Steve Wagenheim’s Home Business Blog

Affiliate marketing is like a big booby trap…with affiliate marketers being the booby. This is not a knock on affiliate marketers. The truth is, they just don’t know any better…at least not the ones who are struggling to make their first few dollars online. Well, this article is going to point out a few areas where the road to affiliate marketing heck is paved with good intentions. You might want to make note of these items.

Problem number one is listening to the wrong people. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard somebody spout something like, “Hey, you should sell xyz product. I’m selling a ton of these suckers every month.” And then the flock comes a following. It’s really like leading the lambs to the slaughter. The problem is that this person, if they can even be trusted, has left out all the vital components of what has made the sale of this product so successful. You don’t have any clue what promotional methods they’re using. Duplicating such success, again, if it exists, is going to be close to impossible without more info. Point is, don’t just hop on selling a product because somebody tells you to.

Another big problem is with the promotional method itself. I’ll hear something like “I sell 30 xyz products a month just writing articles. All you need to do is submit them to a few directories and you’ll do great.” Okay, the first problem is that not all directories are the same. Some give very poor results. But the bigger problem is, not everybody can write. I hate to say this, as I make most of my income from writing articles, but there are a few people out there who shouldn’t be allowed near a keyboard. If you don’t have the writing skills, forget it…you’re not going to sell a thing. I don’t care how hot the product is.

Aside from that, there are more things that go into promoting a product through articles than just the article itself. What kind of a landing page are you using? Did you review the product? Are you offering bonuses for people to purchase from you? Are you even targeting the right keywords?

Affiliate marketing can be very successful for many people.

It can also be a road to heck.

Trust me…I’ve been there.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Tired of being an affiliate failure? Want to turn yourself into an affiliate assassin like I am? Want to land in the top 20 of every affiliate promotion you tackle just like I do? Check out my site at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/affiliateassassin/index.html and start earning a solid income as an affiliate marketer.

We are getting very close to the end of this series…praise the article king! All kidding aside, in this installment of article writing tips, A-Z, we’re up to the letter R which stands for research. Man, is this something that is sorely lacking in many articles. Well, if you’re going to write articles on topics that you know little about, something that I avoid like the plague, you better do your research. This article explains why this is so important.

Probably the biggest reason why research is so important is credibility…yours. Imagine you write about some topic, whatever it is, and you spout all these “facts” that aren’t facts at all, and at the end of it you offer your advice to the reader based on these facts. What do you think is going to happen when the reader takes your advice and it blows up in his face because your “facts” are all wrong? Do you think this person is ever going to trust another one of your articles again? I know I wouldn’t.

Trouble is, many people don’t know how to do research. Well, let me spell it out for you. It’s NOT reading somebody else’s article and putting it in your own words. Research is going to a number of reference materials, books, journals, authoritative sources, and taking ALL of that information, absorb it, understand it and THEN relay it to your reader in a way that they can understand, citing all reference material that you used, either at the end of the article or within the article itself such as, “The XYZ paper reported that…” and so on.

That’s research. That’s going to send your credibility sky high. Readers will actually look forward to reading your articles. Is this time consuming? You bet your sweet petunias it is, which is why I rarely write about something I don’t know like the back of my hand.

Research…it can make or break you as a writer.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to write articles that get people’s attention and can earn you up to $200 per article written? Then check out my Complete Article Writing And Marketing Guide that you can find at http://www.honestincomeprogram.com/tcawamg.html – This is my own book that I wrote from over 30 years of writing experience.

There is a trap that many home business owners fall into. I call it the rat trap. If you’re not sure what that means in relation to your home business, this article is going to explain what it is and how you can avoid it. This advice could very well mean the difference between YOUR success and failure.

So, what is this “rat trap” that I’m talking about? Well, the easiest way to describe it is by example. John Doe wants to start a home business but he doesn’t really know what it is that he wants to do. So he goes to a home business forum to see what other people are doing. He happens to notice that a lot of people are into site flipping. Site flipping is where you get a domain, put some content on it and then sell the site off. John thinks this sounds pretty cool so he decides that’s what he’s going to do.

That is the rat trap. But why?

Well, for starters, John Doe knows nothing about site flipping. He just automatically assumes that this is going to be something that will fit his skill sets and interests. He may very well find out that this is something he’s not going to be very good at because he’s not good at creating content. Maybe he can’t create the proper sales copy to get the site sold. He quickly discovers that this is something that he’s not having any success with and he quite.

Another reason that this is a rat trap is because usually, when something is new and popular, everybody and their grandmother jumps on it and the market becomes so competitive that even if you do have the skills to pull it off, you’re going to find it very difficult to get any kind of decent return on your work. The massive supply ends up driving the price down. Either that, or only the ones who do truly exceptional work make any money at all.

