Do you have specific questions about doing business online? Here’s your opportunity to ask!
Here are examples of questions I’ve been asked of late…
- How do I find a profitable niche?
- How do I put an email capture form on my blog?
- What’s the difference between WordPress and Bluehost?
- WHY should I use WordPress?
- Is this the right time to start a new business?
- Is PLR safe to use?
- Where do I find a good ghostwriter?
Ask your question via the comment section below and I’ll do my best to answer it as quickly as possible.
Note: Please post a separate comment for individual topics, i.e. “What are the 3 best traffic generation methods and how do I build my list faster?” should be posted as individual questions.
About Rosalind Gardner
Hi Ros,
Just took time out for shoulder surgery – ouch! I’d be really interested in your thoughts on this, Ros. I have built an SBI site in the scrapbook niche which I’ve called (www.themed-scrapbook-idea.com), which is currently 55 pages. But for the MLM niche, I do think that a blog might be good. Ken doesn’t seem a huge blog fan!
The landing page I’ve put up using ‘ leadpagegenerator’ (www.MLM-Online-Strategies.com) is a fraction of the size (2 pages only) and I doubt whether it’s even worth optimizing for organic traffic.
What I’m thinking of doing instead of building another SBI site in this MLM niche is to create a WordPress blog that I regularly update which perhaps I CAN keyword optimize, and then promote my landing page on that. Do you think that would please the readers and the engines more than just landing page promoted with PPC?
I know I can write interesting content, but I want to do it in an engine friendly way. Does mine sound a good plan, if I write some more content on Hubpages, Squidoo, and the top article sites too?
With kind regards and gratitude,
Alun
Hi Alun,
My apologies for missing your comment on the first go-round.
Don’t know that I would build another site to point to your MLM site. Sounds like a lot of work. Why not just turn the first one into either an SBI site or a WordPress blog and optimize directly? Then you can direct traffic from one-page Squidoo lenses, Knol’s and Hubpages to the bigger site.
Hope that helps!
Cheers,
Ros
“Squidoo lenses, Knol’s and Hubpages”
Hi Rosalind,
Are these the three you would recommend above all others?
Hi Rezbi,
There are SO many good ways to direct traffic back to your site. Squidoo lenses, Knol’s and Hubpages are just some examples.
My first choice for getting traffic through content placement is always article marketing on the directories however.
Hope that helps!
Cheers,
Ros
Hello again Rosalind,
I deeply appreciate your time to respond to my question. I have another short question about blogging.
I am developing a blog to supplement my affiliate site. The blog will be focused on the wedding industry as well. It will have a separate domain name, so it can perform as its own entity and be a linking power to my affiliate site.
I am wondering if I should begin monetizing the blog right away, or should I wait to gain traffic and establish a bit of a web presence? Or should I monetize while I develop posts and the layout.
Best,
Brynn
Hi Brynn,
If you can monetize with what you already have on the blog, then by all means do so. No time like the present to start making money!
However, I wonder why you would choose to set the blog up on its own domain as opposed to alongside the primary site? It’ll cost you more in terms of domain registration, hosting and time to login, etc. Small points but every bit helps.
Cheers,
Ros
Hi Rosie
Long time – no hear – I started with this site about three years back and left it for a regular freelance writing job. Now that I have some time on my hands, I am re-designing it and trying to make a comeback
Any advise/ suggestions are welcome
Peace
Hello Shankar,
In addition to posting regularly to build up your traffic, I’d suggest that you will want to promote products that are up to date.
Cheers,
Ros
Hi. I want you to advice me some kind of business or invvestment which I can do from my home. I checked some of them on Internet but I am not satisfied with them. It looks like they will cheat you. Please advice me something. Thanks.
Hello Muhammad
Yes, there are many scammers promoting online business opportunities to be sure. What you need to do is choose a channel (do you want to be an affiliate marketer, dropshipper or reseller?) then find a well-respected long-term vendor in that field. You might want to check out my Action Guide to help you get started in the right direction.
