It never really occurred to me, but this is going on *offline* too. The next time you’re out browsing around in a tourist town or even doing your weekly grocery shopping at your local market, take time to notice all of the “little guys” who are selling cool specialty goods. Olive oils, cheeses, hand-made chocolate pretzels, yoga trainers, book writing consultants — the sky’s the limit!

Of course, people have been doing this kind of niche work for years. It’s nothing new. These folks are called artisans. But what I’ve noticed lately is artisan goods and services are taking off like wild-fire. There’s greater demand for homegrown and handmade everything.

So what does this have to do with your passive Internet Business and creating multiple streams of income…? Everything!

Just like the pretzel maker and the wine master, you should be thinking just like an artisan in your online business. Here are some quick ideas for how to start thinking more like an artisan and less like a cookie-cutter corporate slimeball…

*Personalize Everything
People love faces and names. They want to put your face and name with the product or service they’re buying. This helps build trust and credibility between two human beings (you the seller and the buyer). Add more personality to your websites by posting your picture or the picture of your staff members in highly visible places. Be sure to keep your bio updated and interesting. People want to know you.

*Interact More With Your Audience
Once people get to know you, they want to know more about you and to stay in touch. Welcome to the wonderful world of *social media.* Get your Facebook marketing rolling! But again, try to keep it personal and real. Not corporate and boring.

*Don’t Be So Uptight
Depending on the market you’re in, it’s probably more likely that you need to be *more relaxed* and interesting and *less professional* and uptight in how you present yourself to your audience. Sure, big flashy websites are impressive but they can also be intimidating and overwhelming. Make sure your logo is interesting. Choose a website design that’s homemade but functional over one that’s sharp and sleek.

Content marketing for your niche is supposed to be fun and engaging. Try incorporating some of these tips into your current approach and see what happens. Spend less time strategizing that next “laser-targeted email campaign” and just sit down right now and hammer out something friendly, approachable, and funny. See what happens.

Remember…

Being an artisan is about being unique and standing out from the crowd.

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In our latest podcast, Stephanie Frasco and I rap about some great topics:

• Women as Entrepreneurs & Business Builders
• The Recent Financial Crisis & Internet Business
• Why Social Marketing is Critical for Entrepreneurs Everywhere

With our unique backgrounds online — Stephanie in social media and myself in search marketing — these topics come together quite nicely for a pretty lively discussion.

Women as Entrepreneurs

I’m a huge believer in the power of entrepreneurship to change everyone’s lives, but I think women might benefit even more than men in many cases.  The traditional workplace has long been overrun with and managed by men — at least in high-powered executive positions.  But with the web, so many doors have opened for women to make their way without leaving home.  I should know:  Stephanie and I both work from our place in Malibu and the impact on our lives and our relationship has been tremendous.

Financial Crisis in Internet Business

Despite the difficult economic times many “offline business” owners have experienced, especially within the last year, the web has seen some dramatic gains.  Now is a great time to start looking to the Internet for financial freedom and success in entrepreneurship!

Social Media for Entrepreneurs

Finally, we conclude our program with a brief discussion on how social networks are already playing a huge role online and will continue to do so in the years ahead.

I hope you enjoy the show!  Please leave your thoughts and comments below, and we’ll be sure to include them in our next episode.

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The 2010 Online Experience Transformed
If you’re marketing to your customers online, you really do have to think about user experience. As the web has become increasingly central to people’s lives, the environment itself has become incredibly dynamic. The idea of “getting online” in 2009 was very different than 10 years ago, no doubt. But it was also very different than we experienced in 2008.

In the world of marketing, the name of the game is to go where your customers are. Obvious point, right? Let’s consider the landscape for 2010 and try to predict where most customers are likely to be found.

Facebook Takes Over the World
Yes, this is the big buzz in web marketing circles. Facebook has made MySpace look pathetic. Twitter has proven that monetization is not everything. And everyone’s little brother has the next big idea for a social media network that will be even bigger, better, and bolder!

It’s true – the social media world is incredibly powerful. Just ask Zuckerberg. But is it really worth your time to spend all day updating your Facebook status or tweeting about that tasty burrito you had for lunch? Probably not.

