The Market Outfit

When it comes to website affiliation, you will need to know how to conduct a market study because this is how you will find your target audience. Without a targeted audience, your marketing campaigns will not be effective. It is good to keep track of your objectives.

Now, initially you might have few ideas as to what to promote so think of your hobbies or work activites that you have knowledge of. So, while the article may seem to imply you start some corporation to impress potential merchants, it is not necessary at all. Rather, what follows gives you some idea of what to consider. There is no point promoting companies that disappear quickly as it is a waste of your efforts.

Marketing Study Outline

In order to be able to conduct a decent targeting and marketing campaign, you must first understand the fundamentals of finding out what they are. They only way to do this is to follow a specific guideline for you to follow. Check out the guideline below.

1. Your Objective to the Research

• Explain in one paragraph why the research is being done, what you hope to learn and for what purpose the information that you attain may be used

2. Description of the Market

This should be general like one paragraph

Who is your Target Market(s)

• Why you chose this particular market

• Get a complete profile of your market (e.g., demographics, psychographics, behaviors)

• What benefits does your market seek (i.e., what points-of-pain or problems are being solved)

• What factors can affect their decision to purchase or use your product/service

• What attitudes do they have about the products/services that are currently not on the market

• How is the product used

• Products and Services that appeal to the target market

• In general terms, what is currently so appealing to this market

• If there are no current providers, what types of products/services may appeal to this market in the future (i.e., what is used now to solve the problem).

3. Market Metrics

Get many Size estimates (current and future) for all of the following:

• Overall market

• Current size as it stands

• Potential size for the future

• Actual penetration of current products/service within the entire market

Individual market segments

• Current size

• Potential size

• Actual penetration of current products/service within the total market

• Usage rates

• Frequency of product purchases

• Growth estimates (current and in the future) for:

• Overall market

• Individual market segments

4. Competitive Analysis

Listing the competition by market share ranking (by each target market if possible) is a good way to size them up. You can also be more specific by searching for individual points listed below.

Current Competitors - full analysis of top competitors including:

• Products & Services (e.g., description, uniqueness, pricing, etc.)

• Their Market share at current

• Current customers (targeted audience)

• Positioning and promotion strategies

• Partnerships/Alliances/Distributors

• Recent news

SWOT Analysis - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats

It is extremely important to focus attention on the SWOT section of this report. While most other information in this report can be gleaned from company and secondary materials, much of what appears in the SWOT section is based on the researcher’s own opinions of the competitor based on the information that is collected.

Potential Competitors (any competition in the future)

• You will need to get an explanation (though it need not be as detailed as Current Competitors) on who they are or maybe and why they are seen as potential competitors

5. Additional

• Extraneous Variables

* Discuss factors that may affect this market (e.g., technological, social, governmental, competitive, etc.)

• Market Trends and what is expected to happen in the future

If you can follow these basic tips for finding and selecting your target market, you should be ready to search online and check out the competition and their rankings in the search engines. Below are some general guidelines for you to follow in creating your competitive analysis which is the most important factor in being an affiliate marketer. Knowing your competition just as well as your audience is the key point which is going to keep you on top.

GUIDELINES FOR DOING A COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

The competitive analysis section works best when it follows a format like the one that is shown below.

• General Company Information which includes name, location (headquarters, other locations of importance), website address

• Summary of the Business which includes a section that will summarize the company, business units and the general nature of the business

• Business Overview should include sections on the history, ownership structure, types of businesses, mission, strategy/objectives, and key executives

• Recent News/Developments such as important company developments within last 6-12 months (e.g., reports from news sources, press releases, financial statements)

• Financial and Market Share Analysis - includes sections on corporate performance, trends, market share for product

• Marketing in general should include sections on products and services that are offered, target markets, positioning, customers/users, pricing model, promotional efforts, sales force, and distribution

• Other Miscellaneous Issues like adding sections on technology capability, partnership arrangements, and intangible issues

• A list of your Competitors where you will list key competitors facing this company

• SWOT - strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

Once you have completed your market analysis and target audience, you will want to choose who you are looking to affiliate with. You can start by looking at comsumer sites on the web to get ideas of what is hot and more importantly, what is not.

Now you may not be this comprehensive and that does not matter.There are affiliate directories out there you can go to and find out more and that is where you should spend some time conducting research.The purpose of this article really is to convey the fact the marketplace is huge and help you to consider the good companies from the bad companies.

