade I've had the task of working with many different affiliate networks. Some thrived, died, went out of business and a few also went on to be acquired and become parts of larger companies. One of the few successful and very … Read More

Breakdown of a Profitable Facebook Ads Campaign

With the latest backlash of articles coming up on TechCrunch about deceptive and scammy ways to make money on Facebook, I wanted to provide you with a full breakdown on how to create a successful CPA Facebook ads campaign. Step and step details on a … Read More

Create Killer Landing Pages – Free Template

I get questions all the time about landing pages and what are the best ways to create them. Instead of writing a post on what you should focus on, I will simply take an existing ad campaign from MarketLeverage, and made a real landing page out of. … Read More

Insider Secrets to a Making a Million Dollar Web Site!

A few days ago I released my first post on "How I Made $860,538.38 PROFIT in 4 Months!", along with the picture of my $306,373.24 check. Due to the massive exposure and questions generated from the post, I thought I'd bring you the second … Read More

How I Made $860,538.38 PROFIT in 4 Months!

First off, I would like to make it clear that this post is NOT to impress you, but to impress upon you what's possible! This is a quick review on how I went from one of my worst years of making money online to my best year, and all it took was one … Read More

Affiliate News at IMToday.com

FTC Settles with Facebook

Facebook is quickly approaching the 1 billion members mark, and it’s also growing daily as a new revenue source for affiliate and online marketers. Through Facebook Ads, advertisers can target nearly all members of Facebook based on their demographics and interests. There has been a lot of discussion on Facebook and their privacy settings lately. This article will discuss the latest FTC settlement with Facebook. It seems like Facebook is always in the news for something, but they just keep growing and chugging along… is Facebook too big to fail?

On November 29, 2011, the Federal Trade Commission settled allegations that Facebook violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by virtue of its privacy practices.  The FTC’s enforcement action against Facebook is a clear example of the FTC’s efforts to ensure that websites live up to the privacy promises they make to consumers and that Facebook’s innovations will not come at the expense of consumer privacy.

The FTC’s complaint alleges that Facebook engaged in unfair trade practices by repeatedly failing to conform to its own promises regarding privacy to its hundreds of millions of users.  Specifically, the FTC alleges that although Facebook informed customers that they could “control who can see” their profile information by using privacy settings to restrict access to their profiles, these settings did not prevent certain third party applications from accessing their profile information.

The Commission also alleges that Facebook:

  • Made changes to its website that made public, information that users previously designated as private, without adequate notice;
  • Represented that third party applications would only be able to access profile information that was necessary to operate the application, but were oftentimes given unlimited access to consumer’s profile information;
  • Provided advertisers with information about users despite promises that it would not do so; and
  • Represented that users profile information, including photos and videos, would be in accessible upon deletion of accounts.  However, Facebook continued to allow third parties to access such content after accounts were deactivated or deleted.

The alleged violations of Section 5 of the FTC Act also include a failure to comply with the substantive privacy requirements of the United States-European Union Safe Harbor Framework, a voluntary framework that allows companies to transfer personal data from the European Union to the United States in compliance with European Union law.  Since at least 2009, Facebook has maintained self-certification with the Department of Commerce under the Safe Harbor program, under which it has declared its compliance with the seven Safe Harbor privacy principles in its public Privacy Policy and on the U.S. Department of Commerce website.  In its complaint, the FTC alleged that Facebook failed to comply with the Safe Harbor principles of Notice and Choice that required it to inform individuals about all the purposes for which it collected their data and to give those individuals a choice about how their information would be used.

Pursuant to the terms of the proposed settlement, Facebook is barred from further misrepresenting its privacy practices and is required to obtain opt-in consent from users prior to making changes that override their privacy preferences.  Facebook must also ensure that a user’s information cannot be accessed by anyone after a reasonable period of time, not to exceed 30 days, following the user’s deletion of his or her account, and implement a comprehensive program that protects the privacy and confidentiality of users’ information.  Lastly, Facebook must obtain independent privacy compliance audits every two years for the next twenty years, certifying that it has a privacy program in place that satisfies the requirements of the FTC consent decree.