What I would suggest is learning more from social media experts and considering setting up a social media plan for your current projects. Whether you want to do it yourself or hire a consultant, either way there’s a lot to learn. Trust me.

It is a very good idea to start learning about Facebook fan pages and Facebook advertising. It’s a totally different world, so don’t expect the same results you typically get in Google Adwords or Yahoo Search Pay Per Click Marketing. Still, if you don’t take time to learn about the power of this intricate social media world, you may get left in the dust.

Pay Per Click Always Makes or Breaks You
Speaking of PPC advertising, let’s give a big shout out to Google, Yahoo, and even Bing for keeping it rolling in 2010. Yup, as far as I’m concerned, Pay Per Click Marketing is still the make-or-break factor in e-business. PPC always answers the key questions about a new venture – does the market exist? will my website convert sales? and what is the price tag on every customer’s head?

The very best thing about PPC marketing is the testability elements. Google Adwords is still king in this department. Split-testing ads, clearly defined click-through rates, and highly targeted direct-to-consumer marketing.

While the social media world will be great for promoting and building community around your products and services, there’s no use in building a community around something you can’t sell. In 2010, Pay Per Click will still sort out the pros from the amateurs.

Big Brother is Watching You
My final prediction for 2010 has more to do with mobile phones than the web itself, though the online world is very quickly becoming a mobile experience. Today’s smartphones are very good at figuring out one important thing — they always know exactly where you are. Big brother’ish? Yes, I know. But apparently most consumers have no problem giving up this information. After all, they spend hours each day sharing their personal lives via social media.

Geo-targeting is huge and it’s just going to get bigger. With application-based phones in more and more hands, it’s just a click and a push before you know exactly where your customers are and you can reach out to them at exactly the right time.

This geo-location stuff is going to be much more critical for local restaurants, services, and similar operations than for more typical online business product sales and services. Still, it’s important to keep up with the trends and think about how you can leverage this technology to advance your business too.

The Final Analysis
2010 is going to be a great year, but the competition will continue to rise. More people are getting online, more marketing services are bringing your competitors out of their parochial closets, and more businesses are Tweeting and Facebooking like never before! Education is critical to business success, especially when we’re talking about marketing. But remember this: learning new tricks and tools and methods is about much more than just understanding — it’s also about trying new things out and putting them into action!

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First, I must admit – I have not really been much of an early adapter with social networking. Around the time Facebook and Twitter came onto the scene in a big way, I was focusing much more of my web marketing education on improving results and not updating countless social media profiles. Plus, I’ve always related more to the work-smart-not-hard philosophy of entrepreneurship. Social media is not exactly a big results zone of activity for most people.

I still believe in the importance of prioritizing in very disciplined and results-oriented ways. That said, I also believe online social networking can be a good thing if there’s a clear ROI on the time spent.

Early Adapting
Since Sprouter is new to the scene, now is the best time to get in on the action. Social networking definitely has a pyramid shape when you look at how connections evolve over years of growth. Most of the power players in Twitter today will likely still be power players in 5-10 years. Plus, every social network has its own language, rules, and hierarchical systems. Getting involved early can be a great way to gain “online cred” faster than your competitors. It’s not the best comparison, but this is something like investing in a great stock early on.

Targeted Networking
What I love about Sprouter is the clearly defined boundaries of the network. You fill your daily feed by answering a very defined question, “What are you working on?” I like that this is specifically a place for entrepreneurs and the emphasis is on work, on getting things done. I also like that the updating reminds me to stay focused and on task. Maybe some future add-ons will build on this concept. I dig it!

Q&A Forum
Much of the connections you’ll be making in Sprouter are Q&A in format. Lots of people posting are asking questions and interacting with other entrepreneur-users for feedback on new projects, web marketing ideas, and business plans. As the user base expands, I expect these conversations to get more interesting and the feedback to become even more valuable. I’ve already landed some very helpful leads and tips from just a handful of business-related questions in the past few weeks. Very valuable benefit.

Topic Following
If you’re interested in specific topics, the Sprouter hashtags make it easy to sort out only the stuff you want to see. You can even create your own hashtag and wait for others to join up and follow the topic too. This is another great way to filter out things you don’t want to see or follow and just focus on the high results areas of your social networking.

