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AFFILIATE CLASSROOM – PART 1

AFFILIATE CLASSROOM – PART 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn9Tsjpsb58&feature=related

How Will Content Publishers Be Affected by Recession or Economic Downturn?

A black cloud is hanging over most of the Western economies. A downturn is under way, and no one is really sure how bad it’s going to get.

Online content publishers around the world are asking how they will be affected if recession strikes.

I’ve done a bit of research, and there seems to be some consensus among the “experts” about the possible impact.

The Opportunities from Recession

There is some good news.

If recession sets in, advertisers will look to allocate shrinking budgets to the most effective marketing channels. Everyone agrees this is the Internet.

It’s cost-effective and measurable, and it can be highly targeted.

All the analysts are predicting that online ad income will continue to grow even if recession sets in.

Likewise, the affiliate marketing networks are predicting a boom time. This is probably why Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have been acquiring the big players.

Affiliate marketing is even more accountable than straight advertising, because companies pay only when a sale is made.

High-quality specialist content publishers, who have advertising on their sites, will be in demand. Ad revenues are also likely to trickle down to smaller sites as ad networks struggle to find enough inventory.

Even the Threats Could Be Opportunities

The biggest threat to existing online publishers is likely to come from the print publishers. They are already suffering from falling advertising revenues and readership.

They will respond to recession in one of two ways.

They will either continue to trim back their operations and we will see many titles disappear, or they will aggressively move online.

Most print publishers have been woefully bad at online business, but as the old guard retire from the boardroom, the Internet savvy should move in.

They have two ways to proceed.

They can either build their web businesses organically, or they can acquire established websites.

In my opinion, the print publishers will aggressively turn to the web try to expand their online activities rapidly by buying existing content sites.

Again, this will present a great opportunity for some content website owners to sell up.

The Unknown Threat

The biggest unknown is the growth of the content publishing market.

If online content websites are highlighted as a successful way of making money in recession, there is likely to be a surge in launches. This will inevitably create increased competition.

How fast the sector will grow and how good the new entrants will be remain to be seen.

Conclusion

Content publishing looks like it will be one of the few industries that could grow significantly as a result of a recession.

But new entrants will increase competition, and as always, the best sites in each niche are likely to experience the greatest growth.

If you are thinking about setting up a content website, now is great time, but make sure you select your specialization carefully and commit to making it the best site in your space.

END.

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It’s easy to look at the economy today and see nothing but negative indicators and closed doors. One can’t escape reports of falling ad revenue, dwindling ad budgets and dying media companies. Even the outlook for online advertising — once the industry’s golden child — has dimmed. But to the resourceful marketer, this recession still presents a number of important opportunities, not the least of which is affiliate marketing.

Perhaps one of the lesser-known and understood channels of advertising, affiliate marketing — or paying online publishers to drive quality traffic to a company’s Web site based on the purchases and revenue they help generate — has quietly grown into a $6 billion+ industry. Jupiter Research expects affiliate marketing to grow another 13% year-over-year through 2012. By comparison, eMarketer anticipates online advertising in general will increase only 8.9% in 2009, to $25.7 billion, representing the lowest year-over-year increase for online advertising to date.

Why the bullish affiliate outlook? As the recession squeezes ad budgets and marketers respond to increased pressure to show return on investment, affiliate marketing is becoming more competitive with traditional channels of online and offline advertising. It’s not just small hobbyists or up-start companies doing affiliate marketing these days. Instead, many larger websites — from portals to content sites to product review sites and others — are becoming affiliates of established online merchants.

The benefits driving this trend for both advertisers and publishers are compelling. Advertisers appreciate the results-oriented focus and high return. Publishers (affiliates) enjoy low barriers to entry and quick startup, with no need to enter into long negotiations over insertion-orders with prospective advertisers or put contracts in place the way one would with traditional CPM or CPC ads. In addition, many advertisers offer tools through their affiliate programs to help publishers deeply integrate advertising into a site — from simple text links to customizable widgets to product feeds and APIs.

Affiliate marketing thus offers unique flexibility that makes advertising feel like content, providing an alternative to display or banner ads that might detract from the authenticity and appearance of the publisher site. Finally, affiliate marketing allows publishers of all sizes to compete on a level playing field — good news considering publisher commoditization and the downward trends in CPMs.

The silver lining in these hard times is that the recession appears to be driving even more buyers online, as consumers not only attempt to save money by driving less, they spend more time researching trusted brands, reading reviews and comparison shopping. Online sales remains one of the few bright spots for retail, with domestic retail ecommerce sales expected to grow 11% this year, from $141.3 billion to $156.1 billion, according to Forrester’s U.S. eCommerce Forecast.

That’s good news for both sides of the affiliate equation — merchants and the publishers and affiliates that promote them. Forrester expects the growth to continue during the next few years, albeit more slowly than in the past.

The real benefit: driving customer engagement

With ecommerce on the upswing and more customers than ever online, it’s important to maximize their time there — and this is where affiliate marketing can really outperform traditional advertising. As online advertising and consumers’ Web habits evolve, advertisers will be looking more closely at engagement and conversion. The direct relationship between affiliates and advertisers paves the way for increased customer involvement and activity on the merchant site.

