Posts Tagged ‘holiday shopping season’

Promote Your Affiliate Marketing Products During the Holiday Shopping Season

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Affiliate marketers using articles as a primary marketing strategy must be creative. Publishing articles to directories has to be handled with care. Many publishers will not publish single-topic product reviews. Reviews must include three products in order to be accepted in many cases.

Single product reviews may be submitted to your blog or other review-type websites. Take extra time during the holiday shopping season to add holiday keywords to your meta tags. Include words like “gift” or “holiday season” to the usual content on your landing page or website.

How Affiliate Marketing Works

Affiliate marketing is a multi-part marketing program created by merchants. Affiliate programs provide a way for merchants to allow regular customers and business owners to promote their products. Merchants pay marketers based on a contractual agreement.

Some merchants pay per click while others pay a percentage per sale or lead. Steps that qualify as a lead may differ from program to program. Some consider a free e-mail signup a lead while others may not consider the lead complete until a free gift has been accepted.

Merchants that offer commission based on sales are often the most successful. Article marketing strategies that implement a series of articles directed toward a specific product generate many links to that product. Each link has the potential to earn the marketer profit.

The Affiliate Marketer’s Role in Article Marketing

Affiliate marketers have a unique opportunity in online business. Their business practice is one of promoting products and services of affiliate merchants. Graphic banners and text links only go so far in an affiliate marketer’s marketing plan.

Effective articles are engaging and hold the reader’s attention. Learn how to write articles that highlight the affiliate program, the merchant or the products they provide. Articles must not focus on one individual product, publishers often consider these spam.

Article Marketing Strategy

Affiliate merchants know they have to offer great deals during the holiday shopping season to increase sales. Their promotional materials are passed directly to you, the affiliate marketer. Implement their specials and promotions into your holiday article marketing strategy.

This is the time of year when people are making purchases they normally wouldn’t consider. Consumers flock to the Internet for information as well as great holiday deals. Information is a highly sought after commodity, especially during the holiday shopping season.

Affiliate marketers can easily corner the market on hot items if they share their knowledge. Quality, honest information leads readers to websites to make purchases. Plan ahead as much as possible and create a winning article marketing strategy.

Article Submission Service

Article marketers can only do so much on their own. An article submission service is an incredible tool for all affiliate marketers and article marketers. No other way will your articles be read by literally thousands of people within a matter of days.

Article submission services are rarely free. The minimal cost is worth the convenience. Consider the amount of time you save by submitting your article one time to a company that distributes it to thousands.

Most article distribution companies offer to distribute your articles continuously. This means that when new publishers sign up with them, they receive every article you’ve submitted. Your articles continue to receive new readers as a result.

To your success,

Mike Lawson

About the author: Mike Lawson is a freelance consultant to internet marketers. His Professional Writing Service provides quality content for affiliate marketers

Follow Us on Twitter: ContentCrooner

“Crooner Rocks”

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Affiliate Marketing | No Comments »

Phrases that Increase Affiliate Marketing Profits Throughout the Holiday Shopping Season

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

Affiliate marketers are taking advantage of eight phrases to increase their profits during the holiday shopping season. Many people claim that making purchases online is too expensive because of shipping or too complicated. Learn to leverage these eight words to increase affiliate marketing profits and watch your bank account grow.

Affiliate marketing isn’t necessarily about selling products. The goals of an affiliate marketer are to pre-sell a product and convince the reader to click a link. Closing the sale is usually left to the affiliate merchant company.

Eight Phrases to Increase Holiday Sales

The following eight phrases help improve traffic as well as conversion rates. They’re often used by affiliate merchants as incentives to increase online sales. Affiliate marketers may use these words in their articles and landing pages to increase affiliate holiday profits.

Free Shipping: 78 percent of online shoppers let high shipping costs keep them from ordering online. Merchants often offer free shipping for a limited time or on orders over a certain dollar amount.

Free Gift with Purchase: Everyone loves getting something for free. Affiliate merchants often pair gloves with hats or gift cards with purchases.

Easy Ordering Process: Some online shoppers find the online ordering process very tedious and sometimes confusing. Simplifying the order process has become a priority for many merchants.

Free Membership: People generally love free items. Some merchants offer great membership benefits simply for signing up at their website. Membership may be something simple like five percent discounts or a free monthly offer for the remainder of the year.

Limited Time Offer: This phrase instills a sense of urgency in the buyer. The merchant usually discloses the timeframe of the limited offer.

Discount or Sale: The only thing better than getting something for free is getting something deeply discounted. Discounts and sales attract traffic, readers and improve conversion rates.

New: What a simple three letter word. New items, especially technology, become hot products each year. Make the most of your marketing strategy by including this simple word.

