Let me start by thanking Garry Conn for the reminder to checkout MoreNiche. I have been an affiliate of MicroNiche.com for sometime and haven’t even made a post about them, even though I have made sales through them.

I heard about MicroNiche through a friend. I setup my account but at the time they only had one affiliate program I was interested in. That program was ClickTale stats, if you want to see what your visitors every move is they are the program to join.

I set a MicroNiche campaign up in just a couple of minutes and was promoting ClickTale and then I promptly forgot about it. It wasn’t until this morning after reading Garry’s post that I even realized I was making sales. Pretty cool. I believe credit where credit is due. So thanks for the reminder Garry.

What is MoreNiche?

MicroNiche is an affiliate manager where you can promote great brands and affiliate programs to earn commission.

What To Do First.

Your first step is to signup with MoreNiche so you can get approved and start making more money. Once you have registered you will receive an approval email as well as a welcome to MoreNiche email. These emails will give you links to the webmaster area and to the MoreNiche forum.

Once you have been accepted you can follow the beginners guide to making more money with MicroNiche in the webmaster’s area.

One great way to make money blogging is to earn commission on products and services that are of interest to your readers.

Currently I work with a few different affiliate managers but today it’s all about how to make money online blogging through…

Commission Junction - was founded in 1998 and has been growing and adding advertisers and publishers ever since.

Affiliate marketing, otherwise known as performance marketing is a reward system that pays you commission when you sell something. You can also have affiliate programs that pay you for leads as well. Get a good credit card company and you can earn $50 to $200 per lead, a very competitive market.

I like to blog about my hobbies as it is something I know a bit about. I like to fish, fly fishing especially so why not make mone blogging by adding a few affiliate program banners and posts that complement the blog. I can talk fishing all day long but at the end of the day I haven’t made a penny, unless I am promoting something my readers are interested in.

How do I go about making money from CJ?

First I had to become a CJ member

1. I browsed to Commission Junction.
2. I clicked the join as a publisher option.
   • Read the entire page, noticing the explanation of what a publisher is so you know you’re on the right page.
   • At the end of the page you will find a link that will take you to the signup page for Publishers.
3. Fill in the blanks and waiting for approval.
   • First you will specify your language, country and currency you prefer. Then you will click NEXT.
   • A warning window will open explain what your site should not be doing. Read it and close it.
   • Read the publishers service agreement before continuing to fill in your details. At the end of the agreement there is an agree button you must click to accept the agreement.
   • Read their privacy policy as well and agree to it before continuing.
   • NOTE: You must be 18 years of age or old, click the box to confirm that.
   • At this point you would continue to fill in your website details being as accurate as possible.
   • Next your personal details and tax info.

After you have been approved you can start learning more about CJ from CJU online.

Seeking Company Products and Services To Promote

Once accepted I log into my account using the email address I provided and my case sensitive password.

As a publisher this takes me to my Publishers Home where I can see some quick stats and the menu that will lead me to anywhere I need to go in CJ’s member area.

The CJ Publishers Menu

Home - Account - GetLinks - Run Reports - Mail

Home shows me Program Performance, Quick Stats, Trend Graph, Today’s Tasks along with a list of new advertisers. I can also see a list of the current advertisers I have applied to and been accepted by.

Account takes me to the administrative page and gives me a couple of new menu choices:

Administrative Settings - Web site Settings

• The administrative page shows me my name and address info, User settings and payment information.
• The Web site Settings page is where I have all my websites listed. I can add sites or delete existing ones. Also this is where I can see my PID number so I can track my promotions and sales.

Get Links is where I find the advertisers and products and services I would like to promote.

I do have to apply to any and all companies I wish to promote. While some approve immediately most are approved manually so you will need to wait a few days, some times longer to be accepted or rejected.

Once you have just the right program to promote you can get links to add to your website.

I like to make posts about the programs and products I like along with a good graphic that adds to the content and visual appeal.

Run Reports

Promoting your products and website to get more traffic is important and for another post but as you start to get impressions or eyes on your site you will see those impressions as stats in CJ.

As your readers see the value in the products you present they will purchase or signup for them giving you sale or a lead which in turn will earn you commission.

You will be able to use the Run Reports option to find what your sales and leads are.

Commission Junction isn’t the only affiliate manager on the net but it’s a great place to make money blogging about your special interests.

Marketers really can try too hard to get traffic. Personally I have felt like a bloody Yo-Yo at times.

In the process, they end up spinning their wheels, getting frustrated, spending a fortune on Adwords and other advertising, and thinking that Internet marketing just doesn’t work.

But what if there is a “lazy” way to get traffic? (Not that I am a lazy marketer but not every one has my energy level)

A method that doesn’t involve mastering the latest SEO techniques, doing JV’s, mortgaging your home to fund your latest Adword campaign, or all the other desperate measures you’ve been told to take?

