Mk Akan Dot Com » Affiliate marketing http://www.mkakan.com Lessons From Building A Legit Online Business From Nigeria Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:55:31 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 How To Increase Clicks On Recommended Links: Lessons From Pat Flynn http://www.mkakan.com/how-to-increase-clicks-on-recommended-links-lessons-from-pat-flynn/ http://www.mkakan.com/how-to-increase-clicks-on-recommended-links-lessons-from-pat-flynn/#comments Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:00:56 +0000 Mk Akan http://mkakan.com/?p=918

 Before and after I wrote how being more observant can improve your blogging learning and earning online , I have been observing and sharing some of my observations on this blog.

Today I will be sharing a new observation I found on another blog.

BTW, subscribe to my RSS and be the first person to read my new articles.

It is something I recently noticed and learnt from Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income. It is one of my favorite blogs online.

I observed how one could increase the amount of clicks on his or her recommended links. It is something Pat Flynn is doing on his blog posts.

How To Increase Clicks On Recommended Products and resources

The simple thing to do is

“List all the products, services, links or resources you mentioned in your post at the end of the post”.

It may seem really simple and basic but it really works.

For example if you scroll down to the end of this post, you will find links to some resources that I recommend and mentioned in this post.

How And Why Does Listing Recommended Resources Increase The Number Of Clicks?

Before I answer that let me quickly discuss why some people don’t click links on some blog post.

  1. we are in a hurry and can’t wait to read and may hardly find your  recommended links scattered all round the post

So listing out these resources will.

  1. Help them easily and quickly find the recommended links and resources.
  2. Point them to important resources all at once at the end of the post
  3. Save them some time

What Kind Of Links And Resources Can You Add In The List

Basically, any resource you link to can be on the recommended list.

(I don’t know what Pat uses as his own criteria)

It could be:

  1. Blog posts or pages from your blog or other blogs
  2. Recommended products with your affiliate links
  3. Recommended services with you affiliate links. An Example is FatCow web hosting that I use to host some of my blogs

One reason why I love it is its visibility .

By the way one way to make this strategy effective is giving it a cool title.

Pat calls his,Items Mentioned in this Session:

I will be calling mine “Recommended Resources Mentioned In This Post Are”.

You can call yours anything but remember to make it interesting for people to want to check out.An interesting title will get readers interested in the links.

Conclusion

What do you think about this technique?

Are you using it already?

Please share in the comments.

BTW, Pat (if you are reading this and if you don’t mind, please could you reveal how this strategy is working on your blog. Thank you)

If you love this post and would want to read more posts in future, don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS ,follow @MkAkan and sign up for MkAkan’s newsletter . Download my Blog development guide e-book for free.

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Recommended Resources Mentioned In This Posts are

  1. how being more observant can improve your blogging ,learning and earning online
  2. SmartPassiveIncome
  3. FatCow web hosting
]]> http://www.mkakan.com/how-to-increase-clicks-on-recommended-links-lessons-from-pat-flynn/feed/ 2 How to Write a Product Review or Service Review: 17 Important information to Consider and include http://www.mkakan.com/how-to-write-a-product-review-or-service-review-17-important-information-to-consider-and-include/ http://www.mkakan.com/how-to-write-a-product-review-or-service-review-17-important-information-to-consider-and-include/#comments Sat, 02 Oct 2010 11:52:50 +0000 Mk Akan http://mkakan.com/?p=875

Writing a review for a product or service basically involves giving out precise and useful information to other people who want to make a buying decision regarding the   product or service.

This post shows some important parameters or information that should be considered and included when writing a  review.

These parameters can still be used in article type reviews too.

Important information to Discuss when writing Reviews

1. Price

How much does it cost?

2. Payment Method

How can one pay for it.

3. Author, Maker, Producer ,Owner

Who made the product? Who produced it?

4. Number Of Pages

How many are found in he book, e-book or other similar products?

5. Other Products Made Or Owned By The Author Or Creator

Does the owner, maker, producer or author have other popular products or services found in the market?

6. Number Sold

How many of the products have been sold? How many people have bought it?

7. Number Of Users

How many people are currently using the product or service?

8. Popular Users

Who are the popular people using the products or service?

9. Recommend By

Who are the authorities or popular people that have recommended the product or service in the past?

10. Reviews /What People Say

Whathave people generally said about the product and service?

11. Buying Options, Formats Or Mediums

Does the product come in different consumer format? Is it an Electron or physical product or otherwise.

12. Free Trials

Does the product or service come with trial versions? How long does the trial last?

13. Money Back Guarantee

Does the product or service have a functional money back guarantee? What does it say?

14. Discounts

Is there any form of discount for bulk purchase, long subscription or long term purchase?

15. Drawbacks/Negatives

Is there anything negative about the service or product? This is very important. Be candid and objective about it.

16. Remarks

What do you have to say about the service or product? Would you recommend it? Why?

