Entries Tagged 'General' ↓

If you’re looking for a discount on a new phone (something around oh, maybe….100% off!) then you’re in luck today. You can get an AT&T phone at Amazon for one whole cent when you sign up for a 2-year contract with them.

I’ve been meaning to get a BlackBerry for a long time so I have better access to my clients and websites while I’m away from my computer. If I wasn’t in Canada I’d be swooping this puppy up instantly. Instead, I thought I’d let you know about it. But it’s only for today, Nov. 28, 2009, so act fast!

I’m pretty sure Jason Moffatt has the coolest Twitter avatar.

And that’s it for today.

I was looking for a web safe color chart that I could buy and there doesn’t seem to be much of a selection online. That’s OK though because there are some great options at VisiBone.

I found a mousepad and a chart that I’d love to try, although I don’t think the mousepad would work with my optical mouse. It would be really handy to have a chart on my desk when designing websites, so if you also dabble in design, this chart may be something that could come in handy for you.

(I’m not an affiliate for them. Just pointing out a cool resource.)

If you’re in affiliate marketing, it’s always been my motto to buy what you sell. In the case of leads, “try” what you sell. If you’re being paid to generate leads for someone else’s email list, make sure you’re signed up for it yourself.

I’ve seen a lot of people promoting programs and services that are either extremely outdated or are completely inactive, and it’s hard to know when they become outdated or inactive unless you’re keeping tabs on them.

This is why it’s important to keep track of everything you promote. Keep this information in a database somewhere. Use OpenOffice Calc for a quick and easy solution for that.

Any time I promote a new product or service, I add it to my Calc file and I’ll periodically go through the rest of the list to make sure everything is still up to date.

There have been many times when programs were discontinued so I had to change the links. (This is where using a redirect for your affiliate links comes in super duper handy.)

So if you haven’t already started an affiliate list, it’s time to do it now. The list can get quite long so you’ll definitely want all that information in one, easy to find spot.

If you have a virtual assistant, this would be a good task for them. Get them to go through the list every few months and make sure all the programs you’re promoting are still active or that coupons you’ve been promoting haven’t expired. Not only that, make sure the programs are still worth promoting.

Promoting something that is outdated or inactive doesn’t reflect well on you. Maintain your reputation by maintaining an affiliate list.

Another advantage of keeping an affiliate list is that you can go through and easily find new products to promote. Many of the companies you promote for have other products to sell that are related to your niche. If one of their products converts well for you, chances are the others will convert well also. Going through their list of products can also generate lots of new ideas for fresh content for your website.

Something else you should do with your affiliate list is analyze your sales statistics so you can decide which products you should continue promoting and which ones you should not. If you’re promoting an ebook about how to set up a Wordpress blog but it’s not converting well, try finding another ebook that explains it better (or with a better sales page) and change your affiliate link to that one instead.

So you see there are multiple benefits of keeping an affiliate list. More than what I’ve listed above. Try it out and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

It’s Canada Day! Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians. I’m heading out to the lake later today to celebrate, but first I’m doing all my month end reports.

Month end reports used to give me ulcers when I worked at an office, but now that I work from home, I really look forward to them. I mean REALLY.

Looking back over all the numbers helps me decide what’s working and what isn’t. It lets me see what parts of my sites need improving, what parts are working really well, and what parts need to be scrapped completely.

It doesn’t take long once everything is set up, and the information gained from it is well worth the time investment.

All you need is OpenOffice or MS Word. I do all my reports in OpenOffice Calc. If you want to get all organize-y, you’ll need a printer, binder and a 3-hole punch as well.

I take all the info from Clickbank, Adsense, Google Analytics, etc. and pile it all into readable reports that I then print out each month.

I keep these reports neatly organized in my super cool binder. I bought myself a cutesy girly binder from Walmart and some funky dividers just to add some fun. As if month end reports aren’t fun enough right?!?

Now I can go through these reports and map out a plan to increase my numbers for next month. Since I’ve started doing these reports, my numbers have steadily increased. It makes such a big difference when you have a really good understanding of everything that goes on with your online business.

Now I’m off to the cabin to roast some wieners and drink beer!