Archive | October, 2021

If you have been thinking of becoming a green marketer – that is, turning your existing business into a greener one in order to attract customers interested in green issues – it is important to understand whether or not your existing customers are green already. If they aren’t yet, they soon could be if you lead the charge and set a good example of how to become more eco-friendly.

What Is Green Marketing?

Green marketing is all about marketing products and services which can be considered greener than what is readily available on the market at present. For example, if you were going to open a green dry cleaning business, it would use less harsh chemicals, recyclable plastic, reusable hangers and shirt boxes, and so on.

You would also need to educate consumers about why green dry cleaning is as good as, if not better than, existing dry cleaning. By explaining what the difference is, you can justify any price difference related to your new green product line.

Studies have shown that customers have indicated they would be willing to spend 10 to 20% more on a green product versus a traditional product – provided that it gives the same level of performance, if not better, than what they usually use.

A Few Tips on Running a Green Business

Green marketing is also about being conscious of waste in the business and trying to have as small a carbon footprint as possible in the running of the business.

The easiest place to lead the charge here is to stop creating paper catalogs and other paper-based sales materials. Instead, create an online catalog with full details of all of your products, and keep it updated frequently. Drive people to the site with classified ads in your local paper or niche-related or industry-related magazines.

Make the most of your email marketing lists to remind people to come to the site and see what’s new. Have regular product launches and promote them on social media and online press release distribution services. You will be spreading the word about your new green products and services, but without having a significant impact on the environment.

Around the office there are likely many things you can do to make it leaner and greener. And in this way, you can show your target customers that you are not just trying to cash in on the green trend, but are genuinely concerned about the environment. For example, use recycled paper in your printer, along with soy-based inks. Use recycled toilet paper, tissues, and paper towels as needed.

In terms of paper towels, consider buying cotton hand towels and washing them regularly rather than using up a lot of paper towels. Use mugs instead of disposable cups. Use a regular coffee machine instead of those pod thingies to reduce your daily plastic waste.

Use a stainless steel reusable filter in your coffee machine basket so you don’t have to waste paper on coffee filters. Buy water filters and filtered water jugs to cut back on bottled water use. Use BPA-free plastic (or stainless steel) water bottles and travel mugs to cut down on trash and plastic in the environment.

There are many things you can do to educate your customers about green issues. But first you have to learn about them yourself. Once you do, you can take a 360-degree look at your products, services, office, and vendors. In this way, you will be able to clean and green your company, and impress customers who are interested in green issues.

Affiliate marketing is one of the quickest ways to start making money online. However, like all businesses, there are many potential pitfalls in an affiliate marketing business. The most common mistakes can cost an affiliate marketer time and money. Avoid these 3 common affiliate mistakes and you will be a lot more successful in a faster period of time.

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1. Choosing the wrong affiliate program to promote.

Many people want to earn from affiliate marketing as fast as possible as soon as they hear there is money to be made. In their rush to be part of a lucrative affiliate program, they often choose a product that is not in strong demand, doesn’t have a high-paying compensation plan or even a product the affiliate is not really interested in.

To be successful, it’s important to do quality research first and ensure that the products you want to promote as an affiliate have a strong and growing demand in the marketplace, that the affiliate program has a generous compensation plan that will reward you well for your efforts, and that you truly have an interest in the products you will be promoting as an affiliate. When these criteria are met, you will have a much greater probability of success with your affiliate marketing endeavor.

2. Joining too many affiliate programs at the same time.

Since affiliate programs are very easy to join, you might be tempted to join too many affiliate programs at the same time in an effort to increase your earnings potential. You may think that there is nothing wrong and nothing to lose by being part of many affiliate programs at the same time.

It is true that developing multiple streams of income is an important key to financial success as an affiliate marketer, but the cost of joining too many programs at the same time will be a loss of focus and concentration on the primary program or programs that are providing your opportunity to earn additional income.

The result? The maximum potential of your affiliate program is not realized and the income generated will not exactly be as much as you were thinking it would. The best way to maximize your results is to join one core program, or a small handful of related programs within a specific niche market and focus your efforts primarily on learning how the programs work, and then implementing an effective marketing action plan to start promoting your affiliate products effectively.

The idea is to roll out your marketing strategy consistently, day-by-day until you are making the sales and income you aspire toward with the affiliate program or programs that you have joined. Once you have achieved your goals, you can always expand the portfolio of affiliate programs you belong to, and with your well-developed marketing skills, success in new affiliate ventures will always come easier. The key in the beginning of an affiliate marketer’s career is to become an effective online marketer.