According to Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, the company will create two new corporate officer position, Chief Privacy Policy Officer and Chief Privacy Products Officer.

Inasmuch as the FTC has recently agreed to consent decrees with both Google and Twitter involving record keeping obligations, the FTC now appears to possess regulatory oversight over the privacy and data security practices of the big three social networking companies in the United States.

This guest post was written by Richard B. Newman, an Internet attorney that specializes in performance marketing and regulatory compliance at Hinch Newman LLP in New York, New York.

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5 Affiliate Marketing Lessons I Learned from Blogging

Blogging can sometimes be a rough journey, and something beyond what we initially expect it to be. When I started blogging almost 3 years ago, I had a lot of plans for it; most of those plans I thought were really great ones, but, over time, I came to realize things aren’t exactly as easy as they seemed.

My blog is in the weight loss niche, and initially, when I started I had a lot of plans to make money from it, over time I came to discover the potential of being an affiliate for other people’s product and why it is an easy and smart approach to making money online. I have built my blog to a stage I’m really proud of, and my affiliate income is growing every day. While I’m currently satisfied, the journey wasn’t as easy when I started. You would have heard the saying, that, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Most of the things that have the most impact on how much I make from affiliate marketing aren’t those things I expected will be a great deal—in fact, I never really thought about most of them initially, but, over time, I have been able to learn a lot of lessons and I’ll be sharing some of them with you below.

1. A Brand Can Influence Online Income

I didn’t learn this lesson by reading books, and I didn’t learn it because I made a mistake that affected my brand, or anything of that nature, it was simply a matter of time and experience. If you’re reading Zac’s blog now, there is every probability you’ve been following him for months, or years, now and that you follow him because you see him as a go to expert as far as blogging and affiliate marketing is concerned–that doesn’t mean he is the only one talking about affiliate marketing online, and that doesn’t mean there aren’t other affiliate marketing blogs. It’s really simple; Zac has built a brand and has been able to gain your trust. If Zac should recommend a product now and a brand new blogger to the affiliate marketing space does the same, I’m pretty sure that for every one person that buys through that new blogger, five will buy through Zac – it’s that simple, there’s no magic formula, it’s only a matter of time.

This isn’t something you should obsess over, as a brand is associated with trust, and trust is built over time. Don’t expect to have the same level of trust as a blogger who started five years ago when you only started last month.

Building a solid and respected brand is a game of time, and we all have to wait for that time. For me, it was 3 years, for you it might be more. The only way to accelerate the process, and ensure your brand is appreciated, is to give great value. Don’t compromise your value, or integrity, no matter what, and always put your readers first.

2. Coupons Can Make a Huge Difference

This was one lesson that took me some time to figure out, but it is also one of the best affiliate marketing lessons I have ever learned from my blog. It might be stressful asking product creators for coupons, or to be looking for discount codes for products you promote, but truth be told, using coupons to promote affiliate products might mean the difference in you making $100 or $1,000. I used to find it difficult to make product sales even after spending a lot of time trying to write the perfect review. I just couldn’t figure out what was wrong, until one day, I accidentally promoted a product with a coupon, and I saw sales go through the roof. I used this technique to promote medifast products on my blog, and it worked. I used this same technique to promote nutrisystem products, and it worked. I also use coupons to promote a lot of other products on my blog, and the results have been stunning.

It might take some time to get a coupon for a particular affiliate product, but even if it only gives people a 10% discount you will be able to make a lot more sales compared to not having used the coupon.

3. Your Best Sales Might Not be Made the Same Week a Product is Reviewed

I used to be someone who reviewed products with the hope of making a lot of sales the same week I reviewed the product. I poured all my efforts into promoting a particular product, and it is sometimes saddening to only make a sale or two after all those efforts. What I didn’t know was that those reviews were a long time investment – those reviews I did months, or years, ago that nobody found started bringing in traffic from search engines, and I now make more sales in a week than I made in the month I reviewed them.

