Right now I’m reading “Valuing the Unique: The Economics of Singularities”, by Lucien Karpik. Actually I’m reading the translation by Nora Scott.
(Side note: It’s very dry and I have yet to determine if Karpik is too mired in academia to be a good writer, or if Scott is just a really bad writer and, as a result a poor choice of translator for this book).
Anyway, in laying out the premise for his argument, Karpik cites various works and thoughts dealing with inalienable goods, which got me thinking (usually a good sign with a book, but getting there is so painful!): Do our thoughts about basic economics need to reviewed, possibly revised, in today’s “new economy" where, to paraphrase Marx, anything and everything can be bought and sold... and on eBay, yet!??
Under our current definition, inalienable goods are items that can neither be bought nor sold ... or would seriously lose their intrinsic value if subject of a commercial transaction. Think about – could you really sell the Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower or Sudbury Big Nickle?
Also, inalienable goods may have symbolic and economic power that cannot be transferred. This group of objects can also include items used to authenticate corporate and governmental rituals (think “black rod” and the opening of the British House of Commons and the Canadian Senate, etc.)
The purest example can be found in an anthropological study. Annette Weiner made headlines (okay academic headlines, in any event) with her work with the Trobriand Islanders.* One of her observations is that when an islander gives a gift, there is a special significance that is transferred with the gift that reflects the bond between the giver and the recipient. In the purest sense, this type of gift is a true Inalienable good. We cannot give our friendship and relationships with others to a third party.
Nor can we give or sell our own health and longevity to other people. Although we cannot transfer our entire physique to someone else, we can give them body parts. Body parts used to be considered inalienable goods (and probably still should), but look at the markets (not all black) that exist for viable hearts, kidneys, livers and other organs.
Which is only one of many changes that has me wondering about the possible need to re-evaluate how we view inalienable goods.
In some economies, inalienable goods have been treated for some time now the same as any other kind of products or service (with some rather interesting marketing gambits as part of this new perspective). It stands to reason, therefore, that these items should be subject to the same economics laws/ truths as any item used in an exchange... and that they should have similar abilities to impact their local economies.
This line of thinking had my fingers bugging Google for information (kind of ironic given my last two posts). In the course of my searching, I came across an interesting article on the topic that not only discusses this very concept, but talks about greater material consumption leading to less inner fulfillment (though that’s hardly a new concept, I realize). The article can be found at: http://bit.ly/g9jlAW.
I hope you enjoy the article – and I’d love to hear you thoughts on the matter as I further ponder the question!
*P.S. These islands are located off the east coast of Papua, New Guinea and are actually officially called the Kiriwina Islands.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Anticipate the Need for Information
Yesterday I talked about the need to be well-informed about your industry and the overall business environment if you want to get ahead.
What I did not say then is that you also need to anticipate the need for information... and go out and get it. The people who get promoted the fastest, and do the best job of leading their companies, are those who are able to assess what will need to be done tomorrow... and then figure out how to get the job done in the most expeditious manner possible. Often this will include getting updates about internal capabilities and/or gathering market intelligence of some kind.
Once you find out what you need to know, share it generously and graciously (in writing, of course).
It is also important to share information about what the company is doing and where it is going with colleagues and employees. People can tell when change is in the air, and in the absence of information from the company, employees will create their own. This can lead to false rumours and loss of morale.
So bottom line: Keep abreast of what is going on and spread the knowledge wealth!
What I did not say then is that you also need to anticipate the need for information... and go out and get it. The people who get promoted the fastest, and do the best job of leading their companies, are those who are able to assess what will need to be done tomorrow... and then figure out how to get the job done in the most expeditious manner possible. Often this will include getting updates about internal capabilities and/or gathering market intelligence of some kind.
Once you find out what you need to know, share it generously and graciously (in writing, of course).
It is also important to share information about what the company is doing and where it is going with colleagues and employees. People can tell when change is in the air, and in the absence of information from the company, employees will create their own. This can lead to false rumours and loss of morale.