Cheers,
Ros
thanks. i think its more than a great idea. if i make a website for selling things. how do i cantact the companies who want to sell them.
Hi Muhammad,
Generally speaking, the easiest way to access products that are sold through merchants with affiliate programs are through affiliate networks like Commission Junction and Linkshare.
You can read more about my
recommended networks here.
Cheers,
Ros
Hi Ros,
First of all thanx so very much for all of your help.
I have been researching “you” (the business) for almost a month now and am ready to jump. I have a few questions and will therefore break them up as you have outlined. My first question is a warm up.
Is your downloaded book version printable? I prefer paper in hand and will have it shipped if I cannot print it.
If I buy an actual copy where is the best place for me to buy it where you get the most profit? ( … the least I can do…..)
I suspect that I can print it out once it is paid for. I did not have access to a book that I downloaded for free and assume the issue is the money…?
Please let me know and I will proceed with my purchase.
My second question is on its way.
Thanks again most sincerely, Stephanie
Hi Stephanie,
It’s my pleasure to help. To answer your questions…
Yes, you may print the downloadable version of the Super Affiliate Handbook.
The best place to buy the softcover version is at Amazon. You should however know that the version available on Amazon isn’t the latest version. Only the ebook is kept constantly up-to-date.
I suspect that you are right about the book that you tried to download for free. Most information product marketers protect their digital downloads.
Cheers,
Ros
Hi again.
The next question that seems to be in line of importance is the actual monetary setup. Can you guide me in anyway via your experience or guide me to others who have had this similar experience concerning how to get paid when living overseas? Has anyone set up an account for receiving cheques in a European country ?) I am not sure if it is a question you can answer but I put it out there to you or anyone who has experience working from overseas.
Once I know how to move I will do it quickly with a goal to begin this month. In fact, it has been the only thing slowing me down. I feel kind of blocked as I try to make sure I begin on the right foot – Finding the best way for me and doing it all properly (legally) while keeping as much of the earning for me and not the bank (not to mention taxes).
I am a Canadian living in Italy. Italy is notorious for low pay and an unstable economy. I do not wish to be dependent on them and would like to take advantage of my dual culture = making my living from anywhere while living in Italy. I understand the value exchange is already at my disadvantage unless I can find connections in Europe who pay in Euro.
I have researched receiving money via bank account in Italy and must still compare with Canadian bank charges. For now I have learned that I can open a US $ sub account for US$50 a year and US$3 for every transaction. I am trying to not have all of my earnings eaten up by bank charges etc. (Eg. a US$5 cheque minus a $3 charge leads me to a $2 earning (and then make the exchange into euro….yikes, hope I am not exaggerating as I really am at the beginning of all of this..I think that would make me a ….newbie? )
Would PayPal be my best bet? Can you guide me to the best place to learn more about it?
Third and last section to come… for now.
Thanx again Ros, most sincerely, Stephanie
Hi Stephanie,
Yikes! Those charges are STEEP.
You’ll definitely need a PayPal account if you’re going to sell products as an affiliate as many merchants use that as their payment processor. You can check their fees for transfer into your bank account on your site.
Something else you can do with some merchants is to set your miminum payout higher than normal, i.e. set it to $100 or $200 or more… to whatever amount makes that $3 transaction fee make sense for you.
I’m wondering too if you could set things up to go into your Canadian bank (if you still have one) from which you then make regular draws.
Hope that helps!
Cheers,
Ros
Hi again,
This should do it for my questions until I hit the next phase.
My general plan is to begin with bringing in cheques through company surveys while I read your book and setup my affiliate marketing business. Are there other ways I can make money before having a website setup? I would like to begin seeing success as soon as possible while building my business.
As for company surveys are there companies that are interested in surveys for the European market ? Can I fill out surveys for both Canada/US and Italy (Europe) being that I am from both places? Will it help or hinder me having 2 homes in 2 countries? Must I be set up in Canada to fill out certain surveys etc. ?
