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By admin, September 17, 2009 9:00 pm

Are you new to making money writing articles? If you are, you will likely experience a few moments of embarrassment. These moments may leave you saying aloud “I can’t believe I did that.” Despite the fact that these are common moments that all writers have, there are a number of steps that you can take to reduce their frequency.

First and foremost, know what is expected of you before you apply for or accept a project from a paying client. There is nothing worse than writing a project only to find out that it needs to be saved as a Microsoft Word document, which you don’t have installed on your computer. Speaking of Microsoft Word, you should purchase it, as it is considered a great writing tool.

If you do use Microsoft Word to write and save your articles, rely on its spell check and grammar check programs. On that same note, do not rely on them too heavily. They are nice to use, but they aren’t always accurate, especially the grammar checker. When in doubt, go with what you know or what sounds best.

In keeping with Microsoft Word, be cautious of accidental clicks. Do not accidentally add misspelled words to the program. If you do so, they will not be recognized as errors anymore. For that reason, always take your time when correcting errors that you are alerted to. It can be embarrassing to submit articles that have a large number of spelling errors.

It is also important to be cautious of Word’s auto correct features. It is a nice feature to utilize, but the auto corrected word may not be what you needed. That is why proofreading is very important, even with all of the helpful tools that you are provided with. Although an error or two is not uncommon on occasion, proofreading can help to improve the quality of your articles.

If you are outsourcing your work to another writer, due to an illness, check that work for yourself. Proofread to make sure that there are no spelling or grammar errors. Next, make sure the content is unique. There is nothing worse and more career damaging than submitting articles that were copied from the internet. Never trust another individual’s word that they wrote quality or unique articles, verify for yourself. After all, your name is the one that will be attached to the work.

Another easy way to avoid embarrassment is to only accept projects on topics that you know about or ones that you don’t mind researching. Do not claim to be an expert on a subject that you know little to nothing about. Chances are, you will only be embarrassed when it comes time for your work to be reviewed. You may find the best luck writing articles on topics that you already know about. At the very least, make sure you have the proper amount of time to devote to researching unfamiliar subjects before accepting or applying for a project.

As a recap, we all have those “what was I thinking moments,” from time to time. No one, not even professional article writers are perfect. That doesn’t mean that you should just wait for your moment of embarrassment to arrive. By following the above mentioned steps, you shouldn’t have to deal with an awkward, uncomfortable, or a potentially career ending moment.

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By admin, September 17, 2009 2:29 am

Arguably the best and most exciting part of becoming an affiliate is receiving your payment for the very first time. After all, that check or deposit notification represents all those weeks (or even months) of hard work, tireless promotion and lead hunting on your part. Finally, there’s proof that your affiliate marketing efforts are beginning to pay off. To understand how the payment system of affiliate marketing program works, learn the basics of affiliate commission payment schedules.

Getting paid

Your earnings as an affiliate come in the form of commissions. This is a set percentage or portion of the total price of an affiliate product or service that you helped promote or sell. In many cases, it can also come from a portion of the monies generated through the efforts of downline members in your team.

The payment of commissions to affiliates is ruled by a schedule. This can vary from one affiliate program to the next, although a minimum amount and cut-off date are generally imposed.

If you’re wondering why affiliate programs do not automatically send you a check for every sales income you generate, it’s quite simple, actually. Affiliate programs need to maintain a standard when it comes to paying their affiliates to make sure that the process is seamless, glitch-free and fair to all. A program without a commission payment schedule risks becoming disorganized and erroneous.

Finding out the schedule of commission payments for your affiliate program
When you sign up as an affiliate for a program, it’s important that you check their FAQ section. Affiliate marketing programs often provide the most basic information about themselves on their website. Their FAQ section should clearly state the schedule of commission payments they have imposed for their affiliates.

If the information is unavailable, you can ask your sponsor (if you have one) or your affiliate program. The schedule of commission payments to affiliates is an important consideration when choosing an affiliate program. Do not sign up for an affiliate program without this information so you will be able to avoid disappointments later.

How often is the payment disbursed?

The schedule of commission payment varies, depending on the preference of the affiliate program. The affiliate pretty much doesn’t have any control over this matter. Schedule of disbursement can range from bi-monthly to monthly payments. Some, such as LinkShare, disburse commission payments on a weekly basis, a considerably shorter amount of time.

