Recently I was reading a forum post about one person’s experience with affiliate marketing. Specifically the person has promoted some of the big names in Internet Marketing. His posts make an interesting read. Some of the issues of affiliate marketing for big Internet Marketer names are as follows.

No Commissions on Back End Sales

In one of them, he outlines how he as an affiliate promoted one person’s launch and made sales. Fantastic right? Wrong.

He may have made sales but the next day the product owners hit up the new customers up directly to see if they wanted to buy into another product. Some of them did.The affiliate checked his account to see his commissions and noticed a few unusual things.

Did the affiliate get the commission on the upsell? No. He got paid for first referral but not for the second.

Refunds and No Commissions on the Same Downgraded Product

In another story, the affiliate was promoting another big name Internet Marketer.  The affiliate even made a few sales.

The marketer had launched a new product but it was essentially a re-purposed version of a product launched 3 months earlier.

People started complained and requested refunds so as a consequence the initial price of $1,997 was reduced to $1,297.  Unfortunately the ones who purchased from him refunded and took up the $1,297 offer. The affiliate got zip. Nada. Nothing.  The affiliate lost their commission and instead of a 50 / 50 split, then got nothing and the product owner took 100% (which was then later rebated because of the massive duplication in content).

Cookies Intercepting Direct Links

In our own story, we have lost hundreds of dollars of commissions via promoting someone’s product and not being the last referrer. Because we coach, we get to develop pretty close relationships with the people we coach. We don’t recommend products that we think are not right for them or for the stage they are at. In many cases, we dissuade our people from joining some programs and in other cases we actively encourage it.

When we refer a product, we often give our affiliate link and the people who buy from our link know that they get some pretty special privileges.

Unfortunately, sometimes when we refer we get a situation where the person clicks on our link but doesn’t buy straight away. They get distracted and go off an browse on other websites. They then come back, often only a few hours later and buy the product we recommend. This is where things can go pear shaped. Often in the process of browsing around, the person is cookied by someone else and that someone else gets our commission.

Now I am not complaining too much. The issue is that the person doesn’t know that they have been cookied. The think they are buying from our link and they also haven’t clicked on anyone else’s. It is ethical?

The Lessons.

You need to be careful. A lot of these folks are ethically challenged. They are willing to screw you unless you are a big name and can hurt back.

There are some Internet Marketers that are much more ethical and pay commissions for last referral. Make sure you understand the terms and conditions before you start promoting an offer.

If you are promoting an offer or you have developed a personal relationship with someone and have given them your link, make sure you ask them to clear their cookies in their browser and ask them to buy immediately. Tell them that if they buy immediately you will give them a special bonus.

The bonus is up to you – it could be a product you have created, a webinar you have done or even some time that you can offer to help them remove a roadblock. Only you can decide what it is that will work for you and of course it is going to depend on the commission amount you receive.

Obviously you might want to give something of higher value if you are going to receive $500 commission as opposed to $20.

Treating your affiliates well is the cornerstone to a successful business, help them make as much money as they can. They’ll work harder for you.

The Ugly Side of Affiliate Marketing for Internet Marketing Products is a post from: Learn Internet Marketing Effortlessly

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One of the things that we have been getting into is local business consulting. It seemed a natural fit with my marketing background, Ray’s business background plus our combined Internet Marketing skills.

To be honest, this wasn’t something that we decided to do initially.

What changed our mind

There seemed to be a big business need for our skills. There are so many businesses out there who need help with their marketing. Either, they just don’t know how to get online or they really approach it the wrong way. From an outsider looking in, it seemed like a great opportunity to not only build a business for ourselves but to also help others with our knowledge and skills.

Initially we were intrigued. We watched the progress of others in our private mastermind coaching group with interest. Some of the group members were heavily involved in local business marketing. Others weren’t but it was interesting watching other people pursue this path while our focus was more on product development and affiliate sales.

Where did we learn from

My background was in marketing but I lacked some of the skills required in Internet Marketing. One of these was copywriting (and it still isn’t my forte). In my past life as a Brand Manager, I relied on the skills of advertising agencies to write copy . However, suddenly I found that in our own business we had to become to a bit more acquainted with writing copy and selling. Something that I still acknowledge that I need to develop.

