My Monetary Freedom

The worldwide commerce model is rapidly evolving to a new model where business transactions are conducted on the Internet, rather than on physical locations. This is especially true for Retail Sales. Global eCommerce retail sales are expected to reach $4.9 trillion by 2021 and account for 17.5% of the total global retail sales [1].

This explosive growth is fueled by an expanding world economy, and technology advances, which now enable more individuals to connect to the Internet. Furthermore, new wireless platforms for mobile phones have significantly improved mobile phone connectivity to the Internet.

This unprecedented opportunity allows Individuals and Small Companies to compete on equal footing with large and established Companies, at a minimal investment, by starting a Business Website. But a great opportunity also presents risks. In this article we will discuss several ways to safely start a successful Website Business.

Steps in Creating a Successful Business Website

The first step is critical in determining whether your website will be a financial success.

Step 1 – Choose your market carefully

In 2018 there were approximately 1.7 billion websites worldwide. The number of website pages that are indexed, and therefore searched, by Google is approximately 60 trillion. Furthermore, only 1 of 3000 pages published on the Internet are indexed by Google.[2]

These huge numbers tell us that we should not attempt to create a website centered on a very common or general subject. We will not be found by visitors searching for a generic product or keyword. Our only traffic will be from our ads. We will get paid traffic but not free or organic traffic.

We should focus on a very small sliver of the market, or micro niche, for which there is little competition.

Step 2 – Select a micro niche

At this stage there are two viable approaches.

A – BASED ON YOUR EXPERT KNOWLEDGE OF A SPECIFIC MARKET

Select a market or product that you know very well, or are an expert in this market, and narrow it down to a small and targeted audience. This is a long term approach. You develop a following in your area of expertise and gradually grow your audience to a size that allows you to recommend your own product or other manufacturer’s product. Because you are seen as an expert your recommendation will be followed by many. At this point you can earn a Sales Affiliate commission from the Manufacturer you are recommending. To generate sales as an Affiliate is the fastest way to start earning money without having to deal with the expense and time demand of selling and shipping your own product.

For example, let’s assume that your interest is cooking. You need to narrow down this broad category. This is how you do it.

We will use Jaaxy to research this market. When you research keywords in Jaaxy you will see 5 measures of keyword quality.

Avg. – Average number of searches in Google for the exact keyword.

Traffic – Probable number of visits to your website if you achieve first page ranking in the search engines

QSR – Quoted Search Results. The number of competing websites ranked in Google for this exact keyword.

KQI – Keyword Quality Indicator

SEO – A combined score based on traffic and competition .1-100. The higher the number the higher the probability of achieving first page ranking.

As a general rule we want to build our website around a keyword that has a QSR lower than 100,traffic of at least 20 and an SEO of at least 90 . (If QSR is very low we can accept lower traffic )

The following screen shot shows what you will see when you search for the keyword “cooking”

We can see that “cooking” is searched very frequently. However, it has 201 competing websites so the probability of a new website reaching first page in searches is very low. This is confirmed by the low SEO rating.

But looking down the page we can see that two longer keywords may have possibilities since they have better numbers.

– cooking knife sets

– low fat cooking

At this point it is a personal choice. Cooking knife sets appears to be the best choice and that is what I would choose. Nevertheless, if you are more interested in the art of cooking, and that is where your expertise resides, you may think that choosing hardware such as cooking knife sets does not excite you. If that is the case you may want to look further and examine “low fat cooking”. However, low fat cooking is still too general, it has 162 competing websites. So we search again in Jaaxy, this time for “low fat cooking”. We will see the following screen shot.

We can see that “vegan low fat cooking” is a keyword with only 23 competing websites and a SEO ranking of 100. Another possibility is ” low fat crock pot recipes”. This choice has more traffic but more competitors. Actually “low fat cooking recipes” could also be a good choice. It is your decision. You should choose the option that you are more comfortable with, and that will allow you to write the most content and therefore build your reputation as an expert in the field. Good Luck!

B – SELECT A KEYWORD FOR A PRODUCT THAT PEOPLE ARE BUYING NOW

This is a short term approach since people’s buying trends are constantly changing. Wealthy Affiliate has a new platform that finds Affiliate Programs for your products. A feature of this platform is that it also shows popular keywords, which is an indication of what people are buying now. The next screen shot shows this platform

We had assumed earlier that we were interested in cooking. We can see on the above screen shot that “kitchen” is a popular keyword. So this keyword relates to our interest in cooking. So our next step will be to go back to Jaaxy and see what we can find when we search for “kitchen”.