I obviously would like to take advantage of my time, choosing the best companies based on my situation.
Thank you for your 2 articles on making money through surveys. One was written by you and another was an interview with a survey expert. Those articles just about answered all of my questions. I appreciate your idea of having chunks of $10 cheques coming in on a consistent basis. Do you have any other links on surveys that could be helpful or will I find most info in your book or perhaps your revenue magazine affialiate corner?
I have read that it is a good idea to buy database systems for choosing survey companies but do you believe it a good idea to buy a software system that helps you fill in surveys quickly?
Have any other database companies emerged since you recommended the 3 or 4 in your article ? Has your experience been to invest in almost all databases or did you just choose 1 or 2 ?
Well Ros, it took me “a whole lotta “ time to get these questions out!! If I operate my business on the same time frame I may be in trouble….;) I sure do appreciate people like you and your community who have walked the walk and share it. If there is anything I can do for YOU now or in the future (once I’m set up I guess) please let me know. I would love to return this favour. I leave you with my first offer which would be a nice glass of red wine (ahhh, let’s make it a bottle..) if you ever find yourself over here in Italy during your travels. You will find me in Siena, la bella Toscana, working at a wine estate of all places. Hopefully I can match a few things up here with my biz. Love your videos by the way via you tube and “the fly on the wall”. It brought back many memories of my university years (Simon Fraser) and beautiful BC. Is there a monster in that lake or not by the way….?
Hope you don’t mind me running off a bit but I wanted to personalize things as you have done that for me.
Anyhow, with much gratitude for your time and expertise.
Un caro saluto, Stephanie
Hi Stephanie,
Yes, there’s a monster in the lake.
and yes, I’ll definitely take you up on the red wine offer (is there any other colour?) should I find myself in your neck of Italy.
Now to your biz questions.
Sadly, I’ve done no further research into that opportunity since those articles were first published (other than to remove some companies that proved to be less than viable).
As to buying software, unless you are flush with cash, I don’t recommend anything but absolutely essential software until you’ve made enough money to re-invest in your business.
The other opportunity that I would recommend for you (because it’s obvious that you have skills and can write) would be HireMyMom. Disregard the name if you aren’t a mom… I don’t think that’s a prerequsite.
Hope that helps!
Cheers,
Ros
Hi Ros,
I have one more question – I try to find some more books from you, Jim or someone else who knows what hes talking about. Can you recommend some?
I know the affiliate handbook and the blueprint seminar is all i need – but honestly – i just enjoy reading *lol*
Another question: I dont know if you know anything about digital scrapbooking (it´s more or less selling graphics and stuff for adobe photoshop). My site is set up for the designers who make these stuff – so the niche is “home based business on designing” – I searched through a lot of sites but i´m still not sure if this is a profitable niche.
Do you recommend to narrow the niche even more?
Thanks for your answers!!! I´m really a big fan of your site and stuff.
Hi Monja,
What I’d recommend for you at this point is Commission Blueprint, which is instruction specifically for Clickbank affiliates.
Looking at your site, you could easily be selling products like Scrapbooking Layouts, 500 Scrapbooking Sketches and How To Make Money With Scrapbooking.
Of course, with your expertise, you might want to consider publishing your own information product on the subject.
Hope that helps!
Cheers,
Ros
Hi Ros,
I got your book a couple of years ago. I have a couple sites that produce enough income through Google Adsense to cover my hosting costs, etc. I could do more if I got focused and applied myself. I have found that it is hard to stay focused on the internet. Focused continuity is the secret to success, in my opinion. If you are jumping from one thing to another, nothing will gain traction. Time, Patience and consistency are your friends in any marketing or business. On the internet, It’s too easy to jump ship and chase the latest thing.
Just my view..
Steve
Hi Steve,
Thanks for your comment and you are SO right. Lack of focus is perhaps the biggest reason for failure to succeed in this or any other endeavor.
