Lets face it – if you’re in the affiliate marketing game there are only a few ways to get visitors to your site.  PPC or any derivative of paying to get people to visit your site, or the old method of creating content.  Lots, and lots and lots of content.

Content is, and always will be king.  If you’re not reading the news, then you probably missed the fact that Yahoo just recently purchased Associated Content.  Just what is Associated Content?  AC is a content site where low-cost freelance writers make a living from the ads.  The site generates 16 million unique monthly page views – that’s a lot of eyeballs and Yahoo just bought them.  Don’t you think Yahoo has enough content already?

Mo and I have about a dozen or two great aged domains just sitting around.  About three or four months ago we started putting these aged domains to use.  We got some cheap hosting, and put up a WordPress blog on one site, added all the plugins we needed, a way to automatically post articles, videos and Amazon products (with our affiliate link in them, of course).  We basically created a duplicatable site and multiplied that site about 20 times for 20 different niches.

Initially the site traffic was low – around 100 or 200 visitors per day (within the first 1-2 months).  Then we upped the ante by adding more frequent posts – we went from posting one to three articles every day to about 1 article every 2-3 hours.  The number of visitors went from a maximum of 200 to over 700 in a matter of weeks.  Now for all intent and purposes these are not managed or maintained blogs – other than to ensure that they run.  We’ve bombarded the sites with keyword links to Amazon products.  No other advertising on them right now.  The niches are tightly focused so the traffic that comes to the site is looking for exactly what we’re offering.

Now I’m rich, so don’t really need the money and these sites are not making me that rich – but for about 1 hours worth of work to set-up each site and each site is getting over 700 visitors per day and generating more than enough – I hate to kiss and tell but roughly $300 – $500 per site.  Sure that’s not a heck of a lot but with 20 sites… well, hopefully you get the picture.

By autoposting to the blogs every few hours we more than tripled traffic to the site.  And it continues to work.

Now here’s a little more of what we’ve done.

Each of these blogs has managed to get a Google PageRank of 2, 3 or 4.  So we were able to get stuff like TextLinkAds on about 50-60% of the sites.  This only generates $50 to $100 per month, but not bad for not doing anything.

We never thought of using OIO Publisher on the sites (we have a license) and only thought of this when someone offered us $100 per month for a 125×125 button on the sidebar.  We did one better and offered them a 468×60 banner on every post.  He was happy and has decided to pre-pay for one year.  Again just pocket change.  But in this manner we’ve taken one blog from $0 to well over $500 through affiliate sales + TextLinkAds + private advertising.

Now you should be able to duplicate what we’ve done and make what we’re doing, if not more if you’re more focused than we are.

- Robert

… the guy with the purple mohawk has absolutely nothing to do with this post.  I just liked the picture and no, it’s not me or Mo.

Technorati Tags: content is king, explode your affiliate earnings, gurus suck, how to make money on the internet, making money on the internet

One of my favorite sites is The University Kid (http://www.theuniversitykid.com) – this “kid” has some great idea, but most of all he IS NOT scared to try something new.

Some of us ‘older folks’ are more cautious and only try something that is tried and true – but you know what, you can not make money that way.  Just doesn’t work – you really have to think outside of the box.

My wife and I are trying VERY hard with our son to put the entreprenurial spirit in him – and it is slowly working.  When he is done playing some of his WII games or DS games, rather than leave them in a drawer he asks if we can try and sell them to buy other games…

I actually had commented on one of his posts, and as I was writing the comment I thought it would make a good post – so here is the comment, modified to fit as a post.

If you want to read the post – simply visit the site and read the post http://theuniversitykid.com/whats-up-with-me/

I recently sold some saris on Craigslist for 3x what I paid for them.  One of my family members doubted it could be done, and why would anyone pay so much if they could get it for less.  It comes down to convenience.  I bought something well designed, good material AND I did all the leg work.  The people that bought them didn’t have to do anything.

I purchased them for around $500 and sold them for $1500.  They will be used to decorate walls in their loft.

Over the last few months, I’ve made a lot of spare change doing just this.  Here is an idea for all of you out there – toys.  I recently bought about 50 sets of some toys from Wal-Mart for CHEAP (around $10.00 each) – however what I did not know is that another LARGE toy company discontinued this and cleared them out around $60.00.  I ended up selling all these sets for about $40.00 a set and people were screaming for more!

I frequently check out WM and other retailers for discounts and if it “feels right” will buy them and sell the stuff off.

I am not getting rich doing this, but the more I do it – the more trends I see, and my eye becomes sharper for the right thing to buy.

I bought some Star Wars figures – actually they were keychains.  They were selling retail around $20 and they were being discounted and discontinued for $10.  I picked up about 10 sets and sold them for $50.  I went back to the store about 3 weeks later, and they had cleared them out for $5 – I got 50% of my money back.  People were willing to pay MORE than they were worth retail!  One mans garbage is another mans treasure or something like that…

I’ve also got their store policies on my side; I have 90-days (in most cases) to sell the stuff.  If I can’t – I return it only to find that sometimes the price is halved again and I can now afford to keep it and try one more time.

Also if you can get a dept. store card, go for it!  Many dept. stores will extend to 90-days (if not longer) your return period if you use their card.  There is no risk to you – pay it off in 30-days.  If you can’t sell the stuff – return it, although there is a credit on your account; they will promptly send you a refund cheque if you ask for it.

Thinking out of the box is what helps you get ahead – stay cooped up inside the box and you stagnate and end up a zombie.

Technorati Tags: how to make money on the internet, make money on the internet, selling on craigslist

Here is a short list of 18 Ways That You Can Start Making Money On The Internet.

1. How to Make Money Online with Affiliate Programs and Is Affiliate Marketing Reliable?
2. How to Make Money Online with eBooks
3. How to Make Money Online with Your Own Niche Directory
4. How to Make Money Online Selling Stock Photos
5. How to Make Money Online Interviewing Experts
6. How to Make Money Online with a Classified Advertising Site
7. How to Make Money Online with a Local Real Estate Portal
8. How to Make Money Online Creating Your Own Software
9. How to Make Money Online with Telesminars & Webinars
10. How to Make Money Online with Audio eCourses
11. How to Make Money Online with Video eCourses
12. How to Make Money Online as a Coach or Consultant
13. How to Make Money Online with a Content Site
14. How to Make Money Online as a Virtual Assistant
15. How to Make Money Online a Local Online Mall
16. How to Make Money Online with a Social Networking Site
17. How to Make Money Online Providing Helpdesk Support
18. How to Make Money Online with Your Own Membership Site

This is only a teaser for you.  We will be going into each of these items in more detail over the next few weeks.

Technorati Tags: how to make money, how to make money on the internet, make money on the internet, make money online