“An Offer that isn’t too Good to be True” plus 1 more

Posted: 03 Jul 2013 08:43 AM PDT

Recently, Darren shared an amazing bundle of blogger training available for just 72 hours.

As someone who is very selective about what training and personal development I participate in I wanted to put my own perspective forward as to why I think is something very much worth considering.

Blogging is hard

It takes effort, commitment and determination. As a blog owner you need to master multitasking, a willingness to roll up your sleeves and get things done. You need to be able to cop your fair share of criticism and be willing to make peace with the fact that your To Do list will always be longer than time permits.

Because blogging is hard, it’s a great opportunity for people to create products that make life easier. Some of these products would have you believe you can simply sit back and watch the page views, and profits, roll in. The copy is compelling, painting a picture of the vast green pasture on ‘the other side’.

We all look at them and think… I must be doing something wrong if it’s all that easy! I better find out what.

You put your hand in your pocket with high hopes. Sadly, more and more of these products are being sold exceptionally well but delivering nothing on their promise. Of course, it could be worse.

And then there are the other products

Why I particularly like about the latest collection of Problogger courses for bloggers is that they don’t prey on your dreams. It’s a collection of courses designed to make you a better blogger in a bunch of different ways. They are all very practical and real, and it’s refreshing to see.

Unlike Darren, I don’t personally know any of the people behind these course. I do know Darren and he only has respect for those who truly deserve it – so some points are instantly awarded right there.

But more importantly let’s look at the topics covered.

Breakthrough Blogging

I love that this course is aimed at people who have started a blog and then stalled. At one point or another we’ve all felt that progress isn’t what we’d hoped for. That we’re not moving forward, fast enough. This is when many people give up. Through this course if you can find the inner motivation you need to get to tipping point of your blog. This course is worth the $200 on it’s own!

How to Connect with Anyone

This might be more personal to me, but I envy people who seem to be able to network and connect in their sleep. I walk into a room of people simply hoping that someone will talk to me. It’s been said that your worth is driven by your network, and I this course could help me with that. It would be a lifelong weakness of mine conquered!

Better Web Videos & Rapid Video Blogging

We all started blogging because we like to write and like to share. Then, there was video to add to the mix and all of a sudden we were movie producers as well as writers. We can make videos I’m sure, but it takes too long and they lack polish. Both these courses change that. Videos done right and done easily — Yay!!

Publish Your Book on Kindle

7 out of 10 of the questions I get asked are about getting an eBook published. I would have loved if this course wasn’t specific to the Kindle but you cant win them all! Knowing how to get your book on a Kindle is a major barrier and the rest comes pretty easy after that.

Podcasting

Postcasting was cool, then uncool, and now it’s cool again. There are some small but very important things you have to when you’re podcasting. I really like the post that was shared here quite recently and I know this course kicks it up a level.

All these courses will:

give you the motivational kick up the backside you probably need
help you be a networking superstar
see you producing great video content easily
reduce the unknowns in publishing your eBook on the kindle
… and if you’re up for it, get in on the podcasting resurgence.

That’s a pretty good piece of personal development as a blogger!

Typically, I keep my thoughts on these sorts of things to myself and Darren had already shared the deal. But this was one was too good to keep quite about — I couldn’t resist!

It’s amazing value for the price. If you didn’t know Darren, you might think it sounds too good to be true, but he’s a generous guy.

So go, check out the courses now!

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

An Offer that isn’t too Good to be True

5 Ways to Prepare Your Blog for Affiliate Selling

Posted: 02 Jul 2013 08:13 AM PDT

This a guest contribution from full time affiliate marketer, Nrupen Masram.

Using your blog to earn a passive income through affiliate sales is something many bloggers aspire to. Isn’t it? But you won’t make money if you don’t get visitors to your site and you won’t get that consistent traffic until you have a blog worth visiting.

There are lots of ways to generate affiliate sales through your blog but having affiliate products to sell is just a small part of the picture. This article will focus on five elements you should consider, before and after you sign up to any affiliate programs.

