Monetizing your blog with affiliate marketing.

1. Exploiting your niche
Making money with affiliate marketing

2. Affiliate Marketing

3. Definition
Affiliate marketing is a marketing practice in
which a business rewards one or more affiliates
for each visitor or customer brought about by the
affiliate's marketing efforts. Examples include
rewards sites, where users are rewarded with
cash or gifts, for the completion of an offer, and
the referral of others to the site. The industry has
four core players: the merchant (also known as
'retailer' or 'brand'), the network, the publisher
(also known as 'the affiliate'), and the customer.

4. Handy diagram*
*THANKS TO WIKIPEDIA EDITOR XDANIELX

5. Fluid Economy
Affiliate marketing is the logical conclusion of a
no-borders, zero-capitalization, very low cost
infrastructure.
No matter how hard any party tries to prevent it,
it’s fast-changing and stubbornly transparent.

6. Theoretical

7. “If you’re good at
something, never do it
for free.”

8. Shawn Casey’s niches*
Debt Relief Improving
Relationships
How to Make Money
Gadgets
Diet
Computers
Fitness
Games &
How to... Entertainment
Pain Relief
*10 HOT AFFILIATE MARKETING NICHES FOR 2010, SHAWNCASEY.COM

9. Successful niches tend
to be where a
marketer’s personal
enthusiasm for a
subject translates into
financial opportunity.

10. Enthusiasm provokes a
positive response.
Enthusiasm sells.

11. Practical

12. Direct, don’t distract.
Minimize the number of IAB format ads.
Remember the Google heat map - maximize your
message in the hot spots.
Use forceful anchor text, e.g. “click here”.
Clicks on images should move the visitor toward a
sale.
Know where you want the visitor to go.

13. Keep your revenue
tactics simple.
Sponsored posts - every third or fourth blog post
should be revenue generating, custom tailored to a
specific pitch.
Affiliate datafeeds - Product listing pages.
One or two IAB format ads, tops. Watch the
metrics on them; if they don’t perform day one
they never will.

14. Affiliate datafeed plugins
PopShops - Works with a large number of
affiliate vendors; can be glitchy.
phpBay/phpZon - Works with eBay and
Amazon.com, respectively. Payouts aren’t great
but the conversion rate is.

15. Theming
Use magazine themes that let you prioritize
revenue-generating content.
Placement of key elements should conform to web
conventions, e.g. site name/logo in top left corner.
Always have a left-sidebar. Always have a search
box.
Use the (post WP 2.9) Featured Image and themes
that employ it.

16. Free Plugins
W3 Total Cache Regenerate
Thumbnails
Google XML Sitemaps
Wordpress Related
All-in-One SEO Pack Posts
Contact Form 7 Ad-minister
Twitter Tools WordPress Mobile

17. Forum marketing
Participate genuinely.
Make yourself useful.
Insert contextual link-backs to your site only
occasionally.
Optimize your profile.
Use the Feedburner Headline Animator where
possible as your sig.

18. Finding your niche

19. Mashups
Probe your passions for intricacies. Where those
intricacies intersect may lie profitable, underserved
niches.
Use Google’s keyword tools to validate demand,
scope out the competition.
Spend time going through ClickBank, ShareASale,
Pepperjam, Commission Junction, and other
affiliate networks for niche-appropriate product.

20. Never stop.
This is the future. Affiliate marketing done right is
really concierge marketing, or PPP advertising,
and it may largely replace traditional retail sales.
Don’t get comfortable because other people will
eventually figure out your niche. Commit time
every week to considering and researching new
niches.
Identify your competition. Find their niches.

21. Thanks for showing up.
rsterling@gmail.com