Whenever you are trying to review affiliate products on your blog, don’t expect to make all the sales just at once. Sometimes, it might take a few months to make real sales, and sometimes, it might take a year. Either ways, don’t ever stop promoting that review, and don’t stop working on driving traffic to it – you will love yourself for doing that on the long run.

4. Search Engines Provide the Best Traffic for Affiliate Marketers

This lesson was also learned as a result of the 3rd lesson above. Not that I initially expected to get a boatload of traffic to my review page a few months after doing the review – in fact, I have even stopped thinking about some reviews I did, only to start noticing traffic come in day by day, months after the product was reviewed. After taking a look at my analytics to see where the traffic was coming from, it was one major source I saw: Google!

I was stunned! Those reviews I did months ago have now been picked by Google, and I’m now making a lot of sales for doing nothing.

Search engine traffic is currently the best source of traffic for affiliate marketers because people only use the search engines when they need a solution to a problem.

5. Traffic Isn’t the Only Factor

I keep on hearing misconceptions from new bloggers about how making money from affiliate marketing works. A lot of them will say they only need to get a lot of traffic to their site and, boom; they are already making tons of affiliate cash. I used to think the same way, but time proved me wrong.

So many factors come into place and decide how much you will make from an affiliate product. Some of those factors include the demand for that product, the manufacturer of that product, the competition for that product and the audience the product is promoted to. By focusing on promoting affiliate products that provide great value to my readers, and are in high demand in my field, I have noticed a significant increase in how much sales I make.

John has been blogging and learning how affiliate marketing works for years now. He has tested a lot of options ranging from simple reviews to using coupons on his weight loss blog and he shares his journey on WeightLossTriumph.com.

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Where Do You Get Your Daily Affiliate Marketing Fix?

Let’s face it, when it comes to affiliate marketing and industry news… there is just way too much to digest. For anyone starting out and trying to make their first money in this industry, it can be a great, but also bad at the same time. With so much information at hand, many people will continually read and read and read about what’s going on, and never take action of their own. While it’s great to do research, it’s best to learn by process, especially when you create failed campaigns, then turn them profitable.

With all of that said, there are plenty of great news sites and forums that can get you started and pointed in the right direction, without having to wade through a sea of information and affiliate marketing blogs. I have listed some of the best places for you to get your daily fix of what’s hot and working well in the affiliate industry.

AffDaily.com

Powered by AffPaying.com, AffDaily is a collection of the top affiliate marketing blogs and Twitter feeds all in one place. Highlights of the site include the ability to create an account and customize what feeds you would like to follow, along with having a page full of top affiliate marketers and their Twitter accounts. Each day new “popular” content will be added to the top menu section of the site. (Facebook Fan Page)

AffBuzz.com

One of the first big sites to create a news platform for affiliate marketing blogs, AffBuzz has quite the following. The most read and interesting posts are highlighted in the top section of the site and updated on a daily basis. (Facebook Fan Page)

IMToday.com

A new affiliate and internet marketing new and discussion agreator is IMToday.com, which displays the trending blog posts, news and forums discussions that related to all online marketers. You can register on their web site to change around what sites you want to receive news from, or use their sorting options for the most recent or latest posts. There are currently over 250 internet marketing blogs, forums and twitter users currently covered through IMToday.

Twitter Affiliate Marketing

Even today, I still haven’t been that active on Twitter, but I know that so many others are. Instead of having to seek out every top marketer worth following, through the power of “Twitter Lists”, you can follow them all in one simple click. @JonathanVolk has created a great list of nearly 500 affiliate marketers who are currently on Twitter. To follow them all, simply follow his Affiliate Marketing list.

