When times were good for you, you just expanded, things happened so quickly that you didn’t even have the time to do everything exactly the way you were supposed to, because you were just worried about maximizing profit right away, am I right? Thought so. Well most companies were no different. New shiny technologies were emerging faster than ever, new sales avenues, new products, new social media platforms. It was exciting, who can blame you for jumping in with two feet and no shoes on. That was then and this is now. The following is a step by step guide on how to rebuild a foundation for affiliate marketing success.

Step One

Rebuilding a foundation for marketing success is all about getting back to the basics of affiliate marketing. Take a look at your current affiliates, which ones are performing? Which ones aren’t? Which of your affiliates were performing well last year, but have since fallen off the deep end? Identifying where you and your affiliates stand is step number one.

Step Two

Step Two is to lose weight. Slice off some of the fat with regards to affiliates that take up a lot of your time but don’t yield a high financial gain. Then take a look at your offers, are there too many? and is your companies overall main message being spoken through every ad? Identifying these issues is vital to step number three.

Step Three

Get Organized. You’ve identified all of your problem areas, get all of your ducks in a row, and get ready to take action on your problem areas. Prioritize which areas need the most help and will have the most effect on your business and get ready for the next step.

Step Four

Take action. Now we’re ready to go forward with our plan for rebuilding the foundation growth. Clean up your message, start contacting those affiliates who used to perform well, take the areas that used to work well, and get them in solid working order.

It really is all about getting back to the basics, getting back to what used to work well for you. Once you get those right, your network will start to see small gains. After a short time those consistent small gains will give you the foundation that you need, in order to really start building your affiliate programs out even further. We all have a tendency to over think things. Especially when we’re fearful of losing our businesses. Trust your instincts, continue to learn, work your butt off, and I promise that you will get back to where you want to be.

A lot of online businesses have embraced how powerful the blogging community has become and how great a blogger can be at helping sell your products to a target market. One of the tactics that we use is to contact a blogger from one of our niche’s ask them if they’d like to review our product, and then we sponsor a contest in their honor. Well when they are reviewing the product, now they’ll have to make it blatantly obvious that they are receiving the item they are reviewing for free.

We never ask for a good review, we specifically ask them to be honest in their review of the product, and to tell all of their readers exactly how they feel. It’s a risk we take that they may or may not like the product. With this new FTC lock down on testimonials it is going to significantly hurt a portion of our revenue model, in an already down economy. Now we have been doing online commerce for years now, so chances are we’re going to survive, but what about all of the others who are just getting online, also trying to run successful businesses, and are already feeling the crunch of these poor economic times? They are going to be the ones really hurt by all of this. This is just another example of how government regulation in business does a lot more harm than it does good.

This is just my opinion. I feel very strongly about this issue and I’d love to hear what each of you think about it. In a time when sales are very hard to come by for almost EVERY industry, the government wants to make it even harder to sell. It’s just bad for business and bad for capitalism.
Click Here to read more on this issue

This is a trend we’ve been seeing for awhile now (not just this administration). In my opinion it needs to be brought to a screeching halt.

Unfortunately the answer is not all that simple. First you have to ask yourself a few questions. One, who is your audience and are they on Twitter? Two, what are you trying to do with Twitter? Three, does Twitter fit into your time budget? And Lastly how will you measure Twitter Success? I’m going to be attempting to clarify each question for you throughout the rest of this article.

The first question is a question that everyone should always ask themselves before getting into any endeavors with their business or marketing plan. Who is your audience? If you don’t know the answer to that question, you had better find a new profession and quickly, this economy is not a forgiving one, and there is certainly no room for businesses that don’t know their market. Is your audience using Twitter? do a little bit of research behind this one. Use Twitter Search and search for some of your market’s main keywords, if there is a lot of conversation about your product, genre, or niche then you might be onto something. If not, don’t waste your time. There are plenty of other great places to spend your time trying to acquire customers.

