I’m looking for blog owners who are accepting guest bloggers. More specifically I’m looking for the following types of blogs:

Internet Marketing:
All forms, article marketing, affiliate marketing, viral marketing, list marketing, etc. etc. etc.

WAHM:
Anything WAHM related – preferably ones that an internet marketing blog post will fit.

I will be able to provide a copy of the blog post ahead of time for your approval. I will also be giving away free reports to your readers

If you’re interested, please do either of the following:
leave a comment … 
email me at mommyshelperonline @ yahoo.com (without the spaces) with Guest Blogger in the subject line …

Please also include a link to your blog in your message.  

I will be accepting guest bloggers on my blogs in the near future.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

On Sunday I told you about an Affiliate Marketing Chat that I was asked sit in on the expert panel. It was tonight. If you missed it – you missed an awesome time. I believe we were actually down one expert because the poor girl came down with a bad case of the Flu. However – it went off without a hitch.

If you did miss it – no worries – the recap will be posted at UnderstandingMarketing.com.

(I’ll let you know as soon as I know the recap has been posted.)

John was right – TweetGrid.com seems like the best way to follow along with these chats. I myself had a bad time with it but I totally blame my connection on it this time. I’ve been having a difficult with several sites this evening. However, for most … it seems like an awesome way to follow along with a Twitter chat – the marketing geek in me *loves* the whole idea!

Just a little reminder – John & his wife Chrisanne hold these small biz chats weekly at Twitter. I’m looking forward to following along with future chats – it’s really a great idea! Oh and how cool is it that John & his wife Chrisanne are not only husband and wife but business partners! Bravo!

Alrighty, enough rambling (once again, lol). Be sure to follow @SternalPR for future chats and check out UnderstandingMarketing.com – I highly recommend!

Thanks again John & Chrisanne for having me! Despite the troubles I had … I still really enjoyed myself!

Good news for those of you following along on the whole Affiliate Marketing market research I’ve been doing! Nothing has been finalized as of yet but it appears as though I very well may be sitting on a panel of experts for the next #smbiz chat on Affiliate Marketing.

I’m still learning more about these chats as I type because I wasn’t even aware of these chats until just today but I’ll share as much as I can with you now and add as any more developments are made.

(So be sure to leave a comment here on this post & here and put a checkmark in the “Notify me of followup comments” box so you can get all the juicy details.)

Even if you’re not interested in Affiliate Marketing specifically but marketing in general (online and offline) you may want to pay attention to the following:

John Sternal (@SternalPR at Twitter) has requested that I sit on his panel of experts for his next #smbiz chat for his website UnderstandingMarketing.com. From my first look, I *really* love this website.

(Remember, I’m the marketing geek!)

A few of the previous chat topics have been:
– Why Small Business should Insource
– Using Twitter For Local Marketing
– Twitter for Small Business

There’s really a wealth of information on this site for small businesses and marketing in general (should fit most of our readers very well!)

The upcoming chat that I may be sitting on the panel for is Affiliate Marketing: Discussing how a small business can set up an affiliate program and sell products/services online.

This particular chat is being held this Tuesday evening (March 24th) from 8 – 9 EST.

This chat is held via Twitter and can be easily followed by following the #smbiz Twitter hash tag.

HashTag.org is currently the way I follow hash tags. However, I openly admit, from my own experience, this has not always been the most reliable way to do this. If it’s any kind of indication to you, I’ve been trying to get you a direct link to the search page for the #smbiz tag and it took me 5 times to get it – the other 4 times the site was down.

I’m in the process of doing some research to find ways that others are following specific tags. (If you have another way to do this that you use – please leave a comment and share! I’d greatly appreciate this!)

If you are unable to follow along on Tuesday evening, it appears as though John posts recaps of each chat at UnderstandingMarketing.com and I will see what I can do to share a recap myself.

This is about the best information I can give right at this moment. I was just too excited and wanted to share with our readers right away! First of all, yeah sure … feels great for others to consider you as an expert in your field and well, the marketing geek in me just loves the brilliant idea John has come up w/ as yet another way to utilize Twitter!

I’m going to request that John stop by here and share a little more about this upcoming Affiliate Marketing Chat and his other chats as well as UnderstandingMarketing.com because I feel as though this will serve as an excellent resource for a lot of our readers.

Hopefully John can share with us better ways to both follow along and participate during the chat as well as get the scoop for those who cannot attend Tuesday night.

How ’bout a little recap here …

In the meantime … here’s a few things you’ll want to do:

– Subscribe to the comments on this post you’re reading right now and this post. (This will keep you up to date on the affiliate marketing research I’m doing, keep you up to date with any information passed on about the Affiliate Marketing Chat @ Twitter and let you see any other questions posted by others.)