Sprouter is just getting started, but I would expect to see more activity as the word spreads and the social network builds momentum and power. To get started early-adapter style, visit http://sprouter.com/signup today and complete their sign up form. To follow my hashtags, check out http://sprouter.com/searchmarketing and http://sprouter.com/webmarketing to get started.

And of course, be sure to follow me here: Jason Clegg on Sprouter

Remember to focus on what works and to avoid what just eats up your time.

Also, be sure to check out Stephanie Frasco and her very thorough and very informative guide on how to use Sprouter. Highly recommended!

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Today I want to share a few of my favorite free tools and tricks for SEO. These puppies are a great way to get more natural search engine traffic and work great with the strategies I’ve suggested before.

1. EzineArticles.com Free Article Directory
For article marketing, my absolute favorite directory is www.ezinearticles.com because they almost always deliver the most results. You can setup a free account at their website in minutes and submit articles absolutely free. Just be sure you follow their terms of service for the most success with your submissions.

2. Jeff Johnson’s Free Traffic Getting SEO Plugin
Jeff Johnson has put together some amazing Free SEO plugins for WordPress all-in-one. His tools do a great job of improving natural search engine traffic and building up your content marketing via blogging. Be sure to download this one right away. Get the Free SEO Plugin here!

3. WordPress.com
If you’re blogging, WordPress is the only tool you should ever consider using. Search engines love it, it’s easy, and the results are always great! You can download the WordPress open source software free at their website or simply setup a free blog on their servers to start promoting your products or services.

4. Yahoo Site Explorer
Looking for SEO-related info about your websites? Yahoo Site Explorer does a tremendous job of making it easy to see exactly where your links are coming from across the web. Good stuff for tracking your linking campaigns.

5. Wordtracker Keyword Tool
Research and refine your keyword targets online with Wordtracker’s free preview keyword tool. Type in a target phrase and see what pops up. But beware: some of the projected traffic numbers they list can be a bit deceptive. Think of this more as a general guide and a companion to the already well known Google Keyword Tool.

Use all of these free SEO tools in concert to improve your business Search Engine Marketing results quickly. Sometimes there is such a thing as a free lunch.

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Whether you’re a small business owner with a growing website or you’re an affiliate marketer looking to get more results from your online marketing efforts, the strategies for content marketing are essentially the same.

I have talked about these strategies in more detail in other posts, but today I want to look at the whole package together to give you a better idea of how you can get these auto-pilot web marketing machines working for your business or affiliate system.

1. Blogging
We’ll start with the most obvious of the five – blogging. We all know how powerful blogs have become in the last few years or so. These easy mini-websites do a great job of communicating with your niche market directly in an informal and often personal manner. This is the most important place to begin your content marketing system.

ACTION STEP: Setup your own self-hosted blog with a provider like Bluehost or learn how to build traffic with free blogs at WordPress.com or other providers.

2. Article Marketing
Article marketing is one of my favorites, but it’s a bit useless unless you have a website or a blog where you can drive traffic from directories. This content marketing method works because online users trust article directories for providing quality content. Plus, if you do it right, you can really leverage article marketing for seo.

ACTION STEP: Write articles and submit them to the top article directories. Or, better yet, hire an article marketing service to do it for you.

3. PPC Campaigns
Pay Per Click works because many users don’t find what they’re searching for on the first page of Google or Yahoo search results. That’s when they go clicking on those ads in the sidebar. If you can write compelling ad copy and a great landing page, you’ll see tremendous results. But beware: Google is making it more difficult to get cheaper clicks.

ACTION STEP: Create a landing page with a high-quality sales letter and setup a PPC campaign with Google Adwords. Test, tweak, test, and repeat.

4. Social Media Promotions
Social media marketing is definitely on the rise. It’s easily the most cutting-edge form of online marketing but – despite what some ‘experts’ might tell you – it’s really just another form of what we’ve already seen again and again… more content marketing! The only difference is now users are getting pickier about what they choose to see and what they don’t. This just means you have to leverage the right tools to get to your target market. And of course, you’ll need great content to do it.

