There are some things that annoy me about budding affiliate marketers! Before you shoot me down, I understand how difficult it can be to make money online, especially when you are buying into one system after another and each one promises to make you rich in record time, and in the process, emptied your pocket of some more of your hard earned money.

It can be hard, and knowing who to follow or what system teaches the best marketing methods that are both ethical and profitable can be a mined field. I understand that through desperation it can be tempting to take short cuts, but if you do any of the following, please stop!

Here they are and in no particular order.

1. DM (Direct Message) on Twitter

Okay, Twitter is a great communication tool but please do not send me a DM with a link to the latest affiliate product you are promoting. I really don’t need help to ‘explode my profits’ or ‘build a massive list’. You see, if you are promoting a product in such a way then the product isn’t working that well for you. Think about it, I got a DM telling me about a sneaky new program that will help me dominate Google. So why is this person sending me a message on Twitter instead of doing as the product promised, and flooding the search engines with his money making content?

2. Instant Message on Facebook

This is just as bad as the Twitter DM. I love to chat with people on Facebook and build worthwhile connections but please don’t pop up in the instant chat with a link to the ‘latest opportunity’ that I may be interested in. If this is your first contact with me then why not start out with a ‘hi, how are you doing?’ As for your product, I’m NOT interested, sorry! The MLM crowd are just as bad when they are ‘seeking leaders’ to promote a ‘new and innovative’ product in England. I’m happy with what I’m doing right now and promoting ‘health products’ or ‘recruiting an army’ of marketers who will ‘promote the products under me and make me rich’ just doesn’t work for me… I’ll leave this one here.

3. Email Marketing

Okay, you’ve just bought the latest must-have product that is going to make you a lot of money but please, test the product before you try to sell it to me. I am on a lot of Internet marketers lists, some are personal friends, others are people I follow in the industry and then there are those that were a part of my ‘early Internet marketing days’ when every one had the magic key to success (or a great squeeze page ). I get lots of products for free, due to beta invites or joint venture deals and it takes hard work to be fortunate enough to get into this position; building relationships the correct way is one of the best ways to get the invites and the offers.

Another thing that is annoying me of late is the level rigidity that people follow a new ‘trick that will increase conversions’. Example, nearly every affiliate marketer is sending out emails with RE: or FW: in the subject line as this is meant to increase open rates. This makes sense, my close family and friends send me emails with RE: or FW: so why wouldn’t it work for affiliate marketers too. Well, here is where it doesn’t work, when every single email you now send out has RE: or FW: at the beginning. You are now diluting the effectiveness of this ‘proven and powerful’ technique that was guaranteed to boost your conversion rates. Bottom line, do not overdo it (this applies to any marketing method).

4. Pre-Written Marketing Materials.

I have been guilty of this one myself in the past but I wouldn’t dream of doing it today! Why? Cause now I know better. Some affiliate programs have pre-written emails already for you to copy-and-paste into your auto-responder but that doesn’t mean you should just grab the email and send it out to your list.

I get the same promotion from hundred of marketers each and every time a new product is launched. The marketing message that always stands out are those that are original. The guys and gals that have taken the time to compose their own original message for their subscribers; try to be one of these.

While I’m discussing this I may as well also say that just because a guy makes lots of money with PPC and then makes a product teaching you how to do the same, this doesn’t now make him someone who is an awesome copywriter. Sending out emails that are not written with your personal flare may even harm your relationship with your list as the tone will be different to your own.

5. Joint Venture Email Swaps

Joint ventures and email swaps can be a great way of growing a list and making money in the process but please do not ask me to promote a product to my list of subscribers that is not your own. I will NOT send an email with your affiliate link in promoting someone else’s product when I can simply sign-up for that affiliate program for myself. This just doesn’t make sense.

Now I’ve told you what not to do, I want share with you what you should be doing. You should be a member of Opportunity.com because then you will have access to a wealth of affiliate marketing training and resources that ‘can’t fail to make you more knowledgeable about making money online as an affiliate marketer, the correct way!

To your success,

Karl Foxley

photo credit: nromagna

Sorry, I need to have a bit of a rant! I love Facebook and I have made lots of connections on the site beyond my immediate family, friends and business contacts.

Here is the reason for my rant, I had a friend request from someone who will remain nameless. I should have known better when the profile picture was of an e-book and the attached message was about ‘a new amazing system that will NOT fail to make me money’.

I gave them the benefit of the doubt and added them to my contacts. I get a few contact requests every day and I generally add everyone because I am happy to network and make connections with new people. You can connect with me on Facebook here. Some people don’t share this view and limit who they make new connections with but this really is a personal choice.

Now, as soon as the person had been added to my contacts they popped up with the same message and a link for ‘a new amazing system that will NOT fail to make me money’.

Okay, I was bored, so I visited the link, looked in the source code which revealed what I had expected; he was using a domain to mask his clickbank affiliate link (you can find out how to do that here).

I mentioned this to him and suggested Facebook is better used as a way of making connections and not for this type of marketing (well, it’s actually spamming as no right-minded marketer would market in such a way). What made me laugh was when he replied ‘just purchase through my link’.

I tried a bit more to educate the individual but to no avail. He then went from having a discussion with me to sending me an inbox message on Facebook with the link again.

I have now removed this person from my contacts, sorry but they had to go.

I have to question whether this guy would go up to random people in the street and say ‘go here, buy this and make money’. He just wouldn’t (I’d like to think!) so why do it on Facebook.

The best way to use Facebook is the same way you would make connections in the real world, your new connections will thank you for it and so will your reputation!

I would love to write an amazing article about ‘Facebook Etiquette‘ and how best to make lasting connections but I was beaten to the post by the following article and I recommend you give it a good read.

Etiquette pitfalls in the social web of wannabe friends

Rant over! Tomorrow I’ll provide you with the usual on topic information you’ve grown accustomed to receiving from me…

To your success,

Karl Foxley

You can connect with me on the MyBlogLog network by visiting here.

Head on over to the MyBlogLog website and use your Yahoo ID to login, it’s okay if you don’t have one as they are free and only takes a few minutes to set-up.

Follow the instructions to register your website and also make sure you connect all of your social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. Now, whatever you do will be updated in real time on the MyBlogLog site for people to see.

You can also add a cool ‘recent visitors‘ widget to your blog and see who has, erm, recently visited. This is also handy when you visit blogs with the widget in place as your picture will appear on their blog along with your blog information (as long as you are logged into MyBlogLog).

When you register your blog come back here and join my community. You should also see your photo on the Foxley Marketing Solutions MyBlogLog widget.

Another great feature of MyBlogLog is the stats area. MyBlogLog will record where your readers came from (refering site etc), what they viewed on your blog and what your readers clicked on.

Right, I’ve said enough, get your blog on the MyBlogLog website and start increasing your blog traffic and exposure.

To your success,

Karl Foxley

P.s. For those of you that would like a video series showing you how to use MyBlogLog as a traffic generation tool (plus many other video series to boot) then visit Daves Online Videos. To gain access to the website you’ll have to pay a low monthly subscription but you can watch as many videos as you like and cancel before the month is out to stop any further payments. Dave has so many quality videos that you’ll probably want to be a member for some time to come.

Make sure you grab your URL for your name by logging into your account and heading to the following URL: http://www.facebook.com/username/.

If you want to connect on either Twitter or Facebook, or even both, then just use my links above and send me a message.

To your success,

Karl Foxley

P.s. The URL’s are lovingly called ‘vanity URLs’.