How I Learned from Another Blogger’s Mistake to achieve success for my blog

by Onibalusi Bamidele

One day, I stumbled across a blog post on Tycoon Blogger which was talking about how he (Dan) wrote a guest post for maxblogpress which resulted in thousands of visitors who just came to his blog, there was no way to capture any of their details for future purposes. Here is an excerpt from the post below:

“I have learned this lesson the hard way, I did my first guest post about a month after starting this blog.  My theme was a crappy free theme, I did not have any logo, my posts were weak and I do not even think I take my feedburner account up and running.  About a month ago, I published another guest post on MaxBlogPress.com and it drove thousands of visitors to my site.  My blog was in much better shape to project a better image and capture some regular readers but I still could have done more to get my blog ready for the influx in traffic.”

After reading the above statement, I was happy I hadn’t submitted a guest post earlier until everything was in place.

I submitted my post to maxblogpress (on how to get more blog comments) with a link to my blog and my mailing list. I woke up to find my squeeze page got over 200 visitors in one day as a result of my guest post (it used to get an average of 10 a day).

I also added close to 100 subscribers to my list and I got almost 1000 visitors to my blog  in one day (according to Google analytics), over 500 of those visitors came from my guest post on maxblogpress

I was so happy with the result of the guest post and because I was proactive.

Below are some great things I did to get more advantage of the traffic.

1. A Great Guest Post: I have submitted a guest post to maxblogpress before when I was very new to blogging, I didn’t read the guidelines and the post was rejected, I tried it some months later when I now have some blogging experience and results and it was accepted.

Your guest post does not have to be rocket science, it just has to be great. 99% of the stories here on maxblogpress are success stories. Mine was about how I got 1500 comments for my 4 months old blog.

I also discovered blogs hardly reject success stories.

2. Be Wise: I know this might hit a lot of bloggers but it is simple wisdom that will make a blogger know how important a mailing list is. If you are determined never to build a list then focus on your RSS subscribers because they will be notified when you have  a new blog post which means repeat traffic to your blog.

I focused my effort on my list and It got 220 visits in just one day (as a result of my guest post here) but due to my poor squeeze page, I was only able to capture 50 emails on that day, I still did something because half a loaf is better than none.

Build your list and focus your guest posts on your list and not only on your blog. Many people will not visit your blog again, by having them on your list you can make them return often (just as Pawan does here).

3. Great Content: Since the day I submitted my post to maxblogpress, I have been writing great posts on my blog.

Having great content on your blog when there is a traffic surge will determine whether the people who came will come back again.

4. About Page: I discovered the most viewed page on my blog on this particular day was my about page, everybody want to know who you are so make sure you have  a detailed about page before you give guest posting a trial.

The traffic almost made me faint, it was like social media traffic but it is more quality and important because you have people who want more from you. I was able to make effective use of my traffic and I hope you can also learn from this post.

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Onibalusi Bamidele is a young entrepreneur, Get his free ebook on how to build a better website at http://www.youngprepro.com/successebook or visit his young entrepreneur blog to get the “special stuff” he regularly gives his readers

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Filed under: Motivation, achieve, Another, Blogger’s, Learned, Mistake, success

Can I Use Another Affiliate Network Besides Amazon?

by Jackie

I’ve been getting this question quite a bit since Amazon decided to not allow affiliates from certain states due to stuff I don’t anything about. What I do know is if you don’t have Amazon as an option… all is NOT lost!

There are many other affiliate networks available for you to use. Some of them house some of the biggest names in “real life” shopping, like Target, Walmart as well as many very very niche stores that are perfect for finding specific products to promote.

Two of my favorites, and the ones I find easiest to navigate and use are

Linkshare

ShareaSale

I like these because they don’t seem quite as complicated to get around and find what you’re looking for as say CommissionJunction ~ which is another affiliate network you can use… and I still find it confusing to get around and find what I’m looking for.

You will have to apply to both of these programs. You’ll need a website ~ so if you don’t have a blogger blog yet, now’s a good time to get one.

They will ask you some questions, just answer them honestly. I think one of the questions will be about how you’re going to drive traffic… just write in SEO or search engine traffic ~ something like that, because that’s how we get our traffic.

You do not need to tell them you’re going to use your code on your lenses ~ the application pertains to the site you’re using on your application.

Once you’ve been accepted to the network you’ll have to apply individually to each merchant (store) to be an affiliate for them.

This is where having a general “gift” or “deals” blog comes in handy. If your blogger blog, the one you used on your application, is about teeth whitening, and you find a great keyword on a high chair and decide you want to apply to Baby Universe over at LinkShare you may not be accepted because your site about teeth whitening is not really relevant/related to baby stuff.

That’s why I love to do holiday gift sites, or get the best deal sites, because no matter what niche physical products of any type can be given as a gift or you can get a great deal on them. A general site like this gives you better reach for a wider variety of merchants, and products to be able to promote.

Some merchants in these networks will be automatic approval… some won’t. It may take some time to get approved by some of the merchants. Some are more lenient than others and will approve just about everyone. Other merchants will check your site stats and if you don’t have the traffic level they’re looking for in their affiliates they won’t approve you.

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get approved by a merchant. It’s no big deal. There are probably 5 or 6 other merchants that can give you the same or similar product, so just find another merchant and apply with them.

Once you’ve been approved by a merchant there is a possibility that depending on your sales level they will dismiss you as an affiliate. It doesn’t happen very often, but it does happen so I just want you to be aware.  If you are dismissed by a merchant it is not the end of the world, just find another merchant that carries similar/the same products.

There are many options when it comes to where you can find products to promote. While I teach Amazon mostly ~ because it’s the easiest, and they have EVERYTHING, they are not the only show in town. So if for some reason Amazon is no longer allowing you to be an affiliate don’t worry. You have options.

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

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Filed under: squidoo, Affiliate?, Amazon, Another, Besides, Network