ACTION STEP: If you don’t have a twitter account yet, you best get crackin’. Setup at www.Twitter.com and start tweeting about topics related to your niche. Then watch the followers start signing-up to read your tweets.

5. Email Marketing
Last but certainly not least, email marketing is the cornerstone of any content marketing system. Once you’ve pulled in an audience with your blog, reached out to them via article marketing, increased your traffic with PPC, and leveraged online communities with social media, it’s time to build that list and start reaching out to your customers with direct-email marketing.

ACTION STEP: Sign up with a service like Aweber to build an online email list. At first, your list will be hard to convert with few signups. But you can be sure the results will improve as the momentum builds and signups increase. Remember: direct marketing is a numbers game.

With the end of 2009 upon us, now is a good time to start thinking about your 2010 marketing plan. I would encourage anyone, regardless of your level of expertise, to begin making plans to put each of these five systems in place or to improve the communication between them for the coming year!

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Instead, let’s dig into taking your holiday season marketing plan into the online world to maximize your results. Although we’re already well underway, it’s definitely not too late to take action and rally your existing customer base for even more sales or to develop a web marketing strategy for acquiring even more customers during this period.

B2B v. B2C Holiday Internet Marketing

First, it’s important to note whether or not you’re marketing in a B2B (business-to-business) or a B2C (business-to-consumer) environment. Naturally, the holidays are much more about consumer purchases than business-building purchases but there are still very important details to note for B2B operations.

For the B2C marketing plan, your goal is simply to create the best offer for your customers as possible. Much of this will involve keeping tabs on your competition to see how your consumer base will compare your offers within the market. Your primary motivation is to obtain as much business from each customer as possible. This might sound obvious, but you should really think about the significance of this point. Many consumers are searching for a one-stop shop for their holiday needs. The more of this you can provide and the more of it you can portray in your marketing efforts, the better.

For the B2B marketing plan, your goal is much more about timing. Remember that offices close and many people take extended vacation periods during the holidays. In addition, many business operations go through a bit of a “slump” period as cold weather and that “holiday feeling” sets in. Your primary motivation is to encourage your customer base to take action during a period when they otherwise would not. You have to give these folks a reason to buy — tax benefits, huge discounts, next year benefits, etc.

Despite these two basic differences, I’m sure you’ll find that most of the action steps are essentially the same for B2B and B2C holiday web marketing.

Overcoming Holiday Spending Friction

I know you’ve heard it a thousand times, but let’s not forget that a down economy means a slow holiday season. Many people are going to be tight with their money this year, so this is the greatest friction you have to overcome in your marketing materials. This means offering lower prices, added benefits, bonus products, future credits, etc.

Amazon.com is doing a great job with this already.

Their “Black Friday Deals” page includes some of the best holiday web marketing copy I’ve seen so far:

“You shouldn’t have to stand in a long line to get a great deal. We’re searching for the best Black Friday deals everywhere–including deals other stores are planning–so we can meet or beat their prices and bring them to you even earlier. These limited-supply offers will go quickly but we’ll add new ones throughout the day, every day this week, so you can skip the long lines and still save a bundle.”

Two critical points are addressed very quickly in this online marketing example:

1. “You shouldn’t have to stand in a long line to get a great deal.”
It’s true, and this is the major benefit of shopping on the web. Amazon’s making it very clear that if you’re looking to save money (and who isn’t?) then their website is the place to be.

2. “We’re searching for the best Black Friday deals everywhere.”
Yes, that includes their competitors. Now you really have a one-stop shopping experience with the very best deals included. Everyone knows the most rewarding and yet the most frustrating thing about online shopping is the seemingly endless amount of options. Amazon takes care of this in just a few sentences of targeted copy.

How to Create a Holiday Marketing Plan

All right – let’s get into the nuts-and-bolts of how you can pull this off. In my opinion, you should build your online holiday marketing plan around two major goals: building your list and making more sales. And that’s it. Generally, we can achieve these two things simultaneously. Now here are the action steps:

1. Create Your Offer
To get started, you’ll need to develop a compelling offer that will really build excitement and attention within your market. You can do this by taking a look at what your competitors are doing, but I would suggest going with something unique and creative. Unless you have a proven holiday marketing system, it’s really important that your offer stands out from the crowd. Of course, you’ll also need to prepare an offer that will benefit you as much as your customer. If you’re prepared to take a loss in order to build your list for the coming year, that’s a win-win arrangement for sure.