So bottom line: Keep abreast of what is going on and spread the knowledge wealth!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Getting Ahead – The First in a Series
The questions I am asked the most often: How can I get promoted quickly at work? How can I get noticed in my profession? How can I position my company for success?
In reality, they are all the same question: “How can I get ahead?” or “How can I gain a competitive advantage?”
No matter what the audience, my advice is always the same: Read. Learn. Think. Apply.
To be viewed as being at the top of your game, one of the habits you must adopt is to learn something about what is going on in the world around you each and every day. If you spend 40 – 50 minutes a day reading (less time than most people spend in front of the TV, checking out Facebook or net surfing), you will soon be more knowledgeable than most of your peers. And more valuable to your company or a prospective employer, no matter what your position.
The three things you need to read:
1) Read your local business press to keep abreast of what is going on in the business community at large – you never know when breaking news in one industry will impact yours, or will fuel ideas applicable to your own. Depending on where you live, suggestions include: The Globe & Mail’s ROB, The National Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, etc. Online news services are also valuable tools.
2) To gain insight on the macro business environment, read The Economist, Time Magazine, Inc Magazine, Profit, Forbes, Fortune, Working Knowledge (Harvard Business) etc. Remember though, much of this content is editorial; add your own perspective to the mix, too.
3) Subscribe to trade publications and journals in your own industry/ vertical as well as those industries which impact yours. Even 15 minutes a day learning about developments in your own industry will help make you an authority in your field within 18 months.
Information has always been king, but today, with it so easy to look up needed data, you need to take it one step further.
Keep a journal highlighting your key findings and your thoughts about how or why that info might be useful. Download the file to your mobile device so you always have it with you. That way you can update your notes with info you acquire while out and about... and you never know when a quick peek will make you look like a hero in a meeting!
From time to time, spend 5 – 10 minutes and review what you’ve noted and reflect on how you might apply the knowledge in your own company. Can you offer a suggestion to help with business development, to improve something where you work, etc. If you come up with a great idea, having the info and memo-worthy notes and thoughts at your fingertips will make it easier for you to put your ideas in writing.
For more tips to help you get into the top ten percent, read “Standing out in the Crowd…by getting lady luck on your side” at http://www.theqgroup.com/articles-b.php?ArtID=6.
Until the next time, have fun and remember: “You must be prepared to go out on a limb because that is where the fruit is!” Jane-Michèle
In reality, they are all the same question: “How can I get ahead?” or “How can I gain a competitive advantage?”
No matter what the audience, my advice is always the same: Read. Learn. Think. Apply.
To be viewed as being at the top of your game, one of the habits you must adopt is to learn something about what is going on in the world around you each and every day. If you spend 40 – 50 minutes a day reading (less time than most people spend in front of the TV, checking out Facebook or net surfing), you will soon be more knowledgeable than most of your peers. And more valuable to your company or a prospective employer, no matter what your position.
The three things you need to read:
1) Read your local business press to keep abreast of what is going on in the business community at large – you never know when breaking news in one industry will impact yours, or will fuel ideas applicable to your own. Depending on where you live, suggestions include: The Globe & Mail’s ROB, The National Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, etc. Online news services are also valuable tools.
2) To gain insight on the macro business environment, read The Economist, Time Magazine, Inc Magazine, Profit, Forbes, Fortune, Working Knowledge (Harvard Business) etc. Remember though, much of this content is editorial; add your own perspective to the mix, too.
3) Subscribe to trade publications and journals in your own industry/ vertical as well as those industries which impact yours. Even 15 minutes a day learning about developments in your own industry will help make you an authority in your field within 18 months.
Information has always been king, but today, with it so easy to look up needed data, you need to take it one step further.
Keep a journal highlighting your key findings and your thoughts about how or why that info might be useful. Download the file to your mobile device so you always have it with you. That way you can update your notes with info you acquire while out and about... and you never know when a quick peek will make you look like a hero in a meeting!
