Kelli's update:
Trying to learn how to use Commission Junction, Share-a-Sale, and some other affiliate marketing networks has been overwhelming but educational. I can definitely see how the marketing side is coming into play now and everything that goes with it - regarding tracking reports, what’s going to work in terms of size of ad on the site, links or both as well as page placement.
Oh, there was one problem I was having when trying to insert an affiliate link; no matter what I did, it kept coming up showing the image and not the link. After banging my head for what seemed like forever, I realized that for that particular product, there was no link available, only and ad image to click on. Don’t ask me why it took me so long to figure that one out!
Here's something I want to share with you - this past weekend I tried signing up with LinkShare and something kind of scary happened - it told me my Social Security Number was already being used. I submitted a support ticket on it and they emailed me saying to call on Monday to start a fraud check on it.
First thing Monday morning, I called LinkShare and my number was sure enough being used. Thankfully, because the account hadn’t paid out any money as of yet, I was able to get it dissolved easily and an investigation is going to ensue. Apparently a sneaky ex was trying to use my number, something I found out he did with a previous ex of his. Anyway, I automatically thought of him when I got the message from LinkShare, and my gut feeling was correct.
Let me think, what else did I do this past week – Oh yes, I tinkered around with the header of my web site and put something a tad bit better than my previous stock header. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, my daughter was going to design some things for me. She did come up with a couple great logos and designs, but unfortunately until graphic design-inept me can figure out how to get it on there, it will be on the back burner.
My week also had me revisiting keyword research and refining it a bit more. As I become more in tune with the way I want my site to be, and narrowing down even further the market I want to specifically target, it has been helpful. More things are beginning to click for me during my learning process!
I’m glad that I printed out and placed in a binder the Affiliate Marketing Schoolbook because it has been so handy for me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve referred back to it, the earmarked pages the course has, all my side notes on the pages, as well as referring to the additional affiliate marketing resources Laura has listed at the end of the book.
Well, my site has finally been “indexed” in Google - Hooray! Well only the home page, but that’s a start anyway. Laura told me that when I attain a few more backlinks to various pages, I should begin to see other internal pages being indexed as well. On that note, that means I will begin to do some article marketing and setting up a Squidoo Lens page as well - something I should’ve done already, but haven’t.
It’s also time for me to add my signature to a couple forums I registered with a while back by adding my keyword anchor text as a link. And I need to be brave and make some useful comments on other blogs too. I finally set up a Google Alert for keywords that Laura mentioned to do way back in Lesson 40 but for some reason I never got around to it. This way when anyone posts on a blog with the keyword I have set up, I can add a comment to it if I’ve found the post engaging one way or another.
Until next week…
Kelli
Laura's comments:
Scary about the Social Security number. Good thing she caught it early!
I'm glad things are starting to "click" for Kelli. Sometimes it doesn't happen until you get almost all the way through the course because that's when you get to see how everything works together!
So let me take this opportunity to tell other students that if you feel like you're not "getting it," just keep plugging along and finish the assignments. Once you've got everything in place, even if you're not sure you did it right or if you don't understand why you were told to do something a certain way, you'll start to see how the process works. Then you can tweak from there. If you feel like the light bulb over your head has not come on yet, don't feel bad! It comes on at different times for everyone.
I'm anxious to see how Kelli's off-site SEO endeavors affect the ranking of her site. If she can procure a few more backlinks it will really help get those other pages indexed and get her more traffic.
Here's something I'm not sure whether Kelli is aware of yet: Her site is ranking #4 in Yahoo for the keyword "fight cellulite" and #6 for "how to fight cellulite"!
I LOVE my “job.” Affiliate marketing takes work, but it doesn’t feel like work.
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