Okay, so how do we avoid the rat trap? Two simple things will do it. For starters, find something that you’re truly interested in and have an aptitude for. This will make it a lot easier for you to be successful with it. The second thing is to look for something that has a demand but isn’t the “flavor of the day.” These fads are usually short lived or are way too competitive to even think about entering unless you’re the best of the best.

There you have it. If you do these two simple little things, you will avoid falling into that rat trap that ends up dooming 95% of all startup home businesses.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Looking for a solid 4 step plan to building your own business…FREE? Pick up my free report at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/4steps.html and get started TODAY!

I have heard this said by successful marketers, not once, but many times. Marketers like Jason Moffatt, Eric Louviere, Kevin Riley, and on and on and on. The biggest reason why you’re not having any success is because you’re not doing anything…at least nothing productive. Look, I used to be in the same boat so I know what it’s like. As a matter of fact, I can pretty much guess what you’re doing.

Let me see, you probably start your marketing day checking your stats to see how many visitors to your site you got, how many sales you made and so on. I know. I was real big on checking stats. Heck, I used to check my stats every hour. I was a total fanatic.

After that, you probably check your emails. You want to see if you got any prospect inquiries to any of your ads, that’s if you even have any ads out there. Maybe you check to see what the latest big product pitch is so you can get that product and start making some money JUST because you bought it. After all, all these products have buttons that you can push that will instantly bring you wealth, right?

Then you probably go to your favorite forum and hang out with your other buddies who also aren’t making any money. You look for the great “tips” that the gurus post at the forum to see if you can learn anything that will put you over the top. You see some cool gimmick and figure you’d try that, only to find out that it’s just one piece of a very large puzzle. That one piece is NOT going to make you a fortune…if anything at all.

By this time, it’s probably lunch and you take a break from working. The only problem is, you haven’t really done anything, have you?

Look, this business is not rocket science. Do some keyword research. Find a niche with a demand for a solution to a problem. Create your own solution or find somebody who already has and sell their solution as an affiliate. Don’t have money to advertise? No problem. Write a few articles and send people to a page to pick up a free report. Build your list. Mine is over 5,000 strong right now and earns me a solid six figures a year. No, it won’t happen overnight. Forget about instant riches. Get to a point where you’re getting 10 to 20 opt ins a day. Sell these people something that will actually help them with their problem. Build a real relationship with them. Care about them.

If more people would do these simple things, we’d have less people complaining about not being able to make any money online.

For crying out loud…just do something.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to make money TODAY without spending a DIME? Check out my site at http://www.hottrendsdaily.com/ and find out how.

This is actually very similar to the long versus short copy argument with a little twist. I think you will find this article interesting reading, especially if you want to build a list and don’t want to alienate your potential subscribers in the process.

There is a HUGE difference between a sales page and a squeeze page, and it’s not just that the sales page is selling something and that the squeeze page is giving something away. It’s that the one requires the prospect to hand you over his hard earned money and the other doesn’t. It’s much easier to get somebody to give you their email address to get a free report than it is to get them to fork over those greenbacks.

What does this have to do with the length of the squeeze page? Less convincing…that’s what. You don’t have to do as big a sales job for an opt in. All you have to do is clearly show the person the benefits of getting your report. And that is where so many list builders drop the ball. They’ll have some big fancy headline like, “Get My Free Report And Discover How To Bank 5 Figures Every Month” but they don’t give the person any idea what they’re going to find in the report.

A simple list of bullet points after the headline is all you really need. You don’t have to go into some long song and dance about your personal story (save that for the sales page). Just tell them what they can expect to find when getting your report. That way, they’ll be able to make an informed decision as to whether or not they even want it.

The way you can also cut down on the length of your squeeze page is to pre-sell the report. Yes, I know, it’s free. But if you give people an idea of what they can expect to find in the report before they even get to the squeeze page, they’ll probably be ready to enter in their email addresses without even reading it. I do this with a lot of my squeeze pages so that I am actually able to get away with just a headline or two. But still, some of my squeeze pages I go into more detail, like with my 4 Steps report, which you can find in my signature.

Point is, you don’t need a long squeeze page. Just tell the prospect what they need to know in order to make an informed decision and get on with it.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Check out my squeeze page at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/4steps.html and see how simple this process really is. Then, if you want to discover how to really build a killer list and send out emails that make sales, visit my site at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/emailmarketing/index.html

It is so easy for somebody to go to a forum and claim, “I make $100,000 a year marketing online.” After all, you don’t know this person from Adam. So how do you know if they’re being honest or not? The truth is, you don’t. That in itself is not a big deal. If people want to brag, fine. However, where it becomes a problem is when these same people approach you and say, “I can mentor you to become successful.” That’s where you have to be careful.