If you decide that you’re going to set up a Twitter account for your business the next question to ask yourself would be, what are you trying to do with Twitter? Just like anything else you have to have a common goal in mind and a plan to reach that goal. Do you want overall brand awareness? Another place to share your blog links? Or do you want to drive direct traffic and sales through Twitter. Whichever way you decide to go there are a different marketing techniques and best practices in order to get you to that next level.

Does Twitter fit into your time budget? We all know that Twitter is a free service and that Dell claims they made $1 Million in sales on Twitter last year, but are you Dell? The answer to that question for most of us is a definite NO! It is going to take time to build your Twitter following, and in my experience from a direct sales standpoint with Twitter, it takes a longer time to actually get people to want to purchase from you. So figure out if it is worth your time to start the campaign before you do.

The last question you’ll want to ask yourself is how will you judge Twitter success? This should go hand in hand with the reasons you are joining Twitter in the first place, but if you aren’t getting those sales right off the bat, how will you measure success? How are you going to measure the amount of brand awareness Twitter is bringing you? These are generally answered through whatever analytics program you use for your site but make sure you have this in mind as well.

After you have asked yourselves all of these questions I think you’re going to be well on your way to getting started with Twitter. You’ll certainly be well ahead of about 85% of the Twitterverse anyway. The reason my company has stopped spending time on Twitter is because of the infestation of the spam community and the lack of sales directed through Twitter. It has however been a great traffic driver to specific content that we are trying to push. Now that you know the questions you should ask yourself, start answering them already will you!? I mean time is money people! Have a good one.

1. Figure out your Target Market: Find out who your target market is. That can be your entire customer base, or just a select few of them. Either way you decide to do it, make sure that you know who they are, if you don’t know who you’re dealing with in any marketing idea, chances are it’s going to die hard and fast.
2. Give Something People Want: Look, I’m sorry this might seem like a pretty basic idea, but you won’t believe how many emails I get from people asking me why their idea flopped, then I find out they were giving away a wiener whistle to their target market of Business Executives. Okay that was a bit of an exaggeration, but comparable ideas have come across my inbox. Give away an appropriate product for your target audience i.e. a free webinar on real estate investing to real estate investors.
3. Determine the Info You Want From Them: Okay now that we’ve got the prize all figured out, determine why you’re even giving the product away. What sorts of information do you want, what is the goal of the giveaway? Do you want their email address? Do you want more Facebook Fans? Whatever it may be decide what it is and work it into your plan.
4. Set Your Plan-But Make it Easy: Okay now we’ve got your target market, the product you’ll be giving away, and the goals of the campaign, now it’s time to set up the plan. Let’s say for instance you want to get more email addresses, it’s pretty simple, but just have them sign up for your email newsletter to get the free gift. Or if you want more Facebook Fans make sure they have to become a fan to get the gift. Make it easy, if it takes too many steps, it’ll never work for you.

MOST IMPORTANT PART BELOW:

5. Let them Spread the Word For You: Look I am assuming that most of my readers are pretty intelligent and creative thinkers, judging by the emails you send me. Most people’s plan will fail, if they don’t let other spread the word for you, you are more than likely going to flop, especially if you don’t have a blog with tens of thousands of readers. How do you do that? When they sign up for your email newsletter, have them forward it onto 5 firends. When they become a fan of yours on Facebook, have them automatically update “I just entered to win a free (Blank) JOIN NOW”

If you follow this plan, I am 100% certain that you can and will have great success with giving away your free product. I have seen it work on hundreds of occasions, it’s not spammy, it’s easy to do, and people find real value in it. They will love spreading the word for you especially if they find value in the product you’re giving them for free. So get out there and start giving, that’s the key to a healthy online relationship with your target market.

That brings up the question. Is he right? Are eBooks dead, or will they be in the near future? Answer: Not a chance! With products like the Kindle and other copycats on the rise, eBooks are here to stay.

The users main argument was that one could find the same information on Google, or by checking out forums on a particular subject. Yes, all of those things are correct, but when you purchase a product you expect to get some added value in exchange for the dollars that you spent. That means, people will pay for a product instead of taking the free product, because they expect that purchased product to have added value, that the free one might not have.