StackThatMoney Forum

Right now Stack That Money forums is at the top of my list for where to interact and read up on what’s hot in the industry. Not only is through forum run by a bunch of guys I know personally, but the content and support inside is just killer. From tutorials, case studies, tools and guides, everything you could ever want as an affiliate marketer is in this one site. (Facebook Fan Page)

IMGrind Forum

To finish off the list, IMGrind has also seen phenomenal growth over the past few months and they have an excellent community of their own. Ruck and Ryan are building quality content, while coaching forum members on the best ways to build out new web sites and membership programs, outside the normal thought process, while driving incredible results. A huge plus in this forum is when Ruck and Ryan write out their success stories from past web sites and campaigns… one of the best ways to get yourself motivated to create the next big thing! (Facebook Fan Page)

Where do you go for your affiliate fix?

There are plenty of blogs, sites, news feeds and forums out there, so be sure to leave a comment on your favorite place for connecting with other marketers and reading up on the latest blog posts and news.

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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey is a popular book in the self-help community. It’s a book with many layers and a lot of online marketers have difficulty applying the underlying principles to their own lives. In this post want I want to relate the seven habits explained in the book to online marketers and how you can apply them.

1. Be proactive

The first three habits are about taking charge of yourself. Thus, the first habit is about being proactive.

One of the reasons people want to get into online marketing is to escape the 9-to-5 and to be able to work anywhere with a laptop and access to the Internet. Now to get this freedom for yourself, you have to take initiative and this is where most newcomers fall off the boat.

People who are new to the this industry will look for other successful online marketers and study how they made it big. There is nothing wrong with this, but the problem I see over and over is that people get stuck in this research phase. Very few people get past the hump to take action. Instead, most think that it will happen on a random day that they escape the cubicle life.

This is not being proactive. Instead, it is time to get started. Stop reading how others have made it, and start moving forward to the land of the New Rich. Focus on yourself and put steps forward to stack that paper. Whether that means registering a new domain, hiring someone, or putting money into a campaign….just do it. Don’t wait for the right moment. The right moment is now.

2. Begin with the end in mind

Now that you are putting in the effort, the next habit is about having clarity in what exactly you want to achieve. You need to be absolutely clear with yourself that you want to go this path of making a living online. This habit is about envisioning a picture in your mind of what it feels like to have escaped the 9-to-5 and to have made it. You want to be able to smell the success. You can vividly imagine how different your life is going to be. It’s like you can almost touch it.

If you don’t have a clear picture in your head of how much better your life is going to be, it’s going to be a lot more difficult to achieve your goal. It is like driving in foggy weather. You can’t see far ahead, you can’t go fast, you hesitate a lot and frustrating be drive in those conditions. On the other hand, having clarity is like driving your car at full speed with a GPS system and a beautiful girl next to you. It’s fun, comfortable and you get to your destination fast.

Once you have this vivid picture in your head, achieving that goal is going to be a huge force in overcoming obstacles. Motivation comes and goes, but by having the end in mind, you can go through the ups and lows because you know how much of an impact the end result will have on your life. Once you know what your desired life looks like with a burning to desire, I will have no doubt that you will get there.

3. Put first things first

Now that you are actively putting yourself in motion by being proactive and by gaining clarity, the third habit is about figuring out the steps to get to your destination. The idea behind “putting first things first” is that you are able to prioritize the things you need to do to achieve your goal. The previous habit is about knowing what your end result is, and this habit is all about making sure you are always working on things that bring you closer to that end result.

There are a lot of ways to make your first buck online. One is not necessarily better than the other, but for each you need to be able to prioritize what needs to get done first. Most new online marketers think reading and researching is the most important part. In reality, this is not the case at all. Speed of implementation, building up your bankroll, and testing the market are actually far more important. These are things that you should do as soon as possible.

Put your first dollar on the line as soon as possible, then do some reading. While getting more knowledge is not a bad thing, it is usually not the most important thing to do. Try things out and then read on how you can improve what you have tested or setup. Always do the things that are the most important which bring you closer to your goal. When in doubt, be proactive and take action.

4. Think Win/Win

The following three habits are about cooperation. It is no secret that every successful online marketer has good relationships with others like the affiliate networks, partnerships, joint ventures, and his own staff.