Have a great affiliate product to promote but it is at a lousy web site? Overcome this challenge today!
Visit http://www.seriousedge.com

So, you have worked really hard to build a fabulous affiliate site. You took the time to add your keywords and relevant information about the products. Your pages load quickly, and your site is even listed in the search engines for specified terms. You look at your stats, and you see a regular flow of traffic coming into your site. You get really excited! You log in to your affiliate program manager, and…. WHAMO! You have very few commissions from sales, and your click-throughs are extremely low. Suddenly, you are asking yourself, “what the heck happened here??” The answer… You might possibly be the victim of affiliate link hijacking!

In this revolving world of the Internet, we are constantly being bombarded by spammers, spyware, viruses, and hackers. Now, we have to worry about link hijackers stealing commissions that are rightfully ours. So, what is link hijacking and how do you prevent it?

In the simplest terms, link hijacking occurs when someone replaces their affiliate ID with yours. The result? They get the commission instead of you. You did all that work, but someone else is getting paid? Yes! You may be wondering how this happens.

Let me explain. I first heard about this phenomenon while visiting various discussion boards on affiliate marketing. Many affiliates had experienced a decline in sales while their site’s traffic stats remained high. Common discussions found in affiliate forums include various software programs which “steal” information. Many of these programs download themselves onto a person’s computer, either knowingly or unknowingly. These programs can override your affiliate links each time the customer visits your site, therefore giving credit to someone else.

Many times, people download packaged programs that contain these types of software. The innocent surfer may not even realize they have a program running in the background. Anyone who takes part in the Internet community, whether it be a webmaster or a surfer, should stay informed about these programs by visiting parasiteware.com on a regular basis.

Link hijacking comes in various forms… not just from downloads. Let’s say your affiliate link looks like this: www.url.com/?123456 , where 123456 is your affiliate ID. A link hijacker is interested in the product and wants to purchase it. He also wants the affiliate commission from the product. He takes your ID 123456 and replaces it with his ID 999999 to look like this: www.url.com/?999999 . The result? He gets the commission from the product purchase. He modified the link to benefit himself. You lose.

Here is another example of link hijacking: A customer comes to your website and sees a link to the product that he wants to buy. When he moves the mouse over your link information, he sees your affiliate url in the status bar of his computer. Instead of clicking your affiliate link, he decides to manually type it into his address bar, leaving off the affiliate referral code: www.url.com. This results in no affiliate tracking information and no commissions for you. You lose again!

So how much money could you be losing? I have read that an estimated 10-30% of commissions are lost due to affiliate link hijacking. (In a recent article from “revenue” magazine, the estimate was as high as 40-50%). Can you imagine the kind of potential revenue that you might be losing right now?

Take Action by Protecting Yourself From Revenue Loss

In the constant search for new scripts and software to improve my websites, I have run into several affiliate cloaking devices. Most of them cost around $50 or more. However, I did run into one cloaking script that is free. It is called Affiliate Link Cloaker (ALC). The site owner simply asks that you subscribe to their newsletter.

By golly, I love free stuff, don’t you! If you are interested in learning about this script and how it works, you can visit their site at webmasterinabox.net/affiliate_link_cloaker.html . They have other scripts that you might find useful as well. Now, get out there and protect those links!

Stephani Richardson is a work at home mother of 4 who has been actively involved with affiliate marketing and home business opportunities since December 1999. She owns and operates several business related websites including 1 Work At Home Dot Com.

Did you know there was a way to get more from the same eBay purchases you are already making? Same goes for the purchase of downloadable products through the ClickBank marketplace.

As you probably already know eBay can have some tremendous bargains. It makes clear economic sense to shop there - or at least evaluate the availability of the items you’re looking for and prevailing prices for those items so that you can compare. Similarly, ClickBank is great marketplace to pick-up all manner of digital product from e-books to software, from templates to code scripts.

What some people don’t know, however, is that you can get more out the same exact purchases you’re now making on eBay and ClickBank.

How?

Truth of the matter is some eBay/ ClickBank affiliates will give incentive bonuses if you shop through their affiliate sites. Everything is the same. The same search tools, the same auctions and offerings, the same eBay and ClickBank. The only thing different from the buyer’s point of view is that you link up to the eBay and ClickBank sites through an affiliate’s site.