3. Not buying the product or using the service you’re promoting as an affiliate.

As an affiliate, your primary purpose is to effectively promote a product or service to potential customers. For you to achieve this aim, you must be able to share the benefits of the product or service convincingly with the correct target market. This is a lot easier to do if you have purchased the product yourself, and have your own experiences with how it has benefited you. It also adds to your personal integrity and credibility as a marketer.

Some of the most effective affiliate promotions of all are personal reviews. Many successful affiliates setup review sites or videos online to promote products and services they believe in by sharing their personal experience (story) that they have had with the product. Most consumer’s buying decisions are either influenced or motivated completely by a personal recommendation they have received from a trusted source. If you can establish yourself as a trusted source by writing or recording honest and insightful reviews for products you are promoting as an affiliate, you will be far more effective than simply trying to advertise the product through other means.

Therefore, buy and try the product or service personally first before you sign up as an affiliate to see if it is really delivering on what it promises, and if it’s something you would be proud to promote as an affiliate. Your prospects will then sense the sincerity and truthfulness in your recommendations and this will lead to more product sales.

Many hopeful affiliate marketers fall prey to the 3 affiliate marketing pitfalls above, and don’t succeed in their affiliate marketing business as a result. Now that you are informed, you have the knowledge required to avoid these common mistakes and get your affiliate marketing business off to a profitable start and successful future.

Being in the affiliate marketing business is not that hard now with the internet at your disposal. It is much easier now compared to the days when people had to make use of landline telephones and print media just to get the latest updates on the way their program is coming along. So with technology at hand, and assuming that the affiliate is working from home, a day in the life of a professional affiliate may look something like this…

Upon waking up and after having breakfast, the computer is turned on to check out new developments in the affiliate programs the member is participating in. As far as the professional affiliate marketer is concerned, there may be new promotions to run and company developments to catch up on.

You may need to make some updates to your website. A professional affiliate marketer knows that a well-designed site with good copywriting and product promotions can increase sign ups from visitors. In addition to this, adding interesting content in the form of articles and videos to your website regularly is a great way to attract more visitors from search engines and social media, so daily content development is a must!

That done, it may be time to do some proactive outreach marketing which may include contacting other website owners to form partnerships, proposing to write guest posts for other websites, or possibly expanding your paid advertising campaigns through solo ads, pay-per-click advertising and more.

If your marketing plan is effective, you’ll need to spend some time daily tracking where your visitors, signups and sales are coming from. By knowing these metrics, you’ll be able to expand on your marketing winners, and cut your losers. Many affiliates waste time and money on marketing strategies that don’t work, but you won’t know this unless you are using reliable online tracking tools to see exactly what’s happening in your business.

Of course, another part of your day as a successful affiliate marketer is answering questions and following up with prospects and leads. This has to be done quickly if you want your follow up to be effective in helping you generate more sales. Nothing turns customers away more than an unanswered email or phone calls.

In the process of doing all the necessities, a full-time affiliate marketer may spend some time each day in online forums and discussion communities where he or she interacts with others who share common business interests. Contributing constructively in forum discussions is a great way to grow your reputation as an expert in your field. On top of the inherent marketing benefits of forum contribution, you will always learn new things yourself (as long as you have an open mind and desire to learn) which can help you grow your business in new ways as you engage in different online communities.

Another important daily task is to email your subscribers and prospects. Whether you are sending an update, sharing a valuable resource, or promoting a new product that you think can help your audience, regular communication by email with your prospects is one of the most important and direct ways to grow your online affiliate marketing business.

Finally, to be truly successful as an affiliate or home business owner, look for ways every day to give back and give thanks. Nothing expands your circle of friends and partners faster than expressing gratitude, and nothing will improve your reputation faster and more convincingly than finding ways to give back to the community or niche that you work in. Consider finding people who are struggling in areas that you know how to help in, and do your best to help them. This does not require an investment of capital, but a little bit of your time and expertise can really go a long way in making a difference for someone else’s life; and in turn the angels of good fortune will shine their light on you! 🙂

Time flies quickly when you’re building a business online, and you may miss an occasional lunch or dinner as a professional affiliate marketer, but the rewards of your dedication will pay big dividends over time, and ultimately can lead you to the time and income freedom that you started your own affiliate marketing career in the first place.