Holiday, Christmas or Gift: Consumers often include the word “gift” in their usual keyword searches during the holiday shopping season. The words “holiday” and “Christmas” are also frequent searches during the holidays.

Choose Your Action Words Wisely

Action words are words that call the reader to do something. “Click here” to receive something cool. “Act Now” or lose out on this deal. “Recommend this site” to friends and family. All of these action words tell the reader to do something and are powerful action words.

Don’t overdo it with action words in articles or normal website copy. The goal is to pre-sell a product, service or opportunity in the body of an article or sales letter. Use action words sparingly and in important areas.

The eight phrases mentioned in this article have been proven to increase affiliate marketing revenue. Pair them with powerful action words and implement them into your article marketing strategy to watch traffic and sales skyrocket.

Article Marketing for Affiliate Marketers

Jump on the article marketing bandwagon this holiday shopping season and increase your holiday conversion rates. Articles allow you to be the expert and provide valuable information to consumers looking to buy the products you promote. Write, distribute and earn more affiliate profits this year than previous years with just a few simple changes in your marketing strategy.

To your success,

Mike Lawson

About the author: Mike Lawson is a freelance consultant to internet marketers. His Professional Writing Service provides quality content for affiliate marketers

Follow Us on Twitter: ContentCrooner

“Crooner Rocks”

Tags: , ,
Posted in Affiliate Marketing | No Comments »

Improve Up-Selling and Cross Selling During the Holidays

Thursday, December 24th, 2009

Up-selling and cross selling help create more sales. During the holidays, this is especially true. Consumers are looking for the best price, best deal and best overall bang for their buck.

A Few Up-Selling and Cross Selling Ideas

Linked Items: Display photos and descriptions of items that are closely related to the item your current customer is viewing. For example: Customer is looking at hats, show related hats, scarves and gloves.

Display linked items as lists. Bullet points and photographs always draw the reader’s eye. Name your list something catchy like “Others who bought this item also liked,” or “Check out these other great deals on related items.”

More Expensive Item with Perk: Up-selling is the ability to sell a more expensive item than the one your visitor is currently viewing, or selling something in addition to the item. Include photos and descriptions of items that work well with, or are an upgrade to, the one currently being viewed.

Linking a more expensive item is tricky. Be very specific in the description of the more expensive item. Make the reader want to check out the better features of the more expensive purchase.

Items in the Same Price Range: People often stick to the same price range while shopping for gifts for family members. No one wants it to be obvious that they spent more on one person’s gift than someone else’s. Include a section of your online store to group items within the same price range.

Decorate Your Online Shop

Holiday decorations give your customer the feeling of real holiday shopping from the comfort of their home computer. Today’s holiday shopper doesn’t always have time to browse the mall or really get into the holidays. Your holiday decorations may inadvertently help the customer decide to purchase from you.

The most popular holiday decoration is a snowflake. Snowflakes decorate many online shops from Thanksgiving through the New Year. Some shops incorporate snowflakes as a full-winter decorating option instead of just the holidays.

Red hats with fuzzy tassels remind people of the hat Santa Claus wears when riding his sleigh and shimmying down chimneys to deliver toys. Cartoon-like reindeer with big red noses give people a pleasant holiday feeling and remind them of a group of playful reindeer from beloved children’s songs of youth.

Snowmen are a fun reminder of playing in the snow as well as the magical holiday snowman from songs and cartoons. Try decorating your website with a snowman wearing a scarf and a top hat. The addition of a corncob pipe, button nose and a broomstick in his hand isn’t a bad idea either.

Promote Special Affiliate Offers

Affiliate marketers have the best of both worlds during the holiday season. They have the opportunity to market their own website as well as that of their affiliate merchant partner. Successfully promoting the wares of an affiliate merchant is how affiliate marketers earn their commission.

Affiliate Marketing During the Holidays

Nearly every merchant jumps on the holiday bandwagon every holiday season. Promoting sales as an affiliate marketer becomes very easy during the holidays. Consumers are diligently looking for the best deal, the best sale and the best value for their money.

Affiliate marketers receive promotional material in their e-mail or directly from the website of the affiliate merchant they promote. Materials often promote a specific product or service offered by the merchant. Make your list, check it twice, and discover special promotional incentives you can pass on to your readers and visitors.

To your success,

Mike Lawson

About the author: Mike Lawson is a freelance consultant to internet marketers. His Professional Writing Service provides quality content for affiliate marketers

Follow Us on Twitter: ContentCrooner

“Crooner Rocks”

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Affiliate Marketing, Article Marketing | 1 Comment »

Affiliate Marketing with Holiday Themed Articles

Thursday, December 24th, 2009

The holidays are a very busy time for marketers, and as an affiliate marketer you need to stay on top of your game. By making extra efforts during the Christmas season, you can make sure to reap the benefits of attracting holiday shoppers. One great way to draw in new customers and reach your target audience is through specialized holiday article marketing.