Actually, what if there are FIVE other methods for getting traffic that just plain work all by themselves???

…The sorts of things you build, set in motion, and then forget about?

The author of “Confessions of a Lazy Super-Affiliate” focuses on passive ways to make continuous affiliate income.

But his traffic methods will work for you whether you’re promoting other people’s products, or your own.

This 23 year old has been making a good living from his web business for the last 3 years.

In fact, for the last year it’s been a GREAT living, simply by using these “lazy” methods.

In “Confessions of a Lazy Super-Affiliate,” he shows you his exact models for…

…”Making brainless, hands-off commissions and product sales with a methodical, LAZY approach.”

Just set it up, and forget about it.

Want to see the exact methods he’s talking about?

Go to Confessions of a Lazy Super-Affiliate

…and read the box that begins…

“5 Proven, “Hands-Off” Traffic-Generation Techniques That Have Made Me a Fortune…”

And he’ll tell you EXACTLY what these methods are, before you ever spend a dime for his course.

There’s nothing wrong with “taking the easy road,” especially when it gets you where you want to go.

Marketing online doesn’t have to be hard.

It can actually be fun, easy, and for the most part… hands off.

If you want more traffic, without busting your behind or spending big bucks, check this out now…

Confessions of a Lazy Super-Affiliate

Image from WikipediaWell it’s April 1st and this is no April Fools joke. Today I received my invitation to join the eBay affiliate program through eBay now instead of Commission Junction.

The sign-up for the eBay affiliate program was a breeze. I received my verification email immediately and was watching the introduction videos in less than 10 minutes from the time I started the process.

Today is therefore dedicated to the transition of my build a niche store - BANS sites from Commission Junction to eBay’s affiliate program. I would be lying if I didn’t say I was just a little nervous.

I have watched the videos, very basic and easy listening. The videos also point out a few things that will make your  Build A Niche Store even better.

This is a very exciting time and I am most curious to see how it turns out.

Related articles

• eBay Drops Commission Junction [via Zemanta]
• eBay Brings affiliate programs In-House; ValueClick Loses Huge Partner [via Zemanta]
• EBay to take over management of affiliates program [via Zemanta]

I have been using build a niche store (BANS) for a couple of months now and have been focusing on my hobbies, selling things on eBay that I don’t even own.

I think that is so cool because I used to spend so much time looking for thing I wanted to sell on eBay but never really finding anything that I wanted to sell, so I moved on and left eBay for a while.

Version 2 of BANS was great and did the job so I have no complaints. I did get a bit nervous when I had to make a few changes to code here and there but then BANS Version 3.

I didn’t install the update to version 3 because I understood I would have to go back in and add the changes I had made all over again.

I had three BANS sites at that time. I had everything setup the way I wanted and I was slowly making changes to the templates so they were unique.

Instead of updating I just left them the way they were and continued creating new BANS sites for a few interests and it was so easy that I was sure I was doing something wrong. But I wasn’t wrong and Build A Niche Store Version 3 is just that easy.

I woke up the other morning to find that my version 2 sites had an account suspended message in the middle of the control panel. I immediately thought that it was because I didn’t update and decided I better do the updates.

The update was just a matter of copying the new files over the old files and running an update file.

Now all my BANS sites are version 3 and I have so much more control over the auction items I show. Just too cool.

The funny part about the update and the suspended message was that the suspened message was an RSS feed error message and had nothing to do with the update.

Goto love those mixed messages that turn out to be a positive thing.

I have been kind of put off buy the pennies I earn on most of the click throughs I get from Adsense style ads on my blogs. A friend and client of mine told me to check out HavAds and he has not steered me off course yet so I spent some time and read about them. I was excited right away.

This is info from their site but at this point they can explain it better than I can. It is worth the read and I mean WORTH the read. This is something I thought about doing for myself but had no idea how to start but now I don’ t need to.

Before you read on I will be using this in the next few days and then create another post explaining how I really feel about installing and using HavAds.

HavAds are a brand new way of keeping targeted traffic at your site, even when they click on a search engine ad for a different product. The HavAds software helps you to generate your own targeted niche ads, so when potential customers click away from your landing page or any page of your site, you still have control over what they are seeing and where they are going, Unlike traditional ads that you have no control over, you can manage what customers are seeing and you can even write the text to the ads yourself with ease. You can place HavAds in your site and if they generate a sale, you keep the commission for yourself.

The software program couldn’t be easier to use as it takes you step by step through the process for creating your own ads. The rule of thumb is that while traffic comes into your site, it eventually has to leave the site. How traffic leaves your site can have a lot to do with your profit margin. Often, webmasters use search engine ads, although they often aren’t very profitable. The reason that search engine ads aren’t profitable is because once a prospective buyer clicks onto one, they go off to another site, already in the buying mode from your site and chances are you won’t ever see them again.