From time to time, spend 5 – 10 minutes and review what you’ve noted and reflect on how you might apply the knowledge in your own company. Can you offer a suggestion to help with business development, to improve something where you work, etc. If you come up with a great idea, having the info and memo-worthy notes and thoughts at your fingertips will make it easier for you to put your ideas in writing.
For more tips to help you get into the top ten percent, read “Standing out in the Crowd…by getting lady luck on your side” at http://www.theqgroup.com/articles-b.php?ArtID=6.
Until the next time, have fun and remember: “You must be prepared to go out on a limb because that is where the fruit is!” Jane-Michèle
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
10 Tips for Online Affiliate Success: Tips 7 - 10
Sorry it has been so long since I last wrote – will shorten the time between posts from now on!
The earlier posts listed tips 1 – 6 for maximizing the return from your online affiliate marketing* efforts. Here are tips 7 - 10.
Tip #7
Don’t waste your money on banner advertising. These days most people ignore the promotional messages on the top of web pages. So... unless you can afford to pay for specially targeted Google adwords, put your promo money into more traditional ways advertising methods... or build up your online presence as explained in Tip #6.
Tip #8
Use “under the radar” promotional vehicles. Many affiliate marketers succeed by advertising their “online” products in traditional bricks ‘n mortar ways/ more “mass media” ways. If you’re on a budget, and most affiliate marketers are in the early days, consider selling your affiliate products using community boards, school and club flyers, etc.
I can almost hear you saying, “Yeah, right”. But... think about what happened with one affiliate marketer in our area. Janice spent nearly 5 hours one day going to local schools, churches, grocery stores and community centres; at each location she posted a flyer (you know, the kind with tear off info strips at the bottom).
Confirmation of her first order was waiting in her mailbox when she got home. With 10 days, Janice was averaging 20 – 25 orders a day. That may not sound like much, but with a commission of $9 per order, those bulletin board flyers added up to over $6,000 a month. Yes, every 3 – 4 weeks, Janice had to replace the flyers, but 4 - 5 hours a month to earn $6,000 seems like a pretty good return on time investment. Yesterday Janice told that she is going to spend her entire weekend armed with flyers and a stapler. Her goal: To triple the places where people will be able to learn about her affiliate product.
Tip #9
Get free radio advertising. If you can find something to talk about that is related to your affiliate product and to a topic that is in the news, you may be able to get radio talk show hosts to interview you on air. Add in a free product as a give away, and you‘ll get interested people to pay attention.
Be willing to get up early, stay up into the wee hours of the night and invest in long distance calls and you’ll find that you have customers across North America.
Tip #10
Advertise for free. Craigslist, Kijiji and other classified advertising sites will let you post an ad for free. For best results, be sure to include a photo of your product.
Well that’s it for now. Good luck with your online affiliate sales! JMC
The earlier posts listed tips 1 – 6 for maximizing the return from your online affiliate marketing* efforts. Here are tips 7 - 10.
Tip #7
Don’t waste your money on banner advertising. These days most people ignore the promotional messages on the top of web pages. So... unless you can afford to pay for specially targeted Google adwords, put your promo money into more traditional ways advertising methods... or build up your online presence as explained in Tip #6.
Tip #8
Use “under the radar” promotional vehicles. Many affiliate marketers succeed by advertising their “online” products in traditional bricks ‘n mortar ways/ more “mass media” ways. If you’re on a budget, and most affiliate marketers are in the early days, consider selling your affiliate products using community boards, school and club flyers, etc.
I can almost hear you saying, “Yeah, right”. But... think about what happened with one affiliate marketer in our area. Janice spent nearly 5 hours one day going to local schools, churches, grocery stores and community centres; at each location she posted a flyer (you know, the kind with tear off info strips at the bottom).
