Want to know more? Or think you’re ready to stock up on a whole boatload of PLR for your own websites?  Check out this website that’s giving away free PLR software and more.

On a more serious note, I’m taking a series of  coaching sessions with Russell’s Dotcomsecrets staff, and it’s one of the coolest experiences ever.  Want to take a sneak peak? Look here. 

If you haven’t gone, it’s a great time.  I’ve been there twice.  My best experience was probably networking, and getting the chance to hear some of the seminars done by guys like Jeremy Palmer and Shoe Money (or some other guy that I have confused with Shoe Money…).  Anyway, I came home with a lot of book marked websites, and notes scribbled on a piece of paper. 

The networking is pretty cool. My biggest regret is that I didn’t ACT on at least one of the clients that I met when I attended as a publisher. (My first year, I was an advertiser… I made lots of phone calls, most of which no one returned..lol)  Being at CJU is a great time to work a better commission, get out there, and become a name in the industry.

I use Odesk to find programmers to help me.  You could also advertise your own skills, if you are a programmer or designer, and want to earn an extra buck. Anyway, most of these outsourcing programs work similarly.  You can post your job for free, and “interview” programmers via chat.  The ODesk software allows you to monitor the activities of the person you choose. You pay oDesk, so no need to worry about someone running off without finishing your project.

Anyway, I’ve used oDesk to find my favorite programmer and complete several projects, so I’m very pleased.  Also, if you do sign up for oDesk, be sure to check out their referral program to make $50 for every person that spends / earns $1,000.  That may sound like a lot, but a website can easily run that much. 

Regardless of which outsourcing program you use, you’ll find that it can make a project go easier and faster, as well as be a cost-efficient way to get the job done.

Prior to paying, renting, or even accepting one of these websites for free, take a look at them.  Most of them do nothing for you, unless you can drive traffic directly to your new, free site.  The more hands off the website is, the more useless the site is.  

I was offered an MLM “site” – really a subdomain, that was a copy of the same site everyone else had.  My only option was to edit the “who I was” site. I couldn’t move it to my domain, but I could forward the domain.  The person who was selling it (if he sold 5-10, he got his for free), didn’t understand why the site wouldn’t rank in google. 

Here are a few things you should look for if you’re buying a pre-made website. 

1. Do you get to select or purchase your own domain name? (if no, then can you assign your domain)
2. Is this site a subdomain of a larger site? If yes, then can you assign your own domain – or are you just forwarding your domain to your “new” website. For those of you who are confused, or are less tech saavy – you don’t want to put www.mywebsite.com in the web browser and have it forward or redirect to me.purchasedwebsite.com
3. What kind of content are you getting with your website?  Is it worth what you’re paying for it, even though it won’t be listed in google. 
4. Is a years worth of rental fees worth more than outsourcing the website? Use a service like Odesk will allow you to hire someone to build your website for you. You may not have to do anything but supply the affiliate links and the copy. 

Stock photos can range from free to several hundred dollars a photo. However, most stock photos that are used for landing and squeeze pages can be used for just a few dollars.  The few dollars you spend on a stock photo can assure you that first and foremost you have the rights to use the photo, and secondly, it’ll take a lot less time to complete the webpage.  Also, $5 on a webpage that gets scrapped or makes $3,000 a day is a small investment, compared to the time and energy that you’ll spend hunting down your own photographs. 

Btw, I also like free stock photography, as long as the site says you have the rights to use it. 

Here are some of my favorite stock photography websites: 

stock.xchng - both free and paid stocks.. Here I usually am going for free stock photos. 

istockphoto.com – this is probably my favorite source. I’ve used the illustrator files as well as the images. 

pdphoto.org – I haven’t found anything here I love, but it’s another free source. 

StockVault – more free photos

Getty Images - want an image of your favorite hollywood icon or sports hero? the cost is a bit pricy for Getty – $49 an image, but they have a selection that Iphoto isn’t going to get you, unless you’re going to the game.

Template Monster is probably the best place for professional looking html templates.  You can buy a funky header, insert your product and copy, and go.   For the price tag, it’s a great way to get a great looking end product. 

I’ve personally used Template Monster for a number of products (for myself of course – my web design clients get totally custom designs – i only wish i had that kind of time myself!).  

One suggestion is to look at changing the theme or stock photography for a totally different feel to the design. Something that’s themed, say for construction, may also work for architecture or real estate with a different lead photo. 

Want more tips on landing pages?  Check out   IM Myth.  It’s free, and it’ll change the way you think about affiliate marketing

• What are the terms (and how does that effect your promotion) – for example, are there PPC rules in place or other rules that prohibit bidding on a term you were planning to bid.
• Is the payout big enough to cover advertising costs? 
• What’s the company’s reputation, if the product can be purchased multiple places.  For example: would you rather recommend Amazon, Borders, Barnes and Nobles.  My money is on Amazon, but that’s just my choice. 
• Does the affiliate program support deep linking – sometimes you can ask for this. I almost always create my own “landing pages” or other pages, and I want to control where people land. 
• What’s the competition. Sometimes a “lower producing” affiliate means less people to fight for to sell, sometimes it means you’re not going to make a single $ either. 

But what happens if you’re getting a big check every month, and you can’t seem to break in to a new advertiser – or a new affiliate marketing company. Here are some suggestions.

• Don’t try to sell an affiliate marketing company on a non-existing website. Show them a website that’s finished, preferably one that has three of their competitors advertising on the front page.
• If you aren’t building a whole website (lets say you want to create a landing page), read their terms carefully and check to see if they even like Search Marketing or allow bidding in search engines.  My suggestion here is usually to find someone else who will participate with you. 
• If you aren’t making big bucks with the particular company, this could be why you can’t get approved. Try shifting some of your earnings around.  This may not mean building a whole new campaign, because many advertisers are on both LinkShare and Google, for example.  Reroute a link or two, and suddenly you’ve got some more earnings showing in LinkShare.  Now you’re more popular there. 
• Take a look at your “target” markets.  Did you say you had a technology site and then applied to 5 home and garden affiliates? 
• If you feel like you’d be better off, and it doesn’t violate the terms, open a new account for different websites.  This is mostly not applicable, except in cases where you own two totally different models of websites.  Also, might work for someone who wants to have an incentive site, but still run regular websites. WARNING – you’ll be spreading your earnings around, and the higher your earnings, the more appealing you look. 
• Show all of your websites if you can. If you can’t, and you get denied, send the company the specific website that you plan to market. 
• If you don’t have a website, and you’re denied, reach out and email the affiliate advertiser! Don’t be afraid to share your brilliant marketing plan with your advertiser. They’re certainly not going to steal your idea.  If they love it, they may let you in. 
• Go to CJU or Link Share’s symposium. Do it. Network. Affiliate Marketers don’t bite. I swear.