Once again we see that “kitchen” is too broad a keyword with too many competitors and a very low SEO ranking. But looking down the list we find “knife sets for the kitchen” with only 19 competitors and a very high SEO ranking of 98. So promoting kitchen knives would be a good idea. Furthermore, if we join Wealthy Affiliate (for free) we can find in the Affiliate Program Platform kitchen knife manufacturers that would pay us a Sales Affiliate commission if we promote their product.

In summary combining findings in A and B, I would recommend that we start a website writing about low fat cooking and within that website we also promote a specific brand of ” kitchen Knives”.

Step 3 – Learn Affiliate Sales and Marketing

We have seen how to select a micro niche for your Business Website. But this is just the beginning. There is much more to learn before you can achieve financial success. The next milestones are:

– Building a Website

– Writing Content for your Website

– Create an Audience

– Drive Traffic to your Website

– Mastering Social Engagement

– Monetize your Website

– Build an E-Mail List of Visitors to your Website.

– Learn Paid Advertising

Each of these milestones require in-depth knowledge of the subject. As an example, for the first milestone ” Building a Website” you need to have knowledge of many factors such as:

– How to select and register a suitable domain name

– Why you should select a Theme from WordPress.( A Theme defines the appearance and layout of the Website)

– Can pages be created without knowledge of coding or HTML language?

– Select a hosting platform that will include security features.

Similarly, all other milestones will require specialized knowledge. You may learn some subjects from a variety of sites online or on YouTube. But most of the training offered online is by individual entrepreneurs, like yourself, that will sell you their “secret formula” for success. I recommend a safer approach. Get comprehensive training from an Industry Leader in Internet Marketing and Affiliate Sales.

I recommend Wealthy Affiliate.

Wealthy Affiliate Platform

Wealthy Affiliate is a leader in Internet Marketing Training with approximately 1,400,000 members in 193 countries. They have been in business for 14 years. It is a training platform but there is much more offered by Wealthy Affiliate.

I can not describe everything that is available to a member, even to one with a free membership. The following screen shots show some of the training courses and tools offered.

ONLINE ENTREPRENEUR CERTIFICATION

TOOLS INCLUDED

ADVANCED TRAINING

JAAXY RESEARCH

Cost of Membership

You can start for free with the Starter Membership. Explore what is being offered and decide for yourself if this is for you. However, I believe that you will soon want to become a Premium Member at $49.00/ month or for a one time $359.00 annual payment. This price is a bargain since your premium membership includes the hosting of up to 50 websites. And please note there are no up sales of any kind. This cost is for everything !

The following is a comparison chart showing what is available in each option.

My recommendation is that you sign up for the free starter membership and decide for yourself if this program is of value to you. If you sign up here, at my affiliate link, I will be notified of the referral and as a special bonus I will personally assist you to get started. Look forward to meeting you inside the Wealthy Affiliate community.

References

[1] https://beeketing.com/blog/future-ecommerce-2019/

[2] https://www.internetlivestats.com/google-search-statistics

Carlos

carlos@mymonetaryfreedom.com

These tips for affiliate marketing success were passed down to me from a guru who shall remain nameless until the final paragraph of this release. The steps to follow, in sequence, to make money are as follows:

1 – Select a Niche

Other gurus will tell you to choose a subject or product that you like or that is very familiar to you. The reasoning is that you will be more comfortable writing on that subject, write better quality content, and thus develop a loyal audience. This loyal audience will now include warm prospects for buying the product you sell or promote.

STOP !

If you want to make money you should promote a product that people are buying now. Never mind what you think.

Read my article ” Affiliate Marketing Secrets – Secret # 1 ” here

I will now explain in detail, step by step, the procedure I follow.

Go to the new platform in Wealthy Affiliate ( You can join Wealthy Affiliate for free )

This new platform is called ” Affiliate Programs ” and shows what programs are available for you to join for a specific product you want to promote. I use this platform to select a niche that will make money. To select the niche this way you work your way backwards, find what products are selling now, and choose a niche from those products.

When you access this new platform within Wealthy Affiliate you will see two groups of words.

– Popular Categories

– Popular Keywords

This screen print shows these groups

As an example let’s choose ” kitchen” from the Popular Keywords group ( These keywords are constantly changing, so you may find different keywords from those shown here. Kitchen is shown today).

