Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

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Make Money with Affiliate Marketing

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affiliate-marketing

There are many ways to earn money online and one of the most commonly used is affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is popular because it’s relatively easy to make a steady stream of money and you don’t need to develop any products of your own. Of course, if you have your own products, you can still use affiliate marketing to create an additional income stream in your business.

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is based on a very simple concept. You share content that informs or entertains your readers. Along with your regular informational content, you also pitch products that your audience would be interested in. These are the products of other vendors, not your own, and you get a commission for any sales you make. You promote, customers click and buy, and the vendor pays you for the sale. [Read more…]

3 Incredible Reasons To Become An Amazon Associates Member

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Amazon Associates is Amazon’s affiliate marketing program. With Amazon Associates, you can make money by referring customers to Amazon.com. It can be as simple as putting a link on your site. Then, when your readers click the link, go to Amazon and buy something, you get paid.

Affiliate marketing doesn’t have to be difficult. Too often, marketers try to talk about how complicated it is to male sales with certain programs, and the fact of the matter is that it can be easy, if you know what affiliate network to join and how to use it to your advantage. If you have a website, any type of site, you have a platform to be successful with affiliate marketing. One of the easier platforms to work with is an option that comes from the powerhouse site Amazon. Amazon Associates is one of the best options that you can sign up for, and if you are not a member yet, you should look into it. Here are 3 reasons you should become a member.
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How To Write a Credible Product Review

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writing product reviewsWhen making a purchase decision, reviews are a valuable way to gather information. Many people will search for “(product name) review” or similar terms, so product reviews can bring traffic to your website. When you review products for which you are an affiliate, your reviews can also put money in your pocket.

In order for your product reviews to be effective, they must be credible. A review that only raves about the product and does not include any drawbacks is not as useful or believable as one that gives both pros and cons. Of course, if you are earning an affiliate commission on a product you review it is especially important that your review is honest and objective. Writing a hype-y review just to make the sale may earn a few dollars for you today, but you will lose the trust of your readers. That can destroy your business in the long term.

Part of that honesty (and something that is legally required in the U.S.) is that you disclose your affiliate relationship. At the very least the fact that you use affiliate links on your site needs to be in your policies and disclosures page. Ideally, it should be on the same page as the review, or even noted next to any affiliate links.

Here are some tips to make your next product review worthy of five stars: [Read more…]