Let me explain: While traditionally the ad industry has attempted to solve inefficiencies by adding middlemen, such as agencies, ad networks and exchanges, affiliate marketing does the opposite. It’s the only medium that allows advertisers and publishers to work directly together. The two parties can connect to discuss data and review results, working in tandem to find more ways to draw customers in.

Unlike the one-way medium of traditional advertising, affiliates have the incentive and flexibility to get creative and determine which layouts, creatives, promotions and recommendations work best for the merchants it represents. This direct relationship is a win-win for merchants and affiliates – the more successful the campaign, the more revenue each will bring in.

However, marketers must approach affiliate marketing with a clear understanding — like any other worthwhile advertising medium, one can’t simply assign bodies and budget to the program, back away and expect success. Instead, advertisers and affiliates must form highly productive relationships, keep communications open and work hard at making creative and targeting more effective. Look for more programs to pour resources into such efforts this year.

So to those dismayed at the news circulating about traditional advertising channels, take heart — affiliate marketing can open doors even in a recession, as long as the advertiser and affiliate communities work together to engage customers, find efficiencies and drive results, building revenue for all parties.

This commentary is insightful. I recommend it to others.

David’s nice summary:

• What is a Feed Reader? It’s kind of like a virtual magazine ‘shell’ that always updates with the latest stories from your favorite bloggers and content providers.
• How does it work? Without getting technical, it automatically displays current posts from blogs and websites that you’re subscribed to and alerts you to new posts.
• Why use one? To stay on top of the news, opinions, surveys, and expert advice in your industry and on topics that you want to learn more about.

David goes on to explain how to set up Google Reader as your RSS reader. Good read if you’re just getting started

1. Decide why you’re starting a legal blog–Is it to generate new business, establish your expertise in a particular area of practice, provide you with a web presence and/or more visibility, or is it simply an outlet that allows you to express yourself?
2. Determine who your target readers are–Are they potential clients, lawyers who practice in the same area of law as you do, lawyers located in the same geographic area as you or some other type of professional?  This will help craft your content.
3. Create a blogroll–Your blogroll should serve two purposes: it should assist your readers in locating interesting content and it should alert other bloggers to your newfound blog’s existence. Send an email to the bloggers on your blogroll and let them know that because you enjoy their blog, you’ve added it to your blogroll–and a reciprocal link would be greatly appreciated, but is certainly not necessary.
4. Consider adding a link to Evan Schaeffer’s Legal Underground–This blog is a high traffic blog and he regularly acknowledges those blogs that have linked to his own.
5. Make sure that Tom Mighell is aware of your blog–Drop him an email so that he knows that your blog exists.  His well known blog, Inter Alia, regularly features new legal blogs, and by letting him know about yours, he may mention your new blog more quickly.
6. Add your blog the legal blog directories listed on Nicole’s blog.
7. Submit blog posts to Blawg Review–Each week Blawg Review features blawg content from the past week. Consider signing up to host Blawg Review.
8. Read Kevin O’Keefe’s blog–His business is law blogs, and his blog always provides helpful tips for both new and experienced bloggers.
9. Regularly link to other blogs in your posts–Other bloggers will notice and appreciate it, and may reciprocate in kind.
10. Submit relevant comments to law blogs somewhat similar to your own–Make sure that your name is linked to your blog, so that anyone who clicks on it will be directed to your blog.

Nicole, who’s been publishing a good blog for a long time, has some great advice here.

Dale Carnegie’s seminal business book ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People‘ came out in 1936. But you’d be hard pressed to find better methods for getting people to follow your blog and Twitter feeds than Carnegies’ ‘Six Ways to Make People Like You.’

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a [person]‘s Name is to [them] the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in the terms of the other [person]‘s interest.
6. Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely.

How do those same guidelines apply to increasing your blog readership and Twitter followers?

1. The Internet is about helping others, not yourself. As Zig Ziglar says as to life, ‘You can have everything you want on the Internet so long as you help enough other people get everything they want.’ You’ve got to constantly remind yourself to remain genuinely interested in the people you’re trying to help.
2. Write in kindness. Agree to disagree without being disagreeable. (I’ve broken this rule on occasion)
3. Liberally refer to people by their name, company, blog, and Twitter name, linking to each religiously.
4. Listen first and always. That demonstrates you’re truly interested in what your target audience has to say. No one would welcome a lawyer shouting out legal alerts or marketing info at a Rotary meeting without listening first and then engaging in the conversation.
5. Blogging and Twittering is all about the other guy, not you. Talk about other’s problems, not yourself. Provide helpful answers, insight, and resources to help others solve their problems.
6. Tell the world about other’s successes and tell your followers to follow others you’ve found to offer valuable insight. Not only are you offering value to others, something they’ll keep coming back for more of, but you’re making others feel good about themselves. They’ll remember you and, when appropriate, tell their followers to follow you.

73 years old, but still rock solid advice for how to win friends and influence people

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