What you do next is go to Jaaxy, also included in the free Wealthy Affiliate Membership, and search the keyword “kitchen”.

The next screen shot shows what you will see.

Enter the word “kitchen” and search

Jaaxy shows the following data for each keyword selected.

Avg. – The average monthly searches for that keyword in Google.

Traffic – The number of clicks monthly on your website that you can expect if you get ranked on page 1 in Google.

QSR – Number of competing websites ranked in Google

KQI – Keyword Quality Indicator

SEO – Score based on traffic and competition. 1-100. The higher the number the better the keyword.

The next step is to narrow down your niche. Kitchen is obviously too broad. We want to choose a keyword that will have average monthly searches of at least 100, and a QSR as low as possible ( preferably less than 150)

We can see from the screen shot that the following keywords meet these criteria and have potential

kitchen cutlery

kitchen composter

stainless steel kitchen utensils

chopper kitchen

For this search example I will choose ” kitchen cutlery”. However, when you are doing the search you should repeat the exercise that follows also for the other 3 keywords being considered.

After selecting “kitchen cutlery” I would enter this expanded keyword again in Jaaxy. See the new screen shot below.

It shows that drilling down we can narrow our search further. At this point I would select as my keyword ” kitchen cutlery knife sets”. It meets the criteria established earlier for values of Avg., QSR and it has a very high value of SEO which indicates a good probability for the website being ranked high in Google.

Having now selected ” kitchen cutlery knife sets” I would go back to the Program Affiliate Platform and enter this keyword. As you can see on the next screen shot there is a list of sellers of kitchen cutlery knife sets.

I would then look further into promoting two of the sellers displayed.

Swiss Knife Shop

wmfCookware

I can see that both companies are part of the CJ Network. Clicking on these companies displays I can find details on their affiliate programs, their product line, and also look at their websites. See below:

Now I know that if I develop a website around the keyword ” kitchen cutlery knife sets ” I will be able to promote these products and have a good probability of making money. If I do not have a website already, that is geared towards kitchen products, I can build a new website around my keyword using the training and website building tools offered at Wealthy Affiliate. ( Yes, for free ! )

2 – Build a website

3 – Write content for your new website

This is a critical step. You have selected a niche and created a website. Your success is now up to you.

You must write posts or articles that engage your audience and solve their problems. In doing your research you identified several keywords related to your main subject. To achieve fast ranking in Google it is recommended that you write one or two posts weekly focusing on those keywords. Posts should be 500-1000 words each and include links to your main keyword article which should be at least 1000 words.

Your writing style should be informal to establish a personal connection with your audience. Remember to address a specific search they have made on Google. You always want to recommend a solution to a problem.

A difficulty many affiliates have is finding material to use as content to their posts. The solution is to do research. You can search for articles on your keyword that are ranked high on Google. Study what they are saying and think what additional information you could provide. Do not plagiarize, but always write in your own words what the articles are presenting but offer more to the reader. I like to do research on Google Scholar where you can find academic papers or research on any subject. You can find interesting nuggets of information that you can include in your posts. At the bottom of your article you should list the source of the information. This will add further support to your standing as an expert on the subject.

After you have published 5 or 6 articles on your website you will be ready to apply to several Affiliate Programs.

Conclusion

We have seen that there are several critical steps that must be taken to have success in Affiliate Marketing.

My Number One recommendation is that you sign up for the Free Membership at Wealthy Affiliate, which includes free membership in Jaaxy research. Wealthy Affiliate is much more than a training platform. I invite you to sign up here on my affiliate link, so that I am notified of your membership and I can reach out to you and be of further assistance.

I will be pleased to answer any questions, including how you can outsource at low cost some tasks described above, including content research and writing. Write to me at the E-Mail shown below.

Carlos

carlos@mymonetaryfreedom.com

To monetize your website you are eager to join Affiliate Marketing Programs as soon as possible. But wait, hold your horses! It is very important that before you search for Affiliate Programs, that will include products you wish to promote, you have an established audience. Many sellers in an Affiliate Program will not approve your application until they verify that you have an audience for their product.

You should know that to make significant money typically your website should have at least 100 visitors daily.

Read my post ” Affiliate Marketing Secrets – ( Secret # 1 revealed ) ” here.

