Adsense Can Be So Unpredictable

Regarding adsense and niche websites, the majority of us niche marketers know the basics

You add content that is keyword rich and niche focused.

Get the keywords on your pages right, put them in those oh-so crucial spots in your content and you'll get ads relevant to your content

But sometimes this can be so unpredictable.

While browsing today I came across a blog on niche marketing. The content was not great but it was okay as niche marketing blogs go. You could tell it was a newbie blog with rehashed content but we won't hold this against him or her

Anyway the website name was business something or the other. But all the google ads displayed were on the keyword 'bus'
Ouch!

Why am I telling you this? Because a closer look at the pages shows where he went wrong

Adsense really can be unpredictable when you blindly follow what people tell you without testing things out for yourself.

Keyword stuffing and trying to tell the code what ads to display on your pages is all well and good [actually it's not and doesn't work]. But if you right naturally on the topic you wish to communicate to your readers, the relevant keywords will appear naturally in your content and the adsense code will have no difficulty displaying ads that are relevant to your content

And having said that I'll probably get adsense ads on this post that are totally out of sync with the words on this page

Never mind, the lesson is still valid :)

Email Headlines That Really Bug Me

So instead of getting really irritated when I get a bunch of emails with these headlines, I thought I'd put it out there and see what you guys think

So here are some of the email headlines that really get my goat

Thank you, here's your download

Not a problem if I had signed up for the download. I suppose the sender hopes that we are not keeping track of what we sign up for. Usually contains a product that you do have to sign up for

You've made a commission

Again, not a problem if it really is about a commission you have made. But it usually is not. You open the email and it reads 'Imagine if you could get hundreds of emails like this...Blah, blah' I have noticed that these ones tend to come from safe list users. That's me done with safe lists

{first name} ...

This email probably has some useful information in it. But it looks sloppy and unprofessional. You'd think that anyone taking their business serious would take the time to format their emails properly

This is the most important email I've ever sent

It's usually full of c..p and a major promo. This one usually triggers the unsubscribe button for me

I need your shipping address...

Why? I didn't subscribe to anything from you mate!!


He stuck his hand in gasoline....

Honestly I have never bothered opening emails with this headline although for a while there, it seemed a very frequently used headline. Anyone reading this post who has actually read the emails should please enlighten us with it's content

Can I help you get leads to your business

Again nothing wrong with this apart from the fact that you KNOW you never subscribed for his emails in the first place. Begs the question. 'Where is he getting the leads from?

Till next time

Affiliate Marketing Money for Nothing

When I first went into affiliate marketing, I had difficulty getting my head round the concept of not having any products in my warehouse and still making money. Money for nothing?

Because that's what affiliate marketing is. You tell people about a product you like. They go and buy that product, mention to the vendors that you suggested it and presto! the merchants pay you a commission. And it's sometimes up to half the value of the product. Shock horror

Pretty freaky but it made sense

So I looked around for affiliate programs for a couple of things I really like. Things I rave to my friends about.

One was my laptop. I loved my laptop. I could go on for hours talking about the reasons why this one laptop is the best on the market.

Anyway after a few minutes searching for an affiliate program for my particular brand and then a further few hours of website building and.... I was an affiliate marketer for my particular brand of laptop. Still promoting it.

The upside is I can go on and on to my hearts content about the merits of this product. And the people reading my content are actually interested in what I am saying. No more eyes glazing over from my audience

And you get a pay check!!

So perhaps affiliate marketing is not exactly money for nothing. But it certainly is a great way of earning a living

High Ticket Affiliate Products Versus Inexpensive Products

High ticket affiliate products were a no-go area for me when I was a newbie affiliate marketer. I, like a lot of other affiliate marketing beginners, thought they would just be too difficult to promote and therefore stayed with the low cost products.

It's easier to get someone to spend $7 than $1500 right?

Wrong or so I found out.