Whether or not you are already using article in your affiliate marketing efforts, you can take advantage of it during the holiday season. Article marketing is the process of using articles full of original content that display your knowledge and expertise to attract customers. Thousands of content publishers look for quality, relevant articles for their directories.

Further focus your efforts by taking advantage of what consumers need during the holiday shopping season; valuable information. Create quality content that addresses the reader’s concerns as well as provides the information they need to make an informed purchase. Treat each individual article you write like it is the one that will generate your next sale.

Knowledge and Expertise

Some aspects of article marketing don’t change whether it’s spring, summer or Christmas time. It’s always important to highlight your knowledge and expertise about the items you’re marketing. Your knowledge as an affiliate marketer becomes even more valuable during the holiday shopping season.

More than any other time of year, the holidays bring consumers searching for products they may not know much about. Many people are searching for gifts that the recipient is knowledgeable about while they themselves are not. Use your expertise to give them confidence and ideas will draw them directly to back to the sites you are marketing.

Recycle and Use New Keywords

One great thing about article marketing during Christmas is that you can recycle articles you’ve already written. There are several ways to change your focus and re-write articles so that they appeal to the holiday shopper. One way is to highlight Christmas and holiday traditions that are related to the products and services you’re selling.

Another great way to promote your products to gift-buyers and increase sales is by grouping items together. Many people love giving holiday gift baskets or themed packages. Focusing on products that complement each other lets you upsell. Upselling generates more revenue while at the same time providing exactly what consumers are looking to give.

Take advantage of your usual keywords and add targeted holiday keywords. Potential customers will be searching for gifts, holiday themes, and festive merchandise and ideas. By adding specific Christmas keywords, you attract shoppers who are specifically looking for gifts. Once they’ve found your article, they will be further impressed by the information you provide.

Christmas is a great time to draw new customers into the sites you’re marketing. By using articles to show off your expertise and the quality of your products, you attract new shoppers. They pass along great gift ideas to their friends, who will and pass the information along to their friends.

Article marketing is a great way to get the message out there for all of the products you include in your affiliate marketing business. Create a marketing strategy that includes article marketing and take advantage of the opportunity to create high quality content for consumers. Providing information they seek is the best way to turn readers into customers.

To your success,

Mike Lawson

About the author: Mike Lawson is a freelance consultant to internet marketers. His Professional Writing Service provides quality content for affiliate marketers

Follow Us on Twitter: ContentCrooner

“Crooner Rocks”

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Affiliate Marketing | No Comments »

Effective Article Marketing that Encourages Christmas Sales

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

With the Christmas season upon us, it’s time to go after those extra sales. As an internet marketer promoting affiliate programs you must encourage cyber shoppers to head your way this holiday season. You can do that quite effectively with an effective article marketing strategy.

Consumers browsing the Web this Christmas season are looking for information to help them make smart buying decisions. They’re comparing products and need quality information to differentiate between them. Through your articles, you can educate them on topics related to your affiliate products.

You can also write product review articles. You provide objective and informative articles highlighting features of different products. Of course, within these objective reviews is information concerning the affiliate product you’re promoting. Consumers crave this information and make time to search for it.

Your articles, distributed via a quality content distribution service, are your ticket to more website traffic this Christmas. Here are five tips to help you employ an effective article marketing campaign:

Know Your Target Market

Before you even write and choose an article submission service, you must understand your target market thoroughly. As a content producer, you need to be in accord with your readers. Don’t assume you know what your audience wants in terms of information.

Check out blogs and social forums dealing with topics related to your niche. Read market reports. Visit other websites dealing in the same or similar products as you’re promoting. Get the gist of what your niche needs in terms of information. Research topics they’re interested in and get that kind of content to them.

Write For Your Reader

Quality content writing means having your audience’s best interests at heart. That may sound trite and part of a Writing 101 seminar, but it’s something affiliate marketers can overlook. In the rush to get articles out promoting their business, they write with “selling”, not “informing” in mind.

This tends to make their articles sound like commercials. Publishers don’t want sales type articles and neither does your target audience. Give them excellent information that’s relevant to their concerns and build your credibility at the same time.

Choose the Right Content Distribution Service

Upon completing your writing, you’re now ready to distribute your articles. Your next step is to choose a reputable content distribution service. The best services offer article marketing automation, allowing you to schedule content distribution well in advance.

A good service also offers article submission guidelines. This ensures your articles meet publishers’ requirements. In addition, a good service has a broad article marketing network. This gives you great choice in publishers across a full complement of categories.

When looking at publishing articles, look for a service that doesn’t require you downloading article submission software. You want the ability to distribute your articles from any location. Software on your PC means you can only submit from your home office.