1. Become A Niche Expert

If you simply focus on making affiliate sales, you’re likely to scare people away. When you do a search on Google for anything related to a particular niche, what are you looking for? Usually, you’re looking for expert. So, it follows on that if you’re an expert in a particular niche, you’re going to attract traffic. So how do you establish yourself as an expert?

There’s more than one piece to this puzzle. You obviously need lots of knowledge about your niche. You need your own blog where you can share your knowledge and engage in discussion. Write plenty of content to educate people. Once people are comfortable with you as an expert and you’ve developed a community, you can start slipping in affiliate products in your blog posts.

Nobody wants to be sold to all the time. They want to believe they’re making the buying decisions on their own so when you include affiliate links and products in your blog posts, you should aim to provide genuine solutions to common problems.

2. Create a Recommended Products and Tools Page

Word-of-mouth advertising is by far the best, strongest and most effective form available…and it’s free! Everybody’s favorite price. This is what you are trying to harness in affiliate sales and you can consolidate all your best product recommendations on one page. As you’re building your reputation as an expert, your followers will trust your opinions and a single page of recommendations allow you to recommend products outside of a blog post.

Every time you recommend a product or tool, you’re putting your own reputation on the line and that’s one of the most valuable assets you have in business. Never recommend a product or service that isn’t good quality and never lie, say a product is good if it’s not. You only have to do it once to lose all the trust you have built up with many of your followers.

You can also create your own tools and products and add them to this category if you have the necessary skills or are willing to outsource this aspect of your business in order to make even more money.

3. Write Product Reviews

Product reviews are a great way to include affiliate links in a useful and educational blog post. Where possible, never write a review about a product you haven’t used yourself. If you’re going to make money this way, it’s best to truly know how well a product performs so you have be honest with your community.

However, it’s not always possible to use every single product and so some reviews will be based on research and opinion. You must always write an honest, but positive, review of the product and have an affiliate link within the review that goes to the product.

It’s critically important here that you don’t hide the fact you’re an affiliate. A lack of transparency may cost you the trust of some of your readers. There’s nothing wrong with making commissions based on reviews you have written if you’re honest about everything.

4. Build Your Own Mailing Lists

A growing mailing list is key to long-term success in affiliate selling and your blog for that matter. However, just because somebody subscribes to your blog, it doesn’t give you permission to hit them with countless sales emails every single day. You’re smarter than that!

Using an autoresponder (such as Aweber or GetResponse) will help keep in regular contact with your subscribers but you should vary the type of information contained within the emails. Regular newsletters give you the opportunity to share free articles, reports, ebooks and even free products sometimes.

Your affiliate sales emails should be interspersed with these other emails so the people on your lists don’t feel like they’re always being sold to. This comes back to building relationships and rapport. Also allow your subscribers to provide feedback to make sure you know if you’re taking the wrong approach.

Banner Ads

Banner ads can be effective but you need to consider the size and placement within your blog. Most affiliate products tools have a selection of banners you can use so test different ones to see which banners can give you the best results for your money. Avoid large banners and ones that have clashing colours Remember that they’re merely one aspect of your blog design. They shouldn’t overtake everything else you worked so hard to design.

Making money with affiliate sales can be very lucrative but it’s not as easy as waving a magic wand. It involves a lot of short, medium and long-term planning to ensure your business grows consistently and your income also grows. Never be afraid to change things to see if they can improve aspects of your business. You can always change them back if they don’t work.

You’re the master of your own destiny (and your blog). Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.

My name is Nrupen Masram. I started affiliate marketing after completing college and since year 2010 I am full time affiliate marketer. I sell both physical as well as digital products but mostly my income comes by promoting physical products. I am not millionaire marketer but I do earn full time online. I write about affiliate marketing on my blog http://NrupenMasram.com.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

5 Ways to Prepare Your Blog for Affiliate Selling