Guy Lavigne asked:




As an affiliate marketer, the blog is a must have. You can make a review of different products or services you offer. You can give some tips and advice to people on how to use this or that product. More, you can stay in contact via the ”comments space”.

There is another reason why the blog is very important even if you already have a web site. It is easier to get a good ranking with a blog than it is with a web site. Search engines, including Google, love blogs.

Instead of trying to obtain a high ranking for your site first, get your blog in top positions. This way you will get visitors to your site more rapidly and it will help your site increases its own ranking. This is a real win-win situation for you.

The blog is more than a blog, it is now a major player on the Internet. Successful marketers and experts realize that years ago and it will be this way for a long time. If you do not have a blog, start one as soon as possible.

A blog generates obligations, you must keep posting on a regular basis, at least once a week. It is not a lot of work, taking 10 to 15 minutes a week to put a new product review or new information about related topics.

A blog is also a very good way to build a list. What ever your niche is, people always want to have news about products or services they like. If you are selling bird seeds, be sure that birds lovers will thank you if you send them an email about a rebate on bird seeds. That is more sales for you.

Put a newsletter sign up form (you can use an auto responder like AWeber or GetResponse to name only two) on your blog and start building a list. Believe that when someone joins your list, it is because that person is ready to buy.

affiliate+marketing+blogs

John Hartley asked:




Everyone knows about blogs, but are you using an affiliate marketing blog? I did not do so for quite a while, but now I do.

The reason I did not use an affiliate marketing blog was simply that I wanted a landing page dedicated to a particular product, and you can do that on a blog, but you can’t easily send people to that post, especially if it is not new.

With a web site, which you need really for affiliate marketing, it is a simple matter to have one page or folder for each product, and you can send people right there. On the other hand, though, affiliate marketing blogs have a lot of advantages. Here are a few:

They are less formal – you just write what you want to say, and add links;

They get spidered and indexed more quickly than static pages;

You just have one link to the blog;

No html or any other code is needed – just choose a format and go.

The other cool thing about blogs is that do not need your own host. Instead, you can get hosting at either wordpress.com or blogger.com. Some say that because blogger.com is owned by Google its blogs get linked faster. That may be so, but WordPress blogs have some advantages, such as being much more widely used, so people can read them easily as RSS feeds.

Before you set up a blog at either of these sites you need to:

1. Decide on a title for the blog, which could be something like jimsblog or jimsupermarketer. This will be part of the url for the blog. If you have a website you can host your blogger blog there, in which case it gets a different name as a folder on you site.

Because your blog gets spidered quickly, you have a better chance of getting traffic than with a static site – and that is why I recommend you set up an affiliate marketing blog.

affiliate+marketing+blogs

Benjamin Seow Chu Yan asked:




When internet marketing was first catching on there were fewer people to target. Consequently the internet marketer could simply market to anyone on the internet without having to worry about things like industry niche and so on. There was simply no need for targeted marketing. Back in those days the range of products too had a nearly universal appeal that again meant generic marketing for the whole net. The only concern was to reach as many people as possible regardless of any demographic variation.

Things have changed drastically with the internet population increasing every day. Today the internet has become specialized as it tries to reach specific segments of people. Products too have become user-centric. All of this has resulted in a desperate need for focus in marketing because an ill defined target means advertisement campaign budget being wasted as the wrong audience will be viewing the ads.

Niche advertising has become the reality of internet marketing today. There is no percentage in general marketing. There is a plenty of size variation within niches. The key thing is that all niches have peculiar defining characteristics and demographic appeal that defines the marketing strategy that will work with them.

A good internet marketer always looks for undeserved niches. This means that the best niche to advertise in is one that falls within a common pool of the demographic appeal but has yet to be discovered by other internet marketers. Finding such niches is becoming quite difficult but once you have found an undeserving niche and you have the means to cater to its needs then you are in good business.

This is how niche internet marketing works. By finding an undiscovered niche and then catering to its requirements. Sometimes it may seem that you have found a new niche but that is not the case. You need thorough research to confirm that the niche you are going to work with is truly underserved. You must also double check to make sure that your products and services will appeal to this niche. Only then should you start thinking on developing your product.

This is not as easy as it sounds because every step will require extensive research and confirmation that things are indeed as they appear to be. Any lapse in this process means that you will have spent a lot of time and money on trying to work with a niche that was not meant for you at all.

What you need to keep in mind is that even if the going is tough the end result is well worth every bit of effort you make. Niche marketing is the most rewarding form of internet operation that anyone could do. It is difficult yes but nothing pays as well as niche marketing.

Niche marketing works well because there is no sales resistance. Your prospects are simply waiting for you to make them an offer and help you sell your product. There is also no competition because you will be the one to have discovered the niche. No one else knows about it and hence no one is marketing to it.

niche+marketing

Cindy Schulson asked:




Many entrepreneurs think that in developing their small business marketing strategies, they are best off selling to the widest possible market. They are afraid to pursue a niche because they fear they’ll lose business by turning away customers. The truth is that if you are not marketing to a distinct group of customers and offering them a unique solution, you will not be heard or found online.

Benefits of Niche Marketing When you market to a specific niche, you can focus your marketing resources. You understand the needs and language of your niche, so you can communicate better with them and speak directly to their situation.

By focusing on a niche, you become an expert at providing your service or product. And as an expert, you command higher fees and leverage your efforts to create multiple streams of income.

Above all, when you target a niche, you can differentiate yourself. You significantly reduce your competition and create a distinctive personal brand.

Niche Definition There are many definitions of niche and target market, and the two are often used interchangeably. But there is an important distinction.

A target market is the group of people most likely to buy your product or service. They are the people to whom your product is being marketed

A niche adds another dimension. A niche combines your target market (WHO) with the solution you are providing (WHAT). When you combine your “what” with your “who”, you have your niche.

Niche = target market (who) + the problem you are solving/need you are fulfilling (what)

The key to understanding niche marketing is realizing that people don’t buy a service or product, they buy a solution. That solution can help them solve a problem or achieve a goal. Being a solution provider is critical for good relationship marketing. When you become the solution provider for your target market, you are a winner.

How to Find Your Niche To identify your niche, is it best to start with your “who” or your “what”?

You can go either way, but in many cases, it is best to start with YOU.

You can’t be great at everything, but there is an area in which you have something special to offer — a unique skill or perspective or approach. What is unique about you and what you have to offer? What are your passions, skills, interests and expertise?

Once you have identified that, think about who wants what you have to offer. There has to be synchronicity between what you have to offer and what your target market wants. When you find that connection, you can identify your niche.

Remember, there is only one YOU, and you will ultimately attract those who find you compelling. Be true to yourself and you have the ability to help other people in ways that nobody else can.

niche+marketing