– Enter your name and email address in the upper right-hand corner of our blog here. (This will send you updates for every 5 posts we make here on the blog.)

– Follow me at Twitter – @anitadefrank (Leave a comment here with your Twitter ID – and I’ll be sure to follow you back! If you’re already a follower – do the same and I’ll make sure I’m following you as well!)

– Follow John Sternal at Twitter – @SternalPR (This will help you follow along w/ the Affiliate Marketing chat, get updates on upcoming chats as well as UnderstandingMarketing.com.)

– Follow hashtag: #smbiz (And remember, if you have another way to share to follow hashtags – please share!)

– And last but by no means the least – more like the most important – ask those Affiliate Marketing Questions! Take a look at my Affiliate Marketing Market Research post and see what I keep saying about giving credit where credit is due!

(Affiliate Marketing – what a better way to make money on things you’re probably already doing – but are doing it for free! It’s time you learn more about affiliate marketing and start getting paid!)

Okie dokie, that’s about it for now. If you follow the instructions above, I’ll be sure to share any updated information as I can!

Talk to you soon!

I’m getting ready to put together some pretty intensive affiliate marketing information. I’m going to be looking at it from two main different angles.

First being an affiliate in general and secondly creating and managing your own affiliate program.

But I want some questions to start building from. I’m probably going to be starting with the very basics as in what is affiliate marketing and how do I make money selling other people’s stuff as well as the benefits of being an affiliate marketer and the benefits of owning/managing your own affiliate program. I really want to hit it all – all the way around.

So tell me, what is your affiliate marketing question(s)?

There is NO SUCH THING AS A STUPID QUESTION! The only stupid question is the question that goes un-answered because it was un-asked. Got it? Keep that in mind when replying with your questions. I want to know what’s on your mind and what your affiliate marketing questions are – all of them.

The whole idea behind this is for market research. And if you don’t know me by now, it won’t take long to figure out that I’m a firm believer in giving credit where credit is due. So, if you leave a comment, be sure to check the box that says:

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You participating in this little experiment will certainly come back to you! But, you’ll need to follow along with me to find out more

Quick Affiliate Management Tip:

Stop losing money to affiliate thieves!
Free Link Cloaker

… and yes, it is free!

(Just a taste of my new career, for those who have been keeping track. This was actually a contest piece which had to be under 500 words, so it was seriously butchered. Hope you like it anyway.)

Boredom Cries

The mother carefully attached the last piece of cotton onto the paper plate bunny as her daughter watched with big, brown, innocent eyes. The little girl wrinkled her nose, twisting her mouth in a pose that indicated she was thinking with all her 6-year-old brain power.

“Is it done, mommy?” the child asked, still deciding if she thought it was a work of art to be treasured or something to be delightfully destroyed.

Her mother tilted her head, pausing for a moment before replying.

“Yes, I think it’s done.”

The small child began to protest. This was not what she had in mind when her mother said they would make her a bunny. She had envisioned something that hops – something she could chase around the backyard, giggling with glee as it ran in circles around her.

“It doesn’t really look like a bunny though,” the child pouted.

The weary mother sighed heavily. There seemed to be no pleasing this vexatious angel. Peering over at their table full of various crafts, she realized the battle had been lost. There had been flaws with every project they had done today. The popsicle people had been too small. The construction paper cat was too flat. The painted picture wasn’t drying fast enough. No matter what, the girl would start crying, demanding they make another project.

Tears were welling up in the girl’s eyes while her bottom lip began to quiver. The wailing would begin in seconds if her mother did not act quickly. But she was exhausted with the child and was officially throwing in the towel. She no longer could attempt to make her daughter happy.

“You know what? Go outside and play. I need to get supper ready,” the mother stated firmly as she began picking up the scattered remains of their craft day. Glitter, glue, construction paper, and markers lay in a messy pile across the dining room table.

The girl halted her tantrum count down ritual, temporarily appeased with the prospect of finding a suitable activity outside. The Mother watched her offspring skip out the door, and into the backyard, knowing there would be something to fuss about outside in just a matter of minutes. Peering out from the kitchen window, she shook her head.

“Lord, please let me survive until school starts.”

Okay Anik Singal of AffiliateClassroom has made me one very happy person, lol!

If you personally ask me, I’d have to say the man is a genious!  Anik has managed to take two of my favorite forms of marketing – affiliate marketing and article marketing - and mashed them together to create an absolutely knock-out article directory.  (Not that you could tell by my past few articles about affiliate marketing are two of my favorite subjects, lol!)