Follow Up on Your Submissions

A quality content distribution service offers useful reports to their members. This allows you to track where your articles are going. You can analyze which articles are receiving the best response from publishers. This helps you understand what topics are generating interest. You can then focus on those topics for other articles.

During the Christmas season, if you see an article getting a significant response, get another one ready to go. Submit a new article on the same topic. Gain further distribution of your links heading into the final holiday shopping week. You never know how many readers will convert to customers as the final shopping frenzy unfolds.

Take Advantage of Advice

Ideally, your articles are always top-notch. However, life happens and sometimes your article writing efforts are less than stellar. Avoid sub-par article quality through choosing an article submission service that offers live editing. A service that provides human editors is making a commitment to their members’ success.

You want an experienced editor going over your work. This extra set of eyes ensures only professional articles reach your target market. Offer your readers intelligent, informative articles, professionally presented. Take advantage of expert editorial help so your articles read smoothly and help you build Christmas sales.

Start the article writing process now and distribute your articles in the next few days. You still have time to get quality information to your target market and your links circulating throughout the Web. The next few weeks will see the Internet busier than Santa’s workshop. Take advantage of that and let article marketing garner you those extra holiday season sales.

To your success,

Carol Palmatier

About the author: Carol Palmatier is a freelance consultant offering internet marketing advice to businesses and non-profits. She knows article marketing is the best way to build backlinks, traffic and expert status. Why does she use Content Crooner article distribution service? Because it works!

Follow Us on Twitter: ContentCrooner

“Crooner Rocks”

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Affiliate Marketing, Article Marketing Strategy | No Comments »

Affiliate Marketing During the Holiday Shopping Season

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online. The business is so vast, you can promote almost anything. Take advantage of the unique opportunities available for affiliate marketers during the holiday shopping season.

Many products boom at Christmastime, from holiday cards to ornaments to gift ideas; take your pick. Use your affiliate marketing skills to get your share of customers looking for every-day products.

Put Your Affiliate Marketing Knowledge to Use

One of the best ways to optimize your marketing efforts during the holiday shopping season is to get started early. People start shopping for Christmas in November. The busiest shopping days of the year come almost a full month before Christmas.

Another thing to remember is not to relax too much too far ahead of time. Trends and buzz are incredibly important during the holidays. Every year, consumers flock after a few highly sought after items. Make sure you are paying attention so you can take advantage of the hype.

Trends and hot items shouldn’t be your only focus. Search for non-generic gift options to promote. Look for products that other affiliate marketers might miss and corner the market. Consider using your own shopping list and gift ideas as a jumping off point for some unique products that people will love. Don’t forget about options like subscriptions, memberships, charity donations, and adopting an endangered animal.

Consider the likelihood that consumers are also searching for holiday services. Websites that allow you to create holiday cards or videos, and even specialty food delivery are all very popular during the holidays. Consider using your affiliate marketing skills as a way to provide access to the services people are looking for to de-stress their holiday.

Choosing Affiliate Merchants

There is an almost endless number of holiday related products that are prime targets for affiliate marketers during the holiday shopping season. Choose the affiliate merchants you work with carefully. Weigh the reliability of the websites, brands and the profit that stands to be made.

The holiday shopping season is a great time to take advantage of article marketing. This is a great time to go back through your articles and re-write new information with a holiday twist. One great way to tweak your articles is by adding seasonal keywords.

During Christmas, in addition to searching for types of products or specific items, consumers use search terms like “holiday” or “gift”. Inserting these special keywords into some of your articles is a great way to take advantage of specialized holiday shopping.

In addition to adding keywords, look at all the items you’re marketing and how they might fit together. Many people love giving themed gift baskets, and it’s a great way to upsell additional products. If you’re selling wine glasses, pair them with a bottle of wine and some complimenting chocolates. If you sell golf equipment, come up with a combination of accessories that can be sold as a gift package.

Let Your Expertise Sparkle and Shine

Another great advantage of article marketing during the holidays is highlighting your expertise. This is the biggest time of year for people shopping for products they’re not knowledgeable about. When shopping for gifts, they need tips and tricks from an expert. As an affiliate marketer, you’re the perfect person to provide them with the information they need.

Don’t forget that once the holiday season is over, next Christmas is only a year away. Take notes about the things that work and the areas that could use improvement. You can learn a lot from your mistakes and start building your article marketing strategy for the upcoming year.

The holidays can be a wonderful and profitable time of year for your affiliate marketing business. Get started today, and create your own gift; success during the holiday shopping season.

To your success,

Mike Lawson

About the author: Mike Lawson is a freelance consultant to internet marketers. His Professional Writing Service provides quality content for affiliate marketers

Follow Us on Twitter: ContentCrooner

“Crooner Rocks”

Tags: , ,
Posted in Affiliate Marketing | No Comments »