To surround yourself with great people and to have to those relationships, you need to work on the habit of thinking win/win. This fourth habit is crucial for becoming an successful online marketer. Strive to have agreements with people that benefit everyone, not just yourself.

Take for example your relationship with your affiliate managers. A lot of people look at the affiliate manager and affiliate’s relationship as a division of roles where the affiliate is giving the most value and the affiliate manager’s job is just facilitating the affiliate. You would think the affiliate is the one making all the money, right? That’s not completely true.

Most affiliate managers get bonuses and have commissions if they do well, so they have an interest for their affiliates to do well. Knowing that, when you communicate with your affiliate manager, think win-win.

How can both of you become better off when you two work together? Let your affiliate manager know that you have his or her interest in mind because this helps you build a better relationship with your affiliate manager. And the better the relationship, the more the affiliate manager will help you to do well which him or herself too. You win. He or she wins. The network wins. Everyone wins.

This does not only apply to your affiliate manager, but anyone you want to become friends with or work with, such as your traffic sources representatives, people on your team, and so on.

5. Seek to understand first, then be understood

Once you have the cooperation of the other people, the next habit will help you strengthen that relationship even more. Covey talks about “seeking to understand first, then to be understood” to encourage you to build a relationship where both people are on the same page and respect each other.

The gist of this habit is that you have good relationships with people but it starts with initially setting aside your own agenda and being open to be hearing other people out. Most people are ego-centric and have no empathy for the other person. That is not a great way of strengthen a relationship. Put away your own agenda and hear out what others have to say to you, then see how you can help each other out.

This is especially useful for networking and I have seen this first hand how effective this habit is. The people at the conferences who don’t apply this habit are the ones who broadcast the loudest how great they are. Instead, the effective people are the ones hearing out what online marketers need and then seek out a solution if there is a match. As you can see, this goes hand-in-hand with the previous habit. By hearing out others and thinking win/win, you can have effective cooperation.

6. Synergize

At this point, you have your people around you, everyone is onboard and on the same page. Now it is time to work together and make it happen. This habit is about working together to take things to the next level.

The reality is, nobody becomes successful by themselves. That is why it has been emphasized by the previous two habits how important relationships are for effectiveness.

Even though it might seem that a lot of online marketers are famous (some even infamous) because of the work they did and they have a personal brand, you usually never see the team behind that person and the relationships he or she has. Usually they have other online marketers sharing advice, the affiliate managers, the representative of a variety of traffic sources, and a team of people working with the marketer.

Don’t get me wrong, you can be successful by doing all the work yourself. That doesn’t mean it is the most effective way to do it. The idea behind this habit is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Work with other people and bring each other up. That is why in the online space you’ll see plenty of joint ventures going on, but for someone who is just starting internet marketing you have to do it differently. Start building a team, work with your affiliate managers, and connect with other online marketers so you can work together to go to the next level.

7. Sharpen the saw

The last habit is about self-renewal. As you continue to work for long periods of time your productivity goes down unless you regularly review your work and your life. The book gives the analogy of a woodcutter who works every day, but becomes less productive over time because he refuses to take time out to sharpen the saw.

In the beginning it is all about hustling and working your way up, but don’t forget to take breaks while you’re doing it. Especially when you have hit milestones, zoom out and think of why it went well. Or if you didn’t make any major progress, try to see what happened and how you can improve things. Especially when you do a lot of testing and work on your campaigns, you need to sharpen the saw on a regular basis.

This guest post was written by +Thanh Pham, a writer and productivity nerd who regularly blogs about time management.

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Simple Steps to Make You a Better Affiliate Marketer

While most people know there is no sure way to get rich quickly, it can still be tempting to check out short cuts to what appears to be “easy” money. If you’re looking for a solid way to earn extra money, you don’t have to fall for scams and schemes, when affiliate marketing can be a great way to add a new revenue stream to your website.