Confirmation of her first order was waiting in her mailbox when she got home. With 10 days, Janice was averaging 20 – 25 orders a day. That may not sound like much, but with a commission of $9 per order, those bulletin board flyers added up to over $6,000 a month. Yes, every 3 – 4 weeks, Janice had to replace the flyers, but 4 - 5 hours a month to earn $6,000 seems like a pretty good return on time investment. Yesterday Janice told that she is going to spend her entire weekend armed with flyers and a stapler. Her goal: To triple the places where people will be able to learn about her affiliate product.
Tip #9
Get free radio advertising. If you can find something to talk about that is related to your affiliate product and to a topic that is in the news, you may be able to get radio talk show hosts to interview you on air. Add in a free product as a give away, and you‘ll get interested people to pay attention.
Be willing to get up early, stay up into the wee hours of the night and invest in long distance calls and you’ll find that you have customers across North America.
Tip #10
Advertise for free. Craigslist, Kijiji and other classified advertising sites will let you post an ad for free. For best results, be sure to include a photo of your product.
Well that’s it for now. Good luck with your online affiliate sales! JMC
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
10 Tips for Online Affiliate Success – Tips 3 and 4
In my last post I gave you the first two of ten tips for maximizing the return from your online affiliate marketing* efforts. Here are tips 3 and 4.
Tip #3
Create communities related to your niche to leverage the power of social media sites working synergistically.
How? If your niche is golf, for example, then all the social media tools you put to work should focus on golf… and only on golf-related info, products and services. Not on sports in general, but on golf. Just golf.
Some of the things you can/should do to create communities:
• Choose a URL (domain name) that has golf in the title. This will enable you to have an e-mail address with a golf-related suffix (e.g. yourname@golf.com). All things being equal, this will produce much better results than having a “free” or generic e-mail address. It will also help raise your website in the returned search results – and it’s one of the basic Search Engine Optimization tenets.
Make sure that you have plenty of golf-related content on your website to keep the search engine crawlers happy and to help you with page rank.
Make it easy for people to find your products and buy your products on your site - they should be able to get to where you want them to take action within 3 clicks.
• Choose a twitter name that has golf in the title. This will signal that your primary interest is indeed golf and help people interested in golf to find you... and make them more likely to follow you. Make sure you use the bio section to talk about your golf passion and/ or business’ experience re golf, etc. Also, create a twitter background that shows golf images – and have it created so that the image fills your page, rather than tiling a smaller image (when you tile, the image is repeated over and over and over again on your page).
• Choose a blog title (the name you give your blog) with the word golf in it and create a banner for your blog that shows golf images (which you alt tag with the word golf).
Make all your posts about golf-related topics and use blog post titles that contain the word golf, or a content-relevant golf term. Your blog content should include your own golf experiences as often as possible/appropriate so that your personal passion for the subject shines through.
You can include affiliate sales links on your blog - but don't overwhelm your visitors. They are turning to your blog to get info or be entertained, not to be sold.
• Create a facebook business/fan page that has golf in its name. Again, golf images need to be used… and if you are going to include a picture of yourself, make sure you are in golf attire. Use this page to sell your material by posting a blurb and link under your picture.
From time to time, update your page with info about your affiliate products... and message your fans, occasionally, too.
• Ditto re your YouTube Channel.
• Join other social networking sites and choose screen/user names that contain the word golf. If possible, use your facebook or twitter name (if they are not one in the same). Link back to your facebook fan page (where
• Interlink each of these online “presence makers” and encourage visitors to one “site” to visit the others to help drive traffic and establish connections between your various communities of followers.
• Leverage automation tools such as ping.fm so you can syndicate one message to more than one of your social media accounts. Consider using an RSS feed as well to automatically post great content about your niche to your social media sites. (Thanks to Maria Gudelis from Wildhorse Performance Marketing for this tip’s phrasing.)
Once you have created communities, and people have come to know you and trust you, you will find it easier to sell products to this group – just make sure that all the affiliate products you create or choose to sell are golf-related to maintain credibility within your community.
