Allan's Expert Tips

Tips to help you earn more revenue

Are you using banners instead of endorsements?
I know. It takes time, effort and money to buy and study the product you're trying to sell. It's much easier just to cut and paste a bit of HTML code. However, personal, enthusiastic endorsements out-sell everything else by miles.

If you put in the effort, you'll get the sales. You can probably quadruple your sales by endorsing the products you sell.

You can also combine graphics, text, short descriptions and relevant articles. Best of all are your own, original honest and enthusiastic personal endorsements.

Are you failing to capture e-mail addresses?
If you don't collect addresses, your marketing effort is a one-shot wonder. You're making only one attempt per visitor to achieve a sale and then giving up.

As branding expert Rob Frankel says, people like buying from people they know, like, and trust. (That's why, when I already receive far too many newsletters, I've just paid $18 to subscribe to FrankelTips.com — because I know, like, and trust Rob, and expect him to deliver valuable content.)

If you're not giving people a chance to get to know and trust you, don't be surprised if they don't buy.

If you're not collecting e-mail addresses, you're seriously crippling your marketing. Remember how the big dot-coms poured buckets of money into banner advertising and TV advertising? Now they've finally realized that collecting e-mail addresses is much better value.

It's getting harder and harder to do, because we're all deluged with spam and newsletters which don't provide the information we need. So get started now, before the competition becomes even stronger.

You may not want the commitment of publishing a weekly newsletter. Perhaps you don't believe you have the necessary skills. One option is to simply offer a monthly update newsletter, telling people what's new on your site.

Perhaps you don't like the thought of being tied to a weekly or monthly publishing schedule. You don't have to be. You can publish irregularly, only when you feel you have something worth saying — or selling.

If you want a no nonsense, no-hype guide to newsletter publishing, I highly recommend "Ezine Adrenaline: How to Create, Publish and Market A Profitable E-zine on the Internet" by Kate Schultz, available at www.AssociatePrograms.com. It tells you all the stuff you need to know.

Allan Gardyne owns AssociatePrograms.com, a comprehensive directory of affiliate programs. His free Associate Programs Newsletter has been named top marketing newsletter on the Internet by BestEzines.com. To subscribe, just send a blank e-mail to: associateprog@add.postmastergeneral.com.