First of all yes - just like the subject line says – this article directory pays you to submit your articles so others can pick them up and publish them.  Now am I the only one who thinks that’s just the coolest thing?  (Come on … I know I’m not the only internet marketing geek out there, lol!)

So the name of this new directory is AffSphere.com.  There’s two really cool (must-see) videos on the site that explains it all but I did want to share a few of my own thoughts with you before you head over to watch them. 

Honestly – I couldn’t wait for the videos to get finished so I could sign up.  I’ve already submitted three of my most recent articles and since it’s 1:00 AM right now, I’m sure you can guess what I’ll be doing first thing tomorrow.  Yep, I’ll be pulling out all of my other articles and submitting those as well.  Of course, the more articles you submit, the more cash you can earn.  (Ooh, I so like the idea of this, lol!)  This is definitely not your typical article directory.

It’s very affiliate friendly, has 8 different ways for you to earn (watch the video for more details), and the articles are reviewed by humans.  I personally prefer to wait a little longer to have my articles reviewed by humans – this way I’m guaranteed this is a quality directory with quality content.

With this directory you not only drive traffic to your website but it also allows you to share in their traffic by hosting your own adsense and banners directly on the site.  You even earn a share of the adsense income made on any of your article pages.

By joining, you automatically become an Affsphere which means that any time someone joins AffSphere from any of your article pages, they’re automatically added to your downline.  You will then get credit for all the submission activity they do – five levels deep.  Plus, AffSphere will be offering courses in the future and you will earn a commission if anyone in your direct downline purchases one (lifetime commissions!)

Those are just a few reasons to submit as many articles as you can.  (And have I mentioned this is all f*ree to join?)

Oh and I am absolutely amazed as to how many cateogries there are to choose from so you can find the best category for your articles.  I’ll be honest with you – I get so tired of having to “settle” on a category just because it was as close as I could get to the category that I would prefer it to be under just because the directory doesn’t offer enough categories.  I really don’t think I’ll have that problem with this directory.

Well I really could go on and on but like I said, it’s one o’clock in the morning here (after that now, lol) and I would like to head to bed – besides – I don’t want to risk the chance of this sounding like a bunch of hype (which is exactly what I end up doing when I get really excited about something, lol!).  I think this was an awesome idea and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

Not to mention, the videos on the site do an excellent job describing exactly how everything works – I might as well let them tell the story.

I’m gonna go to bed – you head on over to AffSphere, watch the video (click the banner at the top of the page) and then sign up.  It’s free and you’re submitting articles to directories anyway (aren’t you?) So, why not make some additional cash with them too!  So, you’re gonna sign up, right? 

(And you’re going to let me know you think this is just as cool as I do.  Don’t be afraid – admit you’re an internet marketing geek who likes to make m0ney too!)

So what are you waiting for?  Head on over to AffSphere and grab your f*ree account now.  I just know you’ll like it!

Did you know you can create your own super affiliate? You sure can.

Contact, Contact, Contact …
Did I say contact? You need to be front and center of your affiliates minds constantly. Keep in touch on a regular basis and create new reasons often for them to promote your product and/or service.

Motivate, motivate, motivate …
Motivation runs a close second behind constant contact. There’s nothing more motivating than affiliate contests and recognition. Offering enticing prizes on a regular basis to recognize a job well done is a surefire technique to motivate your affiliates.

Offer many creatives …
By offering more creatives, you’re not only arming your affiliates with the tools they need but you’re also giving them a choice to pick and choose the creatives that fit them best. Encourage your affiliates to test various creatives to find the ones that work the best for them. You’ll also want to be sure to encourage them to edit the advertisements to add a personal touch. Be sure to use a variety of forms of creatives.

Train your affiliates …
You need to teach your affiliates how to sell your product and/or service. You’re the one who knows the best way to sell what you have to offer so teach it to your affiliates. Consider holding monthly seminars and other forms of training to keep your affiliates up to date with internet marketing skills.

Offer support, service and consultation …
Remind your affiliates regularly that they can come to you with any questions. Offer consultations to help them come up with an individualized plan of action. Offer a variety of forms of contact. By sharing your email address, instant messenger ids and phone number will help your affiliate feel more comfortable in contacting you the way they want to.

Use the above strategies like the bible of affiliate marketing and you too can turn your affiliates into super affiliates.

————
Anita DeFrank & Val Selby of YourAffiliateManagers.com offer a full service solution to assist you in building and/or managing a successful affiliate program. Their goal is to recruit, motivate and communicate with you and your affiliates … meeting the needs of both the affiliates and the merchant … and bridging the gap between the two. Visit www.YourAffiliateManagers.com to obtain overall, maximum success with your affiliate program.

