Some of My Major Affiliate Marketing Headache Is Solved

There are lots of good sources that can tell you a great deal about how to establish an affiliate marketing business.  Unfortunately, it is much harder to find someone to do the actual difficult work for you.  Well, I may not have found a long hidden source of free labor, but I have discovered what I think is the next best thing.

I do affiliate marketing, although I also sell my own information products and physical products.  I use websites and blogs for all of my online business activities.  I am a firm supporter–make that “enthusiast”–of SEO for traffic generation, but that is a long term process; good search results take time to build.  In some cases, I have used PPC for affiliate products with success, but more often I am lucky to break even. 

Consequently, like many in affiliate marketing, increasing traffic at a reasonable cost is one of my most vexing challenges.  Especially difficult are those times when I have to pass on a new affiliate opportunity because none of my websites are optimized to bring in targeted traffic for the product, so I face the age old question:  How do I get the visitors to the vendor’s site with my embedded affiliate link?

My approach to directing traffic to the vendor’s site is just like many other affiliate marketers, I bring the visitors to my own site initially for an introduction to the product or, perhaps a comparison of competing products.  I hope they’ll click the link that will take them to the spot where they might actually buy the product that will earn me my pittance.  I have always wished that I could cut out part of the middle of that process.

I use content syndication for all of my sites.  I employ that strategy primarily for its SEO value but also for the direct visitors that are sent my way.  However, especially for an affiliate marketer, there are two major problems with traditional article marketing.  The first of those problems is that the top tier directories that publish and distribute articles do not allow links within the body of the article, contextual linking.  Instead the links stand alone in a section that they call the author’s resource box, but which screams, “Commercial!” to our readers.  The second big problem, maybe the biggest of all, is that the top ranking article directories all refuse to permit affiliate links even in those little boxes.

Finally, there is an article distribution service that solves those two problems and allows direct linking using our affiliate links which can be placed contextually within the article.  It’s called My Article Network–and, yes, once you are a member, you can join its affiliate program.

My Article Network is like a consortium for article marketers and content publishers.  (The link goes to some specific information about My Article Network on one of my sites.) 

It would be wise for me to let the sales page of My Article Network speak for itself.  I have been a member of the system for less than seven weeks, and I am definitely ready to proselytize!  In fact, I even set up four new niche blogs to make use of the free content that my colleagues provide.  {(Go ahead.  Click the link, you know you want to.)(Do it!  You know you want to click the link.  Come on…don’t you think I deserve it?}