It’s simple really. But that’s just me, what do you think?

As we’ve talked about before, in order to be successful with online sales, you have to create an “in store” real life environment on your website. People are still adjusting to this whole ecommerce thing. While the numbers continually increase every year for the amount of people who shop online, it still isn’t as regular of an occurrence for people to shop online, as they would in their local hardware store.

Think of it like this; In a store a customer can get the satisfaction of having their product instantly, but they have to pay a sales tax. Online a customer has to wait a few days or longer to receive the product, and they don’t get the satisfaction of really seeing the product before they decide to buy it. Also online, the consumer doesn’t have to pay a sales tax (in most cases) if they decide to buy online. By adding in the cost of shipping, you are essentially adding a sales tax to your online items and you’re already at a disadvantage because your customers have to wait a few days for their products. If you eliminate the sales tax you are elminating that ugly cost that the consumer already doesn’t want to pay. Your conversion rates are going to go up by a couple percent or even more. As a result you’ll get more sales and higher revenue numbers.

We tested the theory on one of our websites with a 72 hours Free shipping sale on everything except already on sale items. Our average sale dropped a bit (the price of standard shipping), but our conversion rates went up by 1.5% and our total number of sales increased by around 50 extra sales a day. For those of you who don’t think that’s a big deal, do the math for yourself.

Calculate it for yourself

Average Sale Amount x Average number of orders

vs

(Average Sale amount – Cost of shipping) x (Average number of orders + 50 extra orders)

The numbers add up quickly. You’re getting more product out to more people, and creating the chance for a lot more long standing relationships with these customers. You’ve just gotten rid of the biggest roadblock to online sales by dropping your shipping price. Take a look at Zappos they got rid of the cost of shipping for their customers and they were so successful that the online giant Amazon bought them out. If you don’t believe it will work test it with a sale, I promise you you will see these results.

Everyone has to work within their own margins, but for whatever reason people really hate paying the price of shipping. If you can’t just flat out cut the cost of shipping on every sale, consider raising the price of all of your inventory online by 1 or 2 percent. Find margins that work for you and make it happen. It is entirely worth it.

Are length, brevity and personalization the keys to good subject lines? I have found that it’s not this magic combination, but the constant testing and versioning of your subject lines. Good subject lines are not simply conjured by a copywriter and often can’t be repurposed time and time again. Good subject lines are ones that are in constant state of flux and improvement.

 
The Elements of a good subject line are:
1. Clear
2. Actionable
3. Relevant
4. Short

 
If you can follow these above four items you are on the right path.
Tactics for improving email open rates with subject lines:

 
1. Timing – look at what times your subscriber base not only opens once but when they come back again. These subsequent opens will help you to chart your course.
2. When do they buy/convert or hit a goal page? By tracking web behavior and combining those metrics with email behavior, specifically opens and clicks, you will start to identify patterns which will help determine hot spots to drive the open.
3. Subject line testing. Are you testing dynamic subject lines driven by profile data or by past behavioral data? The secret is not always in using the name but using what’s important to them. What relevant brands or benefits tied to your campaign? Not shoes, but Nike. Not batteries included, but ready to use. Using specific and relevant brands you might sell, and a benefit-focused offer will give relevance and credibility, setting you apart in the inbox.

What you believe should be avoided in subject lines for best results.

 
1. Avoid being “salesy.” Always pushing your sales agenda will reduce the open rate and conversion rate.
2. Avoid ALL CAPS in subject lines. They feel like you are shouting for attention and not being respectful of your subscribers’ time.
3. Don’t be overly creative with your subject lines. Now this might sound odd, but if it is not simple, understood and gives a clear action or value then it will be passed over.

Tips:
Look at the check out line newsstand on your next visit to the grocery store. Notice all of the tabloids that are meant to be quickly scanned, understood and drive you to want to open and buy them to read more. They work.

