How to hide affiliate links

In the previous post we looked at the problems caused by exposing affiliate links. In this post I give you 4 methods to hide your long and often complex affiliate link with a short link.

1. URL shortening service

A URL shorting service takes in a long URL and gives you a short URL. bit.ly and tinyurl are examples of URL shortening services. Using a URL shortening service is quick and easy. URL shortening is ideal to share affiliate links on social networking sites such as Twitter and FaceBook.

2. Use 301 redirect in .htaccess file

301 redirect provides a way to specify that URL A has been permanently redirected to URL B. In our case URL A is the short user friendly URL and URL B is the long affiliate link. To create a 301 redirect edit the .htaccess file (which can be found in the root directory of your website) and add the following line of code.

redirect 301 ebook http://VeryLongAndComplexAffilateURL.com

Assuming your domain name is techthinker.com, the above redirect will allow you to access the affiliate URL using the short URL http://techthinker.com/ebook

3. Using a php jump script

Add the following code into a file called products.php and save the file in your website’s root directory

<?php
if ($item==”ebook1”) {$link=”http://VeryLongAndComplexAffilateURL.com/ebook1.pdf”;}

if ($item==”ebook2”) {$link=”http://VeryLongAndComplexAffilateURL.com/ebook2.pdf”;}

header (“Location: $link”);
exit();

?>

Assuming your domain name is techthinker.com,

http://techthinker.com/products.php?item=ebook1 is used to access affiliate link for ebook1 and

http://techthinker.com/products.php?item=ebook2 is used to access affiliate link for ebook2

 

4. Using a WordPress plug-in

If you are a non technical personal and would like to hide your affiliate links in your WordPress blog then you should consider installing a plug-in to redirect your short URL to the long affiliate URL.

GoCodes is one such plug-in that allows you to easily specify source and target links using a user friendly web interface. GoCodes allows you to track the number of times the affiliate link has been accessed. This plug-in also allows you to specify the nofollow attribute for your link redirection.

 

Do you know any other ways to hide an affiliate link? Please share them in this page.

Benefits of hiding your affiliate links

More and more bloggers and Internet Marketers are now venturing into affiliate marketing. If you promote affiliate products and services in your blog it is a good idea to conceal the affiliate links from your readers.

Exposing your affiliate links can cause you the following problems:

  • Affiliate links are usually long and ugly! Some people do not have trust in such long and complex links. Therefore, it’s a good idea to hide the long affiliate link with a short user friendly link.
  • Affiliate links may expose private information such as Login IDs causing a security concern.
  • Readers are sometimes reluctant to buy from affiliate links, because, they feel they are paying a higher price.
  • If an affiliate link changes, you have to make the change in all the pages where the link was used. This creates a maintenance nightmare.
  • Displaying affiliate links increase the possibility of link hijacking where someone tries to substitute your affiliate id with theirs and steal your commissions.

So it is very import to conceal your affiliate links behind a short link that is more user friendly.

In the next post I will provide you with 4 different methods to hide your affiliate links. So stay tuned.

Best Training Programs for Bloggers and Internet Marketers

As a Blogger or Internet Marketer you may be interested in upgrading your skills by following a paid training program or joining a paid forum. The Internet is flooded with countless training courses and choosing the right program can be tricky.

In this post I present to you the best paid training options for Bloggers and Internet Marketers. Each program is more suitable for a specific group of people (with different skill levels).

As and when I discover a great training program, I will add the program details to this page. So please check this page for new updates.

1. 31 DBBB Workbook

The workbook that makes you to take Action and Succeed!

31_days_to_build_a_better_blog

31 Days to Build a Better Blog (31 DBBB) is a workbook created by professional blogger Darren Rowse. Back in 2009, Darren ran a 31 day challenge at his blog problogger.net. The idea behind this challenge was very simple. Each day Darren would teach you a topic and also give you an activity forcing you to learn more about that topic. The reader response for this program was phenomenal. Over 13,000 people participated in the challenge. Due to the immense success of the program Darren decided to create a workbook based on the program. The outcome is a 94 page workbook that provides you with precise steps on how to improve your blog in 31 days (doing 31 different types of improvements to your blog).

Each day’s activity in this book is independent of the other. You can learn each topic and do the requested activity in your own phase. This book is great if you do not have the time to sit and read through an entire book. It is also great for people who like to learn new things one piece at a time and for people who like to learn in a random or ad hoc fashion. Each chapter in this book also contains valuable links to materials from other Bloggers and Internet Marketers.

