The Guru Hub

After you have done all you can to drive traffic to your site, the next step is offering a product that converts. It can be very disappointing to know that you’ve completed all your research and followed each and every step only to find that the hungry niche that your research has led you to aren’t buying as much as you expected. It may be time to reevaluate the vendor you’re promoting.

There could be several reasons why the product isn’t converting. The vendor may just not appeal to your audience. This happens, and it could be their voice or marketing strategy that just isn’t hitting the mark. Or sometimes the sales letter is bad, product feedback and reviews are bad, or the reputation is bad, etc.

Don’t take any of these reasons personally, just be wise enough to know if a certain product is not converting then change it out for something new. There are plenty of products out there so don’t fall in love with one product, it is all about the conversions and the money.

Searching out a competing vendor that offers a similar product with a better sales page is simple. There are plenty of products out there to choose from but several things you should review first to ensure you are making a good choice.

Before signing up for the affiliate program, review the sales copy to make sure you’re comfortable with their marketing tactics. Even though you are not writing the copy take the time to review it carefully. By making a small change, you can greatly increase your affiliate checks. It’s all about the details to convert your visitors into buyers. If a certain vendor can’t do it, then it’s time to look elsewhere.

You’ll notice that two of these tips have to do with testing and tweaking. It can be tricky turning browsers into buyers, and it’s a two part job between you and the vendor. Keep testing to figure out the right combination that works best. You will improve your commissions and your customer’s happiness. Be sure to also continue to improve your web traffic. Marketing your website and boosting your rankings by gaining backlinks is definitely the way to go.

With some effort and patience you’re sure to find a winning combination that will help you get the bigger affiliate checks you deserve. The money is out there, your job is to figure out how to get it on a consistent basis.

The title “for dummies” is my attempt at self-deprecating humor because I had a lot to learn when I first started and if I can do it I know you can too. This may sound surprising but SEO experts find that getting links from other websites is just as important (if not more) as on page factors such as actual content.

Imagine that, inbound links more powerful or meaningful than actual content. What this means is that the links pointing TO your website from others may be more important than the text on your actual site. As crazy as this might sound, here is the rationale behind it.

In Google’s eyes (they are the largest search engine so we will use them for this example) inbound links are as valuable, if not more so, than content due to the meaning behind the inbound link. The inbound link serves as a “vote of confidence” or “validation” that the content on the page is valuable.

So valuable in fact, that another website chose to link to it and offer it as a reference in their content. This is very strong in the search engines eyes and can move your site up many spots just due to this factor alone.

If you don’t have very many backlinks to your website you may want to get more. The more you have the better so start getting as many as you can. Here are some fast ways to get some inbound links to your site.

• Article marketing.
• Guest blogging.
• Writing and submitting press releases.
• Podcasting.
• Submitting Videos to video sites.
• Commenting on other blogs
• Blog directories
• Link directories
• Interviews on other sites
• Setting up an affiliate program

This can boost your rankings in the search engines and increase your visitors fast. By getting more web traffic, you will earn bigger affiliate checks without having to change anything on your page (other than what you are currently testing) and it won’t cost you anything but your time.

I was going to wait to write this as a tip to increase your email open rates to your list, however, having just received over 40 of them today I felt this would be a good time let the cat out of the bag.

Let’s start from the top with a question to suck you right in to the subject matter. Have you ever received an email that had RE: in the subject line? I am sure most of you had at one time or another so I will assume the overwhelming answer is yes.

This is the way the email subject line begins when someone responds to your email. The subject line always starts with RE: and we have been conditioned to recognize this as a response to an email we had sent out.

Recently I was struggling with my email open rate with one of my lists and pretty much came to a dead end. I had tried everything, including praying to the gugu gods of email (it wasn’t pretty let me tell ya -J). Still nothing worked. It didn’t matter what super ninja tactic I tried, my open rate just stunk!

Then one morning while considering my latest email I can up with the idea to start a new email to the list with RE:. I hit “send” and held my breath. Soon I began to check my Aweber open results and Wala! I had struck solid Gold! The email open rate sky rocketed and people were responding to my email as if I had emailed them personally! Perfect!

Being that I had effectively “tricked” my list into opening the email I have used this technique sparingly and only when I really need them to open an email.

So fast forward to today and someone must have beat me to the punch and put it out there that The RE: subject line gets Mega open results when inserted into an email because emails with this attached to them are laying all over my email. OK already, it works….but not from 40 people on the same day.

My point is simple; this is a great technique to use “sparingly” to temporarily boost your results. Use it as a bridge to build more trust with your list and offer them more value (the ultimate fix) and they will be waiting for your email with mouse in hand.

It’s one thing to create great content; it is a totally different thing to create buzz or interaction. If you want to take your business to the next level and “really” drive traffic to your site you need to interact with your customers. Provoke discussion if you have to but make them interact. Once you unveil this super ninja technique its lights out, “bolt the door Katie” cause here comes the flood of traffic!

Seriously, you can really increase the interest level and engagement of your visitors or email list when you ask for their opinions or input and involve them in conversation. This conversation, or feedback, can even be used to guide, tweak, or even create your product or marketing.

It is amazing what people will tell you when you ask them their opinion. It just opens the door to many different areas of information sharing and gathering. Using this information in your marketing can make it seem like shooting fish in a barrel.

Many times we think of the time we take to interact as “wasted”. Nothing could be further from the truth! Interaction does three things, at minimum.

They are:

• Creates Trust
• Builds Credibility
• Makes Price Less Relevant

People trust people they know more about and talk with on a regular basis. The more you have a two way conversation rather than a one way conversation the better off you will be.

Credibility is something you earn and you can’t earn it unless you are engaged. Every email, video, letter, and ad builds your credibility so take it seriously.

Another benefit of interaction is you reduce the relevance of price. People are willing to pay more for a product if they know you and are comfortable with you.

Some of the interactive tools you can use are polls, blogs or a forum. These are the most common but use your imagination to create interactive tools. You can use a whole host of other ideas to get people to interact with you. The key takeaway, interaction creates trust and credibility which in turn boosts sales. People would much rather buy from someone they have talked with (or emailed) and trust than a complete stranger.

Mobile Marketing is being touted as “the next big thing” and the only validation you need is your own quick count of how many people you encounter during the day with mobile devices or a mobile phone. The numbers are staggering.

According to the Mobile Marketing Association a wave of mobile advertising is about to explode, and with good reason. In the past it has been difficult to advertise due to the fragmentation of platforms and carriers. They are finally starting to consolidate and this will make advertising much easier for you and me.

Go anywhere and just admire the mobile community at work. Everyone you pass while driving is talking on a cell phone and look at the numbers while walking through a grocery store or restaurant. Do you think there is potential to reach an audience with your message? Damn right there is.

With all this “hoopla” surrounding mobile marketing and people starting to look for information in earnest  I thought I’d throw together the top 5 blog articles on the subject so you could check them out and see what all the chatter is about.

Here they are as list in Google:

http://www.mobile-marketing-blog.net

http://blog.mobivity.com

http://www.mobilemarketingwatch.com

http://www.punchkickinteractive.com/blog

http://blogs.forrester.com/marketing/mobile_marketing