High ticket vs Low ticket affiliate product refunds

Imagine you were out shopping and came across a low cost item which you are not sure if you want or not. To make things easier on yourself you buy it. After all it's only $7 and there is not much point in standing there trying to decide. You get home and decide you do not really want this product after all. Most people would reach for the receipt and packaging and make a mental note to take it with them next time they go to that store.

Now imagine that product is an info product that you bought on line with a 30 or 60 day guarantee. [Sounds familiar?]

How easy would it be to click the button to get your refund?

Take the same person who is about to buy a $1500 product. Most of us do not shell out that kind of money without due thought, a lot more thought, discussions and thought again. This means that by the time the high ticket item is purchased, the buyer is absolutely certain that he wants it. Less risk of refunds

High ticket vs low tag affiliate product clientele

The market for high ticket affiliate products is totally different from the customers who will buy the low price stuff.

You have to find each market and access it over and over again.

But the amount of work required for either market really does not vary based on the tag on the product you are promoting.

It's back to basics again here. It takes targeted traffic and a good presell, whatever the price tag of the product you are promoting as an affiliate

High price tag versus inexpensive affiliate products commissions

Generally but not always, high ticket affiliate products give a 15 to 30% commission to their affiliates. And the low priced items especially digital products could offer a commission of 50 to 75%

Please remember I said not always, there definitely are exceptions to this

And affiliates could be put off by the low percent commission payout of high ticket products. But take this real life example

Product ~ $2400 Commission ~ £350
Product ~$60 Commission ~ $45

Which sale do you think made my day?

I am not saying go after high price affiliate products exclusively. That would be bad advice.

But I am saying that affiliate marketers, especially newbie affiliate marketers should not be afraid to include high price tag affiliate products in their promotions.

As I got a little more experience in affiliate marketing, I decided to mix things up a little. So I promote some high price tag items and also some of the lower priced products.

And for me this has worked out well

Keyword Research Over-rated And Over-loved

Every single affiliate marketing guru will tell you keyword research is crucial...And it is but is keyword research over-rated and over-loved?

Keyword research is supposed to help you discover those keywords in your niche that have a lot of demand and a under supplied to. You optimize posts for those keywords and monetize your pages and 'hey presto' you are laughing all the way to the bank.

The theory is sound and I have done my fair share of keyword research. Still do.

But there are a few glitches in this theory

Keyword research tools. Accuracy
The tools currently available give you an estimate of the keyword searches done. I personally use google keyword suggestion tool. Not for accuracy but more for trends. However I am still searching for that keyword tool that gives you the actual numbers of searches done for any term or phrase

How many keywords can you really research
For most niches there are different kinds of keywords. And in each subgroup are a lot of individual keyword phrases that can be monetized. In the really lucrative niches, these keywords can be endless in number. Just try doing keyword research for 'laptops'. You could be drilling down for days. So from the point of view of numbers and using your limited resource, time; judiciously exhaustive keyword research may not be the best way forwards. I am not saying don't do keyword research! Quite the opposite I am saying do effective keyword research

Time investment
Let's face it. Most of us affiliate marketers work alone. So you are probably invested in generating content, getting back links, participating in forums, social networking and all the other things it takes to run a business as an affiliate marketer. And there are only 24 hours in a day. So where on earth are you going to find the time to research the 201 keywords relevant to your niche. It's just ludicrous.

Unpredictable ranking
Finally let's imagine you did go out and do all that extensive and in depth niche research. And found all those amazing keywords that are going to make you a millionaire overnight. The next task is build your content rich web pages and try to get them to rank in the search engines, especially the big G for the keyword term. Problem is with all the other things you are doing.. oh and the keyword research you are performing for your next project, you just cannot make enough time to dedicate to Search engine optimization so that you page appears in the number one position.Certainly not for the 201 or whatever number of keywords it is you discovered

So what am I saying?

Is keyword research a bad thing?

No!!

But there is a better way of going about it than the general ebooks tell us

In a future post discover better keyword research methods