31 DBBB is must have companion if you are serious about growing your blog. The workbook appeals to both novice and advanced bloggers. Novice users will learn the basics of creating a successful blog while advanced users will find practical ways to over come bloggers block and experiment with new methods that they haven’t tried in the past.

Remember that over 13000 bloggers participated in the challenge program and this book contains the best ideas and concepts that came from the challenge program. Darren has done all the hard work for us in compiling the workbook. All you need to do is to buy this book and follow each activity on your own phase.

Training Type: Workbook

Price: $19.95

Skill Level: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced 

2. Online Profits

The most comprehensive training program for new and upcoming Internet Entrepreneurs

online_profits_training

Online Profits is a very comprehensive training program for folks who are new or upcoming Internet Marketers. The program is conducted by top Internet Marketer and Blogger Daniel Socco of DailyBlogTips.com.

Online Profits covers A-Z of Internet Marketing. The program is only offered once a year and is limited to 300 members only. Members get free access to extensive teaching materials and free resources (such as WordPress themes and SEO tools etc). The teaching material is provided in mixture of text, video and audio formats. Registrations for the year of 2010 starts on 18 January 2010. The registration will be only available for 5 days or until the number of students enrolled reaches 300.

The course fee is $98 per month. The program runs for 4 months. The total cost of the program is $392. If you pay the full fee for the program in a single instalment you will get lifetime access to the program.

For more details on Online Profits read my post titled Treat Yourself with a New Year’s Gift. Join the Online Profits Training Program!

Training Type: Online Members Only Course

Price: $98 x 4 months

Skills Level: Beginner, Intermediate

3. Beyond Blogging

Learn from 15 world class Bloggers and Internet marketers

beyond_blogging3

Interviews and case studies are great way to learn. This is why both of these techniques are extensively used in MBA programs.

The Beyond Blogging book uses both interviews and case studies to teach you how professional bloggers and Internet Marketers are making money online. The Beyond Blogging eBook was created by top bloggers Mike CJ and Nathan Hangen. The authors use case studies and interviews with world famous bloggers to show how you too can become a successful blogger. Instead of just rehashing the interviews the authors show you how to apply the lessons learned from the interviews for your own success. This information is provided in the section titled “The six figure blogging blueprint” which sums up all the lessons learned from the interviews and case studies.

 

professional_bloggers

 

The book is filled with 200 pages of information giving you insightful details on the secrets for success. The professional bloggers featured in this blog includes Gary Vaynerchuk, Chris Brogan, Chris Garrett, David Risley, Penelope Trunk, Chris Guillebeau, Brian Clark, Shama Kabani, Darren Rowse, John Chow, iJustine, Jonathan Fields, Steve Pavlina, Michael Dunlop, and Pete Cashmore.

If you are the kind of person who wants to learn through real world experiences then this book is right for you.

Training Type: eBook

Price:  $47

Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced

4. Blog Masters Club

blog_masters_club

Blog Masters Club is premium training program by no nonsense blogger David Risley. David is an A-list Blogger and Internet Marketer. He is very energizing and is a very hands-on type of person who loves to achieve goals by taking real action!

David’s argument is that bloggers and Internet Marketers fail to understand each other and combining these traits one can be highly successful.

Blog Masters Club is private limited members only program. Teaching resources are provided in Audio, Video and Text formats to suit your learning style. The program also has a forum that allows you to interact with David and fellow students to get your questions and doubts answered.

The training program is comprised of 16 Modules. Topics covered in these modules include:

  1. How to increase the production of your blog and manage time effectively and efficiently
  2. Picking the right market
  3. Manipulating and tweaking WordPress for your needs
  4. The art of persuasion and compelling your users to take action
  5. Leveraging the power of social media to make more money
  6. Driving traffic to your blog
  7. Search Engine Optimization
  8. The art of creating effective videos for and drive traffic to your blog
  9. How to monetize your blog
  10. How to build a business around your blog
  11. Email list building
  12. Creating joint ventures in your market
  13. Creating recurring revenue streams
  14. How to outsource

This course is ideal for people who know the basics of blogging and Internet Marketing. If you do not have the very basic knowledge of blogging then Online Profits is a good choice.

