Internet Marketing Strategies and Marketing Tips by Neil Shearing

I just sent my affiliates an email mentioning the new promotion for our product launch tomorrow…

http://www.bizinabox4u.com/

Unfortunately, I spelled it bixinabox4u.com!

So, 1,400 people will get an email sending them to a domain name that doesn’t exist. DOH.

But, in a new world record (for me, at least), I grabbed the domain name, pointed it to my webhost, set up an account for the new domain on the server and uploaded a quick redirect file. Within a grand total of about 5 minutes, the work was done. The DNS propagation was instant and the domain redirect to the correct page.

Hey, it cost me a few bucks for the domain registration, but at least 1,400 people won’t get frustrated clicking on a link that doesn’t work… and I won’t have to send a “whoops” follow-up email to them all.

Phew.

Long-time marketing mentor of mine, Michael Campbell, has opened a “vault” where he shares his advanced tips and strategies for marketing online successfully.

I’ve had a sneak peek inside, and the vault delivers. It’s a place I’ll be visiting often to get the latest strategies from Michael, a guy who quietly makes money online without massive fuss and marketing hype.

What’s in the vault? Well, Michael says the topics they cover include…

* Traffic Generation
* Social Media Strategies
* Mininets and Linking
* Affiliate Revenue Models
* Audio and Podcasting
* Video Production Techniques
* Motivation and Inspiration
* Creating Your Own Products
* Building Joint Venture Partners
* Persuasion and Conversion
* Sales, Advertising and Marketing
* List and Readership Building
* SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

So that’s pretty much everything, then!

You can find out more here… Michael Campbell’s Internet Marketing Vault

I set up a Wordpress blog a few months ago that uses tags. I didn’t think much about using the tags, to be honest.

If you notice, I don’t have tags on this blog.

But, the new blog used a newer version of Wordpress, complete with shiny new tags, so I added them when I made a new post.

Check out the results…

A lot of the pages that the search engines sent traffic to were tag pages.

How cool is that?

I just read a very good article on how to use Wordpress tags correctly by Dr Andy Williams. You remember Andy? He was the guy ranting against unethical Internet marketing tactics. So it’s no surprise to see Andy putting out quality, useful advice on his blog for free, and showing the unethical marketer’s how things should be done!

(note the affiliate commissions at the end of the article… coming from the tag pages. Nice tracking, Andy… and a nice little earner!)

How like Allan, to launch a brand new service without the hype and hoopla that most Internet marketers create to sell their new gizmos.

It’s what you’d expect from one of the longest-serving and most respected members of the Internet marketing community.

So what’s the new service?

Allan says…

“In collaboration with affiliate coach Dan Ho, we’re announcing a new writing service, Content Kingdom -http://www.Content-Kingdom.com – whose writers will write original, unique articles for you.”

“Pricing is $11 for each 400 to 700 word article, which is very competitive. Most people pay those rates or higher even when finding their own freelancers, and Content Kingdom removes that headache and hassle.”

“You should receive excellent value. We’re in this for the long haul and we want you to be happy with the articles you receive.”

Thanks Allan.

I’ll be checking it out!

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Update: It seems like people want the short-version of the story. Here it is:

A few weeks ago Commission Junction sent me an email saying I was in violation of their terms and conditions and that I needed to take down a specific webpage at www.incomemax.com or they would close my Commission Junction account.

The webpage they wanted removed framed a page from the babycenter.com website. I guess there’s a relationship between babycenter.com and Commission Junction. However, the page at Incomemax.com doesn’t use a Commission Junction link and was created back in the year 2000 in response to a request (presumably from babycenter.com). So the page was created before the account that Commission Junction was threatening to close even existed!

When I raised this point with Commission Junction they agreed that I was not in violation of their agreement. They didn’t apologise for being wrong. I think they used unnecessary bullying tactics and should take longer to investigate each incident before threatening to close accounts.
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If you’ve got a few minutes, here’s the movie version…

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

(for a much larger version, click here)

I don’t think it’s right that Commission Junction can try to bully me into taking down a webpage when they were 100% absolutely, categorically, in the wrong.

What do you think? Should Commission Junction have done just a little bit of research before firing off a legal email threatening me with account closure? How long would it have taken them to work out that the incident they were complaining about didn’t even use a Commission Junction link?

Am I right to get worked up about this? Is it an important principle to defend, or am I over-reacting?

It usually takes a lot to get me into “rant mode”, but Commission Junction managed it!

Want to know more about Goobert, then check out Michael’s new Affiliate Marketing Podcasts… you’ll get the 13-page Goobert PDF report as a free bonus.

Michael calls Goobert, “the fastest way to get free traffic and start generating affiliate revenue within hours. Guaranteed” and, “In my tests, I can ramp up to 400 visitors per day in less than a month working only 20 minutes per day.” Wow! I’ve just reviewed it, and I think Michael could’ve sold the Goobert report for $67, easily.

Incredibly, Michael’s Affiliate Marketing Podcasts are just $15.95, and you get the Goobert report thrown in for free.

Michael just let me know that he’s slashed the price of his new product, the Affiliate Marketing Secrets Podcasts from $49.99 to just $15.95.

Incredibly, on the sales letter, Michael says that’s not cheap. Woah. I beg to differ. In a market where people ask $1997 for digital info products, I think $15.95 for several hours of interviews related to starting and growing an affiliate marketing business is very cheap. I would go so far as to say that adding this information to your marketing library is a “no brainer”.

You do have a library of products that you learn from and repeatedly go back to, don’t you? If not, start building one. All the experts and gurus don’t know every secret to selling online, that’s why you want to build up a library of products by the experts you trust, so that you get a wide-ranging overview of the subject, and lots of tips from many different sources.

Oh, and this isn’t a disguised “bait” offer with a high-ticket backend, an upsell, a continuity program or a physical monthly newsletter that you’ll be strong-armed into buying. Michael doesn’t do business that way, fortunately.

I’ve been playing with Storestacker. I have to say, it’s very nifty. It can add a lot of content to your existing websites, or make a completely new website, using content from sources such as eBay, Amazon, Clickbank, Overstock, Regnow and HotelClub.

If you think of your website as a virtual store front, then StoreStacker will add suitable products to your virtual shelves, taken directly from the merchants listed above, and with your affiliate link embedded into each URL. In fact, product pictures, descriptions, prices and your affiliate ID are all imported and embedded into your pages automatically.

As I said, very cool. I’ve tested the system and it installed smoothly, and easily. Check out StoreStacker here.

I’ve recorded a movie debunking the Google Thin Affiliate Site Myth.

Watch the movie and draw your own conclusions. Does Google really hate thin affiliate sites that provide relevant results to specific long tail keyword searches?

What do you think? Please comment below…

Ken McArthur is currently accepting listings to his Affiliate Showcase site for free.

(it normally costs $59 to be reviewed)

So if you have an affiliate program, get your skates on and visit this page.

You can tap into the 45,709 people who have Affiliate Showcase accounts and who may choose to display your products on their pages.

(I’ve just added my affiliate program… the one with over a million dollars in sales tracked)