Read KaChing: How to Run an Online Business that Pays and Pays Online
Authors: Joel Comm,Mark Victor Hansen
KaChing: How to Run an Online Business that Pays and Pays (36 page)
BOOK: KaChing: How to Run an Online Business that Pays and Pays
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The content on Telescope Reviews isn’t good. It looks like it was thrown together by a five-buck-an-article content writer in Ban-galore. It’s unlikely that anyone seriously interested in buying a telescope is going to hang around long enough to decide to buy, and they certainly won’t come back. Whatever the publisher is saving on writing expenses will go to pay for search engine optimization and traffic generation to keep people flowing through.
It’s much easier to produce good content about products related to a topic that interests you. Use that content to create a community, build trust, and bring readers back, and you’re much more likely to see them clicking through your affiliate links and sending you money.
If Telescope Reviews is a good example of how
not
to create an affiliate site, DigsDigs (
www.digsdigs.com
) is an excellent example of the right way to make the most of the opportunities provided by affiliates (
Figure 8.5
).
not
to create an affiliate site, DigsDigs (
www.digsdigs.com
) is an excellent example of the right way to make the most of the opportunities provided by affiliates (
Figure 8.5
).
The site offers information about home decorating and interior design, a field rich in potential affiliate sales. But it doesn’t rely on affiliate sales and it doesn’t shove affiliate links forward at the expense of good content. Instead, the site offers the kind of content that creates desire and provides a way for readers to satisfy that desire by making a purchase.
That also means making the most of other revenue streams. Telescope Reviews places an AdSense half banner above each article, but the units are not well optimized and are easily ignored. DigsDigs uses a horizontal link unit directly beneath the navigation bar and has changed the color of the links to match the color of the site’s own links and headlines: an attractive purple (
Figure 8.6
). That’s smart blending. The ads now look like content. There’s an image ad on the right, and more square units can be found above each article and sometimes between the images contained within articles, a placement that’s close to impossible to miss.
Figure 8.6
). That’s smart blending. The ads now look like content. There’s an image ad on the right, and more square units can be found above each article and sometimes between the images contained within articles, a placement that’s close to impossible to miss.
Figure 8.5
DigsDigs writes about products, but offers much more than reviews, recommendations, and affiliate links.
DigsDigs writes about products, but offers much more than reviews, recommendations, and affiliate links.
The result is lots of ads about a range of different household topics, but they aren’t obtrusive and they don’t feel like they’re being pushed on the reader. That’s certainly true of the affiliate links. These don’t appear in every article, even when the post is discussing a product.
That makes for some smart choices. DigsDigs talks about products as wide-ranging as designer bathtubs and elite coffeemakers. Many of those products are going to be interesting but produce few sales. Others are fun and practical and cheap enough to be an impulse buy. If it’s commercial enough to be on Amazon, there’s a chance that a reader will be interested enough to snap it up. That’s when DigsDigs tends to include affiliate links.
Figure 8.6
DigsDigs is a great example of the right way to do an affiliate site.
DigsDigs is a great example of the right way to do an affiliate site.
The site produces content that’s interesting and attractive. It’s designed in a way that makes it a pleasant read, with pictures that allow for quick browsing and fun viewing. It also has a Twitter timeline that enables it to build the base of a community, members of which are likely to click through the links and make money for the publisher.
DigsDigs isn’t
obviously
a product site. But when it discusses products, it’s already built up enough trust and interest to have a good chance of turning those mentions into affiliate sales.
obviously
a product site. But when it discusses products, it’s already built up enough trust and interest to have a good chance of turning those mentions into affiliate sales.
Information products come in a range of different forms and play a range of different roles in the Internet businesses of entrepreneurs. For some publishers, they might provide nothing more than a little supplementary income, an extra revenue source on a site that makes most of its KaChing from advertising. For others, they’re the main deal. The web site helps to promote those products and build a brand.
Brad Callen might not be long out of his twenties, but there’s little he doesn’t know about Internet marketing. He has his own software company, Bryxen Software, and he’s produced a series of information products about a variety of different aspects of online marketing. If you visit his site,
BradCallen.com
(
www.bradcallen.com
), you’ll see that the entire first screen is taken up with plugs for one of his products and notifications of two others that are in production (
Figure 8.7
). Choose to ignore those ads—and that’s not easy to do—and when you scroll down the page, you’ll see a list of testimonials, then some solid blog content packed with great information. The first item in the navigation bar leads to products, not content. Brad is focused on selling goods, either software products or information products.
BradCallen.com
(
www.bradcallen.com
), you’ll see that the entire first screen is taken up with plugs for one of his products and notifications of two others that are in production (
Figure 8.7
). Choose to ignore those ads—and that’s not easy to do—and when you scroll down the page, you’ll see a list of testimonials, then some solid blog content packed with great information. The first item in the navigation bar leads to products, not content. Brad is focused on selling goods, either software products or information products.
The differences between those information products are interesting, too.