Tip #4
Create digital videos and add them to your blog posts, website, facebook page, YouTube, etc. There are people who search for/ click through to videos rather than printed info, so you will miss a growing portion of potential online traffic if you ignore video.
Make your video as professional as you can and stick to one single golf-related topic per “movie”. This will help you stick to YouTube maximum time length of 15 minutes or 2GB (unless, of course, you have a professional account and then you have unlimited time length).
Also, do not try to sell material with all of your videos. Current “best practices” say to make sure that at least 75% of your material is aimed at providing information, not at selling. Yes, include links (or verbal references) to sites where you do sell stuff, but do not make that the focus of your message. This alone will increase your referral and view rate… leading to increased sales.
An important production tip (sounds obvious but…): Make sure your video and audio lengths are the same length.
There are many simple online tools for creating videos, including animoto and Windows Movie Maker. Practice, record, review, get input from people you trust, edit and/or re-record as necessary. When you’re ready, upload your video in the original format in the highest quality possible.
YouTube supports the following file formats:
• WebM files (Vp8 video codec and Vorbis Audio codec)
• .MPEG4, 3GPP and MOV files - (typically supporting h264 and mpeg4 video codecs and AAC audio codec)
• .AVI (Many cameras output this format - typically the video codec is MJPEG and audio is PCM)
• .MPEGPS (Typically supporting MPEG2 video codec and MP2 audio)
• .WMV
• .FLV (Adobe - FLV1 video codec, MP3 audio)
Note: YouTube prefers de-interlaced file (de-interlacing: the process of converting interlaced files such common analog television signals and 1080i format HDTV signals, into a non-interlaced form). If you are recording your video online or using a digital recording device, you don’t need to worry about this.
Once you are happy with your video (not just satisfied), you are ready to upload, you can use free automation tools such as tubemogul to submit your movie to multiple video-sharing sites simultaneously.
Caution: Make sure you really are happy with your video because it is not possible to re-upload videos to YouTube (you’ll have to delete, rename and upload as though for the first time). Once a video becomes popular, the number of views, user ratings, user comments and other community data, cannot be transferred if another, higher quality version of the same video is uploaded.
Well, that’s it for now. Tips 5 and 6 will be posted shortly – but why not sign up for this blog so that you are notified when I post them?
Until then, have fun and remember: “You must be prepared to go out on a limb because that is where the fruit is!”
Tip #3
Create communities related to your niche to leverage the power of social media sites working synergistically.
How? If your niche is golf, for example, then all the social media tools you put to work should focus on golf… and only on golf-related info, products and services. Not on sports in general, but on golf. Just golf.
Some of the things you can/should do to create communities:
• Choose a URL (domain name) that has golf in the title. This will enable you to have an e-mail address with a golf-related suffix (e.g. yourname@golf.com). All things being equal, this will produce much better results than having a “free” or generic e-mail address. It will also help raise your website in the returned search results – and it’s one of the basic Search Engine Optimization tenets.
Make sure that you have plenty of golf-related content on your website to keep the search engine crawlers happy and to help you with page rank.
Make it easy for people to find your products and buy your products on your site - they should be able to get to where you want them to take action within 3 clicks.
• Choose a twitter name that has golf in the title. This will signal that your primary interest is indeed golf and help people interested in golf to find you... and make them more likely to follow you. Make sure you use the bio section to talk about your golf passion and/ or business’ experience re golf, etc. Also, create a twitter background that shows golf images – and have it created so that the image fills your page, rather than tiling a smaller image (when you tile, the image is repeated over and over and over again on your page).
• Choose a blog title (the name you give your blog) with the word golf in it and create a banner for your blog that shows golf images (which you alt tag with the word golf).
Make all your posts about golf-related topics and use blog post titles that contain the word golf, or a content-relevant golf term. Your blog content should include your own golf experiences as often as possible/appropriate so that your personal passion for the subject shines through.
You can include affiliate sales links on your blog - but don't overwhelm your visitors. They are turning to your blog to get info or be entertained, not to be sold.