We were members of a private coaching group which helped polish up our Internet Marketing skills. We were also members of a forum and had the benefit of getting some snippets of Gold from Kyle Tully, owner of Consulting Tycoon.  Kyle runs a course specifically on local business marketing. Kyle also runs a Consulting business and helps businesses improve their performance online.

Whilst we haven’t completed Kyle’s Consulting Tycoon course, we have been fortunate to get some pearls of wisdom from Kyle when we have seen him at various networking events as well as in the forum that we belong to.

Kyle is a real smart dude when it comes to local business marketing and can seemingly find an angle in just about anything. Once we mentioned to Kyle, that this business we were targeting did not want to be found in Google for fear of reaching the wrong clientele. Kyle’s response was, well perhaps you can say that they can make a profit on passing on and selling the leads the business doesn’t want to another business. He has a great way of thinking laterally.

After listening to Kyle and following other people’s journey, we decided to follow this path.

What are the benefits

The key benefits we have found from local business marketing are:

• More consistent cash flow while we were setting up the affiliate side of our business
• Don’t have to wait as long to get paid compared to some affiliate programs (that’s if you set criteria where the client pays up front)
• Personal satisfaction of helping grow a business (we want the business we help be profitable and get bigger)
• The need to actually get out and meet people rather staying locked in the house doing affiliate marketing
• It forced up to set up systems and processes so we could scale up our operations and free up our time
• You can focus on one main thing to specialize in – this might be website development, search engine optimization, website analytics, website conversions, mobile marketing, local directory listings, and so forth

What We Found

There are lots of businesses who approach their marketing haphazardly. This is mainly because they are too busy working in the business rather than on the business. Sometimes they need help to stop and think about what their objectives are, who their target audience is and what they would like them to do.  In fact, this is very common – even amongst some very smart operators.

There are also lots of people making promises in the local business space. Many website designers say they understand search engine optimization but when it comes down to it, they don’t. They just pluck whatever keyword seems appropriates and stuffs it into the website.

Others sneakily put in a link back to directory listing sites that they own and then charge the customer to list on their directory. Little does the owner know that it is their website that is helping the directory listing rank in the search enbgines.  They don’t understand that it is their website helping  the directory rank, and they are paying fees to be listed on directory that lists all their competitors websites on it as well.

Then there are advertising agencies who say they are full service, but they really know nothing about search engine optimization. Let’s face it, it isn’t really that difficult for a famous household brand to make page one in Google for their brand name is it?

Maybe if they structured the brand’s websites to rank for the products that the brand actually sells, then they would find it a bit more difficult. For an agency, it is easy to say you do search engine optimzation when your client is a household name. What happens if you client is less well known?

There are heaps of other dodgy practices as well. It made us determined to be ethical in our dealings with our clients and also gave us a point of difference versus some of the companies we were competing against. Indeed many of the people in the forum I belong to, offer businesses category exclusivity to their clients so their clients can feel confident that they are not undertaking any work for their competitors.

What I recommend

Local business marketing is a great path to pursue. On a positive side, you don’t have a manager breathing down your neck watching your every moment. You also get the satisfaction of helping a business become a bigger, more profitable one. You need to enjoy working with people and need to enjoy thinking about solutions that will help your clients. You need to enjoy the challenge of selling and crafting a good story.

It isn’t for the faint hearted. It you are gifted at selling then it might be perfect for you. If you are less confident at this, it will take some time to learn the art of selling and perfect your message. Either way, you will learn from it and your skills at this will improve as you go along. I am personally enjoying the growth I get from pursuing this path. It means I am continually pushing my boundaries and stretching myself even though I think I don’t want to. In your own business, you can’t hide behind anyone else. You are the one who is responsible.

On the client side, I’ve found that the biggest hold up is often the client. They will have good intentions but they will sometimes stall you. That might be great for them but it doesn’t put cash in your bank account. Often, the stalling is because they can see value in your services but can’t afford it.

Other times it is because they are too busy. They are working in the business not on the business. They don’t have the time to gather content. They don’t have the time to put together an email. You need to be continually thinking about your clients and how you can add value and help them grow their business (and also reasons why they should start acting with more urgency). Why? Because helping them will also help grow your own business. You will also grow as person as a result.