What methods are used for affiliate commission payments?

There are three methods generally used by affiliate programs. These include: electronic payment processing (such as PayPal), checks and wire transfer. The length of time it will take for your commission payment to reach you will depend on the transaction method.

If the payment is coursed through electronic payment systems, this will usually take as little as 24 hours. Checks (usually delivered via postage mail or courier) usually take from 3 to 7 business days ? longer if the affiliate is located in certain areas. Wire transfers take from 3 to about 6 business days.

Is there anything that will affect the schedule of affiliate commission payments?
Generally, the schedule of commission payments for affiliates are pretty much set. However, there are certain things that might cause delays. One of the most common is whether an affiliate’s earnings have reached the minimum amount.

Affiliate programs often impose a minimum earned amount per pay period ranging from $10 to $100. If an affiliate earns less than that, his current earnings will be carried over to the next pay period until such time that he will meet the minimum required. Only then will his payment be released.

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By admin, September 12, 2009 2:29 pm

…if you want to increase your sales, that is

The past few decades have bore witness to the internet being one of the best ways to earn money. Improved communication and safer money transfers make it easier for both the sellers and the buyers to indulge themselves in the act of buying online. Thus, the boom of Affiliate Marketing. The main reason why affiliate marketing has become so popular lies on the simple fact that all you have to do is apply for an affiliate program, pay for the program’s fees (if there are any), establish your pre-seller site, and write away. Simple, isn’t it?

Not quite. A number of affiliate marketers do not witness success (or any sales at all) because of the part where they “write away.” Writing for your affiliate marketing site does not require the skills of a Pulitzer Prize winner, but those of a smart affiliate marketer. Your articles need to have certain qualities that would utilize online resources best, and, of course, turn prospects into closed sales. This article brings you five types of articles your affiliate marketing site should have, if you want to increase your sales (which I know you do!).

REVIEWS

People want information. Small is the probability of having a person enter your site and establishing a sale the first time around. They probably didn’t even notice the “sales pitches” you have placed all over your site in the first place-the main thing that must have been going through their minds is that they need the product, and fast! Generally, people hate hard core sales pitches.

They want to know more about the product. So give your prospects what they want. Give them honest and sincere information on your affiliate marketing site in the form of reviews. Be honest with your reviews. Place any cons that might come in buying the product. And since this is an affiliate marketing program, market your product as well. Do so in a way that “promotes” the product and not “sell” it.

BENEFITS

Prospects want to know the features of a product the first time they get around to wanting to buy it. If the features of your products are to their liking, they would want to know more about the products. Let them know more of the benefits, instead of features, that come in buying your product. Your product is not the only one in the market, and it probably has other competition out there that have as good, or even better, features than the one you’re selling. But if you can provide your prospects with more benefits than the competition can, the more likely will these register as sales increase.

COMPARE

If you are confident of your product’s ability to sell in the market, do product comparisons. Also, do so in the fairest way possible. Do not highlight all the cons of the competition while highlighting your own product’s benefits. Highlight the benefits of the other product, then compare in such a way that your product comes out on top. Be smart in selecting which benefits of the competitor’s product you are going to highlight.

If the competitor’s product has qualities that yours can’t beat, then opt to ‘overlook’ that quality, and focus instead on the other product’s benefits which your product can beat. Make sure sales come your way, and not the competitor’s.

TESTIMONIALS

Your prospects need to know that real people are using your products. Find people who can attest to the benefits of your products in the real word. You might want to keep the contact information from previous sales. It would be good if your previous customers can provide you with photos of themselves, alongside the products if possible. Once you can convince your prospects that your products are good enough for real people, your sales have nothing else to do but increase.

NEWS BRIEFS

Keep your affiliate marketing site fresh with news briefs. You might want to include promos, developments, and previously unknown information regarding the product (such as “studies show that this product (benefits of the product)” or “Top Marketing groups regard this product as one of the most revolutionary products of the 21st century”). Keep your news briefs concise-do not bombard it with too much information. If you happen to have a dozen new information regarding your product, post them on your affiliate marketing site as a week’s worth of news briefs.

These types of articles can be used all at once, or in a combination. Choose what best works for your affiliate marketing program, or product, and you can be on your way to claim sales commissions that just keep on increasing.