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There have been a couple of changes recently at John’s Tech Blog.  Regular visitors may have already spotted the “MyBlogLog” widget halfway down the left navbar, and I’m sure you can’t miss the new Dilbert widget over on the right!

This leads me on to a couple of questions for my readers:

1. Do these widgets add or detract from your enjoyment of John’s Tech Blog?
2. Do they seem to noticeably slow down the loading of the page?
3. Would you be more likely to visit this site knowing that you can read the latest Dilbert whilst you’re here?

These widgets are both really easy to add to your own site, if you’d like to!  They both have a “Grab It” link, although you have to click on “Click here for today’s strip” on the Dilbert widget first.  I fyou need any help adding them, please drop me a line at my support site - http://support.sabinet.co.uk and I’ll see what I can do.

Finally, please consider joining my community on MyBlogLog - there’s a link on the widget to do this, and it will help us to stay in touch.

Enjoy!

-John.

A few days ago I created a video about testing e-mail campaigns thoroughly in order to maintain a professional image to your list.

You can find it here on YouTube.

If you need any help with any of the items mentioned, then please either use the comments below, or the Contact link at the top left of this page to get in touch.

Please also let me have any feedback or comments. Finally, please give me a good rating if you DO watch this on YouTube!

Every affiliate marketer is constantly looking for the most successful market that gives the biggest paycheck.  Sometimes they think it’s a magic formula that is readily available for them.  In reality, it’s simpler than that - it’s just good marketing practices that have been proven over years of hard work and dedication.

There are tactics that have worked before with online marketing and are continuing to work in the online affiliate marketing world of today.  With these three marketing tips, you’ll be able to increase your sales and survive in the affiliate marketing online.

What are these three tactics?

1. Using unique web pages to promote each separate product you’re marketing.  Don’t just lump all of it together simply to save some money on web hosting!  It’s far better to have a site focusing on each and every product without a multitude of distractions.

Always include product reviews on the website so visitors will have an initial understanding on what the product can do to those who buys them.  Also include testimonials (if possible) from users who have already tried the product.  Be sure that these customers are more than willing to allow you to use their names and photos on the site of the specific product you are marketing.

You can also write articles highlighting the uses of the product and include them on the website as an additional page.  Make these pages attractive and compelling, and include calls to act on the information.  Each headline should attract the readers to read more, and even to contact you.  Highlight your special points and your strengths.  Think about what makes you different.  You need to answer the question “WHY should I buy THIS product?” for your customers.  This will help your readers to learn what the page is about and will want to find out more.

2. Offer free reports to your readers.  If possible, position them at the very top side of your page so it they simply cannot be missed.  Create auto-responder messages that will be mailed to those who input their personal information into your sign up box.  According to research, a sale is usually not closed until the seventh contact with a prospect.

There are only two possible outcomes from your web page: you close a sale, or the prospect leaves the page never to return again!  By placing useful information into their inboxes at certain specified period, you will remind them of the product they thought they wanted.  Be sure that the content is directed toward specific reasons to buy the product, but don’t make it sound like a sales pitch.

Focus on important points, like how your product can make life easier and more enjoyable.  Include compelling subject lines in the email.  As much as possible, avoid using the word “free” because there are still older spam filters that dump messages containing that sort of content into the junk before anyone even gets a chance to read them!  Convince those who signed up for your free reports that they will be missing something big if they do not avail themselves of your products and services.

3. Get the kind of traffic that is targeted to your product.  Just think, if the person who visited your website has no interest whatsoever in what you are offering, they will be among those who move on and never come back!  Write articles for publication in e-zines and e-reports.  This way you can locate publications that are focusing on your target customers and your content might just grab their interest.

Try to write a minimum of 2 articles per week, of at least 300-600 words in length.  By continuously writing and maintaining these articles you can generate as many as 100 targeted readers to your site in a day!
Always remember that only 1 out of 100 people (1%) are likely to buy your product or services.  If you can generate as many as 1,000 targeted hits for your website in a day, that means you could make 10 sales based on the average statistic.

These tactics aren’t really very difficult to do, if you think about it.  They just requires a little time and an action plan on your part.

Try to use these tips for several affiliate marketing programs.  You can end maintaining a good source of income and surviving in a tough business!
Besides, think of the huge paychecks you will be receiving…

Anyone who’s been around Internet marketing circles for any length of time will be familiar with the concept of outsourcing the day-to-day technical (such as site design, search engine optimisation, etc.) tasks to a more experienced third party. Traditionally, you’ll see people recommending marketplaces like Elance as a great source of skilled people to do this work. However, anyone who’s spent any time using these kind of services will know that it can be very hit and miss in terms of the quality, punctuality and reliability of the work produced. Just look at how many people submit new projects to have “completed” projects fixed….!

The other option is to look at an established outsourcing company which gives increased accountability and usually some form of Service level Agreement (SLA). However, most outsourcing companies (the likes of EDS, Cap Gemini et al.) have been out of reach of all but the big players in the industry.

With this in mind, it made a refreshing change when I came across Mazibo. They are an outsourcing company aimed squarely at the small to medium sized enterprise (SME) which covers the vast majority of Internet marketers. Essentially, they provide easy, affordable offshore recruitment to anyone who’s looking to expand.

Looking at their site (which is very clean and easy to navigate) they are offering the following services:

• Designers - both graphic designers for printer media/logos etc, and web designers
• Flash programmers/designers
• Programmers - covering most common technologies (HTML, PHP, .NET, Flash etc.)
• Support staff - voice and email
• Data entry
• Search Engine Optimisation / Link Building

As far as I can tell, this is a relatively new venture based in Chenai, India, which gives the dual-benefit of a highly skilled (and growing) labour market, as well as relatively low costs of doing business. This all makes for a very attractive proposition for the SME who’s looking for help in the areas on offer. In fact, it seems that the only thing not currently being offered is a ghostwriting service, although I would anticipate that being offered if Mazibo perceive a sufficient demand. What they DO offer, is effectively a team of dedicated employees who are paid only for the work that they do, complete with a comprehensive management structure to enable you to monitor and shape how your team is being utilised and how they’re performing.

The particular focus that most interests me though, is their affiliate program. They offer a generous 30% commission (plus 5% on the second level) for promoting their services for a full 12 months! The “Join as Affiliate” button is currently not taking us to the signup page (which is one of the reasons that I believe they’re quite new) but I’ll be keeping an eye on this as I truly believe that Mazibo will very quickly eclipse Elance in the Internet outsourcing marketplace.

To find out more, please visit http://mazibo.com/ (and tell them “John sent you!”)

Wow - that was SO EASY!

You know what it’s like with ANY upgrade - I was understandably nervous.  The reality was that it took me longer to back everything up before I started than it did to actually run the upgrade!

If anyone hit the maintenance page that’s been up for about 10 minutes - I apologise and I hope that you made it back in order to see the new site in all it’s glory!

In fact, the site looks just the same as it did before the upgrade on the front page (so the Semiologic theme IS in fact compatible with 2.5) it’s just the admin interface that’s changed drastically - and for the better, it seems!

As I get more familiar with the changes, I may well post some more info.  For now - now that I know that the “posting” function still works - I can deactivate the maintenance page and get the site back up.

Has anyone else had similar experiences with Wordpress 2.5, or was it more challenging for you?

Please leave your comments below….