If this is path that you find appealing, then I recommend you check out Kyle Tully’s Consulting Tycoon course. Whilst we haven’t done the course ourselves yet, I know what value Kyle provides and I am expecting him to pull a few more rabbits out of the hat when I do eventually do his course.  I am confident you will be provided with practical information you can implement right away.

Local Business Consulting Tycoon is a post from: Learn Internet Marketing Effortlessly

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Well, it’s been a busy time over the last few months and we have been putting many things in place. Some of you may have noticed our new logo and the new header on our website. We have also added this to our YouTube Channel, Twitter and of course Facebook.  In fact it would be great if you could go to facebook and like our page – this will be great way for you to keep up to date with all the cutting edge info we come across on a daily basis.

Check us out at Facebook

One thing we haven’t been able to do is get a name for our little man in the logo. That’s right, the little man doing a cartwheel is having the time of his life, but he feels there is something missing without a name

So Here’s the Deal.Head to our facebook page, Like Us and then offer your suggestion for a name for the little fella!!

 If you provide the best suggestion you will win a prize for your efforts. The prize will be tailored to the individual winner depending on whether you are already involved in our coaching programs or not. This way we can be sure your prize will be of benefit and value to you. So, what are you waiting for – Like us now at Facebook.

Give our man a name and win a prize!! is a post from: Learn Internet Marketing Effortlessly

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Gmail is a fabulous email agent and can be used as a great tool to tame your inbox. It can be used to cut out the clutter and noise and improve your productivity. I can hear your disbelief – lets explore how gmail can help you?

1. Gmail is Free

One of the best things about Gmail is that it is free. I don’t have to worry about paying for expensive software to send and receive email. Nor do I have to worry about updating it. I just use the same free platform day in day out.

2. You can Label Messages

The ability to label messages makes it easy to sort messages according to various topics. You can literally label any message and assign multiple labels to any messages. When you hit the label any message that has been assigned a particular label appear magically in front of your eyes.

3. You Can Have The Same Email Address Forever

I used to be reliant on using the email address that my Internet service provider gave me. After one went bankrupt and after changing Internet Services, I became irritated with sending emails to friends to let them know my new email address. I lost count off the number of friends I lost contact with after making the switch.

4. It Links To Other Google Services

Having a gmail account makes it a cinch to link to other Google services like Adwords, Analytics, Reader, You Tube, Website Optimizer and Webmaster Tools. The accounts are all linked so I can access all services without having to log in to other accounts. This makes gmail a great time saving device.

5. You Can Filter Messages

The best feature of gmail is the ability to filter. This means that you can set things up so that only the most important emails get delivered to your inbox. The rest still arrive but get sent directly to folders where you can deal with them at a more convenient time. It is a great way to work out what emails you get sent that you rarely look at.

6. You Can Have Up To 5 Return Email Addresses

A great feature of Gmail is that you can set up a number different email accounts and run them through just one gmail account.

For example, you can use gmail to send and receive email as carol@yourdomain.com rather than your gmail email address.

7. Web Based Not Computer Based

My old Outlook program had accumulated thousands of emails over the years. These emails took up valuable space on my computer. Using Gmail means that everything is stored in the cloud and I don’t have to worry about storage on my computer again.

The other good thing with a web based email program is that you have a back up if things go wrong. Recently my Microsoft Outlook program decided not to work after a Windows automatic update. It took about 1 week to resolve the issue. Had I been reliant on Outlook I would have been stuffed but since I made the transition to Gmail, I could send and receive emails easily without having any major interruptions to my business.

8. Grant Other People Access To Your Email Account

Like Outlook, you can give other people access to your account so it makes it easy for other people to look after your account if you are away on holidays.

9. Voice and Video Chat

Gmail has the ability to chat online – a handy feature which you can use to either type messages or have video calls to other people who are connected online.

10. Lots of Apps

There are literally hundreds of applications that you can use to really pimp out your gmail account. For example you can create a document from an email conversation or even add Google calendar gadgets so you can see your calendar within your email view.

Ten Reasons Why You Should Have Gmail is a post from: Learn Internet Marketing Effortlessly

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When you first install WordPress, you will normally just see a Home page and an about page. These pages do not have any content added  by default.  You can easily add pages and posts that are relevant to your website.

