AMS Case Study: Week 1

Hello Everyone,

First I would like to thank Laura, my new mentor/teacher (and quite possibly your future teacher too) for choosing me; and I would like to thank everyone who voted for me as well! Also, to my fellow contestants - please don't give up on your dreams and stay positive!

So, are you ready to follow along in my journey into learning the ins and outs of becoming an affiliate marketer from beginning to finish? Hopefully you answered yes, and as you witness my progress (and future success) throughout the upcoming months - you'll say hmmm - I can do this too!

It all begins with the click of the download button for the SkipTheScams.com/Affiliate Marketing Schoolbook. My children are gathered around me for the unveiling to which they exclaim in unison - 270 pages!, along with a - wow Mom, "ch-yeah" - you have fun with that. I gleefully respond to with - oh I will!

Okay, so the first lesson begins with a rather enjoyable overview of what Affiliate Marketing is - her concepts are clear, concise and she even interjects some humor into it; which right there you know that the course is not going to be a boring read. Additionally, Laura doesn't overwhelm you right off the bat which I think is nice, and as a beginner it's appreciated.

Laura also suggests print out the course (which I've already done), and place into a binder for ease of reference. For one, let's face it, sometimes staring at the computer screen reading continuously (especially if you're doing this late at night) can be straining on the eyes. And if say you're like me and have a gazillion windows open at one time, sometimes it's easier having it on your lap or next to you when you're doing for example, your keyword research. In the Affiliate Marketing Schoolbook lessons, I like that she has you pause and suggests you complete a "homework assignment" before continuing on. In Lesson 1's assignment you brainstorm on an a sheet titled "Niche Brainstorming", where you list the things you enjoy, like to do or have experience with, etc.

As I seriously brainstorm to find my niche, it seems a daunting task at first. There are many things I like to do and enjoy, but that doesn't necessarily mean I want to write about it or create a website/blog about it. For example, I enjoy drinking coffee and think of myself as a connoisseur of sorts, but do I really want to research about coffee, write about coffee, pre-sell coffee? - Is there even a decent affiliate market for coffee? - On second thought - maybe, well on third thought, nah - snoozeville (at least for me). Anyway, I brainstormed away for some potential niches and there were tons, which I'll have to narrow down even more - but I'll get there (it's still early!).

Lesson 2 goes into "Planning Your Site" and talked about keywords and keyword research (the key to getting people to your site); more specifically - long-tail keywords, which interested me. When I'm researching, sometimes I type in a lot of words (even full on sentences) in the Google search bar because I like getting really specific information; and as I learned in the Affiliate Marketing Schoolbook, this ties in with long-tail keywords! Pretty cool!

Next, "Evaluate Your Competition, part 1" in Lesson 3 had me "checking out the competition." Even though I don't have a total handle on my niche yet, I took my top 5 and began the exercises Laura provided and made some decisions on the keywords I'm going to target. This actually led me to whittling away at my niche topics and narrowing it down to my two contenders.

As I look ahead in the course, I appreciate her lessons give very specific examples that you can practice and implement. Laura truly teaches steps by step skills to become an affiliate marketer.

Until next week.....
- Kelli

Laura's comments:

We can probably all identify with Kelli's thought process as she tries to decide on a niche. She makes an excellent point that just because you love something doesn't mean you would necessarily enjoy writing about it. However, your list should include even seemingly minor ideas that occur to you (like coffee) because you never know. You should write all your ideas down, even if you think they're foolish.

I often type almost full sentences into Google as Kelli does when I know what I'm looking for, so it makes sense that others who use long-tail keywords to search (even if they're blissfully unaware that that's what they're called) are closer to a buying decision than those who use more general keywords with fewer qualifiers.

I'm looking forward to hearing what niche Kelli settles on and seeing her really get the ball rolling. Thanks, Kelli, for allowing us to hover over your shoulder! We'll try not to crowd you. Too much.

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