2. Add Flair to Your Website
With your offer ready to go, it’s time to spice up that website so your existing customers will know it’s there and so you can be sure “window shoppers” are just as taken in as those already on your direct marketing list. Flair can include new graphics, fresh copy, etc. Just make sure your holiday marketing offer is clear and present to anyone who visits your site.

3. Broadcast the Offer
Now it’s time to open the floodgates. If you already have an email marketing list (and I hope you do), this is the very best place to begin. Send out a mass email to your subscriber base letting them know about the offer. This is another place to spend a lot of time developing the subject line and body text copy. Remember, consumers are inundated with advertising during this period so your offer needs to be incredibly compelling and the timing needs to be spot on. Also, you might consider creating a plan for continuing to reach out to your customers during this period. You definitely don’t want to reduce the size of your list by over-marketing, but don’t limit yourself to one quick “Black Friday” message.

Keep an eye on your marketing results throughout the season and take time just before the New Year to do some real measuring. This is a great time to make notes for next year’s holiday marketing Internet Marketing Strategy. And, of course, don’t forget to relax and enjoy the holiday season too!

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But since I seem to have the recurring fortune to participate in these types of conversations time and time again, I have decided to try and translate this world in the simplest terms possible for outsiders. So let’s get started.

What is Search Engine Marketing?

Search Engine Marketing is also known as SEM for short – one of the many acronyms you’ll encounter in this industry. In a nutshell, search marketing consists of anything you do to promote, advertise, or otherwise drive traffic to a website via search engines. Of course, when we think about search engines we tend to think Google, Yahoo, and now Bing. But truth be told, there are thousands of search engines lurking out on the web. By targeting the top three engines, you’re pretty likely to hit the majority of the market.

There are two primary methods of SEM: Search Engine Optimization and Pay Per Click Marketing. The reason for this is simple. There are also two primary components of most search engines. Those two components are “natural search results” and “paid search results.”

Natural search results dominate the left-hand side of the SERP (aka “Search Engine Results Page”). The PPC (“Pay Per Click” or “Paid Search) results show up on the right side. There are some slight variations to how natural search and paid search results appear, but this is pretty much how it works.

If you are marketing a website, you basically have two ways of capturing traffic from a search engine: 1) get your website in the natural search column, or 2) buy your way into the paid search results.

Beginning with Pay Per Click – PPC

Most Internet Marketing experts will argue that “natural search” is always better, but I beg to differ. In many cases, it may be *too difficult* to bother. So let’s begin by talking about the easiest and fastest way to get in to search engines — Pay Per Click Advertising.

PPC is quick and easy for getting started, though there is a learning curve. Google Adwords is the system you’ll most likely learn first as its the most powerful PPC environment. I’m not going to launch into some how-to guide on PPC here, but just know that the best thing you can do to get started is just to get started. There are many resources available on the web for doing your own PPC campaigns and there are many services available to manage your PPC for you.

Graduating to Natural Search – SEO

If you run with PPC for a good period of time, you will learn a lot about how search engines work and what kinds of keywords your customers are using to find your website. This is a great launching pad for getting started in Search Engine Optimization – definitely not the easiest form of Search Marketing, but almost always the most cost effective when you’re running campaigns long-term.

Again, SEO is about obtaining natural search rankings in that left-hand column on Google, Yahoo, Bing or any other search engine. These positions are highly coveted and, well, there are only a handful of spots available on that first page. Unfortunately, new businesses are coming to market every day so competing for these positions can be a major pain in the ass if you’re not patient and strategic.

Either way, no Search Marketing Plan is complete without some form of an SEO plan. Many SEO gurus will tell you to start by aiming for the “low hanging fruit.” This means targeting 3- and 4-word keyword phrases instead of 1- or 2-word phrases, which are now incredibly challenging to nail within a short timeframe. As with PPC, strategic methods for SEO are beyond the scope of this post, though these two articles will provide a nice introduction to a simple but effective method:

Article Marketing Part One
Article Marketing Part Two

Search Marketing Works

The most important thing to note here is that Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a very powerful tool for promoting your business. As a recent NY Times article put it: “Search advertising is probably the most effective form of marketing ever invented” – period. No matter how you get started and no matter how much of it you actually do, the most important thing is to start small and plan to learn big.

