Newbie that doesn't know where to start!

[SeanLogn]

Ok so I have some problems! I am new to affiliate marketing and I don't know where to start. I am signed up for blogger, clickbank, articlebase and squidoo. I also have a amazon account. Anyways I feel like I am lost and can't make a solid plan. I have to many thoughts about where to start.

Thanks in advance,
Sean

 

[djbaxter]

Welcome to 5 Star Forums, Sean.

The best place to start is with the sticky threads here: Newbie Affiliate Forum - 5 Star Affiliate Marketing Forums.

 

[SeanLogn]

Thanks minstrel. I have already read these threads and got some ideas from them! But my biggest problem is I have so many ideas I jump from here to there. I have started to make a blog about xbox 360 help. And have written some articles for article base. But I keep getting ideas and start on a different project. I need to figure out a plan.

Here are some ideas I have.

-make a blog about a specific niche
- put it on google and try to get it ranked higher up (having troubles with this)
-write articles about the given topic and link to my blog / clickbank link. ( if possible i would like to know some good places to submit articles)
- I also have a webs account so create a little website about the topic.

Any feedback on this plan would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Laura61]

Hi Sean, welcome to 5 Star. You're right, focus is necessary; it's good you recognize your need for it.

When you say you're jumping from idea to idea, do you mean just settling on a niche? Or are you talking about trying to decide which type of affiliate marketing route to pursue?

If it's just a matter of choosing a niche, such as the xbox 360 help, do some thorough keyword research to find out if there is too much competition to realistically do well in it - same with any niche you're considering. There needs to be a reasonably high level of searches and a reasonably low level of competition.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Sean,

You've gotten some great suggestions from the 5 Star team.

Here is what I strongly suggest. I say STRONGLY because I know how easy it is to get distracted online with new ideas.

For your FIRST niche you need to pick a GOOD one that does not have too much competition. AFTER you learn what you are doing you can do whatever you want. But to get started pick your best one and STICK to it!

Read these 2 important threads in the Niche Marketing forum and go through the recommended steps.

How to Pick Your 1st Niche - Go through the exercise in 7 Steps To Choose A Niche For Your Blog

How to do Niche Keyword Research

I promise you if you stop and really go through these exercises and thoroughly research and pick a niche - then STICK to it until you start to get some traffic and sales before you move onto a new idea - you'll have better success than if you jump all over the place.

If you have questions along the way - start a NEW thread in the newbie forum or the niche forum (if it's niche related). Don't post them here in your intro because this is just for intros not so much for questions.

 

[SeanLogn]

Oops I thought this was in the newbie help area. Sorry about that lol. If its possible can you move it? Thanks

 

[djbaxter]

It was. My fault. It seemed more like an intro thread so I moved it. I'll move it back now.

 

[EmpyreRam]

Ok so I have some problems! I am new to affiliate marketing and I don't know where to start. I am signed up for blogger, clickbank, articlebase and squidoo. I also have a amazon account. Anyways I feel like I am lost and can't make a solid plan. I have to many thoughts about where to start.

Thanks in advance,
Sean

if u have started with blogger and squidoo, then u must start with article marketing and making your blog niche specific for targeted audience

 

[AliceandMosee]

Many ideas are a great thing, it's the hard work implementation that is no fun First stay active in communities such as this one (but don't become a forum addict like me!), also remember to ask for help. Best of luck dude

 

[cutequotes]

seo always works for affiliate marketing but it takes time, even 6 months to see results

 

[mekap04]

I was in your position once and get there from time to time. Have a niche and something done here and there but no solid plan. Here is what I do. Take my niche and find some keywords that get decent traffic and have low competition. They have already suggested some threads that cover this. I forgot one step though before keyword research which is market research. You say your niche is ps3 help so I would visit forums and sites about ps3, ps3 guides, etc to see what people in this market are wanting. Then I do keyword research based on what I have gathered from my market research. During your keyword research, make sure to find some long tailed keywords which you can base your articles around.

Then after that, I set up my plan. I take my keywords and turn them into articles or sites. For long tailed keywords, I do articles and/or articles or blog posts on my blog. I will start an article marketing campaign and have a plan for traffic generation and link building for the sites/articles I want to rank in the search engines. Doing all this will put you to work. There are a lot more things I do or that you can do to keep you busy and put a plan into place. It helps to just write down what you want to accomplish and how you can accomplish it on a piece of paper. Jot down all the tasks you need to get done and just go through them without distractions.

Some routes of marketing that you can get into include article marketing, forum marketing, email marketing, and seo.

 

[ConnorBringas]

You definitely do sound lost. I advise you to choose your niche then research it in depth. Find blogs, forums, etc explaining your niche. What are other people doing to make money in this area of work? Look at there backlinks..how did they get to be number one on google? Once you can answer these 2 questions and more you come up with you can figure out a game plan.

 

[dogpatch]

I totally understand how you feel lost and that you're not sure where to start. I was in your shoes a couple of years ago and it did not take long for me to feel like giving up. My determination to succeed kept me pushing on and today I feel much more secure. My biggest advice to you now, is don't give up.

Blogging about your product is the best way to get advertising that can convert to sales. The Blogger site is the best one to me, because it is easy to learn. When you are ready to make a blog, it is important to include some reasons that your product would be useful to your readers.

There are also many forums that you can join, like this one, where members are happy to help newbies with specific questions.

I hope this information helps you. My best advice to you is to start your blog and join some forums, but don't let it all overwhelm you. As times goes on, things start to make more sense and sometimes it's like a light bulb comes on.

 

[emarketschool]

I also suggest finding a micro niche within a niche you feel you relate to (the more targeted you are, the more chances you have to succeed in Google). It is also important to do something that interest you, so when you're putting the hours in front of the computer you'll have the motivation to keep going.
I'm now an affiliate manager, but when I tried becoming an affiliate myself I chose the finance industry which I knew well, but didn't interest me at all.. so it was hard for me to keep up and write blog posts and really relate with my readers.

 

[jasonhawk]

Ok, I'm just going to say READ and Re-Read what the team have suggested so far.

I'll add to it by recommending you download the free trial of Marker Samurai for niche research and you might want to check out this years 30 Day Challenge run by Ed Dale and Dan Raine... they will give you a very thorough step by step approach that you can use for your own purposes.