Okay, so the question is, how? How do you determine if this person can actually help you or not. Some of these scam artists are very good at wowing you with a carefully constructed PM. They talk a good game, but can they really be trusted? How do you know?

Well, let me tell you something from experience. Most people who are really successful are NOT going to contact you personally in a forum looking to pitch their mentoring services. I have never done that, nor will I ever. If anything, when somebody PMs me to inquire about my services, I tell them flat out that I reject 99% of the people who apply because most don’t have what it takes. I then lay out my terms and price and in almost all cases, I’m responded to with a polite, “Thanks, but no thanks” which is fine with me. I don’t need the work.

The scam artists do because that is how they make their money. They don’t actually make anything doing what they claim to do so they have to go out trolling for suckers. So the very first thing that should tip you off that you’re probably being scammed is if the person contacts you and offers you their services. I don’t care what reason they give, like they see that you have potential and they want to help. The only thing they want to help themselves to is your wallet.

To verify a person’s success does take some research and time. For starters, go to the search engines and do a search on the person’s name. If you find nothing, most likely they’re not doing too much. If you find a lot of complaints of fraud, well, where there is smoke there is usually fire. I’d take those complaints seriously.

It’s not an exact science. Inevitably, unless you avoid everybody, you’re going to get ripped off at some point in time. Even I’ve been a victim…and I’m very careful.

Go with your gut…but be careful.

Scam artists are everywhere.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to see more of this series? Watch my REAL Truth Videos at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/downloads.html and get the REAL truth about making money on the Internet.

What is bad copy? Would you know it when you saw it? What’s your definition? If you think about the question, it’s actually a very interesting one. Each copywriter has their own definition of what bad copy is. Mine may or may not agree with the masses, but I’m going to put it out there anyway. You can take it for what it’s worth to you.

To me, bad copy is copy that doesn’t get the job done. Sorry if that sounds a little too simplistic, but I live in a bottom line world. If the sales letter I write doesn’t make me sales, I don’t care how well written it may be grammatically or otherwise…it’s useless as far as a sales letter goes and needs to be scrapped and redone. I hope you will agree that if a sales letter doesn’t convert, it can’t be good.

Ah, but what IS it that makes that sales letter not convert? See, this is where people get hung up on words. Words can kill you. Just ask any English professor. Truth is, a sales letter can be ruined, not by any words that were put on the page, but by the words that were left off…the ones needed to provoke the desired emotional response from the prospect. This usually happens when the copywriter didn’t do his research on the target market.

If you go on the premise that the person who might buy your skin care product is doing so because they want to have clear skin (and you harp on this in the copy) when the real reason is that they want to either score with the gal down the block or land that new job as a spokesperson, then you are missing the target of your pitch. You are telling the prospect something that isn’t pushing their buttons…and ultimately losing the sale. That’s what makes bad copy.

Grammar mistakes? Well, in some niches, bad grammar is the in thing. I’ve seen some sales pages in the music business that would kill any English professor and yet they convert like crazy. You can’t just judge a sales page by its grammar unless of course you’re selling a course on grammar. Then, it’s quite laughable.

Point is, bad copy can mean different things to different niches. What may work for one may not work for another. There is no one size fits all.

So put your preconceived notions away and look at your copy objectively.

Is it converting?
If not…you have bad copy.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to write copy just like the pros? Visit my site at http://www.bcipe.com/ and discover killer copywriting tips that have allowed me to write my own copy for years and earn myself a 6 figure a year income selling my own products.

My friend Richard from Union, NJ writes, “What’s with all these dumb A-Z series? Haven’t you got better things to do with your time?” No Rich, I don’t. Deal with it. LOL. Anyway, we’re up to the letter Q in our series and Q stands for quality. While I know the word itself needs no explanation, perhaps, as it applies to article writing, it does. Why? Because there is a great lack of quality in many of the articles I read.

Quality comes in all shapes and sizes in regard to writing an article. First and foremost is your grammar. Now, I don’t want to be a grammar policeman here, but some of the stuff I read is downright awful. Just today, I saw the following sentence. “Is email marketing work for an affiliate program?” No offense my friend, but the sentence should read “DOES email marketing work for an affiliate program?” If you can’t get basic sentence structure down properly, please do something else with your time because the chances of your article being read from beginning to end are slim to none.

Beyond grammar, there is the actual information being shared. Some articles say absolutely nothing. You know, it’s amazing how many people can ramble on forever and say nothing. How about sharing some factual information that can be useful to somebody? How about giving some opinions on a subject that have some validity? How about saying something that, at the very least, makes the reader go, “Hmmm, that’s interesting?”

Finally, there is the way you express yourself. I hate to say this, but there are probably more people who get the first two points above right but fail at this level. They sound like they swallowed a dictionary and are about as interesting as a ten pound bag of fertilizer. I don’t want to read an article that’s going to put me to sleep. I want to be entertained, at least a little. I don’t care if you’re writing about how to install a replacement window. It doesn’t have to bore me to tears. You have a personality…use it.