I struggle with maintaining focus constantly – but I think that I succeed because my eye is always on the prize – usually a BIG vacation.
Cheers,
Ros
Hi Ros,
I wanted to know do you have to have more than one website to become a successful affiliate marketer? If so do you have to pay two different website hosting fees with two different domain registrations?
Hi Lararmis,
Before 2003, when I first published the Super Affiliate Handbook, I made over 436K in one year from ONE web site… or rather, one niche, 3 different sites (and I explain why the 3 sites wasn’t really necessary in the book).
So, no you don’t need more than one site.
Having said that. I believe the best process to follow is to bring one web site to profitability in one big niche market, then build another and do the same. Do that with as many sites as you can humanly handle… and plan to bring helpers on early in the game, when the workload grows to a point that you can’t maintain yourself.
As to paying for different hosting plans, a Bluehost account allows you to have unlimited domains.
Cheers,
Ros
Hi Ros,
Thanks for the advice!!!, I have one more question to ask of you, Do you think there is a need to write a business plan when you first become a affiliate marketer?
Hi Laramis,
That’s a great question. You don’t need a business plan in the usual sense – one that includes current and pro forma balance sheets, dealing with credit from suppliers etc. unless you plan to go to the bank or outside investors for funding which is not usually the case with a home-based affiliate marketing.
You should however consider a few key questions …
Basically, you want to make sure that you have a hungry market and sufficient capital to go out and invite that market to your door right from the outset.
I hope that helps!
Cheers,
Ros
Hi Ros,
I wrote you a question but don’t see it on the board.
When I recopy the question it gets identified as a duplicate.
It’s probably under my nose but I can’t find it.
Help! Technical assistance!
Hopefully you can find it.
Best regards, Stephanie
Hi again Ros,
Just bought your book – thanx again. Since your last blog response to me I have gotten a little further with my research on finding the right way to transfer cheques. Once I get things up and running I will pass it on to you in hopes of helping someone else with a similar situation. I will most probably start by opening a US $ account in Canada.
My next question has to do with how you are actually organized with your business. May I ask you your experience on how you started and when you changed if you did, from private to an actual business? Are you Web Vista Inc.?
I am assuming that after 10 years you would be registered as a company now with tax write-offs etc. Did you begin with a simple private account under your private name receiving cheques into a private bank account or did you open under a business name right away? When was it beneficial for you to open the biz if you did? I sure hope you don’t mind these questions as I know I need to refer to an accountant but I just thought it more assuring to have your experience as an affilliate marketer.
Thanx in advance, Stephanie
Ohhh, I need to answer to your wine question from the last blog. Although I live in chianti country where the most known grape for the making of chianti is the red Sangiovese, you can find a fairly nice chardonnay here for a white and a strange grape/wine called Vernaccia (cc pronounced ch) from a beautiful medieval town that is nearby Siena called San Gimignano. Of course we have access to all regions where, if you prefer white wine, you can enjoy delicious wines from the North (Pinot Grigio is the most famous but a bit dull as there are so many more varietals out there) and some hot whites from the South.
Anyhow, no worries, I’ll have you covered if you ever pass by …
all the best! and cin cin – stephanie
Hi Stephanie,
I incorporated Webvista in my second year of business, primarily for the reason that business taxes are lower (here in Canada anyway) than personal taxes. But even before that, I was able to write-off expenses as a sole proprietor. I suggest waiting to incorporate until your business is making a steady income.
Glad to hear that you’re getting that bank account money transfer stuff all handled. I’ll be MOST interested to hear what route you had to take to make it work.
As to wine, when you’re back in Canada and in the Okanagan, you should check out Elephant Island (just up the road from me)… unbelievably great fruit wines.
Cheers,
Ros
Hi Stephanie,
If you look up, you’ll see ‘stephanie on December 6th, 2008 11:14 am’. Or, just do a ‘find on this page’ for your name.