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All right, enough of the preface. Let’s get down to business.

Why Your Article Marketing Probably Doesn’t Work

Most people think about article writing and article distribution like this… “It’s easy. I’ll just write up about 300 words or so and submit it to a directory or two and watch the links and traffic roll in. Right?”

Wrong.

First, the major problem with this strategy is a great lack of consistency. If you really want article marketing to work – and I mean REALLY work – you have to work it. You have to be consistent and proactive. You have to make it a regular part of your marketing system. Otherwise, it will wither and die.

The vast majority of people looking to develop an article marketing strategy for their small business, blog, or other venture simply give up way too early and way too easily to ever see any real difference in their website performance.

I know this is the case because I’ve done it myself on a number of occasions. Fortunately for me, I did this very early in my web marketing career. Let me crack that case open and show you what happened and how I learned the power of content marketing.

My Article Marketing Case Study

Several years ago I created a website that today has turned into a very consistent Google Adsense money maker. Sorry folks, I’m not giving away the juiciest details here!

I developed the website around a highly specific niche, put up about 10 pages of content, and waited for the money to roll in. Of course, nothing happened. Around this time I was beginning to see how article directories might play a role in getting high-quality traffic to a website. Being very new to that scene, I started tinkering around with a few directories including EzineArticles.com, which I still celebrate today as the top directory around. Hands down.

And then what happened? Nothing.

Well, nothing at first. But slowly – and I’m talking about months of time here – the traffic started increasing and the Adsense revenue started building. I wasn’t going to get rich off this website, but that was never my intention. My intention was to learn about the psychology behind marketing content with content designed to push a web surfer into some form of a conversion.

I learned two important lessons:

Lesson #1 – Article Marketing Builds Residual But Long-Term Rewards
Since I didn’t market this particular website with any other strategy, I was able to measure the real effects of the article marketing over time. These effects included direct traffic from high-ranking directory listings on major search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing as well as slow building SEO benefits in the way of organic rankings for the actual pages on the website. Today, I have several three-word search phrases that pull up one of my submitted articles in the #1 slot and my website in the #2 slot.

Lesson #2 – Content Marketing Delivers High-Quality Leads Ready to Take Action
Unlike other forms of marketing like PPC or even social media tactics, article marketing does a much better job of delivering leads who really want to be on your website. Whether you’re promoting an affiliate product, pushing for Adsense clicks, or selling your own products and services, these folks trust your website by the time they arrive.

The Anatomy of an Article Marketing Campaign That Doesn’t Suck

So how do you avoid doing a crappy job with article marketing? For that answer, let’s look at the make-up of an article marketing campaign that works. Here are the elements that you should be absolutely certain are included in your process:

• Well-Written, Highly-Targeted Content

We all know content is king. But directory content is very different from blog posts and website pages. Directory articles should be general. You want to tease your readers, but you definitely don’t want to give it all away. Plus, your article needs to be optimized for the keyword phrase you’re targeting without sacrificing readability and spark.

• Powerful Resource Boxes

We all know how important the resource box is, and we all hear about it all of the time. But, frankly, most resource boxes I read out there are plain awful. Don’t forget how jaded web surfers are. Sometimes you have to tell them what to do to get them to take action. Don’t be afraid to use strong command language: “Click here now!” “Visit our website immediately!” “We have something really crazy to show you.” Or whatever works for your niche. GET THEM TO CLICK! That’s your top goal.

• Consistency and Trust

This is where most people really drop the ball. By consistency I mean doing it, doing it, and doing it some more. You simply have to give article marketing campaigns time to really impact your overall traffic and conversions performance. Commit to at least 3 months of regular submissions. Do 5 per week for 3 months and call me in the morning. You’ll see what I mean.

Trust is the final point and a very important one. Once a web surfer finds your content on an article directory and then decides to click through to your website, that individual has already made several moves — from search engine to article directory and finally to your website. The point is this: you better have something ready for them when they get there. If your resource box promises “more insider tips” or “a free download,” you better deliver on that promise or all trust is lost.