Each affiliate manager service has their own set of services to offer but the general consensus is this: Someone who handles every aspect of your affiliate program. An affiliate manager can help you free your time to concentrate on other important aspects of your business such as product purchasing or creation, customer service, shipping as well as everything else needed done in order to run a successful business.

As I’ve said, each service has their own list of services that they offer but some things that one can do is affiliate recruiting (building you an entire sales force), motivate your affiliates to be more active, participate in training and consulting both the affiliate owner and your affiliates in order to create a knock-out affiliate program.

Depending on the manager that you choose, this person may install and set up your program as well as create a “one stop shop” for your affiliates to obtain everything they need in order to be a more successful affiliate.

The aspects of an affiliate program that most managers handle are crucial to your program. How well your affiliates and your program are taken care of could make or break your program. Dare I repeat myself? Crucial.

If you don’t take care of your program and your affiliates … your competition will. Long gone are the days that you simply set up a program, offer some links and asking some friends to promote your products.

With all the new software available making it much more simple, everybody and their brother has an affiliate program now. It’s become more of a competition to gather affiliates.

And let me tell you … affiliates are well aware of this. They now know they can search for the best programs available. They’re looking for not just the best commission plan … they’re looking for the programs with the best conversions. Best conversions come from who affiliates that are properly trained and armed with the proper material to get the job done.

Managing a successful program has become a full time job all in it’s own. Hence the creation of the affiliate manager position.

————————————
Anita DeFrank & Val Selby of YourAffiliateManagers.com offer a full service solution to assist you in building and/or managing a successful affiliate program. Their goal is to recruit, motivate and communicate with you and your affiliates … meeting the needs of both the affiliates and the merchant … and bridging the gap between the two. Visit www.YourAffiliateManagers.com to obtain overall, maximum success with your affiliate program.

Conversation with a Not-So-Successful Affiliate Program Owner

You have the product or service, you set up the affiliate program, you even got yourself a nice little group of affiliates and gave them all the tools they need. Or did you?

Yep, I sure did. I gave them everything they could possibly need. They have ten different sized graphic ads, five reports, three press releases, a ton of signature ads, classified ads of all sizes, blog posts, personal letters, and even a bunch of articles. They have everything they need.

So tell me then, if they have everything they need, why aren’t they making many sales?

When was the last time you contacted your affiliates?
Oh, that’s easy – my program is on auto-pilot! I have an email that automatically goes out to them as soon as they join. It’s a personalized welcome letter from me and it includes all the creatives I just mentioned. Other than that, it was about two months ago. I sent out a last minute free shipping weekend announcement.

That’s a pretty good start – but not good enough.

When was the last time you held an affiliate contest or another form of motivation?
Well, I’m so busy writing articles, creating new ad campaigns, updating my blog and taking care of my customers that I don’t usually have the time to do this. But, about six months ago, I did contact my top affiliate and raised her commission.

Good idea – but not enough.

When was the last time you held a special on your product or service just for your affiliates to promote?
When I held my free shipping weekend, I almost forgot to tell my affiliates but I did send them out a quick email first thing that Saturday morning.

Too little – too late.

Did you offer a new creative for your free shipping weekend?
No, I didn’t have the time so I told them just to use one of the creatives in their welcome email.

Nice reminder – but not enough.

Does any of this sound in the least bit familiar? Something tells me if you’re struggling with affiliate sales, it just may so. Long gone are the days that just setting up an affiliate program and offering some links is enough. Affiliate programs are no longer meant to be a ‘set it and forget it’ program. Otherwise, you’ll be sitting there wondering what went wrong.

You have to be a constant reminder to your affiliates.

You have to train your affiliates how to sell and give them the appropriate tools to do so.

You need to create new creatives and promotions regularly. Give them something new to look forward to on a regular basis. Give them a reason to contact their customers.

You need to keep them motivated with contests and some form of recognition. Let them know they’re doing a good job.

You need to create a “one stop shop” to host all their affiliate needs such as all creatives, training materials, frequently asked questions and a way to keep in contact with you. Don’t make them dig out that welcome email – give them the link where they can find everything they need.

These people aren’t “just affiliates”. They are your partners in business, your personal sales team. Essentially, they are a part of a team – your team – so be sure to treat them as such.

Doing things such as what’s been mentioned are sure to transform you from the not-so-successful affiliate program owner to the I-can’t-keep-up-with-all-these-sales affiliate program owner.