Cheers,
Ros
Hi Ros,
I wanted to know if you purchase the super affiliate handbook ebook, Can you print the book out and put it into a notebook of some sort?
Hi Laramis,
Absolutely. You may print out a copy of the Super Affiliate Handbook for your own use.
Cheers,
Ros
Dear Rosalind,
I have read your post on lowering importantce of links from social media. However in my opinion it is going to happen in the future, as now browsing google there are a lot of first pages rankings coming from youtube, squidoo, digg, etc.
I have a site with good content, how do you think should I use the above for link building purposes and raising rankings?
Thank you for comments
Hi Olga,
Yes, there’s still benefit to using social media marketing until there’s a really big Google slap. Until then, using Twitterfeed to broadcast your latest posts to Twitter and answering questions in relevant forums will help draw folks to your really good content.
Cheers,
Ros
Hi Ros,
I was wondering about how long should it take up to set-up your affiliate marketing website and get the ball rolling with your business?
Hi Lamaris,
That is one of those more difficult questions to answer because it is so dependent on who is doing the work.
An experienced affiliate could easily have a site up and running and making money in a day… after the market research and site / content planning have been completed.
But if you’re new to web site creation and especially if you’re doing it all yourself each stage of the process will undoubtedly take longer .
How long? I can’t really say… that depends on how quickly you learn and much time you have to devote to taking action.
I’ll throw out a ballpark figure for a complete newbie and say that it can take anywhere from a month to 3 months to get everything humming along just right…
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Ros
I signed up for bluehost. They no longer offer WordPress as a blog, just Nucleus.
Should I use ThirdSphere instead?
Thanks much,
Nancy
Hi Nancy,
Gosh, you had me worried there for a second, so I phoned BlueHost and discovered that they DO still offer WordPress blog installations from their interface.
Instead of going to Fantastico now, look for ‘Simple Scripts’ within the cPanel interface… it’s under ‘Software/Services’ right before the Fantastico button, or you can just do a page search for it.
Hope that helps!
Cheers,
Ros
Nancy emailed me shortly after I posted this comment to say…
“Ros,
Thanks for your quick reply.
I did find it under Simple Scripts.
Thanks,
Nancy”
Hi Ros,
What pages should a review site typically hold?
Hi Laramis,
A review site should have all the standard site pages (about,disclaimer,disclosure, etc.) as discussed in the Super Affiliate Handbook PLUS your reviews and informative articles that link to the reviews.
You want to GIVE people free information that naturally leads to the reviews and therefore enhances your credibility as a trusted advisor / product recommender.
Cheers,
Ros
hi, could you plz send the links of you sites which you made for online business. It will be helpful for me to get an idea. thanks
Hi Muhammad
The sites that I use as examples in the Super Affiliate Handbook are:
http://Sage-Hearts.com
http://Roamsters.com
Hope that helps
cheers,
Ros
Hi Ros. Our website is article heavy. We monetize it via adsense, kontera, and the sale of e-books/dvds and some affiliate sales. I see that you use both Inspire website templates, as well as wordpress for your websites – which would you recommend for a site such as ours?
Thanks for any assistance!
Sandy
Hi Sandy,
Sorry to take so long to get back to you.
Either WordPress or Website Publisher (the newest incarnation of ArticleLive) will work for your purposes. I honestly wouldn’t recommend using both as I’ve done… but I didn’t want to trash my whole blog.
WordPress is easier to install and setup but I found it less than slick when it came to managing a massive article database… which is why I finally decided to move the articles to ArticleLive (after investigating that software as well as Mambo and Joomla).
Too, you can run a blog as well as have news items and individual pages within Website Publisher.
I hope that helps!
Cheers,
Ros
Thank you, Ros! This helps clarify some of the differences between WordPress and Website Publisher. It sounds like Website Publisher is the way to go for an affiliate site that will be article heavy and will include a blog. Great opportunity for building relationships with readers and customers!
