Day 6: Plan Your Monetization Models - Part I
“Show me the money!” ~ Jerry Maguire (1996)
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Goal-of-the-DAY... The overall goal is to expand your site’s blueprint by planning how you could potentially monetize visitors interested in your niche (i.e., Site Concept), starting with the affiliate monetization model.
Your specific goal will be to choose 3 affiliate programs that fit with each of your 3 Site Concepts/5 HIGH-PROFITABILITY KEYWORDS (per concept) that you developed in DAYS 3 - 5. You must rate these merchants as excellent, and you must feel good about representing them. Do not associate yourself with those merchants who could adversely affect your credibility.
You will also consider appropriate secondary monetization models to diversify your Web income and give your business stability.
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It’s time for a quick check-up. So far you have…
• examined PREselling and its effect on Conversion Rates (DAY 1&2)
• identified a potential topic for your Theme-Based Content Site (DAY 3)
• brainstormed a list of profitable keywords (DAY 4&5)
DAY 6 continues your excellent preparation efforts. The finish line is in sight where you will register your domain name, confidently knowing that you have not missed a step along the track. That’s why you will be “thinking” about “M” now, and “doing” it after you have C -> T -> P well in control.
The ideal Site Concept should give you enough flexibility to generate income through two or three or more different streams. Why is this important?
Two valid reasons come to mind quickly…
• Ideally, you don't want to leave any money on the table. Your visitor may not respond to your primary Most Wanted Response (“MWR”), but she may be attracted to one of your secondary offerings.
• The key is to never be dependent on any one income source -- “all your eggs in one basket” is a high-risk strategy. By diversifying, you increase your revenue, stabilize your business, and take charge of your own business destiny.
DAY 6 is all about getting a feel for possible monetization models before you go on to create your domain name. For example, if you narrow your niche/Site Concept too much, or position your business wrongly, you might limit your opportunities unnecessarily… profitable opportunities, that is.
With monetizing in mind, let's look first at the affiliate model. I am assuming that this will be your primary model -- after all, you are “doing” The Affiliate Masters Course! So get ready to…
Grow a list of good merchants with affiliate programs that have product lines that fit. Then choose the best ones and group them according to HIGHPROFITABILITY keywords.
Yes, you have already started this process on DAY 4-5 by using Search It! To build groups of POSSIBLE PARTNERS for each keyword in your MASTER KEYWORD LIST. However, DAY 4-5 was more focused upon getting good ideas for content and a feel for your market space (DEMAND, SUPPLY, SUPPLY SITE INFO).
Now it’s time to grow your list of POSSIBLE PARTNERS…
4.1. Grow A List Of Possible Affiliate Partners
Remember how we brainstormed the list of KEYWORDS and then chose the best? We're going to choose affiliate partners in the same way. And, of course, Search It! will be our super-efficient assistant as per usual.
Solid research sets a solid foundation. That’s why the strategies below try to cover almost every angle for choosing POSSIBLE PARTNERS. However, being this thorough can be overwhelming, especially if you are already time-crunched.
So pick and choose the strategies that you know you can realistically execute.
And then do them!
I highly recommend that you do at least four types of searches if at all possible.
You want to increase your chances of finding quality affiliate programs that fit best with your business blueprint. But more importantly, you want to be confident about the merchants that you represent!
4.1.1. Grow Through Search Engines…
I guess a good place to start your search for merchants would be, of course, at the Search Engines! Do a search for one of your keywords, plus the word “affiliate.” Let’s use this example...
+fashion design +affiliate
(The “+” sign means that both words must appear on the Web page returned by the search.)
Now open Search It! and do this search…
Search It! > Straight up Search (STEP 1) > Google, no quotes (STEP 2) > +fashion design +affiliate (STEP 3)
Your Search It! window will look like this…
Here are the top results from our search…
modaitalia.zanigni.com/search/Shopping/Accessories/
modaitalia.zanigni.com/search/ Designers/Italy/Roberto_Cavalli/
www.newschool.edu/html/
www.infurmation.com/
www.stylecareer.com/fashion_designer.shtml
www.fashionfabricsclub.com/affiliateprogram.cfm
If you have time, try a second search for the same term and compare…
Search It! > Straight up Search (STEP 1) > Yahoo, no quotes (STEP 2) > +fashion design +affiliate (STEP 3)
4.1.2. Grow Through Directories...Search and/or Drill Down
Directories are also a good place to research POTENTIAL PARTNERS. An interesting place to start is…
Search It! > Specialty Hubs and Directories > Yahoo! Wide (STEP 2) > fashion (STEP 3) > fashion design (STEP 4)
Since this is a large directory and there is a substantial annual fee, it has only serious merchants. Many of the sites listed here will have affiliate programs so this search is like hitting pay dirt in a gold mine. Simply enter your Site Concept word and hit Search It!.
4.1.3. Grow Through Specialized Affiliate Directories
Now let’s investigate your POSSIBLE PARTNERS and add some new merchants, too. How? Easy...
Search It! > Monetization (STEP 1) > Find Affiliate Programs (STEP 2) > fashion (STEP 3)
This search takes you to the affiliate directory of AssociatePrograms.com, run by Allan Gardyne, the #1 affiliate guru on the Web. Allan offers objective reviews based on his extensive experience in affiliate marketing. His forum is also a helpful source of information.
For each listing in this directory, you will see two numbers. The first number is the average rating that those who voted gave the affiliate. The second number shows how many votes that specific affiliate received on this site.
Visit a site that appeals to you. If it has an affiliate program that fits your Site Concept, first enter what kind of merchandise it sells and then enter the
URL of the “join page” into POSSIBLE PARTNERS for that keyword (as explained above). Check the top ten sites -- twenty if you are feeling ambitious -- and record those with potential.