To Add a Page

1. Go into the Pages Area (located on the left side of the dashboard)

2.  Click on the Add New Button.

3.  Fill in the necessary fields.

4. Click on Publish to save the changes and create the page.

5.  Hit on the refresh button to see the changes.

Creating a Post

Creating a WordPress Post really is not that different from creating a page. The concept on how to create a post is relatively similar to  on how to create a page.

1. In the dashboard, go into Posts (located on the left side of the dashboard).

2.  Click on the Add New button.

3.  Fill in the necessary fields.

4.  Click on Publish to save the change and create the page.

5.  Hit on the refresh button to see the changes.

Watch this video and learn more.

Click here to view the embedded video.

How to Add Pages and Posts in WordPress is a post from: Learn Internet Marketing Effortlessly

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There are 20,054,866 Million websites that are powered by wordpress today and it’s still growing every day. Why is wordpress this popular? With its simple interface and user friendly features there’s no reason why internet marketers and bloggers wouldn’t use this right?

One of the important features of wordpress s the widgets. What is widget? It is a way of organizing your content on the sidebar of your website. It is located on the right side of your wordpress site though with many themes the sidebar could be located on the left hand side.

1.  On your dashboard, this feature can be found under “Appearance” just below the theme button.

2.  Within the widget button you will find the “Primary Widget Area”. This is your side bar and you can see this at the side of your website.

3.  All you have to do is to drag and drop the available widgets on the primary widget area.

There are other things you can with widgets; all you have to do is learn more about widgets and other features about wordpress. Having enough knowledge about wordpress will not only boost your website’s traffic but as well as more income.

For further details on how to manage your wordpress widget, you can check out this video and learn more.

Click here to view the embedded video.

How to Manage WordPress Widgets is a post from: Learn Internet Marketing Effortlessly

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Are you tired of the standard default WordPress theme and want to know how to find and install some great themes on your website? Perhaps you can find any themes you like from the search box inside of WordPress. There are some other options. In this tutorial, I will be teaching you the basics of how to find, upload and use the wordpress that you have just downloaded.

1.  You have to go to Google.com and on the search bar, type in “Wordpress Themes.” In this example, I have typed in the ter, “Free WordPress Themes.”

2. You can then choose a website that you think might give you the themes that you are looking for your website.

3.  Select a website that you think might be suitable and use the search for themes feature.  In this example, you can either preview it first or download it automatically if you have chosen a theme. A little box would then appear asking you on where to save it.

The most important thing that you should remember when downloading the file that; “DON’T UNZIP THE FILE”.

4. On your WordPress site, under appearance you will see a button for “Themes” click it and you will be brought into the Manage Theme area. You need to click on the Install Themes tab right next to the Manage Themes so you can upload your newly downloaded theme, you have to click on the Install Themes just beside the Manage Theme.

5. On the Install Theme area, you will find a button that says “Upload”. Click on that and then choose the downloaded file and click install.

Installing a wordpress theme is simple, fun and easy. Just follow the simple steps and you are off to creating a fresh look for you website. You can also check out this video for further information.

Click here to view the embedded video.

How to Upload and Use WordPress Themes is a post from: Learn Internet Marketing Effortlessly

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A lot of people who use WordPress have asked me how to make their post standout from the rest. They want to know how they can make their post unique in a way that they can still deliver the thought of their post without posting it as merely a series of text? They want to know how to add a video in a WordPress post?

The answer to these questions is Yes and Yes. You can make your post unique by adding videos and you can certainly add videos to your WordPress post.

Here’s how:

1. On your WordPress account, Click Edit on the Post where you want the video to be added.

2. Go to any video sharing sites. (let’s use Youtube for this example) On the Search Bar, Type the Video you wanted to insert on your post.

Tip: Try and look for a video that does not contain links to other people’s website.

3.  When you have selected a Video, Click on the Share button as shown below.

4.  Click on the embed button to show the code that can be used to embed the video. You can also choose the size of the video display.

5. Go back to your WordPress Post. Make sure you are on the HTML tab before pasting the code.

6.  Click on Update to save the changes. Click View Post to see the changes in your Post.

7.  The video is now embedded on your Post.

Adding a Video to a WordPress post is not as difficult as everyone thinks it is. All you need is to familiarize yourself with how WordPress works and where to find certain functions.

To find out more, watch this video on how to do it the right way.

Click here to view the embedded video.

How to Add Video in a WordPress Post is a post from: Learn Internet Marketing Effortlessly

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