1. Any tips or recommendations for accomplishing all those goals in one site? (Your NPT site is a great example!)
2. Does Website Publisher provide enough reports and tracking information like WordPress or even Blogger?
3. Do you know if BlueHost supports Website publisher, too?
I’m on a steep learning curve and anxious to get started! Your Super Affiliate Handbook is a very valuable resource!
Thanks again,
Jill
Ros, just making sure you received my earlier comments/questions! Hope I didn’t miss your reply.
Thanks,
Jill
Hi Rosalind,
I’ve read a lot about affiliate marketing business..from the bright side. Since I’m totally newbie, perhaps can you can share the dark side of this business.
Or can you link to other resources which tell about the common problems affiliates usually face , the legal side,complaints.lawsuit,etc.
Thanks,
stl
Hello Stella,
Great question and sharing both the good and not-so-good sides of the affiliate business is what I’m known for. If you go through the articles and blog posts here on NPT you’ll find articles about merchants posing as affiliates, stupid tax laws and a host of things that I take issue with as an affiliate.
Just a comment though. Don’t let the dark side get you down. There’s still plenty of positive ($$$$) to make the negatives worth facing.
Cheers,
Ros
Hey Ros,
How many affiliate partners should one review site hold? or How many products or services should one site hold?
Hi Lamaris,
How many products or partners you have depends a lot on your site.
If you were running a giftware site / blog and using software like Datafeedr, you could literally be showing thousands of different products from many different merchants from different networks on your site.
On the other hand, if you are doing a diet program review site, then you want to limit the number of programs that you promote to just a few. That way you don’t confuse your visitors with too many options, which makes it easier to get them to the merchant’s site (to buy the product that you’re recommending) faster.
I hope that helps!
Cheers,
Ros
Hi Rosalind.
I was wondering, is it better to get commissions paid by check or direct deposit?
Thanks in advance
Hi Marlene,
I like direct deposit for a couple of reasons.
First, you don’t have to worry about checks going awry which they sometimes do.
It’s also great if you’re away from home a lot or for long stretches and don’t have anyone to do your bank deposits.
One disadvantage that I’ve found is that I can’t get direct deposit into my U.S. dollar bank accounts here in Canada, so the amounts are converted to Canadian dollars. Considering most of my expenses are in U.S. dollars, that means that I have to convert BACK to USD from CDN which is just a total waste of money … most of the time, depending on where the dollar has been and where it is heading. And who knows these days?
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Ros
Hi Rosalind,
I’ve got my blog running, and I’ve been monetizing it. I’m going to add some actual “shop” pages. So now that I have items to buy on my site, I’m thinking about Pay Per Click.
How soon after you put your site up did you jump in to PPC? I’m an SEO/ppc specialist by day, so I know how to use PPC, I’m just wondering if it’s ever too soon to start campaigns. Should I wait for organic traffic?
Thanks for all your feedback, it’s an amazing resource,
Brynn Andre
Hi Brynn,
Glad I found your comment in the Spam bin. That’s a great question.
As soon as your site is ‘pretty’ and is monetized, it’s ready for PPC. Or rather, a PPC test.
I actually use PPC for SEO purposes. I find that by driving a little traffic via PPC, Google takes note and I get some additional natural traffic by result.
Hope that helps!
Cheers,
Ros
Hi Ros,
As usual, you are the first one I come to with affilate related questions.
My “day job” at savingdinner.com has an affiliate program and they are currently using idev as their affiiliate tracking software. I am wondering if you know of any others out there that may be more user friendly and not such a maze. LOL
With smiles,
~Nikki
Hi Nikki,
I’ve heard mixed reviewed for idev, but not having used it, I wouldn’t know if others are better, worse or less of a maze.
Most of the independent program managers and merchants that I know use 1shoppingcart, but I know that it too has some ongoing issues.. that I’ve seen just from the affiliate side of things.
Have you considered joining a network, ie. Pepperjam or ShareaSale?
Cheers,
Ros