Workshop 3: Affiliate Marketing Tutorial: How To Get the Most Out of Your Content brought to you by Rakuten Linkshare
How it works:
Advertisers team up with publishers (you as the blogger) to drive sales. The Affiliate connects the gap between the two to help making sure it's a good fit to achieve the highest profit.
How important is affilaite marketing?
It ranks as one of the most effictive channels after search and email marketing. It beat out SEO, offline banners, and word of mouth.
It's 4.5 billion industry and growing!
It's free and easy for bloggers to get their foot in the door, getting the chance to work with brands they love.
5 reasons to Love Affiliate Marketing:
Free to join
Advertisers make it easy for your blog to make money
You can earn commission 24 hours a day
Your personality/blog is your maketing weapon
You have complete control – the sky is the limit
Plus you get to choose who you work with!!
Tips:
Know your audience
Only represent brands and products that you endorse
Build a loyal and engaged following and sales will follow
Choose your Affilate program wisely – do research!
Choose your partners carefully – what advertisers are relevant to your audience
Site integrity comes first
You can use other venues than your blog to post affiliate links. Social meadia links are great too!
Tips: Content
Promote products within a post – text links convert the best
Incorporate affiliate links into your newsletters
Consistency is key
Tips: Maintain
Be Patient – work at it!
Stay informed – educate yourself on tools and trends
Don't become reliant on just one brand – spread the wealth
Test, track and try again
A Few of LinkShares Tools for Bloggers:
Mac Dashboard Widgets – desktop tools for Mac that allow you to instantly create a link
#tweetshop – search shortens and distributes links thru publishers utilizing Twitter
WordPress Link Lookup – creates links in a wordpress post without logging in
Bookmarklet Tool Browser allows you to generate links on the fly!
You are going to get asked what products you use so why not get paid? Build direct relationships with the brands you love!
Q & A:
Q: I was denied by Linkshare, what are they looking for?
A: Make sure you fill out complete details and that they are accurate. We mostly look within content to see if it will be a good match.
Q: My blog reviews services… is affialte marketing still an available option?
A: Linkshare is strong in fashion. However, we do have financial services we work with as well as many other serive advertisers.
Q: Do you have to be a member of Linkshare to use the links?
A: Yes, both the advertiser and the publisher need to be a member. We need to pay you!
Q: What if I was advertising a Michael Kors bag, but Nordstrom was the advertiser. Who would get the comission?
A: Everyone involved. Michael Kors, Nordstrom and you as the publisher.
Q: What if my readers are not looking to shop. Are there any other options?
A: If your readers don't have a shopping intent then it is probably not for you. Another option is cost per click if the advertiser offers it.
Q: Do the affiliate links have any effect on your Google ranking?
A: Linking to a reputable brand is helpful for your rank.
Q: Where is the most effective place to put your affiliate links in a post?
A: There is no specific spot, however, within the content is usually best. Make sure you can clearly see it is a link and that it is clickable. You could also use a call to action link under your photo such as ” BUY HERE”.
Live-blogged by: Madison of Bare Bones.
[Image Credit:Dustin Fenstermacher]
Another great post 🙂 I have yet to get familiarized with this. xoxo KJ
http://kjandersen.wordpress.com/
Great spread! Thanks for that.
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Boxer’s Adventures International Blog