Anyone who knows what it’s like to make money online by blogging will tell you one thing: affiliate networks are a necessity if you want to earn anything from your site. It’s also a good jump-off point for bloggers who are just starting out and aren’t yet being approached by advertisers who want to sell products on their blog.

First things first, however. What exactly does it mean to be an affiliate? When you sign up for an affiliate program, you agree to drive traffic and/or sales to your partner site in exchange for a commission. Affiliate programs like these abound; some of the most popular ones include Google Adsense, Amazon.com Associates, Clickbank, and Azoogle.

Take note, however, that affiliate blogging isn’t a sure path towards earning money.  Some bloggers who sign up for affiliate programs aren’t necessarily making a lot of money, and people aren’t always going to click through those important links that will get you that commission.  What you can do, however, is approach affiliate marketing with a sound strategy to help you make money blogging.  Read on to know more about how you can make a profit from being an affiliate partner!

1. Keep it simple:

Over time, it’s become more and more obvious that glitzy banners and flashy ads on your site don’t do as well as advertising that comes in the simple form of links. In other words, people are most likely to respond to an ad if it’s subtle and non-invasive, which is exactly what an ad link is like. Not just that – the difficulty with banners is that they sometimes take forever to load, especially if they require a demanding program to run successfully. Go with the simpler format, and your ads are likely to get much more attention and click-throughs than your banner ads.

2.  Tie your affiliate program and your blog niche together:

If digital technology is such so popular, wouldn’t it make sense for you to put up ads for cell phones and digital cameras on your site?  Well, it would, if your blog were also about digital technology.  If, however, you’re managing a food blog, you might only confuse your readers with the product offers you’re waving.  Choose an affiliate program that’s in line with your blog’s current theme – doing so concentrates on your target market and eliminates unnecessary confusion.

3. Sign up for multiple programs:

Don’t just stick to one affiliate program, hoping your fidelity to it will bring you the rewards you want.  In fact, restricting yourself to just one program is tantamount to restricting the amount of money you’ll earn from being an affiliate.  But before you start plugging your blog with all sorts of ads, remember that moderation is the name of the game here.  In other words, sign up for multiple affiliate programs, and implement them prudently on your site.  Use too many on your blog, and you might end up driving away traffic instead of attracting them.

4.  Create a commissioned review:

Once again, the keyword here is relevance. Bloggers can write product reviews and get paid for them, thanks to services like ReviewMe.com. Be careful, however, and resist the urge to be review-happy. Choose products that you actually believe in and are related to the main focus of your site. If your site is all about planning weddings, then you can write a review on a line of bridal dresses by a particular designer. It’s all about tying your blog to the right reviews, which then tie well with your readers. By doing this, you boost the chances of making a sale happen and earning a commission from your affiliate.

Once you’ve got the hang of it, affiliate marketing isn’t actually all that hard. It just requires a bit of strategizing that puts an emphasis on moderation and relevance – namely, posting just the right amount of ads, and ensuring that your offers are in line with your readers’ interests and your blog’s primary topic. Refine your affiliate marketing strategy, and you’ll find that it isn’t too hard to make money blogging, especially as an affiliate partner.

An opt-in list can be quite crucial to any site or internet based company. Even for a small venture such as a niche profit site an opt-in list can make a world of difference and also generate some extra income for your pocket. Rarely would you see an e-commerce site, big or small, that is without an opt-in list.

An opt-in list allows for a company to market their wares and site via e-mail. With an opt-in list, a site and a subscriber consent to sending and receiving a newsletter from your company. Through this, you can keep your subscribers abreast of what is currently available on your site as well as whatever is coming out.

And because there is mutual consent between the two parties, any mail sent to the list is not considered as spam. There is a great number of successfully read promotional materials such as catalogs, newsletters and such that are sent because the subscribers themselves have signed up for them, meaning, they do want to be sent those items.

Building a list is crucial, only a small percentage actually subscribes for an opt-in list. Many people find promotional mails annoying but if you provide a good newsletter or promotional material, you will see your list build up and grow. You can also achieve this by having good content on your site. If people like what they see and read on your site, then they surely would want more. Newsletters would be a way to attract them back to your site – a little teaser or appetizer if you will.

But other than marketing your wares and your services, an opt-in list can also be used to earn extra profit. Not all lists can be used though. It would be good to first build a successful list with a huge number of subscribers. The more subscribers you have, the more money you stand to make. Here are seven ways to make money using nothing more than your list.

1) Place advertisements. There are many corporations who will be willing to pay to put their banners and ads on a list with many subscribers. Selling or renting out lists is not a good idea so rather than doing that, many companies would just rather place ads with lists that have a huge subscriber base. Your newsletter could be placed with many ads and each one spells money. A well designed ad, done by an experienced web design firm, will actually add to the visual appeal of your newsletter and may even attract even more subscribers.

2) Have affiliations with other companies that have at least a semblance or relation to what your site is about. Here other companies will provide links and brief descriptions of what products and services they offer. With every click made on the link that directs or leads a subscriber from your list to their site, the company will pay you. This is called P4P or pay for performance.

3) Make deals with other companies by asking for a small percentage of sales done through your list. With every sale done by customers that have come from your list and have gone there because of your newsletter, the other company will pay you a small percentage of your sales. The more people who buy from them, the more money you will make.

4) You may also get products from other sites on a consignment basis and sell them to your list via your newsletter. Place descriptions, articles and photos of the product in your newsletter. There will be those who will buy from you and when that happens, you can order the product from the other site and sell it to your buyer.

5) Sell e-books or a compilation of your articles on your list. Manuals and how-to articles are in great demand. Many people will be willing to shell out money to gain knowledge about a certain topic and subject. With your existing list trusting your expertise in that area, an e-book could be offered and sold or used as an incentive.

6) Create a network out of your list. Get people to invite more people to view your site and subscribe to your list. The larger your list, the more people will be able to click on your links and affiliate links as well as make your advertisement rates higher.

7) Subscribers are willing to pay for information if they know that it can be trusted and relied upon. Use your list to get more and more people to subscribe to you as well as browse your site. Lastly, you can use your list to earn money by making them your partners. Your list will be the bloodline of your growth and increase.

Some of these techniques may seem difficult to implement but there is lots of list building software and bulk email companies out there that could assist you. Of course you can always employ a reputable web design company to design your newsletter template for you and to create your opt in list for you, with all the bells and whistles attached.

Some internet marketers make huge profits with their opt-in lists, so don’t ignore your list, it is literally the life blood of your organization.

Rian Schoeman

SilverFox Web Design.

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