Affiliate Marketing Terms Defined

Posted by Denise Griffitts on Aug 4, 2011 in Internet Mastery | 0 comments

For new online marketers it can get a little confusing trying to define what some of the more common affiliate marketing terms are. This quick explanation should help.

Affiliate Program: This is a system that is built to track sales by third parties. The third party’s incentive to sell is defined by the affiliate program owner and is usually a percentage of the sale or a pre-determined one time payout. A high quality affiliate program will include a control panel to view traffic and sales, obtain sales materials for the product or service that you (the affiliate) is marketing, and the ability to keep in touch with the affiliate with news and updates.

Affiliate: An affiliate (you) is simply a person who signs up to sell another merchants product or service. The affiliate (you) is paid a commission for each sale they create for the merchant.

For example, one of the greatest affiliate marketers I know is Rosalind Gardner, author of the Super Affiliate Handbook. This book is one of the very first books that I purchased online as a download and is an important part of my entrepreneurial library. I also recommend and promote it as an affiliate, which is exactly what I am doing now as an illustration. I know Rosalind. I have followed her career and business advice for many years. I have interviewed her several times on my Internet radio show, Your Partner In Success Radio. So am I confident that I am promoting one heck of a product? Yes. In fact, let’s make that a “Hell Yes!” I greatly admire Rosalind’s work and am hoping that if you are interested at all in affiliate marketing that you will purchase and study her book and follow her on her blog. She is in my opinion, quite simply the best person to learn affiliate marketing from. If nothing else, connect with her on her blog and on Facebook!

Some of my favorite affiliate programs:

• ClickBank
• Commission Junction (CJ.com)
• Shareasale

What you need to know:

When I mention a product or service in my blogs, I give you my word that I am using it myself and think enough of it to endorse it. I NEVER promote a product or service that I am not fully familiar with and that I don’t use for myself in my own life or business. More often than not the link is my affiliate link, and if you click through using my link and purchase something, I will get paid. Not all links are affiliate links however, as I am always willing to share great advice, tips, products or services from people who do not have affiliate programs set up.

How to Password Protect Your WordPress Admin Folder

Posted by Denise Griffitts on Jun 29, 2011 in Web Development | 0 comments

We are hearing a lot about hacking and I don’t for a moment think that is will run it’s course and go away, do you?

Let’s talk briefly about protecting your WordPress website/blog. One of the biggest causes of WordPress hacks is choosing weak passwords.

You can password protect your wp-admin folder using your cpanel, and at least that way you have 2 passwords that need to be broken in order to gain access to the wp-admin.

File Permissions

It is best to lock down the file permissions as much as you can. Allowing people or applications to have write access to your files can be quite dangerous.

Files

Set permission to 644

Set permission to 755

Why You Should Add Images To Your Blog Posts

Posted by Denise Griffitts on Mar 22, 2011 in Internet Mastery | 1 comment

It seems that just about everybody blogs about something these days. Blogs run the gamut from quiting smoking  to dog grooming to seriously helpful online business building blogs like Marketing Profs, Rosalind Gardner’s Net Profits Today, and of course, Michael Stelzner’s Social Media Examiner. There are many, many more but these are my top picks. When you visit these blogs you will notice right away that not only are they giving you some terrific, free, actionable tips and advice, but that each blog post is also image rich in that there are pictures and videos that help tell the story and draw your eye to the important part of the blog post.

If you are simply posting a lot of text in your blogs but are not concerned with adding images let’s try this quick exercise. Are you one of the increasingly rare people who still cling to the good old fashioned telephone book? If so, grab a copy of the White Pages off your shelf  and flip open to any page and then answer these questions:

• Where does your eye go first?
• Are you pulled into the content?
• Do you want to read more, or are you tempted to simply slam the book shut and stick it back on the bookshelf?

When visitors come to your website, you have a choice. You can make it inviting and pleasant, or you can make it just about as appealing as the innards of the phone book. The only difference? Images. Color. Action.

Images – photos, illustrations, or other graphics — are often the first thing visitors look at. If the image is compelling, visitors stay to check out the text. If the image is poor quality or unappealing – or non-existent! – visitors leave. It’s really that simple.

Here are some compelling reasons to incorporate images into your blog:

1. They break up text. Facing a page of black-and-white text is daunting. Images can give the eye a place to rest, breaking up the flow of an otherwise monotonous page.
2. They lead into the text. Since people look at them first, the images provide a starting point for the rest of the blog post. Good images are like flashing arrows that say, “START HERE.”
3. They introduce the topic. Picking an appropriate, related image gives the reader an idea of what to expect from the post. For instance, a photo of a street sign that says “Bumpy Road Ahead” lets the reader know that the post is about challenges or change.
4. They support the post content. A diagram, graphic, or other image can further illustrate the post’s content. A flow chart of a sales funnel, for instance, gives you another way to explain the concepts you’re presenting.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If that’s true, you can’t afford NOT to use images in your blog posts. They may be the most powerful tool you have.

So the choice is clear. You can either make your blog posts interesting and vibrant with the use of images and video, or you can make them about as bland and boring as watching somebody point at a flow chart.

By the way, one of my favorite places to find great graphics is Presenter Media.  A one year subscription is $59.95 and you have access to royalty-free clipart, presentation animations and PowerPoint templates and animations. There are no additional fees, charges or royalties to pay to download and use their images in your projects.