You can learn how to leverage the opportunities presented by affiliate marketing. A professional Internet marketing training course can teach you effective affiliate marketing tools and skills, from engaging your audience to optimizing your website. Of course, a successful affiliate marketer also must employ the basic, proven techniques used in any sales business. If you’re planning on launching an affiliate marketing business, here are some tips to help you get started with a rock-solid foundation you can build upon for years to come.

Know Your Audience

Before you can offer products of interest to your audience, you need to know who they are and what they want. First ask yourself why a visitor comes to your site, and then brainstorm the types of products they might like. Affiliate marketing training can show you how to offer a solution targeted to your audience, so you don’t waste valuable real estate, or turn them off. For example, a blog featuring gluten-free recipes offers a unique solution to a targeted audience. Appropriate affiliate products might include gluten-free packaged goods, kitchen tools, or small appliances. Target your product offerings to make sure your website visitors are getting value from them, as well as from your content.

Build Trust

Consumers buy from people (or companies) they know, like and trust. Developing trust can take some time – but it can be lost in an instant, so tread carefully. One way to build trust is by establishing real relationships with audience and helping them know you better. Another is by offering relevant products your audience values. And finally, it’s always important to be honest and transparent about affiliate marketing. In most cases, your audience will be okay with your affiliate products ads – as long as you don’t overwhelm them with too many.

Likewise, your website visitors will generally accept that you earn a referral credit from their purchase, as long as they know and trust you. But try to avoid making affiliated products the focus of your site. Continue to provide your site visitors with great content – after all, that’s why they’re there. Selling affiliate products is a bonus, and can be a lucrative one – if you learn the necessary skills, build trust and choose the right products.

Choose Your Affiliate Products With Care

When you feature products that are unrelated to your website’s product or service, or that you don’t believe in, you might regret it. So be mindful about promoting products that you know and trust, and can recommend to your audience. Better yet, write up a review and point readers to affiliate ads so they may respond if they choose. Focus on adding value to your site, and always ask yourself, “Will my readers appreciate this?”

When you first become an affiliate marketer, it may take some time to zero in on the right combination of products, terms, payouts and support. Rotate products and ads; change out graphics and copy; and move ads around to see which perform the best. Or, try enrolling in an Internet marketing training course to learn how to create a mix your audience responds to.

Create Relevant, Useful Content

Provide outstanding content and you’ll have a loyal audience that will trust you enough to spread the word about your site, giving you more opportunities to earn extra revenue. Keep your content fresh, original and updated, without focusing solely on your affiliated products. If the quality of your content becomes more about chasing every dollar than providing a service or a solution to your website visitors, you could lose your integrity, your audience’s trust, and your audience. And then, you’ve lost the opportunity to receive revenue on your ads.

An Internet Marketing Training Course Can Help You Become a Successful Affiliate Marketer

Whether you’re a blogger or a business owner, you can learn the specialized techniques and skills needed to monetize your content through affiliate marketing training. Coursework typically covers search engine marketing training, legal and ethical considerations, and relevant topics such as:

  • Creating compelling content.
  • Integrating affiliate strategies into your marketing.
  • Selecting the right networks.
  • Finding a niche.
  • Getting approved for affiliate programs.
  • Understanding he role of search engine optimization (SEO) in affiliate marketing.
  • Building trust, influence and engagement with customers.
  • Monitoring and promoting your site.

Affiliate marketing training can help you turn your website into a revenue-generating portal. The industry is projected to experience considerable growth in coming years, so why not get in on this potentially lucrative opportunity? Remember these easy tips when you start, and you’ll have the basics for success. To ramp up your affiliate marketing efforts even more quickly, enroll in a professional Internet marketing training course. You’ll obtain the specialized skills and insider techniques you’ll need to build a thriving affiliate marketing program.

This guest post was provided by University Alliance and submitted on behalf of University of San Francisco.  USF offers online marketing courses including SEO training, search engine marketing, social media training, mobile marketing and more.  To learn more about USF’s certificate programs visit usanfranonline.com.

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