This strategy is what I have done with my own eBay/ ClickBank site. The deal is deliciously simple. Buyers who buy through the site and then forward a copy of their e-mail receipt will receive a free download link to lots of great e-books, DVD’s, online videos and other goodies. All 100% free. Hence, buyers get more from the same purchases.

Can you apply this idea with your own affiliate sites? People do respond to incentives. If you try this, I do have one major caveat. Make sure that the bonuses you use are bona fide - read: not junk, not sales pieces, or “special reports.” You must provide genuine content.

Daniel Hall, is the owner of the successful eBay and ClickBank affiliate site, http://www.DealzORama.com where you’ll find great incentives to entice eBay and ClickBank buyers to use DealzORama.com to make all their eBay/ClickBank purchases. He offers hundreds of dollars in free bonuses when buyers forward their e-mail receipts and receive a download link with ton’s of FREE goodies which is constantly updated with new gifts.

Ever wonder why the super affiliates are
raking it in and you’re still struggling
with affiliate programs?

Okay, it is an advantage to have a web site
with good traffic and a program related to
the theme of the web site.
It is also important to have a large list
to which you can recommend your program.

However, super affiliates do not get rich
for these reasons alone.

The main reason super affiliates succeed so
well is that they choose to promote programs
that have residual or lifetime commissions
and NOT commissions for single sales only.

What happens in most affiliate programs is
that the company which owns the product
pays the affiliate for a single sale only.
Sometimes, these programs are 2-tier.
However, the principle remains the same - one
sale, one commission.

Therefore, super affiliates choose to promote
programs with residual or lifetime commissions.
That is, they make a sale of a product which
requires constant renewal - such as web hosting
every month or a health product for a specific
remedy.

That way, the affiliate does the work once and
gets paid over and over in the future on the
basis of that one sale.

The best programs are the small number that
offer lifetime commissions. These programs
allow you to keep the customer for life after
you make one sale to that person.
So you may sell an ebook in the first instance
and the customer comes back in perhaps a year
or two and buys something else from the same
company. As the customer is “yours”, you will
get the commisssion.

In this way, the residual and lifetime
commissions mount up and continue to grow for
the same amount of work. Definitely, a case
of “work smarter, not harder”.

Many of these super affiliates could stop work
now and continue to earn an income similar
to what they are making today on the basis
of these residual/lifetime programs.

Super affiliates know that to struggle to
make one commisssion for one sale is hard
work. Shouldn’t you join them by promoting
programs with residual or lifetime commissions?

(c) John Lynch

For an affiliate program that offers residual and lifetime commisssions, SiteSell is a leader in internet marketing promoting the top selling web site design software. http://affiliates.sitesell.com/finian.html )

To avoid missing out on substantial new business through your website, make sure it’s:

1. Easily found & accessible
If your target market doesn’t know about your site’s existence, or simply can’t find it, what’s the point in investing in it in the first place? It’s vital you have a programme of web promotion and search engine marketing. Take measures also to ensure that your website is cross-browser compatible and that it meets statutory requirements for accessibility.

2. User-friendly & visually appealing
People’s attention spans are short. Even if your website is easy to find, if it’s even slightly frustrating to use, your users will abandon your site and take their business elsewhere. You can however prevent most abandonment through usability testing and making the resulting improvements to your site. In order to pull in new business, it’s also important to evaluate your web users’ ‘browsing statistics’ on an on-going basis to make sure that you’re delivering exactly what your users expect.

3. Useful, engaging & up-to-date
Content must meet your visitors’ expectations by being genuinely captivating and useful. What seems interesting to you is not necessarily what your customers want to hear. Invest in professional search engine optimised copy and plan your site’s content with direct input from your target market. Monitoring your website statistics will enable you to gauge which pages are pulling in traffic, and a programme of ongoing web maintenance will ensure that (i) your content is fresh enough to encourage visitors back again and again, and (ii) a good search engine ranking is maintained.

David Crowther is the director of NerveCentral, whose mission is simple: to maximise its clients business and profit through the web. We have provided web solutions for many organisations and small companies, including well-known corporates such as Thomson Travel Group, Q8, Edding, GlaxoSmithKline, Galderma, and Hertz. Download our concise but (very) useful guide 5 (Often Missed) Usability Tips for your Website to Increase Profit now!