Training Type: Members only online course

Price: $97 * 6 months

Skill Level: Intermediate, Advanced

 

Watch this space for more training programs as and when they become available!

To Your Success

Aaron

Treat Yourself with a New Year’s Gift. Join the Online Profits Training Program!

online_profits

Making money online from the comfort of your home is a dream for many and a reality for a few. Daniel Scocco is one of those few. Daniel is a top notch blogger and an Internet Entrepreneur who makes his living from his blogs and websites. One of Daniel’s blogs Daily Blog Tips is ranked among best 100 marketing blogs in the world!

Now Daniel is offering his skills and knowledge to you through his training program called Online Profits.

I am personally able to recommend this training since I undertook the same program last year and found it to be extremely useful. The unique aspect about this program is it teaches you A to Z of Internet Marketing and how to make money online. The program is very comprehensive and easy to follow. It is hard to find a single training program that covers all the skills you need to succeed as an Online Entrepreneur. Topics covered in this training program includes Online Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing, Online Communities, Social Media, Affiliate Marketing and Web Design to name a few.

The course materials for this training program has been compiled in consultation with experts from different fields and specialization. This gives the course contents enough breadth and depth. For a list of all the experts and their specializations visit the Online Profits website.

The Online Profits training program has a forum where you can interact with Daniel and fellow students. Daniel pays individual attention to each and every student. He is always prompt in replying to all of your questions and doubts. Daniel has a very good ability to explain complex things in a simple fashion. The forum really enriches the whole learning experience.

The new year brings a fresh chapter in our lives, it gives you the opportunity and momentum to learn something new that could positively change your life forever.

The Online Profits program is open for registration on January 18. The gates to this training program will be open for 5 days only, and the enrolment period will end on January 22. After this enrolment period the program closes its doors. You will not get another opportunity to enroll in this program until next year (January 2011). I hope you’ll make use of this unique opportunity.

To Your Success

Aaron

Marketing Lessons Learned from the H1N1 Flu Vaccine

I live in the province of Ontario (in Canada). A month ago the province started to rollout the vaccination program for the H1N1 flu. At this time Canada did not have adequate supplies  of the vaccine. As a result the vaccine was only provided to people who fell in the High Risk Group category. The High Risk Group category included children under the age of 5, people with underlying medical conditions, pregnant women and seniors. When the vaccination program started there weren’t too many clinics. Only a handful of clinics operated in the Toronto area. During this time the demand for the vaccine was very high. People were standing in mile length queues to get their jabs.

A month later in December the situation changed. Canada now has more than enough vaccine for its entire population and the vaccine is now available to anyone who wants it.  There are many clinics in the city to administer the vaccine and the wait time for the shot is almost none! But, to the disappointment of health authorities suddenly there was no demand for the vaccine at all. Only 30% of Canadian chose to get vaccinated even though the H1N1 bug is still alive.

The following story teaches us important marketing principles:

1. Scarcity of resources creates high demand

Scarcity of resources always create high demand. This is why limited time offers works well in selling products and services. When resources are limited buyers feel a sense of urgency. This sense of urgency influence their buying decisions. Once the federal government had enough vaccine to cover all Canadians the sense of urgency went away in many people.

2. Herd Mentality

We humans operate like a herd of cattle. Many time we make a decision not because it works for us but because others are doing it! When people saw mile length queues for the vaccine, they joined the queues as well. 

3. Habits and Perceptions are hard to change

People who haven’t taken a flu shot in the past may have been reluctant to take the H1N1 vaccine. Because they never had the habit of taking flu vaccines and many of them had the perception that the vaccine could result in side effects. It is really hard to convince this group of people due to their habits. This might explain why only 30% of the population chose to get vaccinated. 

4. Fear of being left out

One way to change the habit is to invoke the fear factor. During the fall season when there were many deaths in the province due to H1N1 and when the media was covering these stories a lot of people were desperate to get the vaccine. During this time people were not concerned about the side effects of the vaccine. Because the fear of death from the flu outweighed the concerns of taking a newly developed vaccine.

The above 4 lessons can be applied in marketing to promote and sell products and services.

What do you think? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.

Are you talking to your audience at the right wave length?

wave_lenght

If you are a new and upcoming Online Entrepreneur who wants to make your mark in your niche, I am sure you are already feeling the pressure of competition. Nowadays for little as $20 and with some basic Internet skills anyone can venture into Online Projects. The Internet is flooded with Online Entrepreneurs with many great ideas and projects.