• Create a facebook business/fan page that has golf in its name. Again, golf images need to be used… and if you are going to include a picture of yourself, make sure you are in golf attire. Use this page to sell your material by posting a blurb and link under your picture.
From time to time, update your page with info about your affiliate products... and message your fans, occasionally, too.
• Ditto re your YouTube Channel.
• Join other social networking sites and choose screen/user names that contain the word golf. If possible, use your facebook or twitter name (if they are not one in the same). Link back to your facebook fan page (where
• Interlink each of these online “presence makers” and encourage visitors to one “site” to visit the others to help drive traffic and establish connections between your various communities of followers.
• Leverage automation tools such as ping.fm so you can syndicate one message to more than one of your social media accounts. Consider using an RSS feed as well to automatically post great content about your niche to your social media sites. (Thanks to Maria Gudelis from Wildhorse Performance Marketing for this tip’s phrasing.)
Once you have created communities, and people have come to know you and trust you, you will find it easier to sell products to this group – just make sure that all the affiliate products you create or choose to sell are golf-related to maintain credibility within your community.
Tip #4
Create digital videos and add them to your blog posts, website, facebook page, YouTube, etc. There are people who search for/ click through to videos rather than printed info, so you will miss a growing portion of potential online traffic if you ignore video.
Make your video as professional as you can and stick to one single golf-related topic per “movie”. This will help you stick to YouTube maximum time length of 15 minutes or 2GB (unless, of course, you have a professional account and then you have unlimited time length).
Also, do not try to sell material with all of your videos. Current “best practices” say to make sure that at least 75% of your material is aimed at providing information, not at selling. Yes, include links (or verbal references) to sites where you do sell stuff, but do not make that the focus of your message. This alone will increase your referral and view rate… leading to increased sales.
An important production tip (sounds obvious but…): Make sure your video and audio lengths are the same length.
There are many simple online tools for creating videos, including animoto and Windows Movie Maker. Practice, record, review, get input from people you trust, edit and/or re-record as necessary. When you’re ready, upload your video in the original format in the highest quality possible.
YouTube supports the following file formats:
• WebM files (Vp8 video codec and Vorbis Audio codec)
• .MPEG4, 3GPP and MOV files - (typically supporting h264 and mpeg4 video codecs and AAC audio codec)
• .AVI (Many cameras output this format - typically the video codec is MJPEG and audio is PCM)
• .MPEGPS (Typically supporting MPEG2 video codec and MP2 audio)
• .WMV
• .FLV (Adobe - FLV1 video codec, MP3 audio)
Note: YouTube prefers de-interlaced file (de-interlacing: the process of converting interlaced files such common analog television signals and 1080i format HDTV signals, into a non-interlaced form). If you are recording your video online or using a digital recording device, you don’t need to worry about this.
Once you are happy with your video (not just satisfied), you are ready to upload, you can use free automation tools such as tubemogul to submit your movie to multiple video-sharing sites simultaneously.
Caution: Make sure you really are happy with your video because it is not possible to re-upload videos to YouTube (you’ll have to delete, rename and upload as though for the first time). Once a video becomes popular, the number of views, user ratings, user comments and other community data, cannot be transferred if another, higher quality version of the same video is uploaded.
Well, that’s it for now. Tips 5 and 6 will be posted shortly – but why not sign up for this blog so that you are notified when I post them?
Until then, have fun and remember: “You must be prepared to go out on a limb because that is where the fruit is!”
Saturday, October 16, 2010
10 Tips for Online Affiliate Success - #s 1 and 2
These days, everyone claims that it is soooo easy to make money online and that social media is touted as a panacea for just about every marketing ailment. Neither is true. What is true is that there are things you can do to dramatically increase the likelihood of being successful in cyberspace.
Over the next little while, I’ll share some of the secrets that are rapidly becoming truisms for people in the industry.