The strategies in this post are pretty straightforward. There are no secret potions or crazy gimmicks – it’s just straightforward business-to-consumer communications. Follow this simple formula, and I am confident your article marketing results won’t suck.

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But before I launch into the details of my affiliate marketing strategy, let’s explore the basics of CPA affiliate programs.

What is CPA Affiliate Marketing?

In a nutshell, Cost Per Action programs pay a commission to marketers who bring them leads. Generally this works by driving traffic to a website or squeeze page where potential new customers enter their information. The majority of these programs can be divided into several types:

*Zip Submit
*Email Submit
*Personal Information Submit
*Full Registration

I have ordered these from least to most difficult. As we all know, a request to reveal your zip code or email address creates less friction or resistance from online customers than a full registration requiring name, email, and additional information.

Of course, the more information required from a lead the more you will be paid as an affiliate. These payouts can range from $1.00 to $10.00 — with the higher end typically including insurance lead programs.

What are the Advantages of CPA Affiliate Programs?

The biggest advantage is simple: you are more likely to get paid. This can be a great incentive, especially for new affiliate marketers who want to see some quick-action rewards rather than waiting weeks or months before seeing even one sale. These early earnings can be very motivating for growing as an affiliate marketer.

In addition, CPA programs generally involve less work. A simple website with very basic article marketing or PPC campaigns can often generate great results.

What are the Disadvantages of CPA?

What usually drives newbies into affiliate marketing is the promise of having a reasonable share of the revenue from affiliate sales. Some affiliate programs can payout as much as $85 or even $100 per sale depending on the program and the niche. In the CPA world, payouts are usually much lower.

Other affiliate programs also might offer commission structures that reoccur throughout the life of the customer. If you switch to strictly CPA marketing, you will lose out on any long-term commissions.

My CPA Split-Test Case Study

I have been experimenting lately with one CPA program, for example, which pays $5.00 per lead for an online dating website network. Before using CPA with this particular company, I tried my hand at promoting their service using their standard affiliate payout-per-sale commission structure. The payout potential was quite high, but after nearly 2 months I was not seeing any results. Zero.

Then, several weeks ago, the company announced its new CPA affiliate program. I decided to perform split-tests on my affiliate website and within 24 hours I already had 2 payouts at $5.00 each.

Here are the final results from the test:
Impressions: 1033
Clicks: 33
New Leads: 2
Total Earned: $10.00

Here are the results from the standard commission program:
Impressions: 5354
Clicks: 193
Sales: 0

If you have an opportunity to perform a similar split-test with programs offering both CPA and standard affiliate sales commissions, you might consider taking a shot to see how it affects your program performance.

My CPA Marketing Strategy

In building CPA marketing websites, my goal is simply to drive traffic to my website and force the visitor to make a quick-decision — join the program or not.

Since payouts for my case study example are a mere $5.00 per lead, I am only using free traffic methods. As usual, I combine high quality off-site & on-site articles from professional article writers for higher conversions.

The strategy layout is as follows:

1. The website visitor reads an introductory article at an article directory.
(Pre-Sale Article Content)

2. The visitor then clicks through to my website to read more info.
(Sale “Closing” Article Content)

3. Finally, the visitor is compelled by the banner ads prominently displayed on the website.
(Final Conversion)

As I have found in many other affiliate marketing campaigns, article content functions on both the article directory and my website to position the potential CPA customer for completing the CPA form.

On my case study website, I am already receiving a steady flow of natural search traffic which is converting just as well.

Do CPA Programs Really Work?

The answer here is an obvious yes. Still, I think it really depends on these two primary factors: 1) your personal marketing strategy and 2) the type of niche market you’re targeting.

If you’re interested in getting started with affiliate marketing, I can recommend two excellent sources for great CPA programs:

Hydra Affiliate Network

Anastasia Affiliate Network

I have had success with both of these networks and can personally recommend them to you. Otherwise, many other marketers have found Commission Junction and many others quite good as well.

Regardless of which program you’re using, your objective should be to find the right program for you. Experimenting is the name of the game in affiliate marketing.

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