So the question is how to beat the competition and make yourself get heard? The primary way to achieve this is by adding value to your audience by talking to them at the right wave length.

What do I mean by wave length? For example, let us assume that you are in the business of educating people on how to create websites and blogs. This is a pretty big niche and your prospective audience will have varying levels of skills. One way to build a good audience is to speak to a specific group of people instead of talking to all of them. In our example, it could be non technical people with very limited computer skills or seniors who may have difficulties grasping computer concepts. Another group of audience might be people with limited skills in English. Another group could be people who already know a lot about websites and blogs and want to get into advanced topics. Remember, these folks want to learn the same thing, but their skills and knowledge varies.

It is important to speak to your audience at the right wave length. A novice reader can leave you if you suddenly start talking complex issues and an experienced user may leave you if you started churning out very basic content. It is ok to gradually increase (or decrease)  your wave length. But if you are talking to your audience with fluctuating wave lengths, it will be hard to retain any audience. You will not satisfy anyone! So speak to your audience at a consistent wave length so that they can tune into your message.

Are you talking to your readers with a consistent wave length? Love to hear your comments and thoughts.

Photo credit: Robert in Toronto’s photostream

Preventing irrelevant Google Ads from showing up on your web page

If you do not want to show specific Google ads from your blog you could use the “Competitive Ad Filter” that can be used to block ads from specific URLs. For example, you could specify to block ads from example.com or blog.example.com.

While this feature is handy it may cause problems if you have multiple sites. For example, in my blog (TechThinker.com) I would like to see Google ads related to the topic of blogging. But in my wife’s new blog I do not want to see any Google ads related to blogging. My wife’s blog is called “BabyTipsBlog” and on the front page of this blog Google ads relating to the topic of blogging are displayed. I think this is happening because the word “blog” is part of the domain name as well as the blog name.

If I try to block blogging related ads from my wife’s blog (using the Competitive Ads Filter) I will end up blocking these ads on my blog as well because both the blogs share the same Adsense publisher Id.

From the above example, you can see that using the Competitive Ad Filter could cause conflicts if you have multiple websites or blogs.

The remedy to the above problem is to use section targeting. Using section targeting you can specify which sections in your page should be given importance by Google. You can also specify which sections should be ignored.

Here’s a code snippet that shows you how to use section targeted Google ads.

<html>
<head>

</head>
<body>

<!– google_ad_section_start –>
Adsense will consider this ection to be very important.
<!– google_ad_section_end –>

<!– google_ad_section_start(weight=ignore) –>
Adsense will ignore this section.
<!– google_ad_section_end –>

</body>
</html>

Using section targeting you can show more relevant ads on your webpage. Showing relevant ads will naturally increase your click through rate resulting in higher revenue.

How to choose a good tagline for your website

Image Source: Cle0patra’s Photostream

Introduction

Taglines and advertising slogans have become integral part of our lives. We see them every day on television, billboards and even on coffee cups. Good taglines get imprinted in our memory either consciously or unconsciously, influencing our buying decisions about a product or a service in the future. A good tagline can succinctly describe your websites’ purpose to a new user in a matter of seconds. In this article I present a 5 step process for choosing a good tagline for your website.

1. Define your mission

The first step in creating a tagline is to know the main purpose of your website. This step might sound too obvious and simple. But in reality many website owners do not have a clearly defined mission statement. Having a mission statement is extremely important because it gives your website a sense of direction. Unlike a tagline, that is short and simple, a mission statement can be more descriptive. The mission statement lays the foundation and scope for your tagline. But, beware many people make the mistake of purely depending on the mission statement to create a tagline. The problem with this approach is that your tagline might end up becoming organization centric as opposed to audience centric. For example, your mission might be to become the most leading website in your industry. If you choose a tagline purely based on this mission, you might end up with a tagline like “The number 1 music store”. This is an example of a very poor tagline, because it only says what you want to be, it does not say anything about your website and how it can benefit your audience.

2. Know your audience

The second step is to find out what majority of your readers want. The main focus in this step is to find out what kind of feelings that should be invoked in your audience’s mind. It is important to note that you can not satisfy all. So you have to pick the main group of audience whom you want to satisfy. What would you like this group of audience to think about your website?