Before we discuss the larger Affiliate Marketing Programs, please note that you should also approach directly the manufacturer of a product you intend to promote in your website. Individual manufacturers or sellers will pay you higher affiliate commissions than the mammoth programs such as Amazon Associates.

Once you have selected a product to promote, it is recommended in your posts, and you have an audience, you are ready to go for the money! Go ahead, start by applying to the larger Affiliate Programs.

Where to Search

The Affiliate Program that would be best for you depends on your niche. If your niche is geared to promoting teaching “how to” courses, home business opportunities, make money at home programs, or sales training videos, these are all digital products. Digital products include e books, video training and other products that you deliver online as opposed to physical products. If this is the case, then clickbank.com is your best choice. Within clickbank you can choose to promote a wide selection of digital products or offer your own digital products.

If you are promoting physical products, you should check out the major Affiliate Sales Programs such as:

– Amazon Associates

– CJAffiliate

– Shareasale

– Awin

– Big Commerce

Within each of these programs you will find different products being offered, so you will need to search to see if the product you want to promote is included. The commissions that you can earn with these programs are relatively low ( usually 5 to 10%) so you will need many sales to make significant earnings. On the other hand, if you approach directly the manufacturer of the product you want to promote, if they have an affiliate program, commission will be higher.

Doing the above research will take time. Now there is a faster way to select an Affiliate Program. This new method is offered by Wealthy Affiliate.

Searching for an Affiliate Program using Wealthy Affiliate

Wealthy Affiliate is a leader in Internet Marketing Training. Created 14 years ago it has more than 1,400,000 members in 193 countries. Wealthy Affiliate is constantly updating and adding to their content. They have recently added an Affiliate Program Search platform. This platform, available even with the free membership, allows you to search popular categories or popular keywords.

I recommend that you choose a niche in either Popular Categories or Popular Keywords, since these are the products that people are buying today. You can find out why this is so important in my article below.

Read my post “Affiliate Marketing Secrets ( Secret # 1 Revealed )  here.

This new platform is an example of what is available in Wealthy Affiliate.

Wealthy Affiliate is a training platform, but much more.

Conclusion

I recommend that you simplify your search for Affiliate Programs by taking advantage of a free membership in Wealthy Affiliate by clicking here. After you join, inside Wealthy Affiliate go to the Affiliate Program Search platform and make your choices. If you have any questions ask the community for answers, or contact me at the E-Mail below. We will all work together for our mutual success.

Carlos

carlos@mymonetaryfreedom.com

WHY DO YOU WANT A WEBSITE ?

Your choice for selecting a website provider really depends on why do you want a website.

If you want a website where you can post your blogs on a favorite cause, or a passion of yours, then I would recommend GoDaddy.com. They have many templates from which you can choose, and you can get a website on line in a very short time. GoDaddy is a reputable website creator and host, and their prices are very reasonable. Your blogs will look professional, your friends will be impressed.

However, if you want a website used to make money online that’s a different story.

WEBSITE FOR AFFILIATE SALES

A website for making money online requires many features and must meet certain requirements so that it will be easily seen by the search engines and generate the traffic, or website visitors, that you need to make significant sales. Furthermore, your blogs must be written accordingly with emphasis on keywords. The key to a successful website creation is knowledge. If you do not have expertise in website design or coding then you must align with a partner that will give you the training needed for success. I recommend that you take a look at Wealthy Affiliate.

WEALTHY AFFILIATE

Wealthy Affiliate is a leader in Internet Marketing Training with about 1,400,000 members in 193 countries and has been in business for 14 years. It is a training platform but there is more, much more, offered by Wealthy Affiliate.

You can join Wealthy Affiliate for free and get 2 free websites, including hosting! But, as mentioned earlier, you need knowledge. This is where Wealthy Affiliate shines. You get free access to a comprehensive training program, and many tools such as:

Website Builder

Domain Research

Site Content ( Writing Platform )

Keyword Research

Support

And, of course, you get access to the Wealthy Affiliate community.

Furthermore, the content of Wealthy Affiliate is constantly updated and expanded. They recently added an Affiliate Program platform that helps you identify the Affiliate Programs that include the product lines that you would like to sell. In addition, if you are starting the process of selecting a niche for your website this platform will help you identify Popular Keywords and Trending Products. If you select a niche in one of these groups, your probability of making money online will be significantly increased. I can not describe here everything that is offered at Wealthy Affiliate. You can find further details in my article “Wealthy Affiliate Review – No Sugar Coating Here”. Click here to access this article.

