Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

Using Free Blog Themes To Spice Up Your Blog Design

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

It used to be that if you wanted a professional looking site you had to pay big bucks to get a designer to do it. These days all you need to do is a quick Wordpress installation and you’re well on your way to a site that looks like it took thousands of dollars to design. Finding free themes is the fastest way to give your blog the makeover it deserves.
 
You might be wondering why people would give away themes for free in the first place. The main reason is because they often include a link to their website in the footer of the theme.

This is great for them because they get tons of relevant links to their site from people who install their blogging theme. You can benefit from this because the link is hardly noticeable, and you get the the design for free!
 
There are many different free blog themes out there so it can be hard to decide which one to go with. The first thing you should do is a search in Google for “your niche WP theme”. If there is a theme out there that is a match you’ll likely run across it that way.
 
If you’re very stuck and just can’t find a good theme you can search through the database they have at Wordpress.org. That site allows you to sort by color, style, and many other criteria as well.
 
Hopefully you will have found a great theme that you can put to use right away. If you can’t seem to find that one perfect one — don’t get too hung up! It’s very easy to change the theme down the road. All you need to do is upload the theme folder that you download from the Internet to the wp-content area under themes. Then, you’ll activate the theme in your wp-admin area, and you’re done designing!
 
While you can certainly choose any theme you prefer, there are some things you should keep in mind when choosing your theme. The first is to make sure your background is white. There are successful sites out there that have a dark background, but studies have shown that people can read darker colors on top of white better than they can the other way around. Always keep your reader at the top of your mind.
 
You also need to carefully consider how many sidebars you’re going to choose. This is very important as some sidebars will allow for better ad positioning than others. Test different ones and see what you like!
 
If you can’t find anything you like, browse through other blogs. You’re bound to see something that interests you. When you choose one you can scroll to the very bottom to see which theme they are using. The free themes usually have the name present. You can follow the link through to download it yourself and you’re done!
 
Using free blog themes is a great, instant, way to make sure your blog has a professional design your visitors will love. Get inspired today!
 

How To Choose Top Converting Affiliate Programs For Your Blog

Monday, April 20th, 2009

Many people have had the issue where they choose some affiliate products to promote, only to find that the traffic is there but the sales aren’t. There is nothing more frustrating! The best way to prevent this from happening in the future is to make sure you are choosing the right affiliate products from the start.

It can feel like you need to be psychic to figure this out. Luckily, there are many tools at your disposal — no special powers needed! These tools are also free, and can help you immensely when it comes to choosing profitable affiliate products.

The first thing you need to do is some market research. Search around on the Internet to find where people in your niche hang out. The chances are good that you’ll find a forum or message board, You can read through these posts to see what kind of product these people would be most interested in.

You see, some markets are better suited to digital products. Other markets are much more attuned with physical products. This is very important for you to know so you always choose the right kind of product.

You can take this a step further by “spying” on your competition. If there is a major blog in your niche you should go look through it. Figure out what they are promoting and how they are doing it. You can’t be sure, but the chances are good that if they are established and highly ranked they have done a lot of market research themselves. You can simply use this data to help you figure out what the best fit for your site will be. Remember, a product that is not targeted will make far less sales (if any) than one that is targeted.

After you’ve decided exactly what kind of affiliate product to promote you can start to look into the specific product or affiliate network. Many of the networks will give you some kind of data that you can use to figure out if it’s an offer that sells (look at present and historical data). It is important to remember there are many variables that go into these numbers, so use them as a guideline.

Once you think you’ve chosen a good product you should look at their sales page or website.

The site should:

- Have well-written copy
- Have symbols of trust (verification signs, trusted company logos, etc.)
- Include a Phone number (increases trust)
- Have few distractions (increases conversions)

The site you link to can truly either make or break you! Even if you’ve done a good job of pre-selling the product (described below), the customer will ultimately make her decision based on the sales page and whether or not she things it’s a good offer.

Last but not least, you need to do a good job of pre-selling the product. That means letting your visitors know that this is a great product for them by either showcasing banners on your site, writing a review about it, etc. In order to learn how to write a good presell, you should consider learning the basics of good copywriting.

When you put all these pieces together you’ll have a much easier time making great affiliate sales on your blog!  In the next article, I’ll talk to you about using free blog themes to spice up your design!
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