Be candid and objective about it putting the readers’ interest first.

17. Join /Buy /Subscribe

At the end of the review, you should give your readers the option to buy, subscribe or register for the product by placing a link to the product or service usually using your affiliate code.

Should You Use All There Product Review Parameters

Now, I am not recommending that you give all these information when reviewing a product or service.

I am recommending that you choose the best ones that will provide useful information to readers. The best ones will usually help readers   effectively make the best buying decision suiting his or her needs and pocket.

Please if you feel there are many other parameters that should be added to the list above or any thing at all, please say it in the comments.

If you love this post and would want to easily read more posts in future, don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS ,follow @MkAkan and sign up for MkAkan’s newsletter .

Please retweet this post and share it on facebook.

Thank you.
]]> http://www.mkakan.com/how-to-write-a-product-review-or-service-review-17-important-information-to-consider-and-include/feed/ 6 The Magic of giving Free Samples, Free Downloads, Free Chapters And Free Information http://www.mkakan.com/generousity-and-giving-free-gifts-and-samples-online/ http://www.mkakan.com/generousity-and-giving-free-gifts-and-samples-online/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:00:20 +0000 Mk Akan http://mkakan.com/?p=274

My Experience with Free Information

A few days ago, I went to Guy Kawasaki’s website/blog. After reading his blog post, I went to his books category where download links to PDF documents and audios of parts of some of his books were displayed.

I downloaded the first chapter of his book, The Art of the Start.

I had heard and seen the book on Amazon but did not really bother looking it up.

To cut the long story short I read it and immediately fell in love with the book.

Just from reading a free chapter I now desperately wanted to read the whole book. I wanted to finish the book. I was hooked.

If I had not read the free chapter I doubt if I would have really bothered much with reading the book. A free sample exposed me to some of the ideas in the book, now I wanted to get them all.

Explanation

This marketing concept is not new, many marketers and bloggers are already using it. They give free samples, free information or free videos to educate, entice you and expose you to the ideas they have. After the exposure you become hooked on buying whatever product or service they offer.

It works. It really does and is what happened to me.

The question is do you use it.

And the truth is it can be used for almost everything online. It can be used for product launch, list building or launching a web service.

It was even used offline before the internet went crazy and people started building assets in the clouds.

When you used a sample perfume on Cosmo, you were testing the product and were getting exposed to the idea of the product.

Conclusion

If you are already using this strategy, then this post is just a reminder, if you are not using it, then you are neglecting a very effective marketing strategy.

Here is the most important point and lesson made in this blog post.

“Let people (especially your would-be customers) try the product or service you are offering, for free “, When they get exposed to the idea and love it, they will become hooked and eventually bring you business.

what do you think?Your replies please.

]]> http://www.mkakan.com/generousity-and-giving-free-gifts-and-samples-online/feed/ 25 HOW TO GET YOUR SUBSCRIBERS TO ALWAYS OPEN YOUR E-MAILs http://www.mkakan.com/how-to-get-your-subscribers-to-always-open-your-e-mails/ http://www.mkakan.com/how-to-get-your-subscribers-to-always-open-your-e-mails/#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:25:20 +0000 Mk Akan http://mkakan.com/?p=89

This morning I opened my email box and saw a few new mails mostly from people I had subscribed to. I quickly clicked open the email of some people and totally ignored others. I finally deleted some of these ignored emails that were still unopened.

Why did I do this?

Why did I ignore some emails and quickly opened some?

Well, this is my experience.

I was added to the mailing lists of some marketers when i downloaded something from them.

Something I considered valuable. But  days after some of these marketers started sending me one thing.

Products for me to buy that would earn them affiliate commissions.

And some others kept sending me valuable information about the subject I was interested in . After a while, I knew which marketer was out to help me and others who only wanted to sell me a product.

And naturally, I gravitated to those who had my interest at heart. I even had their names in my head. Whenever I see their mail I quickly click to see if there was something new to learn.

These marketers who sent me valuable information also sent me products that would earn them affiliate commissions but they only sent it after sending lots of valuable and free information.

And guess what even if I did not buy all the products they sent me, I at least opened their emails.

That gave them a higher chance of making more in affiliate sales and earnings.

SO WHAT IS THE LESSON HERE?

1. Help People First

The phrase “The money is in the list” may be the biggest secret of affiliate marketers but just sending mails containing only affiliate products links or product reviews will only get your mails ignored and deleted.

A better strategy is to send out free and valuable information first, build anticipation and then send affiliate products occasionally to your list.

This will get all your emails, including the ones with the affiliate products and links – opened.

This is important because if a subscriber sees you only as an affiliate marketer even if you decide to start mailing valuable information, it might be too late.

The subscriber may have already started ignoring your emails.


so how do you respond to annoying marketers who just send emails to sell you a product?

If you are a marketer, which other strategy gets your emails opened by your subscribers.

Please share in the comment box.

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