COST OF WEALTHY AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

This table summarizes the options available:

CONCLUSION

My recommendation is that you sign up for the free membership and see for yourself if this will be of value to you. You can always upgrade to the Premium Membership later. If you sign up here, at my link to Wealthy Affiliate, I will be notified and will be available to help you get started. Look forward to meeting you inside the Wealthy Affiliate Community.

Carlos

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate Marketing is another method for Companies to generate sales without increasing their sales staff or making large advertising expenditures.

In this method Companies pay a commission to a Company or to an individual ( the Affiliate), who brings them a customer. They only pay a commission if the new customer actually buys the product. So it is a great way for Companies to obtain incremental sales at a nominal additional cost.

But Affiliate Marketing is also a great way for an Affiliate to make money without actually having to have a product to sell. The Affiliate simply recommends a product to his audience on his / her website or blog by writing about the product. The blog or article includes a link that directs the visitor to the seller’s store. You can find more details on Affiliate Marketing in my article ” Affiliate Marketing in 2019. What is it? and is it for me?” Just click on the highlighted text.

Affiliate Marketing is growing exponentially, worldwide, because it is a win- win proposition for both the Seller and the Affiliate. However, for the Affiliate to be successful he must be seen by his audience as an authority in the field and have a following to his blog or website. The website must have a significant number of visitors (traffic).

Therefore, it is essential that the content presented in the Affiiate’s website be valuable to the visitor, and related to the product recommended. The subject of the website, or Niche, should be one in which the writer has thorough knowledge, and therefore is recognized as an authority. If that is the case, the website visitor, or blog reader, will be more inclined to follow the recommendation and buy the product.

The steps in affiliate Marketing are as follows:

1- Select a Niche or Product Line that you want to promote

2- Create a Website for that Niche

3- Write Content for the Website

4- Select a product to recommend. ( Become an Affiliate to the seller of that product.)

5- Direct visitors to your Affiliate Website to the Seller of the product recommended. ( seller’s link)

6- If your recommendation results in a sale you get paid

The above are all essential steps in the process of making money in Affiliate Marketing. Knowledge is King. You must learn all the steps thoroughly.

Training

You can learn many of the steps above for free online in reputable sites like edex.com. Or you can also learn on YouTube free courses. However, many of the courses that can be learned online are taught by entrepreneurs who are in the business themselves and are willing to sell you their “secret” to success. I recommend a safer approach. Sign up for a free beginners course offered by an Industry leader in Affiliate Marketing. I am recommending Wealthy Affiliate for all your training. You can find all details in my article Wealthy Affiliate Review– No Sugar Coating Here. Just click on the highlighted text.

Why Seniors have an Advantage

We are retired with time on our hands. We are free to reach for more, to pursue new dreams. After a long career, or just from living, we have developed social skills that are invaluable in Affiliate Marketing. We know how to relate to people and are good communicators. These are qualities that are very helpful in starting a ” people business” such as Affiliate Marketing. We know people’s needs and have the skills to offer solutions to their problems.

In Spanish there is a saying ” El diablo sabe por diablo, pero mas sabe por viejo”. This translates roughly as ” The devil knows because he is the devil, but he knows mostly because he is old”.

Because we have the time we are free to learn new skills. There is a preconceived notion that older people can not easily learn new subjects. We see commercials where grandparents ask their grand kids how to use a smartphone or a laptop.

THIS IS JUST WRONG. Scientific research shows that brains have a quality called “plasticity” which allows us to continue learning well into our advanced age. We constantly see examples of Doctors working into their 90s or seniors starting very successful businesses. ( If you are curious, I am 77 years young )

To be honest, we have to be realistic and not start a business that will take many years to develop or require full time commitment. However, there are businesses that we can own without being owned by the business. By that I mean that there are businesses that can be set-up in a relatively short time and then operated without constant personal involvement. An Affiliate Marketing business is such a business. Technologies such as Autoresponders, and automated E-Mail Marketing Systems are of great help.

Conclusion

YES. Affiliate Marketing is a good fit for Seniors

I recommend that you start by joining the free training program offered by Wealthy Affiliate. If you sign up here, clicking on my affiliate link, I get notified that you are joining and I will then be able to provide you personal support to get started. Hope to meet you inside the Wealthy Affiliate community.

Carlos

E-Mail: carlos@mymonetaryfreedom.com