 
Step 1: Keep it simple and informative
Step 2: Write to audience, not at the audience
Step 3: Keep the customer lifecycle in mind – think long term
Step 4: Personalize messages based on profile or behavioral data
Step 5: Insight a sense of action – Use a verb
Step 6. Test Twice, Send Once!

“And that’s how the proverbial E mail-Cookie Crumbles”

Everyone is on Twitter now, from Shaq, to your Congressional leaders, to big branded businesses. For those of us that aren’t quite that established in the public eye I’m here to tell you that Twitter is for you and I as well. Even with all of the big fish in the pond there is still plenty of room for the rest of us to help grow and establish a brand and a business through Twitter.

Now I better put a disclaimer in here. For those of you who are looking to maintain the conversion rates you normally see from your online sales avenues, you are not likely going to see those same types of numbers while selling through Twitter. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make money. Dell made over $1 Million last year on Twitter, but that is only $1 Million from their hundreds of millions of dollars in sales they did last year.

If you are looking to strictly drive sales through Twitter I suggest using the <a href=”http://twitter.com/delloutlet”>Dell Outlet</a> model for Twitter. While still staying in communication with the customers who choose to contact them via Twitter the main focus of their Twitter account is to post the latest and best deals that they have to offer on their website. Take a look at this screen shot from their Twitter page.

The tweet that are in the Yellow are the sales that Dell is currently running on their outlet site. The examples in the orange are examples of how Dell communicates with their customers via Twitter when they aren’t posting a sale. Notice how even when simply communicating with the customer their communication is still sales driven. Instead of having a normal twitter conversation you might typically see on Twitter they are straight to the point and always sales driven.

Now Dell has a superior advantage to almost everyone else who is trying to sell on Twitter, they are already a well established brand, all they have to do is tell people that they have a Twitter account and they have 450,000 followers. You can still have relatively similar success to Dell by using this model but you will also want to couple that with a bit more conversative involvement on Twitter in order to grow your Twitter follower base. Perhaps try setting up another Twitter account to build brand awareness and drive your traffic from that account to your sales based Twitter account in order to try and pin point those followers who want to buy instead of just have a conversation.

There are other sales avenues you can try through Twitter as well such as magpie and other sales avenues. I will get to those avenues in a later post perhaps. I wanted to show people the best way to drive sales directly through their company’s own Twitter accounts. Twitter is great for a lot of things and it can be used to increase your sales I suggest just giving it a try.

The middle of the work day: These emails are likely to get buried in the sea of emails that accumulate during a normal workday.

Middle of the Night: Consider how many emails you have in the morning. Emails will get lost among the other marketing emails that arrive late at night or very early in the morning.

Friday: 1 out of every 5 American workers takes a full or half day off on Fridays. Market research shows that most people use their work email for personal email intake. Therefore “out of office” auto-reply bounce rates are up. Not to mention added distractions of the upcoming weekend evade individuals from campaigns.

When to Send:

• Late afternoons and evenings are successful for many e-marketers. 3 to 7 PM is recommended.
• Midmornings are also statically sound. I call this the “Brunch Blast”, because a better term does not yet exist.
• Which day of the week; is a popular question, but alas there is not a solid answer. Much of email marketing is theory based on what you can bench mark.

(It’s Important to remember that all email practices are subject to change or evolution depending on circumstances, and considering recent polls and data.)

Things to Consider

“When is the recipient of this email most likely to respond?” Think of the average schedule of your target audience – soccer moms or business executives? Both have very different schedules.

If you are promoting a large sale, send 1-3 days before the sale starts. Too much time and your customers will forget the offer. If promoting a sale the day of, make sure the sales lasts for at least 3-5 days. Occasionally a “One Day Only Sale” can be effective when the promotion or offer is super sweet (40% off or BOGO)!

Segment your list! If you have recipients in different time zones, create separate categories and schedule them to send at the appropriate times.

“And that’s how the proverbial Email-Cookie Crumbles”