To start, here are the first two tips for maximizing the return from your online affiliate marketing* efforts:
1) Promote products in categories where online buyers will eat them up the way Pacman ploughs through power pills, rather than choosing items that only get the occasional nibble.
At the moment the “hot” B2C categories are related to...
• Business Success
• Making Money Online
• Marketing
• Gambling (though you may want to stay away from this for a variety of business reasons)
• Dating
• Health and Fitness
• Weight Loss
• Self Improvement and Motivation
• Real Estate Investing
• Home and Gardening
• Pharmaceuticals
• Nutrition
If you business does not fall into one of these categories, don’t despair; there are plenty of ways you can still run a successful affiliate program.
One of the options available is the forming of relationships with businesses that complement your own, and becoming one of their affiliates to create new revenue streams for your company. Just make sure that you do not detract from your core business in any way.
2) Concentrate on one product niche at a time.
You can have multiple target audiences for this niche, and multiple approaches for reaching your prospects, but don’t confuse your audience by trying to be too many things to them at once.
Instead, stick to the basic marketing principle that says single-minded focus has the power of a laser when it comes to creating sales.
Not only that, but you need to really understand your online customers in order to build a relationship with them and maximize the sales potential of this relationship.
The next two tips will be in my next post, but in case you were wondering...
About Affiliate Marketing
If you are the online affiliate, your job is to promote someone else’s products and/or services. In exchange, you will receive a commission when your site visitors click on the link provided and purchase the product. The other site owner collects the money, ships the item(s) and handles every other aspect of the customer transaction. This means you should only choose to work with companies with customer service standards that match your own.
If you are the owner of a product or service with an affiliate program, your will pay sales commissions to people who drive traffic to your site that results in a sale. You will remain in control of every aspect of the transaction and product delivery process, including who can promote your product. Hint: The more generous your affiliate commissions, and the better your reputation good products and customer service, the more likely online marketers will be to actively promote your offering.
Whether you are an affiliate, or an online affiliate program manager, you will need to take action to be successful and, as you have heard me say so often before, “You must be prepared to go out on a limb because that is where the fruit is!”
Over the next little while, I’ll share some of the secrets that are rapidly becoming truisms for people in the industry.
To start, here are the first two tips for maximizing the return from your online affiliate marketing* efforts:
1) Promote products in categories where online buyers will eat them up the way Pacman ploughs through power pills, rather than choosing items that only get the occasional nibble.
At the moment the “hot” B2C categories are related to...
• Business Success
• Making Money Online
• Marketing
• Gambling (though you may want to stay away from this for a variety of business reasons)
• Dating
• Health and Fitness
• Weight Loss
• Self Improvement and Motivation
• Real Estate Investing
• Home and Gardening
• Pharmaceuticals
• Nutrition
If you business does not fall into one of these categories, don’t despair; there are plenty of ways you can still run a successful affiliate program.
One of the options available is the forming of relationships with businesses that complement your own, and becoming one of their affiliates to create new revenue streams for your company. Just make sure that you do not detract from your core business in any way.
2) Concentrate on one product niche at a time.
You can have multiple target audiences for this niche, and multiple approaches for reaching your prospects, but don’t confuse your audience by trying to be too many things to them at once.
Instead, stick to the basic marketing principle that says single-minded focus has the power of a laser when it comes to creating sales.
Not only that, but you need to really understand your online customers in order to build a relationship with them and maximize the sales potential of this relationship.
The next two tips will be in my next post, but in case you were wondering...
About Affiliate Marketing
If you are the online affiliate, your job is to promote someone else’s products and/or services. In exchange, you will receive a commission when your site visitors click on the link provided and purchase the product. The other site owner collects the money, ships the item(s) and handles every other aspect of the customer transaction. This means you should only choose to work with companies with customer service standards that match your own.
If you are the owner of a product or service with an affiliate program, your will pay sales commissions to people who drive traffic to your site that results in a sale. You will remain in control of every aspect of the transaction and product delivery process, including who can promote your product. Hint: The more generous your affiliate commissions, and the better your reputation good products and customer service, the more likely online marketers will be to actively promote your offering.
