Colorado just killed thousands of small businesses whose revenues are based on affiliate sales. They follow on the tail 3 other states with similar laws in place already, and 14 more states nipping at their heels. Here’s why, whether you are an affiliate, or you run an affiliate program, you need to know how this rabid pack of looters can do serious damage to your business, maybe even kill it all together.

Amazon first to fight back . . .

Read the entire article HERE

It’s the time of year when many people take a moment to write what are typically called “New Year’s Resolutions.” Unfortunately, shortly after they’re written… they’re often put aside and forgotten.

What if you wrote four or five workable ‘resolutions’ for YOUR business and then implemented them? How would that change the way YOUR business works? I’m betting that the mere fact that you were seriously “doing something effective” would make a huge difference anyway…

So, what will YOUR resolutions be? Getting more Leads? Getting more Traffic to your website? How about converting more traffic into sales? Or how about a HOT product to sell? Maybe one you don’t have to “pack and ship?”

My goal here is to get you thinking. Thinking about YOUR business and ramping it up so that you can be profitable in the coming year(s). The best tips I can offer you are not some huge revelations that have not been shared before… so take hope! Like me… who had heard these things for a long time before I finally “got it” and began implementing what works!

So, What Works??? … you ask. In my mind… lots of traffic to a page that converts is at the top of the list! And just HOW do you get lots of traffic? There are many ways and your choice may depend upon your finances… so we’ll discuss some of them here and YOU choose.

For those who are challenged financially… there’s always FREE traffic from Traffic Exchanges. You simply join a Traffic Exchange, post your page(s) to be displayed to visitors to the exchange, and then you click through the pages the exchange shows you… and IN EXCHANGE (thus the term – Traffic Exchange) for doing that… the exchange shows YOUR page to the other members. I find it helpful to join a number of exchanges and promote my page(s) on all of them. Then I surf a group of them at once (described as tabbed browsing) and gain a much wider viewership and exposure to my page. The use of Splash Pages that display QUICKLY is most important for much success on these Traffic Exchanges. Make sure to capture a name and email address and having a timely “Giveaway” to make it worth your page visitor’s while to give you their information.

If you want to know WHAT Traffic Exchanges to use… There are two lists that I always look at to see where I should be surfing and those lists are at Traffic Hoopla and Affiliate Funnel. These two lists update weekly and you’ll find both of them posted on my Top Traffic Exchanges page. This page is updated regularly so you can BOOKMARK that page and see in an instant how your favorite Traffic Exchange is ranked today!

Another great way to get TRAFFIC to your web pages is through blogging. If your website is hosted by a company that gives you a CPanel to manage your server space, “One Click” of your mouse will set up a WordPress Blog for you in just a few minutes. Of course you can spent time and money “fancying up” a blog but that is NOT necessary. What IS necessary is for you to make regular posts about what YOU do and what you’re promoting online. If it’s pills and potions… write some short posts about the latest one, how to get it, what it’s purpose is and how YOU benefit from it. Keep in mind the new FTC regulations and don’t say anything that would get you in trouble. If you have any doubts… there are LOTS of sources for legal counsel and I am not on that list! But get some solid advice and in plain language… don’t lie, don’t stretch the truth… and medical claims are a quick way to trouble.

Maybe my choice of examples was not the best… but everyone today MUST begin being TOTALLY honest and truthful in their advertising. Often, you’ll find that “less is more” in cases where you would wonder if you should say something… or not!

All That Said… blogging is picked up instantly by the search engines. Bold your Key Words. Hyper-link one or two of them to your main web page. Then, post your article. Double click the title of your article and then copy the LONG URL you see in your browser bar. Now, go to http://bit.ly and shorten your link at bit.ly. Take your shortened link and “Tweet” it on Twitter to your following.

What, you don’t have a Twitter Account? Shame on you! (my opinion…) You have 140 characters in which to make a short plea and then share your bit.ly link.

So how does all this work???

1. You Tweet the short link.

2. Your followers read the Tweet and click your link.

3. If you’ve posted an interesting article, they’ll see the bolded keywords and hopefully click them…

4. That takes them to your page and if your offer is good and your “FREEBIE” is attractive enough… they’ll want it enough to give you their name and email address for it!

5. If you have an Autoresponder Account (I use AWeber.com) your form will do all that Double Opt-In stuff that makes your lead capture legal and then your autoresponder series of at least seven to ten messages can “Tell & Sell” them on the virtues of your product and why they should buy it!

Wow… I had no idea that I had so much to share about this subject and I’m just getting warmed up. If you’ll check back in a few days, I promise to post a few more tips on how you can get MORE FREE Traffic to your website and hopefully create more conversions.

Until then,

Best of the Season and Happy New Year!

Daveylee

Thanks for following along on our list of GREEN tips for waste watching.

If you have been reluctant to switch to more “green” ways of doing things… please be aware that there is more to being “green” than the environmental thing… It’s a real way to leave more “green” in YOUR pockets!

That’s right, thinking and acting “green” can actually save YOU money and help save the environment and natural resources for everybody.

Continuing on our list of great ways to save…

#7. Reuse Holiday Ribbon. As it said in the last tip on Christmas Eve… there is enough ribbon used each year to wrap once around planet earth!

#8. Buy rechargeable batteries. According to the EPA… about 40% of the sales of batteries in the USA happen during the holidays. If you buy non-rechargeable… dispose of them correctly when you use them up!

#9. Select gifts that don’t create waste or require a lot of packing. Gift cards without fees are a great option… or theater tickets, game tickets, dinner gift certificates and the like.

#10. When you finish with this year’s Christmas cards, put them away to cut up and use for decorations or gift tags.

Best wishes for a Happy New Year,

Daveylee

It is the season for giving and being “green” for the environment!

In this series of tips, please take a moment to consider where what you’re throwing away will eventually wind up… or what your doing consumes how much of the non-renewable resources of our country…

#3. As much as possible… avoid buying cards and envelopes with embossed or metallic paper. They use more resources and they’re not recyclable!

#4. When you’re outside or inside stringing those lights… make sure they’re LED lamps! Typically, LEDs are exceptionally energy efficient and use as much as 90% LESS energy than incandescent lamps.

#5. When you go shopping, bring your own bags. That cuts down on waste that goes to the dump!

#6. And speaking of re-using things… you can always put gifts in “gift bags” or decorated boxes that can be re-used over and over again… thus again keeping trash out of the dump! It’s especially important to keep ribbons and bows to reuse. According to an article in the Washington Post, if every family reused just two feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet.

Stay tuned for more tips in the next issue of our blog.

Daveylee