There you go. These are my three requirements for a quality article. Trust me, these are the bare minimum requirements for writing. If you can’t meet these, maybe you should try your hand at selling that fertilizer.

You might have more luck.
To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim

Want to write articles that get people’s attention and can earn you up to $200 per article written? Then check out my Complete Article Writing And Marketing Guide that you can find at http://www.honestincomeprogram.com/tcawamg.html – This is my own book that I wrote from over 30 years of writing experience.

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is this one. “When do I give up trying to promote a product?” In other words, they want to know at what point, not making any sales, do they throw in the towel. This is actually a very legitimate question and one that is not easy to answer. This article is going to give you my viewpoints on affiliate marketing and knowing when to bail out when something just isn’t working. Hopefully, you will find this info helpful.

It’s dangerous to assume, but in this case, I’m going to go under the assumption that you have carefully researched the product and have at least determined that it’s selling. If not, you may be totally wasting your time with it. In either case, knowing when to bail out is simply a numbers game. It all comes down to how comfortable you are with the numbers.

For example, most affiliate marketers are pretty content with a conversion rate of 1% to 2%. Most of the products I promote convert in that area. I’m comfortable with that. But this is where most affiliate marketers just starting out make their mistake. They hit the panic button too soon. If the product creator claims (and you have to take these with a grain of salt) that their product converts at 2%, your typical affiliate marketer will reach his first 50 clicks, make no sales, and immediately hit the panic button. “Why didn’t I make a sale?” And heaven forbid if 100 clicks go by and still no sale. They’re pretty much ready to move on.

Okay, let me tell you something about statistics and probability. Too many people get hung up on numbers and quote them as the gospel. Just because a product converts at 2% doesn’t mean you’re going to get a sale for every 50 clicks like clockwork. One product that I promote, I remember one stretch where I got 400 clicks and no sales. I was kind of scratching my head wondering what was going on. And then suddenly, in the next few days, I got 50 clicks and 4 sales.

If you are looking for clockwork precision with the numbers, forget it. You will have highs and lows. But overall, if the sales page is doing its job and you are doing YOUR job, the numbers will be there.

So, when do you bail out? Well, like I said, it’s whatever YOU’RE comfortable with. Me? I’ll give a product 1,000 clicks. If I don’t see a sale in 1,000 clicks, I’m gone. It’s obvious that either the sales page doesn’t convert or I don’t know how to properly pre-sell the product.

This is not an exact science.

Don’t treat it like one.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Tired of being an affiliate failure? Want to turn yourself into an affiliate assassin like I am? Want to land in the top 20 of every affiliate promotion you tackle just like I do? Check out my site at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/affiliateassassin/index.html and start earning a solid income as an affiliate marketer.

The other day, I was speaking with another marketer about polls. We had a very nice chat and it was quite productive. However, at the end of it, I couldn’t help but think that this marketer was not going to take the advice that I had given him based on the last few comments that he made about how he was “sure he knew his market enough to know what they want”. Interesting comment to say the least. Well, here is a news flash for those of you who feel the same way. You may be right…but you may be wrong. And no, I am not referring to a Billy Joel song here.

The more experienced we get, the more preconceived notions that we come up with. We reach a point where we think we know it all, or at least close to it all. That’s dangerous when you’re running a business that depends on prospect feedback…no matter how long you’ve been in the game. See, it doesn’t matter what you think your prospect wants. What matters is what your prospect DOES want. There is a big difference between the two. So okay, how do you find out JUST what your prospect wants? It can be done.

One way is by putting a poll or questionnaire on your site. Make the question as pinpoint as possible. You don’t want the topic to be so general or vague that the number of answers you could get are mind numbing. For example, let’s say you’re thinking about creating a product on niche research. You might want to put up a poll asking prospects what they most want to learn about researching a niche. This is fine, but the problem with it is it’s too broad a question. The answers you could get could be numerous to say the least. So you want to try to narrow things down just a bit. Maybe ask what they want in a research tool. Try to be as specific as possible.

Another way is to send out emails to the list you’ve built and ask them directly what they would like. This can do two things. The first is that it will obviously give you an idea of what your list is looking for but just as importantly, it will show you how responsive your list actually is. If you get very few responses, that could be an indicator that you’re not building a responsive list and maybe the first thing you need to do is focus on improving your list generating process.

Bottom line is this…it doesn’t matter what you think. You need to constantly get feedback from the people you are marketing to in order to provide them with the products and services that they want.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Tired of busting your behind for peanuts online? Go to my web site and find out how I earn a monthly income that exceeds 5 figures and how I can help YOU do the same. Get your free report at http://www.mysecretarticles.com/report.html