3. Decide on your story

In this step we connect our website mission with the needs of our audience using an effective and original story. Deciding on the kind of story your want to tell is the most critical part in choosing a good tagline. A story is a strong message that differentiates you from the rest of the pack. An authentic and original message fulfills the aspirations of your audience and is received well by your audience, who in turn are willing to spread the message on your behalf. To illustrate this point, let me take the following example:

“Live to Tell About It”

Spot Satellite Messenger is an electronic device that can transmit your location to friends and family during a distress or an emergency. These devices are now getting popular among trekkers and hikers who are at risk of getting lost in the wilderness. The Spot tagline paints a compelling story in the minds of its potential customers, their families and friends. The story is something like this:

“Going out alone in the wilderness is dangerous. If you get trapped or lost you can eventually die. But with the SPOT messenger in hand you have no worries. You can continue to enjoy what you do and still have a peace of mind. You can survive to tell your experiences to your loved ones. Get a spot messenger today!”.

This is the beauty of taglines. A few words are enough to seed a compelling case in the minds of the audience. Good taglines capture the entire story in a small phrase.

4. Brainstorm

Once you have decided on your story, you can begin to brain storm possible taglines. During the brain storming session you choose keywords that best describe your website and your target audience. You will mix and match words to come up with a tagline that concisely coveys the message, without any confusion. It is often said that you need to be clear in choosing your tagline rather than trying to be clever. Look at the tagline of your competitors to get some ideas. But make sure that you clearly differentiate your website from your competitors. The brain storming session is best done as a small group of people.

5. Final Touches

Try to keep it simple. If your tagline has too many words your audience can easily forget it. Don’t use slang or puns. Do not make your tagline vague. Check your tagline with folks who have no or little knowledge about your website. This way you can make sure that the story that you are trying to sell is well understood by a new user of your website. Create a list of potential taglines and choose the one that is considered to be the best by the group. Make sure the tagline is not used elsewhere in order to avoid any legal issues.

Your new website is not bad as you think

Taking your website to new heights

A message of hope for those who are late in the game

Many people running a relatively new website or blog are not satisfied because they are not getting the expected outcome from their websites. Many new websites fail because they are trying to mimic the leading websites in their industry. Webmasters of new sites compare their websites with top ranking sites. They try to catch up with these sites in terms of functionality and features. Naturally they feel unhappy about their performance. By constantly comparing their sites to leading websites, these site owners are loosing their focus from real opportunities that are available.

Unique Offering

Many new website owners feel they are too late in the game. They often complain saying something like “I should have created this website 3 years before”. They feel that their website is less popular because they came to the scene in the last minute. Being the first does give a website a competitive advantage but, this advantage does not remain forever. If first is the best, the Sony Walkman would be the most popular personal audio player in the world, Netscape would have the largest browser market share and Yahoo would be the most used search engine in the world. But what is the reality today? Apple’s iPod is dominating the personal media player market, Internet Explorer and Firefox have killed Netscape and Google is every one’s favorite search engine. So what can we learn from these late comers who changed the game. These new comers did not try to copy what the leaders in their field did (with the exception of Internet Explorer:) ). Instead they offered solutions that are fundamentally different and much easier to use. Therefore in order to bring your new website to the top, you have to offer something that is unique and useful. Do not try to blindly follow what other sites do, make your offering unique.

Ability to Leapfrog

If you are late in the game there are reasons for you to be still happy, because you have tremendous ability to leapfrog. You know what works best, because you can learn from the successes and failures of the leaders in your field. You can make better decisions on choosing the right technologies for your website. Because you are the new kid in the block you are adapting the latest and greatest technologies straightaway! The adaptation of mobile phones technologies in developing countries is a good example of leapfrogging.

Ability to Adapt and Serve Better

A newer smaller website, due to its size has a great ability to adapt and change. Mistakes can be easily rectified. As your website grows it becomes harder to manage. Reverting changes and fixing mistakes become very costly. So as a small website owner you have the unique ability to change and adapt easily. Since small websites have fewer users they can provide better personalized services to their customers.

It’s a Matter of Time

Finally remember that most of the leading websites on the Internet did not become popular over night. They became popular over a long period of time. The same applies to your website, do not expect any miracles to happen in the short term.

So be positive and stay focused, make a unique offering to your customers and one day you will hit the high roads!

Photo Credit: Fort Photo’s Photostream