If a prospective customer from your site goes from your website to another site and decides to buy there, some other website owner earns an affiliate commission and you have been rewarded with a measly one hundredth of a cent for your troubles.

With HavAds you can turn the scenario around by placing highly targeted ads of your own, rather than from the search engines. This gives you a few useful advantages. The Ads that you are placing on your site are highly targeted, so if the potential customer doesn’t buy anything on your site, they may choose to click on one of the ads that are placed on the site. Ads that you, the website owner, get a full affiliate commission from.

So if the customer does choose to buy somewhere else, you will still be getting a commission on the sale. The beauty of HaveAds ads is they look exactly like regular search engine ads. Even though the ad has been clicked, the potential customer does not leave your site. If the customer buys from this ad you will receive a commission, as you are the affiliate for the ad. If the potential customer chooses not to buy and close the browser, then they are back to the original landing page and you are given another chance at enticing a sale from the potential customer.

Have Ads have many benefits available for website owners wanting to
make a change in their internet marketing campaign.

• Since its new to the market, it can give a website owner an edge over their competitors.
• Ads are flexible since they can be created to each individual website owner’s specifications and for any type of niche market.
• Website owners are able to keep their traffic and potential customers at the site longer, which increases the chances of a sale.
• HaveAds has been created with human subconscious behavioral patterns in mind.
• The program is both effective and easy to use.
• The earnings potential of this program is unlimited and ads can be generated or even tweaked in minutes for a website.
• The website owner can also choose which programs are displayed on sites, unlike conventional search engine ads.
• The website owner writes the text for the ads. So knows they will attract interest.

There are also large ranges of pre-programmed ad styles to choose from that are generated by a wizard in the software program. Once generated
the website owner can view the ads and make changes if desired. Once a HavAd has been created, the website owner only needs to copy and paste the ads onto the website in a table.

Another advantage for website owners is that HavAds can be generated or duplicated as many times as the owner sees fit and can be placed on as many pages of a site as the owner chooses. The HavAds program takes about two minutes to generate an ad and there are no specialist skills or coding knowledge needed to make use of the software. A wizard takes you through each step of the process. All that is really required of the website owner is to find worthy affiliate partners for their niche market. It is that easy.

The big question on a marketers mind when starting an affiliate program is how much commission they should offer their affiliates. This is something that only the product owner can decide.

Before making the decision, take into account the type of product being sold and the program itself.

If offering a sales based program where affiliates earn a percentage of each sale, take a look at the costs involved in creating the product or providing the service to determine how much commission can be afforded.

Digital Products

For those selling a product with digital delivery, like an ebook or a recording of an interview, there is virtually no cost involved in the product once it is finished. In this case, a higher commission rate is probably more feasible and usually expected.

Physical Products

On the other hand, someone who is offering a tangible product, like a flyrod or a floattube, will need to do a little math in order to determine how much they can afford to offer. They will need to take into account the expenses of creating the product along with shipping the product to the customer. Once they know how much cost is involved and how much they really earn per sale, product owners can better decide how much they can afford to pay their affiliates.

Back when I first started selling on eBay I made some mistakes and had to suck up the loss until I corrected the problem with shipping cost. Fortunately I had only sold a few things before realizing I wasn’t going to be making any profit.

Pay Per Lead

If trying to grow your mailing list, take into consideration the option of implementing a pay per lead program. With this type of program, affiliates are paid for each subscriber they send the owner.

Know The Value of Your List

Those with established websites that have been tracking their sales may already know how much they are earning from their list. For example, if a mailing list has 1,500 people on it and earned $3,000 in sales through email marketing efforts, the earnings average about $2 per subscriber. This means the program could afford to pay affiliates up to $2 per lead and still break even. Of course, many affiliates may be happy to earn $1 per lead leaving the owner extra profits from your new subscribers.

For those without an established mailing list or are not sure how much they can offer affiliates, here is one option to consider. Set up a teleseminar that costs a nominal fee to register for, such as $1. This teleseminar can be on any topic associated with the product or website. For this one time, offer affiliates 100% commission (the whole dollar) for each registrant they refer. In return the product owner will be growing their own mailing list and won’t be out any profits.

Those considering what to pay their affiliates should also take a look at their competition and see what type of commission those are offering their own affiliates. Keep in mind that it is not necessary to match the commission rate. Instead, take a look at the amount of money they are offering. For instance, A $20 product with a 50% commission pays $10 and a $50 product with a 20% commission pays the same dollar amount. Since both of these products pay the same commission, the real question is figuring out which one will convert into more sales, as that is the one that will net the affiliate and the product owner more money in the long run.

If ever unsure of how much to offer, affiliate program owners should always start out a lower rate. No one likes to hear that their commission will be lowered, but if the time comes that the program can offer a higher commision, affiliates will be thrilled.