Repeat the process for each keyword in your MASTER KEYWORD LIST (i.e., replace “fashion” above with another keyword like “fashion model”), starting with your specific HIGH-PROFITABILITY keywords and then following up with your general Concept Keywords (ex., “accessories” and other “concept-level” keywords that you develop, such as “design,” etc.).
Read the review of each potential match. Look at the ratings and take advantage of any other evaluation services the AssociatePrograms directory may offer.
You can also look for “cross-concept companies.” These are companies selling products that, because of their nature, fit with most or all Site Concepts. For example, whether your concept is about “Renaissance art” or “pricing” or “fashion,” you’ll find books about it. So always include a bookstore in your group of affiliate programs.
Still in the searching mood even after all that?
Try this final suggestion. You already have a list of POSSIBLE PARTNERS.
Use the search tool at AssociatePrograms to check out partners. Just enter each domain into the search tool.
If you want to be really, really, really thorough, and you have more spare time than I do, you could check out these affiliate directories…
Refer-It
http://www.refer-it.com/
AffiliatesWorld.com
http://www.affiliatesworld.com/
AffiliateMatch.com
http://www.AffiliateMatch.com/
4.1.4. Grow through Affiliate Backend Providers / Networks / Aggregators
There are several companies that provide the tools, technology and services that online businesses need to register, track, report and pay affiliates. In other words, merchants don’t have to “do it themselves” because these companies provide all the backend functionality necessary to run an affiliate program.
The “backend providers” prefer to call themselves “affiliate networks.”
Why?
Because they do more than just provide merchants with affiliate software. They also provide merchants with affiliates, and vice-versa. Since they have a pool of hundreds of thousands of affiliates, a merchant’s program gets instant exposure to potentially interested affiliates.
And affiliates get exposure to a wide variety of merchants. It’s a good idea to join each of these backend providers. You will likely come across many of the same merchants that you found in the affiliate directories. But you will also find new ones. So it is worth checking to see whether they feature any programs that fit with your concept....
Commission Junction
http://www.cj.com/
BeFree
http://www.befree.com/
LinkShare
http://www.linkshare.com/
Quinstreet
http://www.quinstreet.com/
AffiliateCash
http://www.affiliatecash.com/
If you find merchants with products that fit, enter what kind of merchandise they sell and also enter the URL of the “join page” to the POSSIBLE PARTNERS column in your MASTER KEYWORD LIST for each keyword that is relevant.
4.1.5. Grow through Alexa
Do a search for the Web site you are evaluating. In this example, we are looking at modaitalia.net. This was the first result in our Search Engine affiliate search.
Now it's time to use Alexa to find potential affiliates.
Search It! > Popularity (STEP 1) > Alexa Rankings and Review (STEP 2) >modaitalia.net (STEP 3)
When the page opens, click on Related Links on the left of the page. Alexa also displays traffic ranking, in-pointing links, and even visitor reviews!
Once you establish which sites in your niche are the big players, use the Related Links tool from Alexa to expand your horizons!
4.1.6. Grow Through Search Engines & Directories...Favorite Tricks
Now for a few of my favorite tricks...
How else can you find merchants through the Search Engines? Easy!...
1) Visit the advertisers!
2) Sniff affiliate sites. (They’ve already done the homework for you!)...
These “linked-to” merchants already have affiliate programs -- all you have to do is check them out and see if they fit with your Site Concept! Add the ones that do fit with your list of POSSIBLE PARTNERS.
4.1.7. Grow Through Back Links
Remember that CONTENT site, modaitalia.net? You can find the sites that link to modaitalia.net (as outlined earlier).
Search It! > Back Links (STEP 1) > Back Links to Site (Yahoo! Search)(STEP 2) > modaitalia.net (STEP 3)
This search yields a number of results. Let’s say your eye catches this site…. 123world.com/fashions. From the list of designers, you find two that have affiliate programs (Reebok and Liz Claiborne Inc.).
Liz Claiborne fits with an idea that you had added to the IDEAS FOR CONTENT column. So you entered lizclaiborne.com into your list of POSSIBLE PARTNERS for the keyword “fashion accessories.” (See how you can use the MASTER KEYWORD LIST to group programs according to keywords?) We’ll use lizclaiborne.com as our example of how to grow your list of POSSIBLE PARTNERS for “fashion accessories”. Start by checking which OTHER affiliates link to lizclaiborne.com!
How?
Simple. Go to…
Search It! > Competition (STEP 1) > Back Links to Site (Yahoo Search) (STEP 2) > lizclaiborne.com (STEP 3)
At the time of writing, 12,600 pages linked to lizclaiborne.com. Many of these sites will be CONTENT sites that also link to other fashion-related merchants as affiliates (you can often tell by the linking URLs). More than likely, these linked-to merchants already have affiliate programs -- all you have to do is check them out and see if they fit! Add the acceptable ones to your list of POSSIBLE PARTNERS for each keyword.
And you can use this Search It! link-finder technique for all of your POSSIBLE PARTNERS for all of your keywords!
Stay tune for the continuation....
Relevant Posts:
Financial Freedom?! All In Our Minds!: Achieve Financial Freedom Thru Affiliate Masters Course
Financial Freedom?! All In Our Minds!: Achieve Financial Freedom Thru Affiliate Masters Course - Day 1
Financial Freedom?! All In Our Minds!: Achieve Financial Freedom Thru Affiliate Masters Course - Day 2
Financial Freedom?! All In Our Minds!: Achieve Financial Freedom Thru Affiliate Masters Course – Day 3
Financial Freedom?! All In Our Minds!: Achieve Financial Freedom Thru Affiliate Masters Course – Day 4
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