AffiliateRadio.com – Guest Speaker (Michael Smith)
This morning, Michael Smith (the founding contributor of Meta Fever) was a featured guest on Keith Baxter’s AffiliateRadio.com podcast. If you haven’t listened because you’re were too busy making money, or just didn’t know about it, that’s ok…I’ve summarized some of the key points Michael & Keith spoke about, as well as tips & ticks these two gurus were kind enough to share…
New FTC Rules & Regulations – Many affiliate marketers are still in the dark about the disclaimers bloggers are required use when receiving compensation for reviewing products. As Michael stated, all of this stemmed from deceptive tactics the Acai Berry programs, teeth whitening, Make Money with Google and online dating sites have used (and are still using) to drive sales. I’m sure you’ve ran across dating sites and because they know you’re IP address is based out of “Your City, USA.” they entice you to hook up with singles geared toward your area. Most of us know this is false advertising, but obviously they wouldn’t be doing it if it didn’t work.
Michael used the example of Sony giving bloggers a free notebook for writing a product review…even though a small time publisher shouldn’t have to worry about the “men in black” (FTC) paying them a visit, you must still provide a disclaimer saying you received compensation for the review…whether it’s monetary or a product give away.
I did a little more research on this topic and it seems like the FTC is more concerned about bloggers who are receiving frequent compensation from a company for reviewing their product. For instance, if “Joe” receives a notebook from Sony and writes a review…even if Sony sends it free of charge, this does not directly constitute as an endorsement. It all depends on the frequency of this action. I’m sure we’ll have a follow up post on this subject, so I won’t dive into all of the details now. However, Michael & Keith were sure to point out…any online company (affiliate or program owner) running a high volume campaign (over 1k sales/ day) should expect a visit from the FTC to make sure you’re abiding by these guidelines.
You can check out the complete FTC report here.
Early Success Online: If you’re an online marketing pioneer like the gentlemen in the podcast I’m sure you have your own success stories. Michael made mention of his early experiments with Bravenet’s CPM affiliate program while leveraging it with the early Geocites websites. When asked about how a newbie should decide on a chosen niche, two important points were brought out:
1.) For example, if the affiliate is wanting to market for USA licensed pharmacies, some decide to shoot for the moon and go after saturated markets and keywords such as “buy viagra.” This is not always the best choice because the barriers of entry and success are going to be much larger.
2.) Targeting a niche market was recommended as one of the best ways for an affiliate to have quicker and continued success online. One example was an e-book written about building chicken coups. Even though Viagra may provide a larger audience and marketplace…the subject of building chicken coups will guarantee less competition and a more targeted customer.
Creating Content & Backlinks: To help all levels of marketers achieve success, whether in competitive or niche markets, an in depth conversation took off about SEO and some best practices of the industry. We’ve all heard “seo gurus” say the most important things in optimizing for search engines are: a.) content, and, b.) backlinks.
Michael was sure to point out, “if content really is king, than why isn’t the primary focus geared towards providing original and quality content?” This unanswered question is what gave birth to the LinkWheel.net service: the development of link wheels using web 2.0 properties and original content…every single article is produced by a human and each web 2.0 property is created using a unique IP to keep them from being deleted. The benefit to this product is not just the ability to drive quality backlinks to your site, but the cost effectiveness of it as well…a marketer can start receiving backlinks for as little as $65.
The premise of this service is to not only provide a complete and durable SEO package…as Michael mentioned, most people who are new to online marketing have a desired income level of $100/day ($3,000/month.) This covers the basic expenses for an average family…car payment, mortgage & daily living. This helps them achieve it without breaking the bank.
Also, some examples were given on the effectiveness of the LinkWheel service. Since the content is original and of good quality, sometimes the web 2.0 properties created for the backlinks outrank the client’s site. This may make some people unhappy, but it’s a good example showing the power of the link wheel. To avoid this, the subject of getting ranked for long-tail keyword phrases came up and it was strongly endorsed by both Michael & Keith. This also creates multiple traffic streams so you won’t compete with yourself.
And finally, some talk about the backbone of their respective operations took place. Keith stated it was his military background that drove him towards created SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures) for his employees…and replacing the “stay at home mom’s” he hired with outsourced workers who don’t think too much and are willing to follow a one-through-ten. This was followed by Michael speaking about the custom training videos he created to educate each employee before they can start creating link wheels.
To really get a grip on what was said, I don’t think this synopsis does it justice. Please go back and listen to the podcast in it’s entirety….especially if you’re new to online marketing. The best advice of this 30-minute conversation was given by Michael at the end. In a nutshell: don’t just pursue online sales & marketing for the money…do something that matters and take time away for the people and things you really care about in life.
Again, to listen to the entire conversation, you can do so here.