SEO Mindset
is a physical book delivered by mail. It’s also free. Instead of generating a KaChing from the cover price, Brad uses the book to lead buyers into his search engine optimization membership site. Readers get a month’s free membership but must then pay a monthly fee of $39. They can cancel at any time, even before they’ve made a single payment, but Brad is confident that having tried it for a month, most will stick around.
SEO Mindset
is a physical book delivered by mail. It’s also free. Instead of generating a KaChing from the cover price, Brad uses the book to lead buyers into his search engine optimization membership site. Readers get a month’s free membership but must then pay a monthly fee of $39. They can cancel at any time, even before they’ve made a single payment, but Brad is confident that having tried it for a month, most will stick around.
Figure 8.7
On Brad Callen′s web site, information products come first.
On Brad Callen′s web site, information products come first.
His information product then becomes an incentive for an even more lucrative revenue channel.
That’s not true of his other products.
Press Release Fire
is a traditional e-book that sells for $19.95 and is promoted through a hard-hitting traditional sales page. You can see it at
www.pressreleasefire.com
.
Press Release Fire
is a traditional e-book that sells for $19.95 and is promoted through a hard-hitting traditional sales page. You can see it at
www.pressreleasefire.com
.
Elite Sessions
consists of 90-minute audio interviews, complete with PDF transcripts, with 11 leading marketers. The discs sell for $147. There was no writing involved here. Brad just sat and talked with a bunch of other experts about a topic that they all know and understand. There’s no easier way to turn information into KaChing.
consists of 90-minute audio interviews, complete with PDF transcripts, with 11 leading marketers. The discs sell for $147. There was no writing involved here. Brad just sat and talked with a bunch of other experts about a topic that they all know and understand. There’s no easier way to turn information into KaChing.
The only ads on Brad’s site are for his own products. There are no AdSense units and no affiliate links. Instead, his blog posts show off his expertise, enabling him to create a brand strong enough to encourage people to pay for his information, especially after they’ve been persuaded by a powerful sales letter.
Brad Callen uses information products as a way of creating large amounts of passive revenue. But that’s not the only way to use information products. You can also produce something very simple and, instead of selling it, use it as a way to market your site, build your brand, and create your e-mail list.
That’s what
BloomBikeShop.com
(
www.bloombikeshop.com
) does. The site provides useful information about bicycle repair and maintenance, including tutorials and articles. It monetizes those articles with AdSense units above and below the posts, with CPM banner ads, with affiliate links in genuinely informative product reviews, and with links to shopping sites (
Figure 8.8
).
BloomBikeShop.com
(
www.bloombikeshop.com
) does. The site provides useful information about bicycle repair and maintenance, including tutorials and articles. It monetizes those articles with AdSense units above and below the posts, with CPM banner ads, with affiliate links in genuinely informative product reviews, and with links to shopping sites (
Figure 8.8
).
It also offers a free e-book to anyone who agrees to register for the site’s e-mail newsletter. That allows the site to keep a list of its visitors and to send deals and offers to anyone who has visited the site in the past, even if they haven’t come back.
Figure 8.8
BloomBikeShop.com
provides a ton of information about bicycle maintenance... and uses an information product to capture e-mail addresses. Couldn′t be simpler!
BloomBikeShop.com
provides a ton of information about bicycle maintenance... and uses an information product to capture e-mail addresses. Couldn′t be simpler!
The e-book itself is nothing grand. Called 7
Common Bike Repair Mistakes That Most Riders Make,
it lists a number of myths that bike owners believe when they try to repair their own bicycles. With little more than 1,000 words of content, it could easily have been put on the site and made available as Web content like all the other articles. Instead, publisher Levi Bloom has turned it into a PDF document and placed it behind a registration barrier. If you enter your e-mail address, you’ll receive a double-opt-in confirmation message from AWeber. When you confirm your address, you’ll be given a link to a page that lets you read the PDF file.
Common Bike Repair Mistakes That Most Riders Make,
it lists a number of myths that bike owners believe when they try to repair their own bicycles. With little more than 1,000 words of content, it could easily have been put on the site and made available as Web content like all the other articles. Instead, publisher Levi Bloom has turned it into a PDF document and placed it behind a registration barrier. If you enter your e-mail address, you’ll receive a double-opt-in confirmation message from AWeber. When you confirm your address, you’ll be given a link to a page that lets you read the PDF file.
It’s very easy, couldn’t have taken more than a few minutes to put together, and it’s likely to have had a massive effect on the value of the site’s e-mail list.
Subscription sites are often relatively complex. They aren’t necessarily difficult to build; the tools available now mean that you have to put in some effort, but you don’t need a degree in computer science or a giant sack of cash to pay a programmer.
What you will need is a community of knowledgeable people who are active on the site and generous with their advice. You also need to be willing to put in the effort to keep the conversations ticking and ensure that the site continues to deliver value for the subscription fee. That can involve anything from starting your own discussion streams to getting rid of people who are rude to other contributors. Subscription fees usually keep out the worst types, but you do want to keep your site a pleasant, helpful place for everyone.
BOOK: KaChing: How to Run an Online Business that Pays and Pays
4.3Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads
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