Still No Success

My guitar tab lens seems to be getting quite popular, but still no sales. No Sales form adwords either. I noticed that one campaign is only getting one or two impressions a day, the other was getting a couple of hundred, but even though I was in 4th place I wasn’t getting clicks. I’ve rewritten the ad, lets see if that get’s me a few more clicks. I’m getting a little disheartened, I’ve put a lot of hours and quite a bit of money into this and not seen any return at all. However, I really do believe it should work, so I am going to persist. Maybe it’s just a matter of time, maybe it is that I just need to concentrate on one niche more and build a complete package, with mailing list, blog, and articles.

New Arrow Rest

Hell this is my blog and it doesn’t have to be just about affiliate marketing! I have two hobbies that I am passionate about: archery and playing music on guitar and flute.

I was shooting at a competition last Sunday and having problems with my arrow rest causing inconsistencies. So I ordered a Sureloc BearTrap drop-away rest. I’ve always been impressed with the quality and design of Sureloc products and this rest is no exception. I’ve just fitted it to my Hoyt Ultratec and I’m about to go and set it up. It is vastly superior to the Spigarelli Top Rest that so many seem to swear by.

Choosing Niches

I’ve been confused about choosing niches, and I’m not totally clear yet. Some suggest finding the niche and then the products, others the other way around. For article marketing I find the same kind of problems. Some say find long tail keywords relating to the niche and writing articles around those, others just say to write good valuable content for the niche and the content will vistors through the article sites. I suspect for the articles both have their merits. However the long tail keywords I’ve found to date do not readily lend themselves to written English and writing articles around them is tricky. More work needed.

I did find a suggestion for finding niches that makes sense to me. Find a group of selling digital products that together make a potential portfolio, then create a landing page for a mailing list or eZine to promote that portfolio. I see how I can make tht work. Now I’m going to find 5 niches, each with at least 5 good products, and preferably at least 10 to 20 more. Then it’s time to pay for aWeber…

Double Opt In Mailing Lists

So I got suckered again I bought another eBook on affiliate marketing. However this one seems to have some value, it is explaining the value of a mailing list much better than any of the previous things I’ve read. It also suggests settting up a joint venture with a merchant, to provide them with articles to send to their mailing list. The idea is that the article you send provides links to your landing page, so you get a double opt-in subscriber.

What’s double opt-in? Simple the subscriber has to confirm their subscription. That’s all. It means they are more committed, and less likely to report you for spam.

USFreeAds

I’m trying to find a niche and products to advertise on USFreeAds. Wealthy Affiliates suggest that Google is very keeen on USFreeAds and ads can be indexed quickly. The USFreeAds costs $10 a month for unlimited adverts that are renewed every 30 days. The principal is that you create a a couple of adverts a day and soon you have a hundred or more. If each one generates a sale of $20 a month it starts to add up and certainly covers the cost of the USFreeAds subscription.

A New Lens

Well I’ve just completed a new lens. This one has taken longer than any other to write and it is not about selling. Hopefully it is a useful article, that I can use to promote a website or blog eventually.  There are just a few affiliate links at the end, and some links to Amazon. I hope it works, it was quite a bit of work! I created this lens with a different user account, because I may write a few more articles on a similar subject. This one is about guitar tablature.

Articles on Squidoo

Well I bought some eBooks, did some reading about article marketing or bum marketing and made a start writing Squidoo lenses. A lens is just an article, but you are allowed to promote products using modules. There are modules for Amazon and Ebay for example.

I’m going to suggest that if you are interested in learning about affiliate marketing you do not waste a month and a lot of cash like I did. There is just one site that I recommend. You can read about it at my Squidoo affiliate marketing lens.

I soon learned that keyword research takes time. You have to find a niche set of keywords and then use them in your article. The theory is that you find a set of keywords that potential buyers will use that do not have too much competition. Trouble is when you start this you find that there is heavy competition for all the choices are done to death.

So I’ve been experimenting with a few very different articles to see if I can understand better how to drive traffic to a lens and hopefully how to make a little cash from them. For example I have an article listing some fun chocolate facts. I have a couple of lenses on writing: 10 Ways to Find Inspiration and How To Write a Screenplay. I’ll mention some others in a future post.

These lenses have not been spectacularly successful yet, the choclate one has had about 50 visits and the other two about 20 each, but it is early days.

Making a Start

So although I’ve created a web site using WordPress (http://www.chapter1page1.com) I’ve not been using it as a blog. So here is my blog. My plan is to write about the experiments I’m making in affiliate marketing, I’m a technical author, who has recently become involved in Web 2.0 stategies at work. I’m experimenting to improve my understanding. I’m also trying to find a more creative outlet for my writing. At first I thought I would write a novel or a screenplay, but I quickly came to realise that I actually quite like writing non-fiction.

In my next post I’ll mention my experiences with Squidoo, but in the meantime here is one of my Squidoo lenses you could visit: Inspiration for Writers.