Whether you are an affiliate, or an online affiliate program manager, you will need to take action to be successful and, as you have heard me say so often before, “You must be prepared to go out on a limb because that is where the fruit is!”
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Sometimes You NEED to Say “No” to Your Boss or Client
I recently heard someone say that you must never say “no” to a client. I beg to disagree. That’s only true to a certain degree.
There are several instances when saying “no” the best thing you can do to help your boss, company, client or others. The top three:
1. When they are wrong. Yes, the old adage is that the customer is never wrong. If, however, what they want to do will adversely affect the company (yours or theirs), you have an obligation to say “no”. Politely, diplomatically and in a way that gives those involved the facts and lets everyone save face – but firmly, nevertheless. It is your responsibility to look out for the best interests of your client and/or company.
There will be times when your recommendations are overlooked, but you still have an obligation to speak up and say “no” if necessary. In these situations it’s usually a good idea to put your thoughts in writing. Having a quick memo which outlines the matter objectively, gives solid reasons as to why you disagree and offers an alternative solution may give the other parties an opportunity to really hear what you have to say and be persuaded. This paper trail could also serve as a CYA in case their “bad” decision comes back to haunt you personally.
2. When you know that you really cannot meet their deadline, no matter what you try. Yes, I believe that you should try to move heaven and earth to meet a client’s request when possible. Ditto when it comes to meeting your boss’ challenges. However, when you know you will not be able to meet the deadline, you must say so as soon as possible to give the other person a chance to find an alternate solution.
It is far worse to say “yes” and then let the person down, than it is to say “no” at the outset.
3. When you know the other person does not have all the facts. There are times when information has not flowed along corporate lines the way in an ideal manner. When another individual is making decisions based on faulty info, you have an obligation to say “no” and step up to the plate with the correct data... even if it puts you and/or your collegauges in a bad light temporarily. Believe me; it’s far better to take a moment’s worth of heat than it is to let major errors compound the existing problem.
There are also times when you need to say “no” to maintain balance in your work and personal life. To read more about that, please go to: http://www.theqgroup.com/articles-b.php?ArtID=39
There are several instances when saying “no” the best thing you can do to help your boss, company, client or others. The top three:
1. When they are wrong. Yes, the old adage is that the customer is never wrong. If, however, what they want to do will adversely affect the company (yours or theirs), you have an obligation to say “no”. Politely, diplomatically and in a way that gives those involved the facts and lets everyone save face – but firmly, nevertheless. It is your responsibility to look out for the best interests of your client and/or company.
There will be times when your recommendations are overlooked, but you still have an obligation to speak up and say “no” if necessary. In these situations it’s usually a good idea to put your thoughts in writing. Having a quick memo which outlines the matter objectively, gives solid reasons as to why you disagree and offers an alternative solution may give the other parties an opportunity to really hear what you have to say and be persuaded. This paper trail could also serve as a CYA in case their “bad” decision comes back to haunt you personally.
2. When you know that you really cannot meet their deadline, no matter what you try. Yes, I believe that you should try to move heaven and earth to meet a client’s request when possible. Ditto when it comes to meeting your boss’ challenges. However, when you know you will not be able to meet the deadline, you must say so as soon as possible to give the other person a chance to find an alternate solution.
It is far worse to say “yes” and then let the person down, than it is to say “no” at the outset.
3. When you know the other person does not have all the facts. There are times when information has not flowed along corporate lines the way in an ideal manner. When another individual is making decisions based on faulty info, you have an obligation to say “no” and step up to the plate with the correct data... even if it puts you and/or your collegauges in a bad light temporarily. Believe me; it’s far better to take a moment’s worth of heat than it is to let major errors compound the existing problem.
There are also times when you need to say “no” to maintain balance in your work and personal life. To read more about that, please go to: http://www.theqgroup.com/articles-b.php?ArtID=39
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